In the Reach of Greatness

Last January I watched the cancelled Starz show "Party Down" when it was still on Netflix. I had heard it was a good show and I watched a few episodes, but I didn't really see why people loved it so much. I watched all twenty episodes, and towards the end of the series, the show did get better. Recently, I finished watching it a second time and I realized that the show was actually borderline brilliant, just short of greatness before it reached its potential.

The show is about a catering team made up of 6 people played by Ken Marino, Adam Scott, Lizzie Kaplan, Ryan Hansen, Martin Starr, and Jane Lynch (who later went on to Glee and was replaced by Megan Mullally). These characters are aspiring musicians, actors, writers, and one who wants to own a soup restaurant. All of them want to make it big, but are stuck at the bottom  serving people who are richer and more successful them (and also obnoxious). They work multiple events, such as a wake, weddings, sweet sixteens, and Steve Guttenberg's birthday (which is probably the best episode).

The show is not always laugh out loud funny like "It's Always Sunny" or "How I Met Your Mother," but the humor lies in the realism of the dialogue. I really recommend it to anyone who likes the actors I listed (especially Jane Lynch and Martin Starr who probably do their best work here).

The show has great guest stars, including Joe Lo Trugglio, J.K. Simmons, George Takei,  and Steve Guttenberg.

Aesthetically, the show is like Arrested Development, with hand held cameras, not always going for super close ups.

Thematically it's about failure and how sometimes not all of us can be successful in life. This theme plays out through all twenty episodes, leading to a very subtlety poignant final scene.

Here's one of my favorite clips showcasing Martin Starr's Roman and Jane Lynch's Constance.

STARZ's "Boss" and "Once Upon A Time"

Consider this a "tip of the hat, wag of the finger" style post.

The tip of the hat goes to "Boss", a new serial on STARZ. The show follows Kelsey Grammer as Tom Kane, a fictional "boss" mayor of Chicago who suffers from a degenerative neurological disorder. Only his physician knows; the rest of his team and family are too busy with their own lives to notice that anything is out of the ordinary.

Everything about this show screams subtlety. The cinematography is simple, but effective; color correction and eye-pleasing special effects don't intend to shock but instead enhance the viewer's understanding of the show. It's really in the acting and the story where the series excels. Kathleen Robertson plays it professional and sexy as Kitty O'Neil, Kane's aide, and Jeff Hephner plays Ben Zajac, Illinois governor hopeful, whose ambition bleeds through his suit so heavily you'd need to run after him with a towel to wipe it all up.

It's a great show with standards that most showrunners live to strive for. It stands in contrast to Once Upon A Time, a show where so many insane things are happening at once that it's hard to keep up with what's what.

Unlike Boss, which relies heavily on the realistic storytelling and minuscule intensity, Once Upon A Time takes no issue with going overboard on the fantastic. The production value in the show is catastrophic. That's not a bad thing; it's just that there's so much of it that it's hard to believe that ABC would let a show like this air. On second thought, they did have Pushing Daisies, which was also a pretty quirky show. So there's that.

But where Once Upon A Time fails is in its story. It's just a mish-mosh of fairy tales spliced together in some hackneyed attempt of a grown-up Disney story, mixed in with a little bit of reality to give the show some backbone. None of the characters have a real third dimension; by that, I mean that they are fully-formed, but not to the degree of absolute completion. It's as if all of the ingredients for a good character are there, but they haven't yet blended together to create that awesome character smoothie that I can easily digest.

And because the writing doesn't quite cut it, the entire show comes across as a lumpy mess of a fantasy series that doesn't quite sit well in my stomach.

I'd recommend both this and Boss anyway, just because it's up to you to decide what you like. And if neither of these shows seems like your cup of tea, there's always NBC Thursdays.

'Party Down': The Little Show That Should've

Back in the late summer of 2010, I discovered the show Party Down as I was lazily flipping through the hundreds of options on my cable provider's OnDemand menu. I recognized Adam Scott from The Aviator and decided to give it a shot. I was addicted instantaneously. I watched all twenty episodes in a matter of a few weeks. After I'd finished with the two short seasons, I went on a search to figure out when I could tune in for the next season. Much to my surprise, I found that Starz had canceled this wonderfully dark and quick-witted comedy.

A little background on Party Down. Premiering in March of 2009, the half-hour show is about a Los Angeles catering team, made up of aspiring actors and writers. Each episode revolves around an event the team is working and the shenanigans each member ends up getting tangled up in. It was created by Rob Thomas (90210), Paul Rudd (I Love You, Man), Dan Etheridge (Biodome), and John Enbom (Veronica Mars). The show was directed by Bryan Gordon (Curb Your Enthusiasm) and Fred Savage (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia). The recurring characters included some recognizable actors:

• Adam Scott, as Henry
  
• Ken Marino (The State), as Ron
  
• Ryan Hansen (Veronica Mars), as Kyle
  
• Martin Starr (Freaks and Geeks), as Roman
  
• Lizzy Caplan (Mean Girls), as Casey
  

With all of these big names associated with the show, it came as quite a shock when Party Down didn't get a chance at a third season. According to this article, the ratings simply were not there. While the show may have had staggering potential, I think there are two main reasons why Party Down never got to come full term: Starz and censorship. Starz is a little-known channel that comes up with very few contending programs in comparison to its ever-growing rivals, HBO and Showtime. The viewership for anything on a channel like Starz is low from the get-go. And Party Down is too graphic for the likes of NBC or FOX, which has to cater to parents' wishes to keep their children naive. We are still living in an time where censorship and media regulation laws rule, often leaving winning shows to die in the outer limits of obscure cable channels.

But there is hope on the horizon! There have been rumors circulating all over the internet these past few months, hinting at a potential Party Down full length feature. Rob Thomas has even gone as far to say that his people are well into negotiations for a movie deal. Along with all of the buzz from Arrested Development supposedly being picked up for a few more episodes AND a movie deal, this could make for some interesting coming years.

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'Party Down' Reunion on 'Children's Hospital':

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To read more, try these links:
The Complete Oral History of Party Down - details.com
Interview: Lizzy Caplan on the Party Down cancellation - hitfix.com