Despite receiving positive reviews from television critics after its debut, including TV Guide naming it "The Best Show You're Not Watching" in 1995, the series suffered from low ratings during its first and second seasons, during which speculation arose that it would soon be cancelled. However, in 1996, Party of Five won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama, after which ratings and popularity grew for the majority of the remainder of the series. A spin-off starring Hewitt debuted on the network in 1999, Time of Your Life, which was cancelled after one season.
On April 27, 1999, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the season 2 episode "The Wedding", the season 3 episode "Intervention", and the season 4 episode "Richer, Poorer, Sickness, and Health" on VHS.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released all six seasons of Party of Five on DVD in Region 1 between 2004 and 2013.
The show was created by the team of Christopher Keyser and Amy Lippman and produced by Columbia Pictures Television (CPT) and High Productions. CPT would later be folded into Columbia TriStar Domestic Television, which soon afterward became Sony Pictures Television. In March 2009, Sony began streaming the third season of the show on Crackle.
In August 2013, it was announced that Mill Creek Entertainment had acquired the rights to various television series from the Sony Pictures library including Party of Five. They subsequently re-released season 1 on DVD on June 24, 2014 followed by season 2 on January 6, 2015. On January 5, 2016, Mill Creek released a complete series set featuring all six seasons of the series, available together for the first time.
In January 2016, it was announced that Hulu had acquired the rights to every episode of the series.
In January 2018, Freeform ordered a pilot for a reboot of Party of Five, and the new version will feature the Buendias siblings who must take care of themselves after their parents are deported back to Mexico. Keyser and Lippman will executive produce the series with Michal Zebede and Rodrigo García also involved.
