We’re inundated with so many revivals these days that it’s hard to get excited about any of them, but the return of Party Down warmed my heart… and surprised me a little. The cult comedy about showbiz wannabes moonlighting as LA caterers is one of TV’s greatest short-lived shows, getting the ax from Starz after two low-viewing seasons despite one cruel wit and a cast stacked with future stars. The fact that it’s back with almost all of the original cast intact is a bit of a miracle, and the revival — premiering Friday, Feb. 24 at 9/8c; I saw the first three episodes – recaptured a lot of what was done Party Down very good… although I feel the show’s best days may be behind it.
Season 3 picks up a decade after we last saw the Party Down catering crew, and tireless boss Ron (Ken Marino) is still in business with a new set of young caterers. The old team has mostly moved on to bigger and better things – except for Martin Starr’s “hard sci-fi” writer Roman, who’s older now but no less bitter – and a party in the premiere served as a loving but awkward reunion for former co-workers. After a series of unfortunate disasters, however, some of them were forced to wear pink bow ties and pass out appetizers again. (The story has to jump through a bunch of hoops to get them back to work, but we never mind as long as they’re back.)
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Party DownThe unforgiving brand of Hollywood satire is just as well honed, including plenty of meta nods to the idea of reboots and revivals. (The comic book movies take a serious beating here, too, so Marvel fanboys, avert your eyes.) But it’s all sadder and less funny this time around. There’s a different kind of sadness running throughout Season 3, now that the team’s once vibrant showbiz dreams have been dashed by the harsh realities of middle age. The extra years seem to weigh heavily on each character, and as a result, the laughs are harder to come by.
To their credit, the returning cast members quickly return to their old roles, with Adam Scott exercising his usual world-weariness as Henry and Ryan Hansen in fine, dumb form as Kyle. We also get star cameos from the likes of Jennifer Garner, Quinta Brunson and James Marsden, but the new caterers – Tyrel Jackson Williams as an aspiring influencer and Zoe Chao as an avant-garde chef – are absent. It has the same shine as the original. Season 3 gives us the opportunity, however, to appreciate Marino, who is a true unknown gem like Ron: completely clueless, hopelessly hopeless and pathetic. If this season serves as a showcase for Marino’s inspired buffoonery, it’s still worth it.
There’s one major piece missing here, and that’s Lizzy Caplan, who played the snarky comedian Casey during the show’s original run. Casey’s absence makes sense, story-wise – and Caplan is excellent Fleishman is in Trouble, we can forgive him for skipping the revival — but the lack of hipster-Jim-and-Pam workplace romance between Henry and Casey leaves an emotional void that the revival won’t adequately fill. (Henry gets a weird new love interest, I should note.) We also don’t get much of Jane Lynch as Constance and Megan Mullally as Lydia; in one episode, Lynch can only be seen through Zoom, so the reunion isn’t as strong as you might expect. However, I’m happy to stick around for the rest of the party, even if it’s noticeably reduced a bit.
THE TVLINE BOTTOM LINE: Starz’s Party Down revival is not as fun as the original run, but it has a good cast and a lot of satirical bite.
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