Viewers are not accustomed to finding programs of this caliber on Fox, and they certainly will not expect it right after the tawdry "Melrose Place." But make the effort. You'll be glad you did. [11 Sept 1994, p.TV-17]

In less capable hands, the show might have turned into a far-fetched teen fantasy about life without parental restrictions...Here, it is a touching and finely crafted exploration of what it means to grow up without either the rules or the loving guidance of parents. [10 Sept 1994]

The best, warmest, most immediately satisfying contemporary family drama since ABC's Life Goes On. May this one have as long a run. It will certainly have as steep an uphill battle. [12 Sept 1994, p.8D]

Party of Five takes a serious and absorbing approach.

Party of Five is easily Fox's best new series this season...The young actors, especially Wolf, give heartfelt performances, and when they talk about their departed parents, the pain comes through. There are some Fox touches -- the knockout new nanny, for one -- but Party of Five is far from being a life-without-parents fantasy. [12 Sept 1994, p.C1]

This melancholy premise results in a rather uncomfortable mix for a coming-of-age show. There's the comedic, with "humor" arising from the family's slobbery dog and the baby's poopy diapers. Then there's the maudlin, with scenes that are summed up by 11-year-old Claudia (Lacey Chabert) early on. [12 Sept 1994, p.27]

This new Fox drama is all about the cloyingly sensitive, a treatment of innocence and loss that is over-the-top contrite. Indeed, a pinch of corrosive cynicism might have rescued the total undertaking from the terminally coy. Instead, we get ever more labored business. [12 Sept 1994]