Party Down Season 3 TV Review

Plot: Ten years later, most of the Party Down catering team have moved on, including actor/bartender Henry Pollard (Adam Scott). After a surprise reunion, the gang find themselves once again stoically enduring the procession of random parties and oddball guests all over Los Angeles.

Review: In 2010, Starz cancelled Party Down after only two seasons on the air. Whether it was due to Jane Lynch joining Glee or Adam Scott joining Parks & Recreation, the hilarious series about a crew of cater-waiters joined the pantheon of shows that developed a devoted fan following. After rumors of revivals and feature films, Party Down is finally back for a third season with most of the main cast back. Set a decade after the last season, Party Down is as funny as ever, with new characters joining the fray for a six episode run that mines how much fame and Hollywood celebrity have changed since the series was last on the airwaves.

Party Down opens with the crew of the titular catering company reuniting after ten years apart. Ron Donald (Ken Marino) is still in charge of a new crew and veteran waiter Roman (Martin Starr). Henry Pollard (Adam Scott), now a married high school teacher, arrives to celebrate with Kyle (Ryan Hansen), who has landed a coveted big screen role. Constance (Jane Lynch), now a wealthy widow, and Lydia (Megan Mullally), now an agent, reunite with their old friends, minus Casey (Lizzy Caplan), who is too famous to attend the soiree. The season opens with promise and bright outlooks for many main characters. Then, COVID strikes. Many people are burnt out on shows using the pandemic as a plot point, but it does shift the story forward a year, and from there, this season gets funnier.

How and why Henry rejoins the catering crew is something you will have to watch the series to find out, but the six-episode third season (five episodes of which were made available for this review) flows in a manner that works as a serialized story with some guest stars appearing over multiple episodes. Notable additions to the cast are Tyrel Jackson Williams and Zoe Chao who play Party Down waiter Saxon and new chef Lucy. Saxon is an up and coming influencer, while Lucy is trying to be an artistic chef rather than churn out boring food. Both are hilarious additions that work well with the legacy characters. Jennifer Garner joins as Hollywood producer Evie, and James Marsden portrays A-list actor Jack Botty. Both Garner and Botty fit nicely with the cast and factor into the season-long plot nicely.

Adam Scott plays a great straight man here, and this is a really fun counterbalance to his excellent work on Severance. Scott and Garner play well off each other while leaving the rest of the cast to the more involved hijinks. Ken Marino has always been the under-appreciated MVP of this show, and he does some of his best work of the series this year. Mullally and Lynch are wacky as usual, while Martin Starr and Ryan Hansen slide right back into their roles as if no time has passed. There are some other great guest actors whom I will leave for you to discover as you watch the season. All five episodes I have seen had me audibly laughing, something I have not done as much with many comedy shows since the original run of Party Down left the air.

Producers Rob Thomas and Paul Rudd retain credits on the series, with writer Jon Enborn and director Bryan Gordon joined by several writers and directors from prior seasons. The look and format of the series replicates the first two seasons, and the decade in between works as a natural element in the plot of the show while never suffering from the difficult passage of time other revivals have been saddled with. The cast all look the same as they did in the second season, but they play their current ages well and balance with the younger cast members. No one ever seems too old to deliver some solidity written poop jokes, which I am always down for. From prom to luaus to a Nazi rally, the types of parties the crew cater are just as weirdly funny as they have always been, and the inclusion of Mullally and Lynch in the bulk of the season is great. Lizzy Caplan’s absence is not nearly as significant as I expected, but seeing her back in the pink bowtie would have been nice.

While I have not seen this season’s finale, Party Down returns with the most consistently funny run of episodes of any revival to date. The biggest shame is that this revival did not happen sooner, as there is clearly still chemistry in this cast that can be made into hilarious entertainment. If this crew is willing to reunite beyond this season, it will be a great treat. Party Down is finally back, and it is as good as ever, especially the fourth episode, possibly the funniest episode of this entire series. If you have not checked out the first two seasons yet, binge them as soon as possible before this new batch premieres.

Party Down premieres on February 24th on Starz.

Party Down

GREAT

8