‘Party Down’ serves up a (very) long-delayed third season of lightweight comedy

Review by Brian Lowry, CNN

Thirteen years after “Party Down” catered its last event on Starz because, well, not enough people were watching it, the show returns for its third season because, well, cult audiences have value in the streaming age, and hope springs eternal. A critical favorite at the time, the reunion rekindles most of its quirky charms and cast, while still feeling as lightweight as a tray of passed hors d’oeuvres.

The main defection in terms of the original cast is Lizzie Caplan (featured in the recent “Fleishman is in Trouble” as well as the upcoming series version of “Fatal Attraction”), whose absence is fleetingly referenced in a premiere that goes about the task of getting the band back together while introducing a number of new characters.

Ron (Ken Marino) runs the catering business, now scrambling to stay afloat in the current environment, which explains why he takes jobs with questionable clients, including (in the most darkly amusing of the five episodes previewed) a gathering of Hitler enthusiasts that’s referred to as “Nazi-adjacent.”

Henry (Adam Scott, pulling double duty on premium TV with Apple’s “Severance”) has initially moved on, but circumstances drag him back into the pink bow-tie business, grudgingly so. On the plus side, the gig introduces him to a producer (Jennifer Garner) who winds up figuring prominently in the plot.

Others returning for more include Ryan Hansen, Megan Mullally and Jane Lynch, as well as Martin Starr’s perpetually cynical Roman, who remains dour about the lives of these Hollywood-adjacent strivers. To him, anyone who achieves commercial success is a sellout, and at one point he alludes to those who actually thrive in showbiz by saying, “You make it big in this cultural void, it only proves that you suck on some level.”

Reuniting the producers as well as the cast, including showrunner John Enbom, the episodes seem a little too enamored with bodily-fluid gags, and some of the encore players (starting with Lynch) don’t contribute much to the “Party” this time around.

Still, there’s something sweetly melancholy about people on the outskirts of Hollywood, which in the latest iteration includes not only wannabe writers and actors but an aspiring YouTube star, as well as a few genuine success stories.

For all that “Party Down” still feels catered to a rather narrow palate, serving as a pleasant if belated revival for the people who really enjoyed it, likely to draw a disproportionate amount of media attention relative to its viewership receipts. That’s not bad in theory, especially if you choose to see those limitations as proof that the show isn’t big enough to suck on any level.

“Party Down” premieres February 24 at 9 p.m. ET on Starz.

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