Oh the sweet joys of the food service industry - refuge of the talentless, the undiscovered and countless hopeless burnouts on the way down to rock bottom. There’s no feeling quite like supporting yourself through a questionable career choice such as acting (or in my case fronting a fairly unsuccessful indie rock band) while at the same time having your self-respect trampled on by assholes so successful that they can afford to have somebody else cook their food for them. I can’t imagine anywhere this lifestyle could be more prevalent than in Los Angeles where waiting and bartending are two of the most typical ways to earn rent money while waiting for a big break to come along or lamenting the one that got away.
Party Down is populated by a bunch of just such people, almost all of them aspiring to Hollywood stardom and success or facing the cold reality that it might never happen. The series follows a team of party caterers, slinging ‘derves and pouring shots at a different event each episode, finding themselves swept up by ridiculous events that surround the successful people they are working for. The team are led by Ron Donald (Ken Marino) a charmingly naïve and under confident ex-substance abuser who is the only one of the group who aspires to succeed in the catering industry rather than outside of it. While dreaming of owning his own franchise of a soup restaurant, it is his responsibility to co-ordinate the reluctant minimum-wage efforts of employees who all have dreams or memories of something greater. Kasey Clein (Lizzy Caplan) is the stand-up comedian who waits for her big break in the movies. At the start of the series she is amidst a divorce from a husband who sadly doesn’t share her cautious hopes that success could be around the corner. Kyle Bradway (Ryan Hansen) is the model/actor/singer who genuinely believes it is only a matter of time before his multiple talents are discovered, his good looks giving him a sense of optimism wildly greater than his abilities deserve. Roman DeBeers (played by Martin Starr of Freaks And Geeks) is a sci-fi nerd and screenwriter constantly critical of the idiocy of everyone else around him and perplexed by the fact that his genius is woefully unappreciated. These hopefuls are joined by Constance Carmell (Jane Lynch) who is the group’s oldest member having enjoyed a long and relatively fruitless career in Hollywood, although if nothing else she has collected an endless series of anecdotes about the stars she has worked with. Henry Pollard (Adam Scott) is the protagonist of the show, down on his luck with crumpled shirt and beaten-up BMW, recognised frequently for his one famous line “Are we having fun yet?” so delightfully at odds with his cloudy demeanour. Reprising his role as bartender after a short sweet taste of success he is at odds himself with the boundless optimism of everyone else he works with, chewed up and spit out by the Hollywood star machine, defeated and sedated by prescription painkillers to dull the ache of being frequently recognised as “that guy” from the beer advert which was his only bitter taste of success.
The varied events that the team cater see them involving themselves in other peoples affairs, generally more interested in mingling with the actors, producers, pornstars, musicians, athletes and other affluent clients than serving them food and drink. The large egos and ambitious nature of many of the employees make it hard for them to see themselves as waiters and bartenders despite what it might say on their payslip, to the constant frustration of team-leader Ron. The show was created by a team including Veronica Mars writer Rob Thomas, himself clearly acutely familiar with the ups and downs of an aspiring screenwriter and musician, director Bryan Gordon who worked on one of my all time favourite shows Freaks And Geeks, and funny guy Paul Rudd who also must share a lot in common with many of the shows characters, especially stand-up comedienne Casey Klein with her hopes pinned on being discovered for her role in a Judd Apatow film. The interactions of a group who largely consider themselves above “ordinary fucking people” and yet find themselves consistently put down by those in positions they aspire to all feel deeply realistic while at the same time ridiculous enough for some very funny situations to arise.
The first series sees the team catering for a variety of clients, from suburban home-owners to young conservatives to porn stars, a movie producer and a bunch of murderous Russian gangsters who turn out to be admiring yet terrifying fans of the team’s acting. Each episode is beautifully set up, with the punch-lines not always obvious from the outset and yet deftly achieved. Poor Ron is subject to frequent humiliation and while it is probably no fun for him it is hilarious to see this nervous sweet-natured man coerced into auditioning for porn or pissing his trousers at the wrong end of a handgun. The will-they-won’t-they ups and downs of Henry and Casey drive the show’s overall plot through both seasons although not overwhelmingly so while the bickering and one-upmanship of Roman and Kyle provides plenty of laughs with Roman constantly jealous of Kyle’s ease with the opposite sex. Nerdy Roman’s complete lack of success with women is quite remarkable, even completely unable to get laid when he trades places with jaded rockstar Jackal Onassis at a backstage party. It’s a shame that Jane Lynch leaves towards the end of the first series (due to joining the cast of Glee) as her trademark glib attitude and larger than life personality are a joy to watch but her place is filled extremely well by Megan Mulally as Lydia Dunfree, a recent divorcee who has moved to LA hoping to achieve stardom for her bizarrely named 13-year-old daughter Escapade. In the show’s final episode the two eventually meet, with the show poking fun at itself as Lydia introduces herself to Constance as “her replacement”. The final episode is fantastic, with the comic interplay of the characters at an all-time high, perhaps thanks to Ken Marino turning his hand to directing and few moments in the show found me unable to suppress my laughter as much as Kyle’s band Karma Rocket performing their song “My Struggle” that accidentally references the holocaust to a room full of shocked and appalled Jews.
As is so often the way Party Down was cancelled despite critical acclaim. Thankfully the second season ends in such a way as to tie up many of the loose ends and for the most part the characters find themselves in a much happier position than they began. There is sporadic talk of a Party Down film in development, although much like the often discussed Arrested Development movie, it seems to be as much fan conjecture as solid fact. I for one truly hope it comes about, as Party Down is one struggling star that really deserves greater success. I may not hold my breath for a movie to materialise but in any case I highly recommend getting your teeth into the show’s bittersweet canapés of hilarity.