In the age of post-cancellation TV, dreams really can come true. To the tiny audience who tuned into Starz’s “Party Down” in 2009, its premature shunting from the air was a travesty — yet another instance of a comedy that general audiences didn’t quite get despite its evident genius. After only two critically acclaimed seasons, it was resigned to the dustbin of history.
But now, “Party Down” is back with most of the original cast on board (only Lizzy Caplan is missing) and a surprising amount of that lightning-in-a-bottle magic remains.
The first season introduced a pre-“Parks and Recreation” Adam Scott as Henry Pollard, a failed actor once seen as the next Pacino, who now works for a low-rent catering company alongside a slew of wannabe stars hoping for their big break. With comedy icons like Megan Mullally, Jane Lynch and Ken Marino on board, the workplace comedy — with its roots firmly in that of both the British and American versions of “The Office” — offered a dry take on recession-era malaise.
Now, over 10 years later, the gang is back together, sort of. Henry has fully retired from acting to become a suburban dad and English teacher. Roman (Martin Starr) is still working for Party Down, his cynicism harsher than ever. Lydia (Mullally) is managing her daughter’s now somewhat-successful career. Constance (Lynch) is a rich widow, and Ron Donald (Marino) now runs Party Down. After reuniting for the celebration of smarmy Kyle’s (Ryan Hansen) breakout superhero movie (he hired his old colleagues just to rub it in), the reminders of past failures and what could have been are more caustic than ever. But hey, maybe things will work out a-OK for everyone in the year of our Lord 2020 …
One of the strengths of “Party Down” lay in its hyper-specificity, its insight into the margins of the ever-shining Hollywood dream. For Henry, whose breakout role in a beer commercial hung like a millstone around his neck, the brief flash of notoriety left his career in worse shape than if he had remained unemployed. There are far more jokes about superhero movies and influencers in the new season (in the pilot, Jennifer Garner’s blockbuster producer recites a list of franchise fare that becomes increasingly funny in its accuracy), but it remains organic to this world which has always understood the flash-in-the-pan nature of the entertainment world. Hollywood is built on the labor of people like Henry and company, the ones who will never truly “make it”, whatever that means. That can be deeply sad but there’s always been limitless humor to mine from such failures.
And what better way to dig into that than with the pandemic? Audiences quickly grew weary of COVID-related interjections in their favorite series, and for good reason. But a show about the ceaseless grind of the gig economy could not be more fitting for such a subplot, as Party Down’s old employees return to work after the world has irrevocably changed. There are shindigs to cater, entanglements to avoid, and ever-present reminders that some people succeeded through sheer dumb luck while others didn’t. The show’s episodic location changes always offered fresh opportunities and this season is no exception, with new gigs including a jerk movie star’s birthday party, a radio promotion luau and a men’s rights group that’s definitely not full of Nazis. Don’t worry, though, the lion’s share of drama takes place after lockdown.
It helps that Adam Scott remains one of the best straight men in American comedy, a calm port in the storm of Hollywood weirdos and bitter failures who long ago stopped caring about little things like ambition or fame. Henry is back on square one and dealing with it in his usual manner, but a decade has passed since his last foray into catering, and he’s clearly wearier than ever. He’s the ideal balance to Ken Marino, one of TV’s most reliable comic actors, who, as Ron, tries desperately to retain the flop-sweat optimism of a kind-hearted boss always on the verge of bankruptcy. Tyrel Jackson Williams is a welcome addition to the ensemble as a wannabe influencer who views his job as a route to more content creation rather than a side-hustle into acting, as well as Zoë Chao as a chef with culinary plans that prize ideas over edibility. Seeing Jennifer Garner on fine comedic form is also a firm reminder of how good she can be in the right role.
As the crew flit from event to event, taking anything that will pay in a COVID-inflicted marketplace, there is as much pathos as humor to be found. “Party Down” was never one for unneeded sentimentality and it retains its dry-eyed vision into its belated third season. After close to 13 years off the air, the return of these characters and their eerily unchanged situations hits hard, one of the slyest reminders of how the gig economy and endless buzzwords around hustle culture actually look like in practice. Even if your dreams come true, it’s seldom permanent. Scott nails an especially emotional scene where the state of Henry’s life fully comes to the forefront, only to be subverted with expert timing.
Season 3 isn’t designed as much of an entry point for new viewers given the tightly defined dynamics of the ensemble, although it’s not “Twin Peaks: The Return” levels of inaccessible. Starz clearly commissioned this for the hardcore fans and a chance to work with Scott and company now that they’re more famous than they were a decade prior. Fans will take it because “Party Down” is still firing on all cylinders and its 2023 update lands its mark. Failure, unfortunately for Henry, never goes out of style.
“Party Down” season three premieres Feb. 24 on Starz.