Official Synopsis:
This season presents a whole new set of life-changing and soul-searching moments. Some of the emotional roller-coaster issues include the unpleasant consequences of Kristin losing her Ph.D. after plagiarizing; Charlie’s realization that the good old days of high school might have been more old than good; and Julia dealing with her guilt after a friend’s suicide. In addition, Claudia authorizes a $3,000 plumbing repair, and the family bands together to help Bailey confront his drinking problem.

Party of Five: The Complete Third Season episodes include:

Summer Fun, Summer Not

Life’s Too Short
Going, Going, Gone

Significant Others
Short Cuts

I Declare
Deal With It

Misery Loves Company
Mixed Signals

M.Y.O.B.
Going Home

Point of No Return
Personal Demons

The Intervention
Not So Fast

Hitting Bottom
Gimme Shelter

Leap of Faith
Close to You

Promises Promises
I Do A Little

Faith
Desperate Measure

You Win Some, You Lose Some
Christmas

  
Our Take:
Never having been a Party of Five fan when the show was on, I didn’t really have any expectations going into this review. It wasn’t that I disliked the show, I just never watched a single episode. But despite not having any expectations, I got pretty much exactly what I expected with Party of Five: The Complete Third Season. Beneath the obviously Photoshopped cover of the DVD set lies 25 overwrought, angsty slices of soap opera pie. It’s not a bad show, nor is it a great one, and all the usual issues are there: drinking, relationship troubles, plagiarism (okay, that’s a new one), death, denial, sex, and living with overly precocious children.

The show is fairly well acted, if a bit overdone sometimes. You can’t argue that, for a series filled with unknowns at the time of its debut, Party of Five did launch some notable careers, including Matthew Fox, Scott Wolf (Wolf & Fox? Come on, tell me that wasn’t done on purpose.), Jennifer Love Hewitt, Neve Campbell, and Lacey Chabert. Of those, Matthew Fox and Jennifer Love Hewitt are clearly still going the strongest, but this is a show that definitely launched some careers, largely due to its extremely devoted fan base.

Unfortunately for those fans, there are no real extra features on this DVD set, except for a few advertisements for other Sony TV-on-DVD releases couched in the form of “minisodes.” They are:

* Silver Spoons – Boys Will Be Boys.
* The Facts of Life – And Into the Frying Pan.

Party of Five: The Complete Third Season is a solid year of a decently solid show, and while I can see why fans were so into its soap opera goings-on, it doesn’t really do all that much for me. Younger fans of One Tree Hill or Gossip Girl may want to go back and check out one of those show’s stylistic predecessors, though.

Overall Picture:
Show: C
DVD: C

- Mike Spring
Editor