quote:

Originally posted by 24fanatic:
The only solid nominees in Comedy Series this year are: The Office, 30 Rock, & Two and a Half Men. There can definitely be a case made for Party Down getting in up against Entourage, Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, Flight of the Concords, Californication, and a lot of other contenders. HOWEVER, voters need to be able to see the series in order for it to get in via the popular vote...

So. Much. WORD. At least I'm not alone in the wilderness on this. :-)

I wrote:

quote:

Next week, Jennifer Coolidge (!) joins the cast,

I have a feeling we're gonna lose Jane Lynch for the final 2 episodes; I think Fox needed her for the Glee pilot and that's what she was shooting. Bummer deluxe for us, since she's been really, really good - great for Glee.

Made official today by Starz; they're back.

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Starz has given a second season pickup to its half-hour laffer "Party Down."

Pay cabler's sibling production/ distribution arm Starz Media will produce another 10 episodes of the single-camera series, which comes from creator Rob Thomas.

Back for season two are stars Ken Marino, Adam Scott (who will now also serve as a producer), Martin Starr, Ryan Hansen and Lizzy Caplan. Jane Lynch is committed to Fox's "Glee" and so far is not signed on for the next round of "Party," but Starz is holding out hope that the actress can return in some capacity.

"Party Down" centers on wannabe Hollywood players making ends meet by working for a catering company. Thomas exec produces with John Enbom, Paul Rudd and Dan Etheridge.

Fred Savage is also back to direct the series, along with Bryan Gordon, and both serve as supervising producers. Marino is also set to helm an episode.

"Party Down" airs its season one finale Friday. Starz programming exec veep Stephan Shelanski said the premium cabler wanted to send a message by renewing the show before its first season wrapped.

"This is an indication of how strongly we see the show," he said. "It's something we're really proud of."

"Party Down" is part of Starz's recent push into the original series arena, which includes the drama "Crash" and comedy "Head Case."

"Party Down" will likely return to production in late summer, with a return airdate sometime in 2010. Shelanski said the cabler is still ironing out its programming for next year, with an eye toward filling the Friday night 10 p.m. slot with originals year-round.

"We feel we're on plan," he said. "We have a continual growth model in place in terms of our original strategy. Hopefully we can accelerate that and bring on more new shows."

And the PD bandwagon welcomes WHYY radio in Philly (NPR) to the expanding rooting section:

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When I first moved out to Los Angeles, a friend joked that the city's motto should be, "But really I'm" - as in, "I work as a waiter, but really I'm an actor," or "I may be selling you jeans, but really I'm writing a script." Of course, most Angelenos actually don't have aspirations to show biz, but hundreds of thousands do dream of hitting it big even as they do jobs that feel small.

Theirs is the world of Party Down, a comedy series on Starz that might be the love child of Ricky Gervais and Judd Apatow. It's about Hollywood fringesters who work for a catering company called Party Down, and each half-hour episode takes place entirely at one of the events where they're serving - everything from high school reunions and porn-awards parties to ceremonies for a college conservative caucus.

We meet the Party Down team through the watchful eyes of its new bartender, Henry, played by Adam Scott, who looks like a flattened out version of Tom Cruise. Henry's a washed-out actor whose great claim to fame is a beer commercial where he says, "Are we having fun yet?" - a line superbly deployed throughout the series. Henry's instantly drawn to Casey, a struggling comedian played with enormous verbal brio by Lizzy Caplan, an actress who I find uncommonly fetching. Henry and Casey are the sharp ones along with Roman - that's the reliably acerbic Martin Starr - a wannabe screenwriter who loves sci-fi and yearns to get laid.

The other three are sweetly dim dreamers. There's the catering team leader Ron - played with manic desperation by Ken Marino - who dreams of opening a soup franchise restaurant. There's the ****y-but-sweet actor Kyle - that's Ryan Hansen, who has a delightfully easy style. And then there's Constance, a fading bit player who still talks about working with Jan Michael Vincent - she's played by Jane Lynch, one of our great comic treasures.

The show's backdrop changes from week to week. What's always the same are these six characters, who inhabit a sitcom riff on a Beckett universe where everyone is always at work and waiting for the break that will spring them from limbo. Until that happens, they swap stories and hook up, malinger and badmouth their clients.

When I first saw Party Down I thought the idea was better than the execution. Like many shows, it took a few episodes to hit its stride. Now, the show is genuinely funny and filled with terrific writing, as in the great scene when Roman blows his chances with a sci-fi loving porn actress named Cramzy because she likes the wrong kind of science-fiction, or the recent episode when Russian gangsters treat the Party Down team as celebrities, because Eastern Europe is one place where they actually show the straight-to-video movies and TV shows that actors like Kyle and Constance have been in.

The whiff of failure makes Party Down the flip side of that other Hollywood series, Entourage, whose ordinary guys get to live large - cool cars, hot chicks, fancy restaurants. Where that fizzy HBO series was an almost perfect expression of a bubble economy, Party Down seems just right for an economic downturn in which people still harbor oversized American dreams but know they need a job to survive. And though the show has fun with the characters' foibles and limitations - they're all slightly deformed by their ambitions - it avoids what we might call Day of the Locust Syndrome. It doesn't look at them as Little People or treat them with fear and disdain. It's affectionate.

Everything turns around Henry, who, as episodes spin out of control, remains the show's still center. Beautifully underplayed by Scott, he reveals himself in bone dry quips and almost imperceptible inner crumples that betray his mortified sense of his place in the world. Alone of the six, Henry has abandoned his hopes of the bigtime, but what's great is that this has made him humane, not cynical: Even when his coworkers are being foolish, he never looks down on their dreams. Wised up and sad, he's Party Down's hero and melancholy heart. He knows that he's not an actor. He really is a bartender.

Jumping the gun >>> jumping the shark, I say. :-)

Episode 9: James Rolf High School 20th Reunion

Sometimes working for a boss has him mandating your presence at an event you really don't want to attend. Ron plays that card here, at his high school reunion, eager to show his former classmates he's not the drunken waste of space he used to be. As Ron will learn, though, some things are easier said than done.

Next week, the season finale, and the first appearance of Hollywood's most diehard Detroit Red Wings fan on broadcast TV since her character's demise last December led to a fan exodus from a show that lost almost 30% of its viewers after she was killed off.

Absolutely kickass tonight. This is Ken Marino's Emmy submission tape for best comedy actor. He hit all the right notes, and this was a great showcase for him. If I endured what he did, with a rare chance for a happy ending for him, to find someone who loved him get faked out the way he did, I'd probably go off the deep end, too). But she got hers, didn't she, at the end? Loved the Casey-Henry dynamic even moreso as the end draws near. Lizzy Caplan is a revelation.

And Kristen mudder-effin' Bell is waiting in the bullpen for next Friday night, like Brad Lidge in Game 5 of last year's World Series, ready to bring down the curtain on a great season. I believe this is one of the five best comedies on television today. And premium cable's best half-hour, period, head and shoulders over Entourage and CYE.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: PaulHan,

Looks like K-Bell's got 2 Emmy submission tapes to send to the Academy - hopefully for 'It's Coming' from Heroes and the Party Down season finale next week. FEEL the snark!

Just saw Episode 9 and loved it! I love all the familiar faces that pop up on this show. It was great to see Molly Parker and Joe Lo Truglio (who I just watched last night in the film Role Models with Jane Lynch and Ken Marino). Ken Marino was on fire with his role in this episode! I honestly didn't think he stood a chance at a nomination, but after this episode, I'll have to think again. His character reminds me a lot of Michael Scott on The Office...except, as sad as it is to say, I think Michael gets way more respect from his employees. Jennifer Coolidge was okay tonight, but wasn't as funny as she usually is. I have a bad feeling that the show might replace Jane with Jennifer for next season.

Speaking of Jane, I hope Jane Lynch returns for Season 2. I just read an article about her from the Chicago Tribune in which she says that Party Down has been "the most fun I've had in my life" and that she wishes she can return, but isn't sure yet b/c her schedule is so busy.

As for next week's episode and season finale...I am super excited to see Kristen Bell return to television! I watched the preview clip that PaulHan linked to and thought that Kristen was hilarious! Can't wait!!!

Three more clips of Friday's season finale were released by Starz on their YouTube hub today:

"I got laid 3 weeks ago, so I'm good."

"I'm not *really* this abrasive..."

"If you're not outta my sight in 10 seconds, I will rip your nuts off!"

This message has been edited. Last edited by: PaulHan,

Those clips beforehand? Turns out merely the appetizer. E! somehow got their hands on an even *better* 45-second highlight reel:

"This isn't ****ing baseball, weasel-face, it's catering!"

A poster in the TV without pity forum nailed how much he liked the way Adam Scott played Henry Pollard this season, and I agree with him here:

quote:

One thing that makes this show good also makes it hard to watch. Which is: Henry's failure to achieve his dreams, despite that he probably has the talent to do so, is very identifiable-with! No matter how much we have accomplished, I imagine that for most of us there is something more that we haven't. I can't watch Henry without feeling sad for myself. I guess that's empathy--the writing, and Adam Scott, are so good that I feel Henry's pain. But of course what that really means is that I'm feeling my own pain, since you can't feel somebody else's if you don't know what that feels like.

One of the quality surprises that hardly anyone saw ends its freshman run. For its big-name guest, it marks her return to a premium cable series for the first time in 5 years. At the same time, it will likely double as her final onscreen TV series gig for a while. That’s because she’s got a movie career to nurture and expand.

Episode 10: Stennheiser-Pong Wedding Reception (Season Finale)
Guest star: Kristen Bell
Written by John Enbom; directed by Bryan Gordon

Ron Donald is off the wagon, off the rails. Nice timing, ‘New’, as Party Down will cater the A-list gay wedding of Hollywood super-mogul Barry Stennheiser and fiancé Marty Pong. Sort of; they’re only the back-up to a rival caterer, led by an ex-PD employee and Ron's blood enemy. As his boss’s world implodes, it falls to Henry to keep the team afloat, save Ron’s bacon, and map out if his future includes Casey in it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: PaulHan,

quote:

Originally posted by PaulHan:
For its big-name guest, it marks her return to a premium cable series for the first time in 5 years.

Haha, love the diss at Heroes. "PREMIUM" cable series, haha.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 24fanatic,

Not meant to be a diss; I've always considered HBO, Showtime, CineMax and Starz as premium (as in pay-through-each-nostril) cable channels, vs. network channels like NBC. That was her first premium cable series appearance since Deadwood on HBO 5 years gone.

She got off Heroes just in the nick of time, I will say. The show was better when K-Bell was on it, and is now a shell of itself since she's gone. I railed against her killing-off back then, but it turned out to be a blessing. That's because when Heroes' 4th season will be its last, she escapes being dragged down with it. So much for Bryan Fuller, savior-designate, as his comeback episode 'Cold Snap' now stands as the 2nd-lowest rated episode of the entire series.

Sorry for the digression there; it will be interesting to see how Starz handles the Emmy campaign (hopefully there will be one) for PD. But there was just one lemon in the bunch (Sin-Say-Shun Awards Afterparty). I have rarely been more entertained, or watching the episodes of a show over and over again, than I've had with Party Down. The wait in-between seasons will be BSG-esque, as in excruciating. The comfort? That there will be a second season at all. :-)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: PaulHan,

***** out of 4 stars. This is truly one of the 5 best comedies on TV right now, and I hope against hope Starz goes the full-court press route in telling the Emmy folks, this is a show you cannot do without in as many comedy series categories as possible. Everybody on the cast shined tonight. Series submission for sure; this is also Scott and Caplan's tape as well. Martin Starr was on FIRE

And Kristen Bell...I am in awe. Her movie career is revving up, so this may have been the last time we see her on a regular episode. If this was her TV series coda for now, what a way to go out. Frak any 30 Rock female guest star's turn this past season. KB buried them all with her performance tonight. Give her the Guest Comedy Actress Emmy now and be done with it.

And hand trophies to Adam Scott, Lizzy Caplan, Jane Lynch and Starr while yer at it. You done gods damned good, Rob and John. All of Party Down. I will miss this show like I missed BSG in its half-year to year hiatuses. But we saw as close to comedic perfection here as it gets.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: PaulHan,

I am going to have to disagree with Paulhan pretty much completely on the season ender of "Party Down". I thought it was a surprisingly flat and lifeless episode. Probably the weakest episode since the premiere which was so blah it almost had me not coming back for seconds (luckily I did give more episodes a try since normally I enjoy the hell out of this show). It seemed especially draggy after the non-stop hilarity of the two previous episodes- "James Rolf High School Twentieth Reunion" and the best episode of the season "Celebrate Ricky Sargulesh". Also, as much as I normally kiss Kristen Bell's feet ("Veronica Mars" was my favorite show for most of its run and musical performers always get extra points from me) I found her a bore in this episode. Other actors like Ed Begley Jr. and Steven Weber gave much stronger, more memorable guest performances. Bell made a convincingly humorless person but there was nothing humorous or all that interesting about her character or performance until the very last minute of the episode that played over the credits. The hilarious Jane Lynch was highly missed as Jennifer Coolidge made a lousy, irritating replacement. I am worried Coolidge is replacing Lynch on the show as Lynch has so many upcoming projects. The show will certainly go down a notch in quality without her comic genius.

P.S.
Despite not enjoying the season finale I would highly recommend the show and think it is one of the funnier comedies on TV. If you have a Netflix account it is highly worth your time to stream the episodes on your computer as Starz programming is available on Netflix. I had Starz for a free preview weekend where I saw about half the episodes and watched the rest on Netflix.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: pacinofan,

I heart you, Kristen Bell! I was delighted by her in the season finale, and was surprised -- by the writers, not the infinitely talented Bell -- to get that touch of humanity at the end of the episode.

I'm sort of in-between PaulHan and pacinofan. I laughed some, shrugged some, cringed a little. Shows like this walk a very fine line: if the characters are too pathetic it ceases to be funny. Laughing would make me complicit in the show's bullying (Ron drinking into a stupor in the van). Good thing we had Adam Scott and Lizzy Caplan -- I heart her too -- to keep the episode grounded. I'll agree with pacinofan on one thing, though: Jennifer Coolidge, whom I'm a fan of, hasn't measured up to Jane Lynch.

Personally, I would say the best episode of the season was the J.K. Simmonds Sweet Sixteen episode.

quote:

Originally posted by 742:
I heart you, Kristen Bell! I was delighted by her in the season finale, and was surprised -- by the writers, not the infinitely talented Bell -- to get that touch of humanity at the end of the episode.

I'm sort of in-between PaulHan and pacinofan. I laughed some, shrugged some, cringed a little. Shows like this walk a very fine line: if the characters are too pathetic it ceases to be funny. Laughing would make me complicit in the show's bullying (Ron drinking into a stupor in the van). Good thing we had Adam Scott and Lizzy Caplan -- I heart her too -- to keep the episode grounded. I'll agree with pacinofan on one thing, though: Jennifer Coolidge, whom I'm a fan of, hasn't measured up to Jane Lynch.

Personally, I would say the best episode of the season was the J.K. Simmonds Sweet Sixteen episode.

I heart Adam Scott and especially Lizzie Caplan too and believe they make on of television's best couples at this time.

742, ditto; Coolidge is no Jane Lynch. And it seems like from this interview the Newark Star Ledger's Alan Sepinwall had with Rob Thomas and John Enbom (creator and day-2-day showrunner on PD, respectively) that Fox are just being d!cks about Lynch's availability.

I enjoyed the season finale of Party Down. It wasn't the best episode of the season, but it wasn't the worst either. It did feature standout performances from Adam Scott, Lizzy Caplan, Martin Starr, and a wonderful guest turn by Kristen Bell. I found her to be very hilarious, especially in her opening scene when she stuck out her tongue and in her final minute when she hit on Adam Scott's character. I would definitely like to see her nominated for Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, so here's to the Emmy Gods on making that happen! Jennifer Coolidge isn't cutting it and I'm going to be very disappointed if Jane Lynch, THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS SERIES, can't return for Season 2. As for tape submissions to FYC, I would submit either the Sweet Sixteen, Mobster, or High School Reunion episodes (or all 3!). Tom O'Neil didn't even list Party Down on his list of likely, potential, and non-likely series to be nominated for Best Comedy Series, so that makes me sad.

I would hope that STARZ would send out a big campaign since this is technically their first year competiting for Emmys (with their new series Crash, Head Case, and now Party Down) and given the talent involved with the show (the stars, Paul Rudd, Fred Savage, etc).

I think those hoping for major Emmy nominations for "Party Down" are tilting at windmills. It's not impossible, but it's astronomically improbable that any Emmy voters watch this show, or even know that Starz has original programming. It reminds me of when Showtime started to get into the original series game with shows like "Linc's," "Rude Awakening," and "Beggars and Choosers." That was ten years before the network made a breakthrough in a top series category (with "Dexter").

This year, Starz is just establishing itself as a source for original series, and "Party Down" is the only one people seem to be talking about at all. AMC managed it last year, but "Mad Men" was a critical juggernaut, and it wasn't an obscure subscription-based network like Starz. This network just don't have any heat right now, and it'll need a lot of media support if it hopes to break through in a significant way. Maybe next year will be different, but this year I just don't see it happening.