Party Down: Willow Canyon Homeowners Annual Party Rewatch

March 9, 2021 11:38 AM - Season 1, Episode 1

The homeowners' annual party promises to be memorable, and not just because of the surprise winners of the "best mailbox" award.
posted by guiseroom (7 comments total)

I've started a rewatch of this series and noticed it had never had a thread here on the Eggplant so I started one. I think the pilot mostly holds up, it's still very funny, and the characters are all full developed, but there are two hackneyed racially charged jokes that were outdated twelve years ago when the show first aired. It's not at all surprising considering the show was created by four white guys. It's been some years since I've watched the show but I remember a couple of other instances of similar humor. Join me for the rewatch ride!
posted by guiseroom at 1:44 PM on March 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

One of my favorite hangout shows.

Great cast, (generally) excellent writing, and so many small moments that are easy to miss the first time through.

The pilot is remarkably well formed for the most part, giving everyone time for banter and backstory.

The racial jokes are unusual not only for the show rarely going there, but also that they're both outdated and land with uncharacteristic thuds. Consider the almost-as-hackneyed bit with Ron's cleanstick that is saved by the clueless, pathetic delivery from Marino.

I remember only a few other thuds along the run of the series, and I hope that impression stands up to rewatch scrutiny. One's in the next episode for sure.
posted by ipe at 5:27 PM on March 9, 2021

Well timed since I started rewatching this yesterday!
posted by Special Agent Dale Cooper at 8:27 PM on March 9, 2021

This is one of my all time favorite comfort shows. These are like the jungian archetypes of B list service industry.

"Who's this? What happened to Sage?"
"Uh, Sage was caught doing that, thing, so he was let go." brings me to tears laughing every time.

And Roman going "WOW" in the background while the hostess is telling her husband no one wants to see his penis is just so so great.
posted by furnace.heart at 8:56 PM on March 9, 2021

I liked this show when I watched it a couple years ago but I have to say I find Roman more upsettingly loathsome than funny, and I’m not sure I’d rewatch for that reason.
posted by showbiz_liz at 5:06 AM on March 10, 2021

Roman was one of those all-star creep characters that turned out to be slightly ahead of his time. I remember watching the show and realizing the socially awkward guy that I was inclined to like, or at least find sympathetic, was actually just terrible. And...yeah, ok, hard sci-fi fan misogynist is not reinventing the wheel. But it's weird that I look at Roman and so immediately leap to "incel" now, when we didn't even know that word when this show came on the air.
posted by grandiloquiet at 11:38 AM on March 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

It was impressive using "hard science fiction" to simultaneously alienate both non-scifi readers and actual scifi afficiandos.
posted by porpoise at 11:53 AM on March 10, 2021 [1 favorite]