The producers of “Party of Five” insist they’re not courting controversy despite the fact that their rebooted series is smack in the middle of the debate over illegal immigration.
From 1994-2000, the original “Party of Five” was about the five Salinger siblings — one in his 20s, the other four minors — after they lost their parents in a car accident. The new “Party of Five” (Wednesday, 7 p.m., Freeform) is about the five Acosta siblings, who are left without parents when their mother and father are deported to Mexico.
Original creators/executive producers Amy Lippman and Chris Keyser are back to run the reboot of the show, which they’d been urged to revive for years.
“We waited until there was good reason to do it,” Lippman said — and that turned out to be the “political climate” surrounding immigration. However, she insisted, there is no “strong political agenda” behind the reboot.
It’s about a family separated by immigration laws, it’s not about immigration laws. “You can judge for yourself whether [the parents’ deportation] is unfair,” Lippman said.
“We sure did not make a coherent, large-scale argument about what American immigration policy should be,” Keyser said. “But it does say, ‘Here’s what it feels like to be in this position.’”
They haven’t exactly broken the mold and started over. As was the case in the original, the oldest brother (Brandon Larracuente as Emilio) is the least responsible; the second-oldest brother (Niko Guardado as Beto) is the most nurturing; the older sister (Emily Tosta as Lucia) is dramatic; and the younger sister (Elle Paris Lagaspi as Valentina) is the smartest. And baby brother Rafa ties them all together.
“I think it will be enough for our original fans to recognize the show,” Lippman said. “But we’re not interested in doing the same thing again.”
The parents aren’t altogether gone. They video chat with the kids in every episode. And that changes the “Party of Five” dynamic — as does the fact that Emilio was born in Mexico and his DACA protection could end.
But both shows are about “a group of kids who, at this point in their lives, ought to be thinking about themselves [and] end up having to think about each other and the way families work,” Keyser said.
This is a family drama, not a documentary about immigration. But it may open a few eyes. Lippman said that she was shocked when test audiences questioned why the father didn’t seek citizenship when he crossed the border decades earlier.
“It was such an interesting thing to arise, because there is no path to citizenship when you are illegal,” she said. “I was a little horrified that people didn’t know that, and I was also sort of excited by an opportunity to tell people, ‘This is what it’s like.’
“The opportunity to involve people in a family story and, at the same time, educate them as to what the process is, is really kind of thrilling.”
(Photo courtesy of Sergei Bachlakov/NBC) John Clarence Stewart, Jane Levy and Skylar Astin star in “Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist.”
“Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” (Tuesday, 9 p.m., NBC/Ch. 5) wants to be the next “Glee.” Or “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.” And I wish I could tell you it is, but … it’s not.
Jane Levy (“Suburgatory”) stars as Zoey Clarke, a San Francisco computer coder who is having unexplained headaches. During an MRI, there’s an earthquake, and Jane emerges with the ability to hear people’s inner thoughts expressed in song and dance — in imaginary production numbers. (Covers of old songs; there’s no original music.) She uses this information to help people with their problems.
Levy is engaging and adorable. The cast — which includes Lauren Graham (“Gilmore Girls”) as Zoey’s boss; Peter Gallagher and Mary Steenburgen as her parents; Skylar Astin (“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”) as a co-worker; and Alex Newell (“Glee”) as a neighbor — is great. The San Francisco locations are beautiful. And the musical numbers are fun and highly entertaining.
But when the music stops, the show is … just OK. Unless the writing gets a whole lot better than in the first four episodes previewed for critics, this will be a show to just fast-forward through until the production numbers.
Weirdly enough, after a “preview” on Tuesday, “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” disappears until Sunday, Feb. 16, at 8 p.m., when the first episode repeats in the show’s regular time slot.
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