Party Down

Some television shows really are too smart for their own time, or at least for the studios that foster them. But the fact that Starz, a network not previously known for nuanced IFC-like comedies, had the wherewithal to bring Party Down into the world for two seasons alone is blessing enough. Created by a team that includes Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars) and actor Paul Rudd, the show presents an irreverent take on a quintessential entertainment-industry day job, focusing on the pink-bowtie-clad unreliables of Party Down catering. Adam Scott is pitch-perfect as straight man/comic wingman Henry Pollard, an actor who has given up the game, but is still recognizable to the odd party attendee for his immortal beer-commercial line: "Are we having fun yet?!" Among his co-workers is sci-fi screenwriter Roman DeBeers (Freaks and Geeks vet Martin Starr), a curmudgeonly wannabe artiste that frequently jousts with Ryan Hansen's pretty-boy blonde Kyle Bradway. The 20-episode series, often directed by Fred Savage (The Wonder Years), takes an unforgiving scalpel to human vulnerabilities, providing frequent reminders of one's actual place in the pecking order. DVD or DVR viewing is a must, as the lines come so fast and wry that an occasional rewind to catch that covertly inserted meta-joke is par for the course.