Here's what it was like when the cast and creators of PartyDown reunited at this year's VultureFestival
Photo: Landon Nordeman A decade ago, Party Down premiered quietly on a Starz network that was just getting into original programming. A year later, it went off the air, also quietly. But in between, the show’s cast and creators were able to put together 20 hilarious, heartbreaking, real yet ridiculous gems of TV episodes about making the best of broken dreams. Then, in the years following, thanks to streaming and word of mouth, the show found a cult.
Thomas: Right. A British ex-girlfriend of mine emailed me and said, “Hey, you’ve got to watch this show,” and I felt like I had been steered wrong on shows by her before. Like, I had. I didn’t get into Ab Fab or a few others.Thomas: I know, I know. And so I recorded it and it sat there and I thought Okay, I want to be able to say I watched it. And that first scene of Ricky Gervais hiring a forklift driver, my jaw was on the floor.
Enbom: Well, what did we do? We went to HBO first with Paul Rudd, and they bought it before we got through the door when they saw Paul. And then I think a week or two later, Paul was like “Oh, I can’t do it.” And then we sort of parted ways with HBO also because I think we wanted something kind of downbeat and small.
Enbom: Because we pitched it to other places and it’s such a simple logline — you know, cater waiters, every episode is a party — everyone had a completely different idea for what the show could be. So I think part of the thing that we wanted to do was just say “No, it’s like this.” And you know, that led us almost nowhere.
Enbom: I mean, I think steeping that long with those particular characters was the thing that, at the end of the day, made all the difference. Like once we had to actually do the show, we could actually churn it out, you know? Because what did we have? We had like two months to write the season when they actually asked. But we kind of were so familiar with everybody, we could actually just crank it out just because we sat with it for so long and talked about it for so long.
Etheridge: Well I think with a lot of the, what was the great thing with a lot of people we cast was that we not only had worked with them, but we also knew them socially as well, so we had a sense of their vibe as human beings, and Ken, we had been lucky enough to work with as Vinnie Van Lowe on Veronica Mars and knew him socially. So post-Carell, one-stop shopping right there.
Mullally: Yeah, I remember being in a scene with the orgy and I was on a bed with somebody. You’d think I’d remember. And there were all these other naked people making out all around me, and I was like, “This is a little too real for me.” Hansen: Also on Veronica Mars. I play Dick. [The] third season ended, and my wife and I had took this big vacation and blew all of our money, and then I got an email from Rob. We were in Rome. And he’s like, “Hey, sorry, Veronica Mars is canceled, but read this script and let me know if you want to do it.” And I emailed right away. I didn’t even read it. I’m like, “I’ll do it.” And I feel like it was the part I was born to play, Kyle Bradway.
Lynch: And we did shoot it in a bubble. We didn’t get any notes from the network, and nobody knew it was happening, and we would be showing up at all these weird locations every day. It was truly a blessed time. It was truly the most fun I’ve ever had doing a job. And we all started smoking together. We would all smoke, and we loved coming to work, and you know, it was just a really great time.
Thomas: You know, being in network and studio pitch and casting sessions, there are very few actors that have more of a reputation of saying no to things than Lizzy.Thomas: And so yeah, it did feel like a long shot. Mullally: I’m sorry I didn’t invite her to my birthday party, because then you could have seen her there, too. Now I really feel bad.Scott: No, I think it really was like we weren’t getting paid anything so it was just essentially It might be fun, right?
Etheridge: But it’s great — you can watch that episode now and watch two-thirds of it, Megan finds the most amazing way to never show that cast during the [episode].Caplan: Isn’t your daughter, wasn’t your daughter Kaitlyn Dever, who’s now …Caplan: Booksmart, and lots of other stuff. But yeah.Caplan: Escalade.Scott: And Unbelievable is the show, right, is the other?
Etheridge: I think this scene is the scene I, that we, felt, where John had immediately, really found the show. It was so exciting to shoot this scene because it went on for eight minutes. It took an incredibly long scene, violated all the rules, and I think that was the moment when John wrote it, we read it, and then when you all performed it so exquisitely, like that was the show. That scene right there was the show.
Marino: [looking at the screen, with still of Stormy Daniels] I think I picked this, not this scene. I was picking the Martin scene.Marino: You wanted to see Stormy Daniels. Yeah, I get it.
Scott: Our play was starting to congeal. And it’s a really sweet [episode]. I loved the end of this [and] how we, the popular — I haven’t seen it in a long time — but the popular kids, and we’re over with the outcasts at the end. It just felt right. We all really felt that way. And then we were on the Queen Mary shooting it the whole time. It was so fun. It was like right in the middle of the season, all in this, like, buzz of loving what we were doing, and I couldn’t wait to get to the set.
Rob Thomas and John Enbom’s Favorite Episode: “Celebrate Ricky Sargulesh” Season one, episode eight, “Celebrate Ricky Sargulesh.” John and Rob, you picked that one.Enbom: Well, I mean, for me there were two specific things about this. The first was it felt like the most emblematic of everything that made the show work — when we felt like it was kind of clicking on all cylinders, just in the sense that you know, the script is fine but everyone was elevating it so much in their performances.
Caplan: I mean that’s the, that was the thing. Like Ken, on the ground, throwing up, yelling “Call an ambulance!” and just being there with the hose that was spraying the vomit. There was so much vomit, and I laughed so hard when I watched. I mean I think that’s the, I mean, I think everybody’s collective favorite is maybe the Guttenberg episode, but this shit, it was like Oh that’s … You’re a genius. You’re a genius. That’s genius. The end.
Thomas: We got into a disagreement with Fred Savage, who directed both this and the porn awards, and the disagreement was in the porn awards we showed like 15 frames of Ron’s dick and Fred wanted like 8 frames of Ron’s dick.Thomas: “We’ve completely oversold it, we’ve completely oversold it! You can’t see that much!” But when we did this I’m like, “But Fred, you gave us two hefty bags full of vomit on the ground.” We’re not a show that traffics in underselling it.
Thomas: Yeah, we, the most fun we have, I mean, I don’t mean the show in total but those of us who help write it. I mean, John writes the bulk of it, but we get together at the beginning of the year and come up with what are our ten parties and we start throwing ideas up on a board and literally, we had just come up with this idea of a surprise Steve Guttenberg birthday party.Enbom: We were just looking for parties that didn’t have extras because they were our biggest expense.
Indonesia Berita Terbaru, Indonesia Berita utama
Similar News:Anda juga dapat membaca berita serupa dengan ini yang kami kumpulkan dari sumber berita lain.
This scary condition makes you super sad while breastfeedingDysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex, known as D-MER, causes intense negative emotions during breastfeeding. And it might be more common than doctors think. Here’s what you need to know.
Baca lebih lajut »
I overwaxed and now I’m sad my daughters won’t see what a real bush looks likeWhat kind of role model am I going to be, I asked myself, if I continue to alter my physical appearance—including my most intimate parts—to fit into a very narrow perception of the female ideal?
Baca lebih lajut »
Planning a Bachelorette Party? We Gotchu: Here are 17 Theme Ideas You'll Actually Love (and Won't Make You Cringe)Step away from the sad generic party kit.
Baca lebih lajut »
https://people.comGet the latest news about celebrities, royals, music, TV, and real people. Find exclusive content, including photos and videos, on PEOPLE.com.
Baca lebih lajut »
Woman killed by wild hogs in front yard of home: SheriffChristine Rollins was found dead outside of a home, killed by feral hogs, according to authorities.
Baca lebih lajut »
Amber Bain of The Japanese House is Listening to Caroline Polachek, ABBA, and the BBC News Theme SongOur favorite musicians on their favorite music—the sad, the happy, the dinner party-y, the songs they want played at their funeral.
Baca lebih lajut »