Party of Five
is a TV series that ran on Fox, from 1994 to 2000. Its a drama about the lives & experiences of the 5 orphaned children (ranging in age from a few months to 24 years old -- and comprised of infant Owen, 11 year old Claudia, 14-15 year old Julia, high-school junior [16-17 years old] Bailey, and 24 year old Charlie) in the Salinger family, after their parents are killed by a drunk driver. Without any available relatives to take custody, and not wanting to be sent into the foster care/juvenile system, and likely be separated from each other into different foster homes, youth shelters and/or group homes, instead the eldest sibling, 24 year old Charlie, a somewhat irresponsible & immature college dropout who was trying to "find himself" at the time of his parents untimely deaths becomes the guardian for his 2 brothers (Bailey & Owen) & 2 sisters (Julia & Claudia)
I was in high school when
Party of Five
first premiered on TV, in my junior year in 1994 (so I guess I was the same age [or at least same grade] as the character of Bailey) and although, if I recall correctly I didn't see/get into the series until a couple years/seasons into it, once I did (and got caught up on the episodes & seasons I missed through reruns and on DVD & online streaming) I was HOOKED, and watched it until the end -- and still wish it hadn't been canceled/ended after a respectable 6 season (wish it had gone at least a few more seasons!) run!
This is a touching, poignant & gripping series, showing how the 5 Salinger kids go on with their lives and deal with (and grieve for) the sudden, tragic deaths of their parents, as well as how the bonds between these siblings are tested when one of them (and ironically, at least in the beginning, the most irresponsible & immature of the brood) Charlie is forced into the role of parent & guardian.
From the blurb on the back of the box:
Join the Party for one of TV's Best-Loved Series!
After the sudden loss of their parents, the Salingers must band together to keep their own lives on track, discovering first loves, last calls, and themselves along the rocky road to growing up. Headlined by a young sexy cast including Neve Campbell, Scott Wolf, and Lacey Chabert, this highly rated long-running series (1994-2000) firmly found its place as a pop culture phenomenon for all ages. Shot through with equal doses heartache and laughter, Party of Five the Complete First Season remains an emotional knockout, delivering all 22 episodes of Golden Globe-winning (Best TV Series, Drama 1996) series breakthrough debut season, proving again that home is where the heart is.
Party of Five
is a GREAT show, and I ♡ this DVD set -- except for ONE complaint (and thus the deduction of one star)...........and that's the blatant FALSE ADVERTISING in this listing. The Amazon listing claims that this DVD set has closed-captioning, but it does NOT -- and if that weren't bad enough, even the ability to get captions separately through the TV seems to have been disabled in this DVD set -- which the Amazon listing not only leaves out, but deliberately LIES about!
Allthough I'm not deaf or hard-of-hearing (that I know of!) I still like to use closed-captioning, whenever available, in order to make sure I get everything that is said, even when characters are mumbling or talking softly. I can't imagine how much harder (if not impossible) it'd be for those who are hard-of-hearing or even totally deaf to be able to see this great series when there are no captions. So especially if you're deaf or hard-of-hearing, BEWARE because the low price (I got this set for around $6) comes at a cost!
Its not just the lack of closed-captions (despite the misleading advertising promising it) either. Another problem with the
Party of Five Season 1
DVD set is the HORRIBLE packaging. I ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY HATE cardboard DVD boxes, or for that matter, ANY style of DVD cases that involves cardboard!
Rather than a cardboard DVD box holding ANOTHER cardboard box that unfolds and folds up/out (the style used for THIS set, as well as all of the previous Punky Brewster season sets), I much PREFER the single plastic DVD case with an inner tray-rack to hold the discs (like the DVD case for
7th Heaven - The Complete Third Season
and
Law & Order: The Ninth Year
among others!) instead!
I am kind of anal about DVD sets (actually, DVDs & CDs in general!), and I HATE the cardboard box style of DVD case which often gets worn, scuffed, and/or peeling at the edges and corners of the box. In my experience so far, plastic DVD cases do NOT have those problems -- at most, the clear plastic sheet on the outside of the DVD case (into which the paper cover is inserted) *might* get a little wrinkled or soiled/dusty. But the few wrinkles or soiling on the plastic cases is at least something I can live with, UNLIKE the significant scuffing & peeling into white spots/patches on the corners & edges of cardboard cases, which is really aggravating!
That is why I'd much rather have a single plastic DVD case, which doesn't get much (if ANY!) edgewear, shelfwear, corner-wear, and/or scuffing & peeling, and is pretty much care-free!
However, other than the lack of closed-captions, and IMHO, the awful packaging, all told, with several "bonuses" (including a behind-the-scenes, new 9-part featurette 'A Look Back' with all new interviews with the cast & crew and a 'A Family Album' featurette) this is still a PRETTY GREAT set of DVDs otherwise!
***** 5 STARS for this EXCELLENT TV series + *** 3 STARS for the MEDIOCRE release of this SUPERB series on DVD= a rating of **** 4 STARS overall!!
| Additional DVD options | Edition | Discs | Price | New from | Used from |
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June 24, 2014 "Please retry" | — | 4 | $3.42 | $2.00 |
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Customer reviews
Top reviews from other countries
Mr. D. L. Rees
RISING TO THE CHALLENGE
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 20, 2010P. Chapman
Party of Five - Season 1
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 24, 2006Ms Jacqueline Turner
An Amazing TV Programme
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 27, 2005Emma Law
Again a good programme
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 28, 2013
