If you've been following the romance of Kirsten (Paula Devicq) and Charlie (Matthew Fox) on "Par-ty of Five," you'll be happy to know that the couple is still together as the show kicks off its third season tonight (8 p.m., Ch. 13).
But how long they'll stay together is another question.Devicq has only been signed for the first six episodes of the upcoming season. And after that, who knows?
"With my character, you never really know what's going to happen. . . . I don't know. Nobody knows," Devicq said. "We'll see what happens."
What won't happen is a wedding. As the season opens, Charlie and Kirsten are happily living together with no plans for marriage.
And what executive producers Christopher Keyser and Amy Lipp-man have in store for Kirsten, Devicq isn't exactly sure. She isn't even sure she'll be around after the first six episodes - although that's certainly a possibility.
"My character's always been that way - `We're going to give her this. Maybe she'll have more. Maybe not,' " Devicq said. "So I've always been in it with the attitude - great. I love what they're giving me. I'm going to do my best at that. Then, at that point, we'll see what gets thrown my way. You sort of just have to go with it."
Kirsten first appeared on "Party of Five" as the nanny for the youngest of the "Party of Five" children. She arrived on the scene shortly after the Salinger parents were killed by a drunken driver and the five children, who ranged in age from 18-month-old Owen to 24-year-old Charlie - who quickly became involved with Kirsten.
But, from the beginning, Devicq's role was somewhat indefinite. She was originally signed to appear in six of the first 13 episode and ended up doing eight of those episodes. When "Party" was picked up for nine more shows, she appeared in all of those.
The second season, Devicq was signed for just the first 13 episodes. The storyline built toward a November wedding for Charlie and Kirsten - a wedding that didn't happen when Charlie got cold feet and left Kirsten standing at the altar. After a couple more episodes, it appeared that Kirsten and Devicq had been written out for good.
"I knew she was coming back at the end of the season. I just didn't know for what," Devicq said.
As it turned out, Kirsten was on the verge of marrying another man - actually standing outside the church in her wedding gown - when Charlie talked her out of it. (Which led to a wonderful line for Kirsten - "Always a bride, never a bride.")
It was while filming those episode that Keyser and Lippman had a "great meeting" with Devicq.
"That's when Chris and Amy told me that they planned on having Kirsten back for some (episodes) at the beginning of this season. And I said, `That's great,' " Devicq said.
She did have some concerns, however.
"I told them that I care so much about this show that I hope that whatever they come up with for Charlie and Kirsten that it's new and that it's fresh and it's not based on whether they're going to stay together or not," she said. "Because I felt that they did that really well in the second season. And Chris and Amy totally agreed."
And, as the season opens, Kirsten has quite a different problem to deal with when her mother (Kathleen Noone) shows up with some startling news.
"Kirsten is dealing with a huge issue at the beginning of this season. And it's not about her being the role model or her being the person everyone goes to," Devicq said. "She does go through something that's completely separate from the family."
But whether that storyline - and her character's story arc - will wrap up after the six episodes she's currently contracted for, Devicq just isn't sure.
"I don't know exactly. There's always been the possibility of my character coming back," she said.
In the meantime, she's looking around for other parts.
"I had a couple of offers, television-wise, but I didn't think it was the right thing to do," Devicq said. "And I really want to concentrate on film right now, because I think this is the time in my career that that's where my focus should be."
She's currently reading scripts and auditioning for parts - not that Devicq is planning to turn her back on "Party of Five."
"I mean, I really love doing television and I love doing `Party of Five,' and I'll do it for as long as I can because it's great," she said.
OTHER "PARTY" NOTES: When "Party of Five" returns tonight, the other family members also have plenty going on:
- Claudia (Lacey Chabert) returns from summer camp with a boyfriend.
- Julia (Neve Campbell), having broken up with Justin, gets involved once again with Griffin (Jeremy London).
- And Bailey (Scott Wolf) starts college - after heading off on an ill-fated trip to Mexico with best friend Will (Scott Grimes).
WHY? There's another Fox season premiere tonight - "Beverly Hills, 90210" returns for its seventh season (7 p.m., Ch. 13).
The question is - why?
This show ran out of creative gas years ago. Like about three years ago.
And not just because most of the characters have run out of other characters to sleep with, so they've had to start over again. It's repetitive, boring and irrelevant.
It's too late for "90210" to go out with some dignity. It should just go.
NEW BOSS: KSTU-Ch. 13 has a new vice president and general manager - Glenn "Duffy" Dyer, who comes to Utah after having spent the last year as both acting general manager of the Fox-owned station in Denver and vice president of programming for the Fox-owned station in Washington, D.C.
Dyer, who takes over immediately, replaces the recently departed Steve Carlston.
And Dyer is no stranger to KSTU, having been part of the team who helped put that station on the air back in 1978.