In the past, watching Starz for its original programming was kind of like going to Thirsty Turtle to admire the decor. It was the poor man’s version of HBO — instead of The Sopranos, there was the Crash TV series. Instead of The Wire, you have the current 300-lite Spartacus: Blood and Sand.
If HBO was the cool kid, Starz was the one with the horn-rimmed glasses and the booger leaking out of his nose. If HBO was filet mignon, Starz was pizza from The Diner.
But somehow, buried beneath constant re-airs of movies — all new enough to be recognizable but bad enough to be skippable — and the muck of most of its original shows, something on Starz manages to stand out.
As of 10 p.m. last Friday, Party Down returned for a second season.
Never heard of it? Understandable. Party Down follows the adventures of the titular catering group in Los Angeles, made up of actors, writers and comedians trying to break into the industry.
The general idea isn’t terribly new or complex, and many sitcom tropes are covered. For instance, the awkward on-and-off relationship between Henry (Adam Scott, Leap Year) and Casey (Lizzy Caplan, Hot Tub Time Machine) figures heavily into the show’s overall arc.
But the cast is so uniformly strong that, at worst, every line is sold convincingly. Scott and Caplan are surrounded by a who’s who of comedic character actors: Martin Starr (The Invention of Lying) plays a pitch-perfect Roman, the caustic sci-fi writer; Christopher Mintz-Plasse, McLovin himself, is his writing partner; and Ken Marino (Californication) plays the comparatively ambitious team leader Ron. Before leaving the show to star on Glee, Jane Lynch played the part of Constance, although she is set to guest star in another episode of Party Down later this season.
And because the show generally follows a party-of-the-week structure, a fantastic group of guest stars cycle in and out every episode. The always-reliable J.K. Simmons (Crazy on the Outside) appears as an extremely foul-mouthed movie producer; Kristen Bell (When in Rome) works as an icy rival caterer; and George Takei (Heroes) makes an earnest appearance as himself.
Because of the star power, the energy in each episode is routinely off the charts. Party Down‘s humor is largely character-based, giving the actors the opportunity to let the jokes come from the people they so realistically portray, rather than off-handed sight gags or other lazy jokes. It reaches the point where any actor on the show can get a great laugh with an otherwise pedestrian line of dialogue.
All the guest stars have to do is add fuel to the fire.
The fact that the company, its characters and the world around it are so well-established bodes well for the show’s indeterminate future. Provided Party Down does get picked up for future seasons, it would be easy for characters — even those at the core of the show — to cycle in and out of episodes.
When Lynch left, she was handily replaced by Jennifer Coolidge (The Secret Life of the American Teenager) and then Megan Mullally (Fame), both capable actresses who were able to pick up comedically right where Lynch left off.
All these actors — starring and guest starring — will continue to expand the world in which the show takes place, and they can gradually start making their way back into guest-starring roles. Bell is already slated to return, as is Simmons.
It’s an exciting possibility. Maybe Party Down will get renewed for a third season — even though the second is still in its infancy — and more actors can join, leave and return at the best possible times. Rest assured, it’ll be funny throughout.
If only it were on a different channel.
jwolper@umdbk.com
