Party Down: A Premium Comedy

Starz new comedy “Party Down” has been a lot of fun, despite my initial worries about it being yet another show about show business. But the show, which revolves around a crew of a catering company who all have other aspirations (or once had them, in one case), nicely reflects the outer edges of the Hollywood dream. Meaning: you might as well not be having one. There’s a little talk about audtions and scripts but very little about showbiz egos, power or anything of that sort.

The amazing cast helps a lot here to including the State’s Ken Marino as Ron, a former druggie now cleaned-up and responsible for managing the employees. Even his aspiration to be a franchise owner of a all-you-can-eat soup and salad restaurant seems as far away as selling a script or getting a role. Also a part of the crew is Jane Lynch who has pretty much stolen scene from every great comedy from the past five years.

Plus, being on the premium cable channel Starz, they can get away with a bit more than your network sitcoms. But there’s a slight test of that tonight as the show tilts into risky territory with the grew catering the after party for a porn industry award show. A real danger for cheap gags ahead there.

Despite advertising they can’t show you much of this episode in their own promos, Starz seems to have no problem throwing a lot of it up on the old YouTube. This clip below made me think they might avoid those traps. It’s the aforementioned Ron getting asked about becoming a porn star because of his large penis, but the producer is played as more of an investor than a sleazeball.