Review
by R. Thomas Umstead and George Vernadakis -- Multichannel News, 3/16/2009 2:00:00 AM
PARTY DOWN
(Starz, Friday, March 20, 10:30 p.m.)
Starz’s newest comedy series Party Down somewhat falls down as a comedic vehicle for the exploits of wannabe Hollywood stars making ends meet working at a catering service while waiting for their big break.
The first episode finds actor Henry Pollard (Adam Scott) reluctantly returning to the Party Down catering service eight years after failing to make it big in Hollywood. His former boozing partner in crime at the service, Ron Donald (Ken Marino), is now the buttoned-up corporate owner of Party Down and insists on perfection from his workers. But after a night working with the new crew as they cater a homeowners association party at a suburban home — which included a confrontation with the husband of co-worker Casey Klein (Lizzy Caplan) and dealing with the host family’s uptight wife, unhinged husband and flirty daughter — he realizes his co-workers, and ultimately his life, is far from perfect.
The series is funny in spots as the workers each find it difficult to holster their celebrity aspirations — and odd peculiarities — while working their day jobs.
Starz describes Party Down as a comedy about waiting. After the first episode, hopefully viewers won’t have to wait too long for the show to ultimately find its comedic groove.
— R. Thomas Umstead
THE LOCATOR
(WE TV, Saturday, March 21, 9 p.m.)
When it debuted last September, The Locator became the highest-rated premiere for an original WE TV series. Can the reality show’s season-two bow relocate that kind of success? Maybe not, now that the novelty has worn off. But the tear-jerker formula that made the show a hit the first time around is bound to garner solid ratings in its sophomore season.
“Locator” Troy Dunn is still on a quest to reunite “half the world with the other half” by tracking down missing parents, children and siblings at the request of people seeking some kind of closure. The family stories can be genuinely moving and don’t always arrive at a happy conclusion. In this season’s hourlong opener, a woman seeks the mother that abandoned her and her brother when they were toddlers, and sisters raised in separate foster homes try to track down their missing baby sister.
But Dunn himself is something of a cipher amid all the familial displays of handwringing and heartbreak. Part private investigator (which he reportedly was once) and part family counselor, he delivers advice in a monotone voice that comes off surprisingly detached and impersonal. Also, the way he sometimes parses out information to build suspense may make for better TV but seems cruel, as family members hang on his every word.
Still, the stories themselves will satisfy viewers looking for a good cry.
— George Vernadakis
Review: Starz's 'Party Down'
03/20/2009Starz Ready to ‘Party Down' Again
05/13/2009What’s On
09/02/2007Pining For Ratings
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