Sometimes, all Jennifer Love Hewitt needed growing up was a good script and her alter-ego Sarah to get by.
"Really, truly, I would have been a different teenager without Sarah in my life," says the actress playing the girl-next-door for five seasons on "Party of Five" and now on the spin-off "Time of Your Life" (8 p.m. MST Wednesdays on Fox).
"It sounds weird, but she has been my best friend growing up. I learned a lot of valuable things from her when I really needed them, being a teenager, being on TV, going through all the things that teenagers go through.
"I really feel like she has been a true blessing in my life."
The troubled Sarah, who had the guts to move across country to the Big Apple while searching for her father, has inspired Hewitt through the years. Sarah is brave, vulnerable and "perky" — a term Hewitt often hears applied to herself.
"Don't think I didn't keep scripts and turn back to them when I had conversations with . . . friends. It's like, 'Can I call you right back?' (and then I'd) go to Page 67 of Episode 13 (to see) what Sarah would do.
"My friends would kill me if they knew how many times I threw out dialogue to them from 'Party of Five' to get myself out of a situation. Sarah is my best friend. Actors have it so easy. We can just draw on things. It's great."
Keeping Sarah close has never been a problem for Hewitt. Making sure she remained on the air is another issue altogether. When Hewitt was cast as Sarah Merrin on "Party of Five," as the love interest for Scott Wolf's character, she was only slated for a short run. With her doe eyes and warm demeanor, Sarah caught the eye of more than just the guy next door.
"Sarah was supposed to be nine episodes on a show called 'Party of Five' that I had only seen half an episode of and thought that was great," Hewitt says during a telephone interview. "I had worked with Scott Wolf when I was 12, and I thought I would be there for nine episodes, and that was it.
"When it got picked up, they asked me to stay on for another 13 (episodes), and I thought it was only going to be 13, and then they asked me to do another season, so it keeps going and going."
In 1999, Hewitt, whose popularity grew with such feature films as "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and with a pop album, was given a series, spinning Sarah off on a search for her biological father.
"Time of Your Life" hasn't won the critical appeal of "Party" but has a loyal following. Fall pre-emptions have worked against the one-hour drama finding an audience, Hewitt said. The show was taken off the air a few months ago but returns on Wednesdays for nine uninterrupted weeks, with hopes that it can find a larger audience. Hewitt says this will give her series a chance to shine.
The show's opener has Sarah reconnecting with old flame Spencer and discovering more about what makes him tick. Romance may spark again for them as the series progresses, a Fox official said.
In Wednesday's episode, "Time of Your Life" will take a shocking turn when a cast member is murdered.
With a renewed approach to her series, Hewitt remains faithful to the tube, and network politics didn't sour her on the experience.
"I love working on television. I think it's a good place to be at my age," says the 21-year-old Texas native. "For nine months out of the year, you are guaranteed to be at home, at your house, in your room, with your friends and you can have sort of a normal life.
"Television is a great way to play one person and play them with as many emotions for as long as you can. It's a great learning experience for me."