Party of Five is an American drama television series created by Christopher Keyser and Amy Lippman and set in San Francisco, which centres on five siblings who grow up orphans after their parents were killed by a drunk driver in an auto accident.
The series originally aired in the USA on the FOX Network from 12 September, 1994 to 3 May, 2000. There are 142 hour-long episodes in six seasons.
Party of Five originally premiered in South Africa on SABC3, in 1995. It later on DStv's M-Net Series and Sony Entertainment Television (SET) channels. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times by channel.
Season 4 premiered on SET on Friday 6 March 2009, at 17h00. New episodes air daily, from Mondays to Fridays. There are 24 episodes in the fourth season.
Repeats
Weeekdays: 08h35, 11h20
Weekends: 09h30, 10h20
Synopsis
Nothing could be worse than the sudden death of parents. One day Nick and Diana Salinger were killed in a terrible car crash, and left their five children all alone.
Charlie, the oldest, has to step in and take care of the family, serving both as father and brother. Bailey, the middle brother, tries to keep everything under control but undergoes an alcoholism problem when he realises he can't do it all.
Julia is a young girl who keeps jumping from one bad relationship to another. Claudia, the youngest girl that plays the violin, has to enter adolescence without any help of parents. Baby Owen was only six months old when his parents died and thus will never know how it feels like to have a mother and a father.
Together, they go through all sorts of problems, from handling their parents' restaurant and trying to keep it running to disastrous relationships and school problems.
Soon they realise that in order to survive no one can be selfish and they all have to help each other. They're a family and have to stick together.
The opening theme song was "Closer to Free", performed by the BoDeans.
Seasons
Season 1 (22 episodes)
Channel: SABC3 | Aired: 1995
Channel: M-Net Series | Premiere: 27 Mar 2005 | Finale: 21 Aug 2005 | Sundays, 21h00
Channel: SET | Premiere: 7 Feb 2008 | Finale: 7 Mar 2008 | Weekdays, 16h25
Season 2 (22 episodes)
Channel: SABC3 | Aired: 1996
Channel: M-Net Series | Premiere: 28 Aug 2005 | Finale: 22 Jan 2006 | Sundays, 21h00
Channel: SET | Premiere: 10 Mar 2008 | Finale: 8 Apr 2008 | Weekdays, 16h25
Season 3 (25 episodes)
Channel: SABC3 | Aired: 1997
Channel: M-Net Series | Premiere: 29 Jan 2006 | Finale: 16 Jul 2006 | Sundays, 21h00
Channel: SET | Premiere: 9 Apr 2008 | Finale: 13 May 2008 | Weekdays, 16h25
Season 4 (24 episodes)
Channel: SABC3 | Premiere: 22 Aug 1998 | Finale: 30 Jan 1999 | Saturdays, 19h00
Channel: M-Net Series | Premiere: 31 Dec 2006 | Finale: 10 Jun 2007 | Sundays, 21h00
Channel: SET | Premiere: 6 Mar 2009 | Finale: 8 Apr 2009 | Weekdays, 17h00
Season 5 (25 episodes)
Channel: SABC3 | Premiere: 2 Oct 1999 | Finale: 15 Apr 2000 | Saturdays, 19h00
Channel: M-Net Series | Premiere: 11 Nov 2007 | Finale: 27 Apr 2008 | Sundays, 21h00
Season 6 (24 episodes)
Channel: SABC3 | Premiere: 16 Oct 2000 | Finale: 26 Mar 2001 | Mondays, 19h00
Channel: M-Net Series | Premiere: 11 Jan 2009 | Finale: 21 Jun 2009 | Sundays, 23h00