A new Starz sitcom from Rob Thomas (who earlier created “Cupid” and “Veronica Mars”), “Party Down” follows a group of caterers who aspire to jobs in which they won’t have to wear humiliating pink bowties for $14 a night.
It stars actors who had recurring roles on “Veronica Mars” (Ryan Hanson, Ken Marino) and actors who worked on Judd Apatow projects (Adam Scott, Lizzy Caplan, Jane Lynch and Martin Starr).
Thomas wrote the pilot alongside fellow “Mars” vets John Enbom, Dan Etheridge and Paul Rudd. Yes, that Paul Rudd; the “I Love You, Man” star played a rocker on the final season of “Mars.” The pilot, if I remember correctly, was shot on the cheap in Thomas’ home.
The new series does not start anywhere near as strongly as did “Cupid” and “Mars.” I warmed to the Scott and Caplan characters but found the other regulars – all played by actors I hugely admire – mostly an annoyance.
But why take my word? If you have a computer you can see the censored version right now:
… a smart, affable, mostly unpredictable ensemble comedy that reminds us that in the 500-channel universe, fine things can happen in unlikely places, as long as you are clever about budget, commit to a sensible number of episodes -- in this case 10 -- write well and cast right, and that what matters ultimately to heaven is not the eminence of the venue but the quality of the work. …
… part of the charm of this frequently deft series about the employees of an L.A. catering firm is that some of the characters are too dense or too innately optimistic to understand that they’re probably never going to make it. There is bitterness aplenty, but “Party Down” didn’t create these characters simply to mock them. There is also bittersweet sadness lurking behind these droll, incisive portraits of failure and self-deception. …
… only intermittently inspires a good time. … "Party Down" can't decide if it wants to be smart-funny or dumb-funny. Maybe if it does, the party will truly begin.
… a warmed-over buffet of bite-sized moments, mostly devoid of flavor. … There's no shortage of comedy with a semi-improvised flair trafficking in detached irony, but by the end of three catered affairs, I felt every bit as bored and blase about life as Henry.
… Lurking behind the surface of this raucous comedy is an astute meditation on the promise and peril of leading an unconventional life, something about which aspiring actors know a thing or two.
