Hacker Cinema
Party Down
2009 · TV series · 3 seasons
Created by Paul Rudd, Rob Thomas, John Enbom, Dan Etheridge
A group of struggling actors and dysfunctional dreamers wait for their big break while they are stuck serving hors d'oeurves for a Hollywood catering company 'Party Down.'
7 positive3 neutralfrom 10 commenters
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10 comments on Hacker News
I think this is a distinction between comedy and non-comedy genres.
There are many examples of protags in American comedies who never get their way -- Party Down, Seinfeld, Always Sunny. Part of this is the need for American sitcoms to maintain the status quo over dozens of episodes / several seasons.
You rarely see Hollywood action heroes who are beset with unrelenting disappointment -- they usually go through hell, but by the end of the third act, achieve some sort of triumph.
A notable counterexample is Sicario, but I wouldn't call it a "Hollywood action movie."
A recent Party Down episode made reference to the pronunciation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr-nZJNg0-A :)
Twin Peaks is (or, was) exactly this: "A 2 season show that was canned on a cliffhanger". The third season went in to production 25 years after the cliffhanger ending. The show was very much still worth watching even before season 3 became reality. A cliffhanger ending is still a kind of resolution and is not inherently bad.
There are 2-season shows with no ending or clearly rushed endings that are still worth watching: check out Party Down.
Does any kind of sloppy ending make an entire show worthless or is there some cutoff screen-time that makes it acceptable? Consider Game of Thrones. Are seasons 1-3 still worth watching even though 4-6 are mediocre and 7-8 are dumpster fires?
Starz has been around since the mid-90s. It has some pretty good programming but it just doesn't get the attention that maybe HBO or Showtime does.
They had a really good short lived comedy series called "Party Down" that I loved. Had a great cast! https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1073507/
I think Outlander might be one of its more popular series now. Based on a book series and brought to TV by Ronald D Moore who did Battlestar Galactica (which personally I am cautious about because the last season or 2 of BSG was not my favorite)
The comedy TV show Party Down, about a group of struggling actors working a side-gig as caterers, provides a good insight into the mindset required to have a chance at "making it" in Hollywood.
Its message seemed to be that, yes, you have virtually no chance of success, but accepting that fact means you have no chance of success. To have a chance, you have to willingly accept a degree of self-delusion, and have a support system of fellow wannabes who'll back up this self-delusion, as you back up theirs.
That reminds me of one of my favorite comedy series, Party Down. It was canceled largely because two of the actors (Adam Scott and Jane Lynch) were pulled into two major network shows (Parks & Recreation and Glee, respectively).
You can watch the first episode free here: https://www.starz.com/series/partydown/episodes/5131/details
Party Down. If you like The Office or Parks and Rec, it's kinda like that but funnier. I like them all but I laugh more watching Party Down.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_Down
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Arrested Development. The first 3 seasons.
Master of None. Season 2 is funny. Season 1 is good but not that funny. It's more real and depressing. Season 2 is great, and funny.
I agree completely. If The Office and Parks & Rec had you laughing at the paper business, or town governance, they'd both be done after two episodes. But they give you nuanced characters that you laugh at and care about at the same time.
That said, I do wish Adam Scott were in this show - he'd be pretty great (esp. if you saw him in Party Down, where he played a character trapped in the catering industry).
I tend to use Netflix more as a cable substitute with TV shows than a full movie library. The number of full backlogs of great shows in the U.S. at least (30 Rock, Parks and Rec, Party Down, Breaking Bad, etc.) for 8/month vs. 100/month for cable is an astounding savings for me personally. The movie selection is meh, but I can live with that for what I'm paying.
It's currently rare, but Netflix does offer some shows prior to DVD release. For example, Party Down Season 2 episodes were available on Netflix the same week that they were originally broadcast. They've since been removed, and I assume will be back once the DVDs are out.
On a tiny scale they're experimenting with a hybrid model of "instantly available" and "waiting for DVD."