Dorky, annoying, entertaining and addictive: it was sometime during the second season, I think, when my future wife happened upon Party of Five, a show that exemplifies all the above adjectives like no other. It's the lesser of Beverly Hills 90210, I thought then, usually shutting down mentally or leaving the room when it came on. Then, in Season Three, Bailey got drunk.

It was during the youngest Salinger's birthday party, and Bailey was blasted, dressed as a clown, punching people out - possibly one of the ten best moments in TV history. Now that classic scene and many others are all back for fans and faithful to relive - no more advertisement riddled reruns on the CW, just Char, Bay, O, Jule, Griffin and the rest. At first I thought it would seem funny and quaint looking back on the Salingers a decade later, and it is; it's so much more, too. But even before the joy of experiencing their glorious messes all over again, the old questions immediately popped back up; why can't they ever say each other's full names? And more importantly, why do they talk like that?

For those who never watched, the Party in question is the five Salinger kids, the orphaned San Francisco brood that lose their restaurateur parents to a car accident. Eldest son Charlie (Matthew Fox) is just old enough to keep the restaurant going while shepherding his siblings through life and avoiding protective custody battles. Lucky thing too, because all of them, including Charlie, are the most narcissistic, oblivious and self-centered kids you've ever met, constantly creating problems for themselves because they refuse to budge one inch from their own little needs, or to stop yammering for a second in order to hear what their friends or relatives are saying. Of course in that sense it's all very realistic, as most kids are like that - even ones of junior college age like second-oldest son Bailey (Scott Wolf).

Despite the unreal nature of their circumstance, the Party of Five kids' problems are very real. A few tent-pole dramatic arcs prop up the series (Bailey's alcoholism, Kirsten's PHD depression debacle, and in later seasons a cancer scare) but mostly the concerns are: who has a boyfriend, who has been dumped, who hates school, who has a worthless but beguiling boyfriend (Neve Campbell's screen-love Jeremy London) who can barely talk (Owen) and the like. It's all just a step above (or below depending on your opinion) daytime Soap Opera fare, but writ large and in earnest for the teenybopper set. Which is not to say the PO5 appeal isn't more broadly based. From Bailey's Bozo-boozing to when the Moby song Porcelain began tolling the series' death-knell, PO5 was an Event on my couch, with the clarion guitar-jangle of the theme song giving reason - for another week - to jump up and cheer (usually with beer in hand - it's that kind of show).

At times intensely annoying, and then endearing, each character's pull is still strong, though now on DVD you can plow through three episodes a night or more, it doesn't mean you won't be just as compelled to hasten through each messy melodrama, relishing the absurd levels of self-absorption that seem so silly from the couch, but on a primitive, teenage level, ring absolutely true. If only they ... didn't have to TALK ... like that. You know? But ... really ... you don't know! That's the best I can do in typeface to mimic the inappropriately halting, gasping/grasping speech-patterns, full of inexplicable updrafts and odd emphases that each and every actor managed to perfect, for what purpose we may never know, other than to add another maddening level of push-pull compulsion to the show.

Looking at the Season 3 box, it's easy to intuit the PO5 target audience - two nominally dreamy guys (plus London, not on box) and four teenage girls stare out at you. Teenage girls are meant to identify with girly struggles while dreamingly gazing at Wolf and Fox. Viewing boyfriends fare much better with Campbell, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Paula Devicq, (and a manly plotline here and there) but ultimately PO5 is a girl's show with strong guilty-pleasure-appeal for the gents. Often silly, with a huge 'talk back at the screen' component, PO5 in intimate scale runs circles around 90210. If you like your teeny bathos frothy, irritating, lunatic and lovable, Party of Five is absolutely for you. By Season Three Party of Five is running on full steam, confident and crazy, so rent or grab this set (depending on your fandom level) and start popping the PO5 pill. You'll be glad - and feel guilty - that you did.

The DVD

Video:
All 25(!) episodes from Season 3 are presented in fullscreen, 1.33:1 ratio. Packaging indicates the episodes were mastered in high definition, though their appearance does not measure up to TV releases of more recent vintage. One would think source material from 1996 could stand up, but I found the images to be a bit grainy, and sub-par as far as compression goes, with hints of wateriness (not all parts of the image tracking equally) that is disappointing. I'm sure some of it can be accounted for by my less than state-of-the-art setup, (1080p LCD and standard DVD player with S-Video cable) but the look of these episodes doesn't compare with plenty of other DVDs from older sources.

Sound:
No complaints in the audio department, with English Dolby Digital Stereo Audio delivering each strangled soliloquy with delightful clarity.

Extras:
In much the same way the continued absence of The Night Gallery: Season Two makes TV on DVD fans wonder, PO5 fans will ask, what up wit' da extras? What we get are two Minisodes, that is, four-minute long excerpts from an episode of Silver Spoons and The Facts of Life, respectively, and three other standard TV on DVD Previews. That's it. Also curious to me are the menus. Episode Selections are available, as are chapter stops for each episode, but menus for those chapter stops are not available. And why present navigation menus in widescreen format when the show is in fullscreen? It's the details that separate a quality product from a money-grubbing rush-job.

Final Thoughts:
Party of Five: The Complete Third Season slaps ya with almost 20 solid hours of Salinger clan drama (that's 25 complete episodes - ahh the good old days). From teenage angst to serious adult problems, it's all there in uber-irritating, but oh-so-delicious fashion. If you enjoy your drama on the 'melo' side, with lots of broken and re-broken hearts and young beautiful kids acting in tragically fun, self-centered ways, then Party of Five is for you. A substandard mastering job, lack of extras, and a few other minor complaints make this a troubling package, save for the divinity that is the show itself, so collectors; proceed with caution. On the other hand, reliving the PO5 experience for me is every bit as entertaining as it was the first time - and no commercials! Recommended.

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