Party of Five Information

Party of Five is an American teen and family drama television series created for Freeform by Amy Lippman and Christopher Keyser, based on the 1994 Fox series of the same name. The series is produced by Sony Pictures Television, with Lippman, Keyser, and Rodrigo Garca serving as executive producers.

The series stars Brandon Larracuente, Emily Tosta, Niko Guardado, and Elle Paris Legaspi as four of the five Acosta children who must navigate daily struggles after their parents are deported back to Mexico. By September 2017, Lippman and Keyser were developing a reboot of their television series Party of Five. The series received a put pilot commitment at Freeform in January 2018, with a pilot ordered in January 2018. Larracuente, Tosta, Guardado, and Legaspi were cast in October 2018, and the series was officially ordered by Freeform in February 2019.

Party of Five premiered on January 8, 2020, and its first season will consist of 10 episodes.

Premise

The series follows the five Acosta children as they navigate daily struggles after their parents are deported back to Mexico. Until they find a way to get their parents back in the country, these five kids will have to find a way to make it on their own.

Cast and characters

Main

• Brandon Larracuente as Emilio Acosta: An aspiring musician and the eldest sibling of the family. He is based on Charlie Salinger.
• Niko Guardado as Beto Acosta: The second oldest brother of the family. He is based on Bailey Salinger.
• Emily Tosta as Lucia Acosta: A straight-A student and Beto's twin sibling. She is based on Julia Salinger.
• Elle Paris Legaspi as Valentina Acosta: The precocious and resourceful youngest sister. She is based on Claudia Salinger.

Recurring

• Bruno Bichir as Javier Acosta, father of Emilio, Lucia, Beto, Valentina and Rafael.
• Fernanda Urrejola as Gloria Acosta, mother of Emilio, Lucia, Beto, Valentina and Rafael.
• Garcia as Matthew, an undocumented young man that Val and Lucia meet at church
• Sol Rodrguez as Natalia, the Acosta's new babysitter.
• Elizabeth Grullon as Sully, an activist that crosses paths with Lucia.
• Amanda Arcuri as Vanessa, a psychology graduate student and love interest for Emilio. She works at the restaurant as a hostess.
• Mann Alfonso as Oscar, a worker at the Acosta's restaurant.

Guest starring

• Jessica Lord as Alice, a young mother.
• Audrey Gerthoffer as Ella, Beto's love interest

Episodes

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|ShortSummary    = Javier and Gloria Acosta, the owners of a restaurant in Los Angeles, are arrested by ICE and taken to a detention center due to not having proper documentation. Their children, Emilio, Beto, Lucia and Valentina, struggle to take care of each other and their baby brother Rafael while managing the restaurant. Emilio, who left home and is now in a band, barely comes around, while Beto and Lucia have trouble in school. Emilio finds out and hires a lawyer to help the family, but they are unable to prevent their parents' deportation. After Lucia throws a wild party, Emilio decides to come home and eventually run the restaurant.
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|ShortSummary    = The Acosta children struggle to manage without their parents. Lucia begins hanging out with others who have lost their families, alienating her friends. Beto struggles in physics class, and Lucia decides to give him the answers to his next test. When she is held up, he fails. She attempts to persuade his teacher to let him pass, but the teacher refuses. Meanwhile, Valentina prays for things to get better, and later finds a roll of cash in the house, and asks to go on a trip to Mexico to see their parents. Emilio refuses, and starts to distrust Oscar at work, as his father has noticed some money going missing after Oscar locks up. After Oscar quits over this, Gloria tells him that she was taking the money, causing Emilio to apologize to Oscar. Emilio and Vanessa hook up, while Lucia and Valentina meet Matthew, an undocumented immigrant, at the church. However, he rejects Lucia, stating she does not understand him, as he has no family.
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|ShortSummary    = Beto becomes disgusted when he discovers Emilio and Vanessa are hooking up, and tries  to win her over. Valentina becomes more upset over their parents not checking in as often. An earthquake in Mexico knocks out the grid, taking out their parents' phone service and Internet, limiting communications with their children, though their father still calls the restaurant several times. Emilio discovers that the restaurant's liquor licenses is in the name of another man, who they owe money to, and ends the arrangement. Lucia tries to hire Matthew as a dishwasher after one of their employees is deported, but he is rejected for not having ID. After illegally obtaining a social security number, he is hired. Valentina skips school to check in with their parents. After a false tip is called in that ICE is coming, Emilio and Javier get in a fight over how Emilio believes other people are manipulating them, and how his father does not trust him to run the restaurant, as well as his relationship with Vanessa. After a talk with Vanessa, Emilio and Beto call Javier and Gloria respectively, Emilio telling his father that he needs some freedom to do things his way, while Beto tells his mother to be less present so Valentina will not be as dependent on her.
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|ShortSummary    = Emilio and Vanessa make their relationship exclusive. The restaurant is offered to cater a party. Emilio decides to do it, despite none of his siblings agreeing. Beto changes his opinion after meeting the employers granddaughter, Ella, who he develops an attraction to. Lucia and Valentina cook together, and Lucia becomes angry when Valentina implies she is becoming like their mother, before she is forced to leave to help cater. When a mariachi band does not arrive, Emilio is forced to play music in a costume, to Lucia's disapproval. Lucia talks down a man whose car was accidentally damaged by the van she forgot to park correctly by giving him their tip, to Emilio's disapproval. Beto and Ella become closer, but after they are caught making out, her father demands Emilio fire Beto. Emilio refuses, shutting down the party, and later admits to Beto they would have made more money at the restaurant. At home Valentina calls their mother and sees that she has some relationship with the daughter of the family she is a nanny for. When Beto and Lucia return, Valentina is upset about them leaving, and Lucia admits she does not want to be like their mother. Emilio tells Vanessa he wants to one day have more than just the restaurant, and does not know if their relationship can last. Beto and Ella begin a relationship.
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Production

Development

In September 2017, it was reported that Christopher Keyser and Amy Lippman were developing a reboot of their 1994 Fox series Party of Five for Sony Pictures Television. In January 2018, Freeform landed the reboot with a put pilot commitment, to be written by original series creators Keyser and Lippman, alongside Michal Zebede with Rodrigo Garca signed on to direct and executive produce the pilot. The series follows siblings who must take care of themselves after their parents are deported back to Mexico. Freeform officially ordered the series to pilot in September 2018, and the show was officially picked up to series on February 4, 2019.

Casting

In October 2018, Brandon Larracuente was cast as Emilio Buenda, Emily Tosta as Lucia Buenda, Niko Guardado as Beto Buenda, and Elle Paris Legaspi as Valentina Buenda The family name was later changed from Buenda to Acosta.

Filming

Filming took place in Santa Clarita, California. Production was briefly halted in October 2019 due to the California wildfires.

Release

The series premiered on January 8, 2020, and its first season will consist of 10 episodes.

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 96% based on 23 reviews, with an average rating of 7.46/10. The website's critical consensus states, "With a strong cast and empathetic storytelling, Party of Five timely reinvention adds a new layer of urgency while still honoring the original series." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 77 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Ratings