The Salinger siblings are all grown up.
25 years ago, Party of Five premiered on Fox, introducing viewers to a family of five siblings moving on after their parents’ tragic death in car accident. In an era where Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place were dominating the airwaves and headlines, a family drama about orphans—that also tackled serious issues like drunk driving, substance abuse and cancer—wasn’t exactly what the network initially had in mind when they approached co-creators Christopher Keyser and Amy Lippman about creating a show for them.
“‘Kids, living on their own! Having fun! No parents! Woo-hoo!’ And we thought, ‘This is a really depressing concept,'” Lippman told Vulture. “We should mine how difficult that would be in reality. It wouldn’t be a lark. It would be about being thrust into the adult world prematurely.”
And yet…viewers fell deeply in love with the Salingers, with all four stars—Matthew Fox, Scott Wolf, Neve Campbell and Lacey Chabert—becoming inadvertent teen idols, along with Jennifer Love Hewitt, who joined the cast in season two in what was initially supposed to be a small role.
Over the years, the co-creators and cast have dished out behind-the-scenes tidbits about the iconic series, which ran from 1994-2000 and is staging a revival for a whole new generation.
Wolf, who became one of the biggest TV heartthrobs in the ’90s thanks to the show, romanced one of his co-stars, while another was nursing a major crush on him. And JLH had quite the impressive string of boyfriends in the late ’90s, including a Boy Meets World star.
Plus, another star had their first kiss on the show, while a major A-lister made their on-screen debut in a very small role on Party of Five…
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