Party Down: Season 1 on DVD
Party Down(Starz) Starring Adam Scott; Ryan Hansen; Lizzy Caplan; Ken Marino; Martin Starr; Jane Lynch; Jennifer Coolidge; Ken Jeong
Now available on DVD, season 1 of Party Down,a Starz original comedy series from Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas and several other Mars writer/producers (the team also includes Fred Savage and Paul Rudd). The show is based on a group of aspiring Hollywood types who work for the Party Down catering company and shares tonal similarities with programs like The Office and Freaks and Geeks (on which several Party cast members appeared). Though clunky in places from a production standpoint, Party Downis well cast, written, and acted. Adam Scott stars as Henry, who, within the reality of the show, is well known for appearing in a series of beer commercials in which he uttered a famous catch phrase. Having recently decided to quit acting, he is depressed and disaffected, trying to quell his pain with booze, prescription meds, and cigarettes. Hired as a bartender by old friend Ron (Ken Marino), the ineffectual manager of the operation, he takes an instant liking to co-worker Casey (Lizzy Caplan), a struggling comedian. The other staffers include nerdy would-be screenwriter Roman (Martin Starr); vacuous actor Kyle (Ryan Hansen); and rommates Constance (Jane Lynch) and Bobbie (Jennifer Coolidge), two washed up middle-aged actresses who can’t let go. Ken Jeong plays owner Alan Duk. Jeong; Lynch; Coolidge; and Starr are well-known to TV and film comedy fans. Fans of Veronica Mars too will recognize many of these actors from the show, and Kristen Bell even shows up in one episode, playing a Nazi-like boss of a rival company. The show is not laugh out loud funny, and there is nothing groundbreaking here, but this is easily as good or better than most of the so-called comedies on network TV, and in the same ballpark as some of the better offerings on Showtime and HBO.