"Party of Five" creators Amy Lippman and Chris Keyser are rocketing to the top of Scott Bairstow fans A-list. They just couldn't let him go after pulling "Significant Others". Lippman and Keyser cast him as Ned, Julia Salinger's new college boyfriend. In true "Po5" fashion, there will be a long hard road to happiness. (Wonder if Amy secretly has a crush on Scott?)

It's rumored that Scott will be in every episode this season. That's great news to Bairstow fans. No more waiting for Lifetime to show "There Was A Little Boy", to catch a glimpse of our favorite actor.

The story behind Ned...

He entered the season as the longtime boyfriend of Maggie, Julia's new roommate. Ned and Maggie had been together since high school. The couple were definitely intimate and not shy about it. The first 3 episodes shown Scott loitering in Maggie and Julia's dorm room wearing only a towel or his boxers.

Julia has sparked the interest of Josh, another new guy on campus. She flakes and tells Josh that Ned is her boyfriend to avoid any advances from Josh. In the lobby of their dorm Ned, Maggie and Julia are studying. Josh confronts Ned and Maggie who he's seen kissing. He tells Julia that her boyfriend is cheating on her. In a very comical he said, she said, they all learn that Julia has told a white lie. Ned and Josh end up in a scuffle over Maggie's honor. Later, Ned is the brotherly shoulder to Julia as she explains her white lie was told in her nervousness about seeing Josh. In that conversation Julia reveals to Ned that she's married. WOW! What a surprise. Ned then hints that he and Maggie may not be as blissfully happy as they appear. He says there are no surprises in their relationship.

Ned has a secret crush on Julia. Funny things start happening to her. She gets encrypted but sweet e-mail while studying in the library. Then someone has accessed Julia's PC and completed her bibliography. Maggie and Julia determine that it must have been Josh, Ned disagrees.

In the stacks studying, Ned breaks to listen to Julia rant about her inability to date because of her lingering issues over Griffin. Ned's advice is that she should just kiss someone and get it over with. Ned takes matters into his own hands and gives Julia a very tender kiss.

We next see Julia and Ned nervous at what has occurred between them. They agree that it was a terrible mistake and that it should never happen again. Ned then adds that he can't get his mind off Julia. In a round about way, she says that she's been thinking of him also. They sit in the stacks and discuss how nice it would have been if they'd both been unattached to begin with. Ned says things don't always start out perfectly but that he'll stay away if that's what she wishes. She says, that she really wants to see him.

It's parents' week at Stanford. Julia forgets that she promised to be home to see Joe who's coming for a visit. She invites Ned to come along. He begs off, saying he's rewarding himself with a John Woo film. At dinner, Griffin corrects that the Woo film is the following week. Has Ned lied? Julia goes back to Stanford that night and shows up at Ned's door to ask for an explanation. Ned is uneasy about her there. A woman calls from in the room, asking who it is. Ned sheepishly says, "I'd like you to meet my parents." Julia is cool under the circumstances. His parents have obviously heard all about her and are eager to meet her. Julia learns from Ned's father that he has an autistic brother. Julia is annoyed that Ned has kept all this from her. He looks as if he's been whipped. They meet up in the hall and he appologizes. Julia accuses him of being ashamed of his brother. Ned explains that it is his parents that are the trouble and invites her to dinner, saying it will explain a lot. Julia, Ned and his parents go to dinner and we learn that Ned's father is unbearable. He is a famous heart surgeon who has placed all his hopes on Ned since the autistic brother Richie isn't going to follow in his fathers footsteps. Over dinner Ned's father berates him about his grades as Ned gets drunk. Later Ned and Julia talk, revealing that Ned is planning self sabotage to punish his father. Julia tells Ned that they should break up now because his parents really like her and it seems inevitable that he'll dump her just to get back at his father. He asks her not to give up on him just yet.

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