In the world of premium cable, most half-hour comedies — like Showtime's "Weeds" and "United States of Tara," or HBO's "Hung" and "How to Make It In America" — tend to not elicit many laughs out loud, instead choosing to simply tell more grounded, melodramatic or serious stories in a shorter format. On the other hand, "Party Down," Starz's first original effort, delivers laughs in spades and became the funniest show on TV last year. The show launched its anticipated second season last week.
The series follows one branch of Party Down Catering, a company that serves the Los Angeles area. Each team member is either a Hollywood hopeful or a never-was disillusioned by the punishing system of the entertainment industry. Anchoring the hilarious ensemble is Adam Scott as Henry Pollard, who had a glimpse of stardom when he coined an obnoxious catchphrase in a beer ad. As season two bows, he has to swallow his cynicism in his new role as the new catering team leader.
His job is to rein in the outsized characters on his team. Kyle (Ryan Hansen), a dim, blond model-actor-singer is often at odds with Roman (Martin Starr), a droll aspiring screenwriter who only writes "hard sci-fi." Ron (Ken Marino), the deluded former team leader, begs his way back onto the team, and Casey (Lizzy Caplan), a comedian whose past romantic history with Henry elevates the general awkwardness. Lydia (Megan Mullally), an air-headed stage mother, rounds out the group.
Mullally is a new addition to the cast this season, filling the hole left by Jane Lynch, who had to bow out to pursue her breakout role on "Glee." Lynch, whose recent success is wholly deserved, turned in great work last year as the wacky former actress Constance and left big shoes for Mullally to fill. In the season premiere, Lydia still has not fully gelled with the ensemble.
The greatest strength of "Party Down" is the chemistry of the strong ensemble of underrated comedy actors, culled from many diverse corners of Hollywood. The season premiere, "Jackal Onassis Backstage Party," spent too much time laying new narrative groundwork to adequately feature characters like Kyle and Ron, but when the show runs on all cylinders, every member of the cast feels vital. It remains to be seen whether Mullally will be able to integrate herself as well as Lynch or Jennifer Coolidge, Lynch's temporary season-one replacement.
"Party Down" comes from three writers who worked on "Veronica Mars" (2004-2007) and the actor Paul Rudd. Together, the creators have enough cache to score the show a host of excellent guest stars who invariably play personalities at the weekly parties that the team caters. Standout performances from the first season include those from Coolidge, Kristen Bell, JK Simmons and Steven Weber. The new batch of episodes will feature the returns of Bell and Simmons, as well as Steve Guttenberg and a one-episode reprise for Lynch.
Taking a page from the Judd Apatow school of comedy — which launched Starr and Lynch — the tone of "Party Down" is laid-back and sarcastic, with dialogue that sounds like it could have been improvised (even though it usually isn't). The writers have a lot of fun with the inherent bitterness of the main characters, and they're not afraid to offer further punishment. However, the show never fails to offer big laughs. In "Jackal Onassis Backstage Party," Roman and a Marilyn Manson-esque rock star switch places for a night, and the sight of the gangly Starr toppling over in Goth getup is undeniably riotous.
Critics who have seen the rest of Season 2 agree that "Jackal Onassis" is perhaps the weakest of the new set of episodes. If that is true, there remains little doubt that "Party Down" will continue its reign as one of TV's very best comedies on any network.
Though there certainly aren't many college students who pay the premium price for Starz, the network has several episodes from the new season streaming for free at Starz.com and on Netflix Instant as soon as or even before episodes air. It's a great opportunity to glimpse one of TV's hidden gems.
