ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 4, 1996 TAG: 9612040017
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KEN PARISH PERKINS FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM
Sleepless nights are few for Christopher Keyser nowadays.
It seems that ``Party of Five'' is doing fine now that it is safe from the network executioners, at least for the moment. Fox just ordered three fresh episodes for this season to bring the total to a fully stocked 25.
It's atypical terrain for this low-key, third-year drama, which has made a habit of languishing, as industry jargon would have it, ``on the bubble,'' one capable of bursting at season's end.
``There are never guarantees, but you can say we're feeling pretty positive, at least with the way things have progressed,'' says Keyser, the show's co-executive producer.
Keyser and his partner, Amy Lippman, have avoided the producer's snake pit of spreading themselves too thin with other projects and perhaps risking focus of ``Party of Five,'' which appears to be humming along with a balanced tone and pace.
Airing at 9 p.m. Wednesdays on Fox, ``Party of Five'' has always been something of an unusual effort. Much of family life on prime-time entertainment relies on patriarch-matriarch guidance, but ``Party of Five'' wiped that out from the get-go. An automobile accident orphaned the five siblings of the Salinger clan and that left their fates locked airtight in one another.
As the story lines attest, working problems out hasn't always been easy. The first season focused largely on the family coping with grief. Last season, it featured a slew of selfish exploits; it seems that everyone wanted their own space. Problems weren't always solved nice and tidy. The death of the parents was no longer the central issue.
``We always said we would move away from that, and we have,'' Keyser says. ``It's not that we forget those who die; but we do move on with our lives. Depending on the episode, it matters more than others. Maybe that's why some think we should talk more about the parents while others think we discuss them too much.''
Whether such an audience split has something to do with the show's modest ratings is questionable, but there are certainly enough theories to go around: That it has an hour-long format, considered risky except for the occasional crime or medical drama; and that stories often unfold gradually, lives intersect in myriad ways, and lessons are sometimes asked to be consumed.
There are no car crashes and few one-line zingers (unless you count Claudia's ever-increasing annoyances), but the show is not (yet) of the saccharine nature of a ``7th Heaven'' or ``Second Noah.'' If anything, it's closer to the long-gone ABC series ``Family.''
Also amazing is that ``Party of Five'' is on Fox, the network known for ``Melrose Place'' and other hormonal programming. But judging by Internet buzz, some watchers have found this season's under-the-sheets adventures of Scott Wolf's Bailey and Neve Campbell's Julia to be nothing more than cheesy ratings schemes.
``That's not true,'' Keyser says. ``Some characters are that way, some not. Charlie's (Matthew Fox's) current relationship is about friendship, Julia is dealing with a situation where sex has not come up. Bailey, who has never been driven by that, didn't have sex once last season.''
Keyser also wants to squelch the rumor that Fox is pressuring them to ``sex up'' the show.
``If you look at an entire season, you'll see that this show is more about relationships, not sex,'' Keyser says. ``That's always been the crux of the show. How the family deals with one another without the guidance of their parents. How they deal with others.''
But Keyser admits to network skittishness concerning the depression story line with Kirsten (Paula Devicq), who earlier this season was sent packing to psychiatric counseling and then to her parents' care in Chicago.
In the episode ``Desperate Measures,'' airing Dec. 11, the relationship is revisited when Charlie, despondent over the anniversary of the day they were to marry, rushes off to Chicago to see her.
Keyser insists that audiences haven't found the story line a turn-off, despite an attempt to depict the clinical side of the illness.
``Depression is prevalent in the world,'' Keyser says. ``What has happened with the Kirsten character is actually a natural outgrowth of where they were. Yes, it's a little dark. A little down. And it's a gamble. We just hope it pays off.''
Gambles are nothing new for ``Party of Five.'' There's the Julia pregnancy, abortion attempt and miscarriage (the fact that she got pregnant in the first place was a big deal) and there were undoubtedly both adolescent and adult shrieks during this past week's episode, when high-schooler Sarah (Jennifer Love Hewitt) strolled up to Bailey, placed her right hand on his chest, and purred, ``I want to sleep with you make love with you.''
Next on the ``Party of Five'' plate is Charlie's latest galpal, Grace (Tamara Taylor), who is black. Sadly but hardly startling, interracial romance remains an oh-no issue in prime time television.
But Keyser says: ``That's certainly not something we'll run from. We're still working on that story line. What happens, happens.''
LENGTH: Medium: 91 linesby CNB