‘Party of Five,’ a few ‘Liars’ make return on Freeform
PASADENA, Calif. — Cable’s Freeform will introduce two familiar titles this year with a “Pretty Little Liars” spinoff and a reboot of the 1994-2000 Fox drama “Party of Five.”
In the original “Party of Five,” a family of five siblings carried on after the deaths of their parents. In this new iteration, the parents aren’t dead; they’re deported to Mexico, leaving the five Buendias children to survive on their own.
An emotional scene in the pilot at an immigration detention center shows the children having to say farewell to their parents.
“You have to stay together no matter what happens,” the mother tells her kids.
“I’m super-proud we’re bringing this show to our air at this moment in our society,” said Freeform president Tom Ascheim.
The showrunners of the original series, Amy Lippman and Chris Keyser, are back for this new series, joined by co-executive producer Michal Zebede.
“As we began to see the way the political climate of the world is and began to see stories like this on the front page of every newspaper, we began to realize what we had imagined as a family of orphans 25 years ago had transmogrified into a family of kids living without their parents in a very real way,” said Ms. Lippman, who was born in Pittsburgh but relocated as a small child.
And while the show shares a title with the original and the character types of the five kids line up (the oldest son is irresponsible; the youngest daughter is smart and precocious), the trauma they face is significantly different.
“In the original ‘Party of Five’, those dead parents stayed dead for six years,” Ms. Lippman said. “One of the things that excited us about doing the show now is the parents are a factor.”
The children will have contact with their parents via Skype, may meet them at the border to see each other through a border fence, etc.
“It’s about grief in a slightly different way,” Mr. Keyser added. “What is lost is not gone forever. It’s got potential somewhere just outside your reach.”
Ms. Lippman said the goal is to make the show different and yet include the occasional Easter egg: One scene in the pilot echoes a scene from the original “Party of Five” pilot.
Ms. Lippman said the plan is not to go into the series with a strong political agenda but to reflect the reality of the situations for families in similar situations.
“Right now our goal is to say: What do these people experience?” she said. “You can judge for yourself if it’s unfair, whether the choices they need to make are unfair. … We just want to say: What is the experience like for these families?”
Before “Party of Five” airs, Freeform will launch “Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists” (8 p.m. March 20). The 10-episode first season takes “PLL” characters Alison (Sasha Pieterse) and Mona (Janel Parrish) and moves them to Beacon Heights, Ore., where new troubles bubble up from a group of college friends and a murder that closes out the premiere episode.
“Perfectionists” executive producer I. Marlene King said transplanting the Alison character opens up new story and character avenues to explore.
“Watching her transformation and shining a light on Alison’s transformation, [viewers see her go] from mean girl to mentor,” Ms. King said. “She is no more of a leader for the youth in our show than ever. She was a leader before [on the original ‘PLL’], but I’d say with a negative influence.”
Freeform renewed freshman drama “Good Trouble” for a second season and will bring back college-set “grown-ish” for its junior year.
Freeform’s “Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger” returns for its second season at 8 p.m. April 4, followed the next week by season three of “The Bold Type” (8 p.m. April 9).
Freeform announced upcoming comedy “Besties” will star Jordin Sparks (“American Idol”) as an overachiever from an African-American home who learns her birth mother is actually white. The series will co-star Matt Shively (“The Real O’Neals”).