Life After Jacob's Foot: You Gotta Watch Party Down

There's finally some competition for HBO's Entourage. Unfortunately, it looks like it'll be canceled before anyone can be aware of this really funny show I only discovered because Kristen Bell made a guest appearance. The show is Party Down and it airs on Starz and, if you subscribe to Netflix, Starz allows Party Down to stream on Netflix's instantly watch. I don't subscribe to Netflix but figured that piece of news could be helpful to anyone interested after reading this.

Back in the day, according to Hitfix.com's TV guy Alan Sepinwall, four men went to HBO to pitch a television series about a group of Hollywood hopefuls experience just how hard it is to break into the business. The four men: John Enbom, Rob Thomas, Dan Etheridge and Paul Rudd (yes the actor Paul Rudd); however, to make a long story short, HBO passed on the series and, instead, greenlighted Entourage. Entourage is a vastly different kind of story about actors in Hollywood because the boys of Entourage mostly have everything handed to them and do surprisingly little amount of work, even Drama who seemed to have all the time in a world despite being a main character on a network drama. I digress. Starz eventually greenlighted Party Down. Before late Saturday night, I had no idea Starz engaged in television development but it was a good surprise because cable is, more and more, becoming the place where quality television is.

Prior to viewing my first Party Down episode, I had no idea what to expect. Would I be lost and out of touch with the narrative? Do I just fast-forward to Kristen Bell parts because I heard she was really really? To answer both: I was neither lost nor out of touch with the narrative. And I did not fast-forward. I'm glad I didn't because the show is pretty awesome and funny.

Party Down focuses on a small catering company. There's a group of people who all have Hollywood aspirations. There's Henry, the commercial wonder who has failed to become the next Pacino, portrayed by Adam Scott who everyone knows from Step Brothers but is most beloved for his time on Boy Meets World as Harley's replacement, Griff. Lizzy Caplan portrays Casey, an aspiring actress who has a romantic history with Henry. Ken Marino portrays Ron Donald, a hard-luck-sometimes-aloof-goofball. He's one of the greatest characters in the series. Ken Marino co-wrote Role Models and appears in it. He also portrayed the professor who is romantically interested in Joey Potter in Dawson's Creek. Ryan Hansen, of Veronica Mars fame for his character Dick Casablancas, portrays pretty boy Kyle. He and another character, Roman (played by Martin Starr), usually are involved in something silly. Also every actor basically, besides Adam Scott, appeared in Veronica Mars.

I'm not sure how good that summary I've just written is. The biggest thing I can say for the show is that it's really, really funny. It's witty. It doesn't take itself too seriously. The show also keeps the integrity of individual characters and never makes the mistake of turning them into a cartoon or a caricature. The writing is tremendous. The acting is outstanding and the guest actors who appear are out of this world. The first season featured Jane Lynch and Ken Jeong among others. J.K. Simmons shows up and he's almost as good as Jeremy Piven's Ari Gold.

In the end, a comedy is about making you laugh, right? No show has made me laugh like Party Down since Arrested Development ended in 2006. You won't regret the 30 minutes you spent watching an episode. The show barely averages 130,000 viewers. The actors are leaving for better opportunities: Jane Lynch for Glee, Ken Jeong for Community etc. If it lucks out for a season three pickup then I can only imagine it'd be the last of it. I recommend watching the Sweet Sixteen Party episode from season one if you're interested or just start at the beginning if you can.

I also know the mere fact that I'm recommending the show means there is a chance people will actively avoid watching the show.

Also, Entourage and Party Down really shouldn't be compared. Despite the essential story that drives the two shows, they are very different. I don't want to take anything away from Entourage because I've mostly enjoyed my Entourage experience. They've had hiccups but the first two seasons of the show are terrific and Ari Gold is just awesome.

If you have Netflix, you can stream episodes. I obviously am not concerned with watching the series in order. If all episodes aren't available, just watch anyway. The episodes are also OnDemand if you have Starz.

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