How does the saying go? Ain’t no party like a Party Down party, because a Party Down party don’t…stop? This week’s news that Party Down wouldn’t be back for a third season wasn’t exactly unexpected, but it hurt just the same.
While watching the first episode of Party Down, I immediately thought of the first time I saw the BBC original of The Office. It was a show that came out of nowhere, was perfectly cast and was relatively unknown to mainstream audiences (and coincidentally also only lasted for two miniature-sized seasons). Most importantly, the fans who got it really got it. Now that Party Down has been officially cancelled by Starz—who, despite everything, should be commended for even taking a chance on such a left-field premise—and nearly half of the cast has already moved on to other projects, I can only hope that, like The Office, the cast and crew involved with Party Down will go on to even greater success as a result.
In the meantime, for anyone who hasn’t yet seen Party Down, here are ten of my favorite moments—and trust me, there are so many more—from the short-lived series:
1. “Are we having fun yet?”
The series kicks off when Henry (Adam Scott), a once-promising young actor who’d peaked with his gig as the face of a beer commercial uttering that vacuous phrase, comes back to the Party Down team thanks to old buddy and team leader Ron (Ken Marino). Try as he might to leave his showbiz past behind him, he gets recognized over and over as “the guy from the beer commercial” and coerced into uttering it ad infinitum. It doesn’t seem to bother him as much as one might expect, but it clearly rattles around in his head as he just tries to get by tending the Party Down bar. In fact, it’s Henry’s less-than-optimistic attitude about acting again that serves as the perfect counterweight to everyone else’s soaring ambitions, and by the end of the series, even comes full circle.
2. The Pancake Lady
There’s really no other way to put it…I’m a little sweet on Lizzy Caplan, so seeing her as Casey, a young comedian who’s struggling to get her career on track (and not just another love interest who takes the brunt of laughs at her expense), was a welcome casting choice. While Roman (Martin Starr) pines for her from a distance, she finds more than meets the eye with new guy Henry, and after an intimate encounter that was only so-so, she warns him that she doesn’t want to be the not-really-proverbial “pancake lady” as a way to fend off any more superficial romps. Both acerbic and assertive, Casey wants more out of life than working as a caterer and seizes opportunities whenever she can, even when she has to decide between Party Down and pursuing her career. While the other female stars might get the bigger laughs with their antics, my hat’s off to Caplan for keeping Casey grounded and real.
3. Roman vs. Kyle
With both ends of the spectrum—cerebral screenwriter Roman and handsome actor/model/singer/dude Kyle (Ryan Hansen)—working side by side, sparks are bound to start flying. Of course, having such a fiery ongoing rivalry/friendship often provides the biggest laughs. Watch how they both take each other to school in the same scene:
4. Ron the Hero
When the Party Down crew works a private investors dinner, something begins to smell fishy about the whole deal. Between serving guests and talking up high-dollar propositions, the gang figure out that the whole event is a ruse set up by the dodgy host to clean out the wealthy guests for all their worth. Of course, they find out just moments after Ron decides to write a check for his entire savings. When Ron confronts the host and the man pulls a gun on him, he laughs it off as the Baretta prop that we’d seen Roman playing around with earlier—until said prop shows up moments later. Let’s just say that the choice of khaki pants couldn’t hide Ron’s embarrassing “fight or flight” response.
5. Ron’s “members only” member
In the middle of the Sin Say Shun Awards after party, Ron gets whisked away to a back room where a sleazy porn producer—who’d casually scoped out Ron’s junk in the men’s room—propositions him with the opportunity to star in a Korean “film” and make some big bucks. But first, Ron has to whip it out so the guy can get a better look and make sure he’s the real deal, all the while random partygoers stumble into said back room to witness it. It’s never really clear whether it’s all a set up for Ron’s ultimate humiliation or his Dirk Diggler “bright shining star” moment…until Casey walks in and sees more than she (or we) had bargained for.
6. Jackal Onassis is a real guy
Season 2 started off with the some new faces, but the most surprising new face wasn’t even on the Party Down team. While working the backstage of a Jackal Onassis concert, Roman and Henry discover that Jackal (Jimmi Simpson) has had enough of the rock star lifestyle and just wants to be normal. Roman volunteers to trade places with him for the night and while Jackal gets to relax tending bar, the arrangement doesn’t work out for Roman like he’d hoped.
7. Roman’s “hard sci-fi” boner
Making the smartest character on the show also most socially inept isn’t necessarily new, but Roman takes nerdy awkwardness to brutal new depths, especially when he quizzes George Takei about the Vulcan mindmeld in the men’s room or when he discovers a porn starlet’s definition of sci-fi: “Dragons are fantasy. If there’s magical talismans or a magic sword or wizards or fucking crazy not-real animals…. all these basic things that break laws of reality: that shit’s all fantasy. I’m into hard sci-fi. Fantasy is bullshit.”
Watch what happens when Roman mistakes a partygoer (Daniel Franzese) for a brainless jock:
8. Leonard puts his money where his mouth is
In his second guest appearance as Leonard the Big-Time Hollywood Producer, J.K. Simmons continues his streak of obscenity-laced grumpiness but now has to deal with being put on the spot for a school auction. The results? Let’s just say he didn’t go home any happier than when he arrived.
9. Lydia, meet Ron
After Ron inadvertently leans against a counter and gets frosting on his pants, he sees Lydia eying him from a distance. She doesn’t say anything and soon enough, Ron takes his misinterpretation a little too far. Fortunately, Lydia is prepared for such an occasion.
10. Kyle’s struggle
Seriously…just listen.
If you’ve never seen Party Down, you can still catch both seasons on Netflix Instant Watch or on Starz throughout the month of July, or you can always pick up Season 1 on DVD (Season 2 available September 28). For those of you who have, what are some of your favorite Party Down moments?
UPDATE: It looks like Starz has now pulled down both seasons of Party Down from Netflix Instant Watch. Season 1 is still available to rent on DVD, but Season 2 won’t be available until the DVD release in September.