Party Down: Difference between revisions

Each episode is structured around a different party they have been assigned to cater, with the lives of the affluent party hosts becoming entangled with the sad-sack lives of the caterers.

 

 

It was created by [[Veronica Mars|Rob Thomas]] and contains a mini [[Production Posse]].

 

* [[Actor Allusion]]: For some of the series, Casey talks about how she's trying to get a spot in a Judd Apatow movie. In reality, Lizzy Caplan has been in several Apatow productions, and is part of his [[Production Posse]].

* [[Adam Westing]]: Steve Guttenberg plays himself as an almost cartoonishly cheerful and generous host, who takes a group of strangers under his wing for a night. {{spoiler|Then he steals one of their dates}}.

* [[Amazing Freaking Grace]]: In "James Ellison Funeral" (where else?).

* [[And Starring]]: Lizzy Caplan as Casey.

* [[As Himself]]: Steve Guttenberg and Patrick Duffy.

* [[Bastard Boyfriend]]: Casey's husband plays the part of the bastard boyfriend for the first few episodes of season 1 until {{spoiler|they get a divorce.}}

** Ron goes off when the group is in danger of getting poor client feedback cards or when his reputation is at stake. Examples of this include threatening to destroy the teen girl's life in "Willow Canyon Homeowners Annual Party" and desecrating the American Flag in "California College Conservative Union Caucus."

** Roman can't stand it when people mix up his precious science fiction with hated fantasy. He even ruins a sure thing with a porn star when she mentions that she likes dragons.

* [[Be Yourself]]: What with the lampshaded resemblance to an afterschool special, this ends up as the moral of "Taylor Stiltskin Sweet Sixteen" as Taylor learns to take popularity less seriously and just have fun with the real, uncool friends she had before she became [[The Libby]]. {{spoiler|Subverted when her cool friends ''do'' show up and she reverts to her bitchiness immediately}}.

* [[Bi the Way]]: At the end of season 1, Kyle tells a gay producer he would do anything for a part in a movie (and yes, it's implied what would happen), and in Season 2 the movie has been released. Also Roman is hinted as such every so often, having a guy giving him hickeys, to his relationship with his co-writer, and watching a guy masturbate. Also the [[300]] Gay test.

* [[Brainless Beauty]]: Kyle.

* [[Bratty Teenage Daughter]]: Lydia's daughter, Escapade.

** Roman does this when he tricks Kyle into shaving his eyebrows.

** Joe Munt, Roman's former writing partner, does this to Roman over the course of an episode.

* [[Butt Monkey]]: Kyle and Roman.

* [[Calvin Ball]]: The team-building game in "Brandix Corporate Retreat" involves blindfolds, pirate hats, suspended hula hoops, stacked boxes, plastic cup pyramids, Jenga, tire runs, punching bags, football dummies, and a cat plush toy. Casey has no idea what the fuck is going on in there.

** Casey has this dilemma in season 1, as evidenced in the episode "California College Conservative Union Caucus," when she has to choose between moving to Vermont with her husband or taking her chances as an actress in LA.

** This is also one of Henry's big conflicts, mainly explored in Season 2. He's clearly disheartened by his experiences, but also clearly loves acting. He struggles with choosing to either pack it up and go home or to give it one more try.

* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]], then [[The Ditz|Kyled]], with regards to Baretta's Beretta.

{{quote|'''Ron:''' Okay, so, I'm putting this gun in a bag here, and it stays here, and nobody touches it for the rest of the evening.

'''Kyle:''' First act of what? }}

* [[The Chew Toy]]: Ron is a pedantic, sycophantic, socially inept loser who thinks he may well be the next Donald Trump. He's also put through more mental and physical trauma than any other character on the show.

* [[Literary Allusion Title]]: One of the people at "Joel Munt's Big Deal Party" is working on a movie called ''[[Pride and Prejudice]]''. It's a [[Buddy Cop Show|Buddy Cop Movie]]; one of the cops is a white racist and the other is a rapper.

* [[Love Triangle]]: Henry, Casey, Uda.

* [[Marijuana Is LSD]]: Roman accidentally eats three marijuana muffins and goes on some kind of cosmic journey of introspection in "Constance Carmell Wedding".

* [[Matzo Fever]]: None of the other male waiters are Jewish, but they all have the hots for the smoking Semite Casey Klein.

* [[Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness]]: Occasionally discussed. Roman obnoxiously puts down anything he perceives as "soft" sci-fi.

* [[Moment Killer]]: Ron is making some progress on the former class president in "James Rolf High School Twentieth Reunion" when Kyle and Roman barge in arguing over [[Cool Versus Awesome]].

* [[Naked People Are Funny]]: Hell, it's enough to make an otherwise horrifying tale of skull fractures hilarious in "Pepper McMasters Singles Seminar". Or at least stoned-out-of-their-minds Constance and old paramour Bruce think so.

* [[The Neidermeyer]]: Ron.

* [[The Stoner]]: Ron makes frequent allusions to his past as a stoner. In the first part of Season 2 {{spoiler|he reverts to his old ways until getting trapped in a coffin while smoking in "James Ellison Funeral."}}

* [[Straight Man]]: Henry, usually.

* [[Stripper Cop Confusion]]: In "Pepper McMasters Singles Seminar" with both a cop and a nurse.

* [[Stupid Boss]]: Ron.

* [[Totally Radical]]: Lydia has apparently had some odd encounters due to misuse of "[[Mrs. Robinson|cougar]]" and "[[The Bear|bear]]" in her online dating profile.

* [[True Companions]]: Despite all the bickering, the team actually does have some modicum of this, as demonstrated by ''everyone'' getting entangled in Roman's revenge plot in "Joel Munt's Big Deal Party".

** Ron downs a bottle of whiskey a la Bluto Blutarsky in ''[[Animal House]]''. It ends exactly how you expect it would.

** A company picnic champion learns that there are downsides to winning the hot dog-eating contest just before a softball game.

 

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[[Category:Work Com]]

[[Category:American Series]]

[[Category:TV Series]]