Party Down canceled

[Joe Rogaine]

Damn shame.


"The season 2 finale drew a 0.0 rating in the age 18-49 bracket."

How is that even possible.

[robertc]

Everyone I know saw it on Netflix, so that probably contributed to the terrible tv ratings, but even then I doubt it did that well. Still, it was a very solid two seasons, and both Adam Scott and Ryan Hansen are going on to other shows, so I have no idea how the third season would have worked out anyway.

[Christina]

I just watched the thing myself over on Netflix too.

I don't know if I'm special or not special, but I don't have cable anymore - I would bet that Party Down's target audience are similar to this ... I realized at some point that the things I wanted to watch were getting drowned out by 100s of channels of horseshit and that I was paying for all of it. So I cut it, thus saving myself a $100ish bill every month. I watch stuff on Netflix or Youtube clips. And there's definitely a major shift toward this way of watching, yes yes? Every time I go on to the thing, there are more and more TV shows dumped in there. Not to mention movies, old and new.

And DVD sales are falling ... I'm thinking that there's probably some kind of licensing rights to put the shows on Instant Viewing, right? So I bet that it's only a matter of time before either A) Netflix monthly rates start to go up, and/or B) Nielsen or some such body tracks Netflix viewing as first run viewing. If that makes sense.

[Christina]

Oh, and i should add that, although I'm sorry it got canceled, I think how and where the characters "ended" worked out rather well. I don't mind a short running series. Not every premise plays well in endless permutations.

[Bryan]

AC has said it. I'll take 20 great episodes of a show, and be thankful for them. More isn't always better.

And she's also right about cable. I haven't been subscribing for quite a while, and for just the reasons that she specifies. Not only do I not want most of the garbage that I get for my $70+/month, I'm actively against it, and refuse to support it, especially since there are other distribution methods now.

[Paul DePhiladelphia]

This thread only strengthens my belief that I am the only person who can't stand Jane Lynch.

[scratchbomb]

It's almost like there's too much good stuff out there now, and too many different ways to see it. There's about four or five shows everyone keeps telling me are awesome and I'm sure are awesome, but I just don't have the time to watch them ("Breaking Bad" is the most egregious example). I'm still trying to catch up with "Mad Men", and I never would have watched "Party Down" if (A) it wasn't available on Netflix Instant, and (B) my mom kept insisting I HAD to watch it.

Very bummed that it was canceled, but now "Party Down" can live in that rare Fawlty Towers Zone where there's very few episodes of the show but every one of them is amazing.

[Christina]

This thread only strengthens my belief that I am the only person who can't stand Jane Lynch.

What is it you don't like? Curious.

[Bryan]

This thread only strengthens my belief that I am the only person who can't stand Jane Lynch.

You may be. I think she's reliably great, but she was especially hilarious in Party Down.

[Paul DePhiladelphia]

She consistently plays the same sarcastic character who says wild things with a straight face.
Seriously every role I have seen her in is like that and it aggrivates me so much that its so hard to keep watching. Like I've wanted so bad to rewatch Best In Show but remember she is in it and passed.
It's the same problem I have with Will Ferrell (of course I am in the minority here). I hate how Ferrell always plays these pompous characters that play sports no one cares about. Jane Lynch uses this same pompous and staightfaced sort of comedy that sure people eat up, but I think it is so worn out. Good shows like The Office and Arrested Development have made humor in awkwardness the mainstream and it seems like the charm of shows like those and Curb has withered. Look at Curb itself, it is horrible now that it is so self-aware and LD is playing towards an audience that finds "awkwardness" hysterical.

[iAmBaronVonTito]

it was nice to see that adam scott was able to erase the awful character he played in Step Brothers- a movie i enjoyed, but i couldn't stand his character- from my memory.

also, i enjoy Jane Lynch despite how much she plays the same character over and over again.  sorry, PDP.

[Bryan]

In Party Down she was over-enthusiastic and guileless. Not sarcastic at all.

[Paul DePhiladelphia]

In Party Down she was over-enthusiastic and guileless. Not sarcastic at all.

We could mill through 100 adjectives but c'mon, you get what I don't like.

[Barry Egan]

Am I the only one who thought there was a big dropoff from season one to season two?  I don't think the writing got anywhere close to the hilarity and heartbreak found in the Porno Awards episode or at Ron's High School Reunion.  Jimmi Simpson was the lone highlight for me in S2, and he was only in the first episode.

Hopefully Eastbound and Down will be able to avoid the sophomore slump, but without Andrew Daly I have my doubts.

[Big Plastic Head]

AC has said it. I'll take 20 great episodes of a show, and be thankful for them. More isn't always better.

And she's also right about cable. I haven't been subscribing for quite a while, and for just the reasons that she specifies. Not only do I not want most of the garbage that I get for my $70+/month, I'm actively against it, and refuse to support it, especially since there are other distribution methods now.

Thirded. About cable, Party Down, et all. Also: I got no beef with Jane Lynch. She added alot to the chemistry of that cast.