The revivals just keep on coming! Freeform has given a put pilot commitment to a Party of Five reboot but it will be an immigration-themed revival of the popular 1990s family drama revolving around Mexican-American siblings. The new series comes from the original creators of the show, Chris Keyser & Amy Lippman.
The reboot will follow the five Buendias children as they navigate daily life struggles to survive as a family unit after their parents are suddenly deported back to Mexico. The original revolved around the five Salinger siblings who become orphans after their parents are killed in a car accident caused by a drunk driver.
The original series, which starred Scott Wolf, Matthew Fox, Neve Campbell, and Lacey Chabert as the older Salinger siblings, ran for six seasons on Fox and spawned a short-lived 1999 spinoff, Time of Your Life, toplined by Party of Five co-star Jennifer Love Hewitt. It was a Golden Globe success story, struggling in the ratings early in its run until winning a Globe for best drama series in its second season when its popularity significantly increased.
The reboot was shopped to FOX who was interested but they had a similar show in development already which is why it was then shopped to Freeform. For those who don’t what a put pilot is, it is a pilot that the network has agreed to air either as a special or series. If the network does not air the pilot episode, the network will owe substantial monetary penalties to the studio. Generally, this guarantees that the pilot will be picked up by the network.
