Party Down lasted two seasons on the Starz network in 2009 and 2010, although there are rumors of a movie in the future. The cast was a who’s who of comedy talent: Adam Scott (currently of Parks and Recreation), Jane Lynch (of Glee and movies like Role Models and The 40 Year-Old Virgin), Lizzy Caplan, Ken Marino (of The State), Martin Starr and more, including some excellent guest stars like Steve Guttenberg and June Diane Raphael.
The show specialized in the sort of awkward, real life comedy that traces back to shows like The Office (moreso the earlier seasons), Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Larry Sanders Show, in this instance focusing on a group of caterers in the Los Angeles area who all happen to have some connection to Hollywood (the failed actor, the wannabe sci-fi writer, the up-and-coming comedian, etc.).
Even though each episode is self-contained, based on around a different catering job each week, the show is able to build the characters and relationships enough each week to make each episode strong as both a stand alone half-hour and a continuing narrative. The fact that Adam Scott, playing former beer pitchman Henry whose career has tanked, is so effective at playing broken and sarcastic without being abrasive provides the emotional core of the show, and a perfect counterbalance to Ken Marino’s overly positive but fragile team leader Ron.
Rumor is a Party Down movie is happening sometime in the future. I’m not sure an hour and half to two hours is the right format for this humor, it works well in short, self-contained bursts, but I trust the talent involved to make it work.
Retro Review: Get A Life
Get A Life aired for two season on Fox from 1990 to 1992, starring Chris Elliott as Chris Peterson, a 30-year old paperboy who lived in an apartment above his parents’ garage.
I vaguely remember watching this show when it was originally on, and I guarantee I didn’t understand the humor then. It’s what I heard someone call “sophisticated-stupid,” or maybe I think I heard someone call it that. There is biting, smart commentary on everything from the state of media and television, violence in popular culture, celebrity culture and the shifting demographics of the 1980s involving white male dominance of society combined with painfully obvious attempts at sitcom humor that had grown so stale.
By no means is Get A Life perfect or even entirely successful, but it is fascinating to watch. Chris Elliott’s particular brand of humor is unique unto him and him alone, the same way Andy Kaufman or Larry David basically created their own universe for them to occupy.
I vaguely remember watching this show when it was originally on, and I guarantee I didn’t understand the humor then. It’s what I heard someone call “sophisticated-stupid,” or maybe I think I heard someone call it that. There is biting, smart commentary on everything from the state of media and television, violence in popular culture, celebrity culture and the shifting demographics of the 1980s involving white male dominance of society combined with painfully obvious attempts at sitcom humor that had grown so stale.
By no means is Get A Life perfect or even entirely successful, but it is fascinating to watch. Chris Elliott’s particular brand of humor is unique unto him and him alone, the same way Andy Kaufman or Larry David basically created their own universe for them to occupy.
This Week In Music: 1/14-1/20
This week in music listening, with patent-pending two-word reviews (note: limited week due to studying):
The Kills: B-sides & Rarities – interesting nuggets
Pink Floyd: The Wall – deserved classic
Pink Floyd: The Early Pink Floyd Singles – early oddballs
T.Rex: Electric Warrior – groovy groovers
The Cure: The Head on the Door – poppy goth
Mr. Big: Lean Into It – classic rock
The Kills: B-sides & Rarities – interesting nuggets
Pink Floyd: The Wall – deserved classic
Pink Floyd: The Early Pink Floyd Singles – early oddballs
T.Rex: Electric Warrior – groovy groovers
The Cure: The Head on the Door – poppy goth
Mr. Big: Lean Into It – classic rock
Retro Review: The Larry Sanders Show
The Larry Sanders Show aired for six seasons on HBO from 1992 to 1998, starring Gary Shandling as the title character, along with Rip Torn as Artie and Jeffrey Tambor as Hank Kingsley, along with a variety of other notable actors such as Jeremy Piven, Janeane Garofalo, Wallace Langham, Scott Thompson and Bob Odenkirk.
Revisiting The Larry Sanders Show was odd, as the show felt very familiar without having much, if any, previous exposure to it, and it occured to me the single-camera “behind the scenes” aspect of the show that was unique at the time has been copied by numerous television comedies in the 2000s after the multi-camera format dominated the 1970s and 80s. Even the aspect of having celebrities appear as versions of themselves has been replicated on shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm and Extras, both HBO shows.
Like Curb, The Larry Sanders show, albeit in lesser doses, worked the uncomfortable comedy angle throughout the series, often in Larry’s interactions with his staff and various celebrities, appearing as exaggerated versions of themselves, who guested on the show within the show. That’s part of what makes The Larry Sanders show so unique, is that in most cases, the fake movie that’s being made in movie, or book that is being written, are terrible. In the case of The Larry Sanders talk show, thanks to Gary Shandling’s own experience guest hosting The Tonight Show, the authenticity comes through in both the humor and subtle interactions between guests and show characters.
As is often the case, two of the support cast, in this case Rip Torn and Jeffrey Tambor, deliver some of the best lines and funniest moments of the show, whether it’s Torn’s Artie fearless and foully defending Larry and the show, or Tambor’s Hank utterly obnoxious self-important whining and scheming. Hank’s “Hey Now” catch phrase which extend beyond the show, becoming an oft-heard audio drop on the Howard Stern Show to this day.
While some of the mid-to-later season seemed to run into episodes or story arcs that ran out of steam quickly (like Larry marrying Roseanne Barr), the fresh and original behind-the-scenes take makes the show rewatchable to this day. Minus, of course, some of the dated fashion and cultural references, though points for dropping the name Afghan Whigs during a music discussion.
Revisiting The Larry Sanders Show was odd, as the show felt very familiar without having much, if any, previous exposure to it, and it occured to me the single-camera “behind the scenes” aspect of the show that was unique at the time has been copied by numerous television comedies in the 2000s after the multi-camera format dominated the 1970s and 80s. Even the aspect of having celebrities appear as versions of themselves has been replicated on shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm and Extras, both HBO shows.
Like Curb, The Larry Sanders show, albeit in lesser doses, worked the uncomfortable comedy angle throughout the series, often in Larry’s interactions with his staff and various celebrities, appearing as exaggerated versions of themselves, who guested on the show within the show. That’s part of what makes The Larry Sanders show so unique, is that in most cases, the fake movie that’s being made in movie, or book that is being written, are terrible. In the case of The Larry Sanders talk show, thanks to Gary Shandling’s own experience guest hosting The Tonight Show, the authenticity comes through in both the humor and subtle interactions between guests and show characters.
As is often the case, two of the support cast, in this case Rip Torn and Jeffrey Tambor, deliver some of the best lines and funniest moments of the show, whether it’s Torn’s Artie fearless and foully defending Larry and the show, or Tambor’s Hank utterly obnoxious self-important whining and scheming. Hank’s “Hey Now” catch phrase which extend beyond the show, becoming an oft-heard audio drop on the Howard Stern Show to this day.
While some of the mid-to-later season seemed to run into episodes or story arcs that ran out of steam quickly (like Larry marrying Roseanne Barr), the fresh and original behind-the-scenes take makes the show rewatchable to this day. Minus, of course, some of the dated fashion and cultural references, though points for dropping the name Afghan Whigs during a music discussion.
This week in music listening, with patent-pending two-word reviews:
Kowloon Walled City: Container Ships – punishing post-rock
Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon – epic landscape
Pink Floyd: Delicate Sound of Thunder – stadium postcard
Pink Floyd: The Division Bell – lesser simulation
Pete Townshend: Rough Mix – more oddities
Freedom of Choice compilation – interesting interpretations
T.Rex: A Beard of Stars – uneven nuggets
Quiet Riot: Terrified – terrible riot
The Cure: The Cure – heavy goth
The Cure: Faith – good goth
The Black Keys: Rubber Factory – big bounce
The Black Keys: Thickfreakness – gritty sludge
The Kills: The Last Goodbye EP – quieter side
Quiet Riot: Rehab – limping riffs
Dream Theater: Falling Into Infinity – infinite innovations
Kowloon Walled City: Container Ships – punishing post-rock
Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon – epic landscape
Pink Floyd: Delicate Sound of Thunder – stadium postcard
Pink Floyd: The Division Bell – lesser simulation
Pete Townshend: Rough Mix – more oddities
Freedom of Choice compilation – interesting interpretations
T.Rex: A Beard of Stars – uneven nuggets
Quiet Riot: Terrified – terrible riot
The Cure: The Cure – heavy goth
The Cure: Faith – good goth
The Black Keys: Rubber Factory – big bounce
The Black Keys: Thickfreakness – gritty sludge
The Kills: The Last Goodbye EP – quieter side
Quiet Riot: Rehab – limping riffs
Dream Theater: Falling Into Infinity – infinite innovations
December Movies
December movie watching, with patent pending two-word reviews:
This Is 40 – Altman-esque funny
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance – dispiriting garbage
Catch .44 – Tarantino knock-off
Rio – fun characters
A Good Old Fashioned Orgy – awkwardly funny
Conan the Barbarian (2011) – brutally bad
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning – suprisingly effective
The Adventures of Tintin – overly violent
Kung-Fu Panda 2 – fu fun
Tower Heist – time theft
Colombiana – revenge porn
Rango – weirdly entertaining
Joy Division – insightful doc
Deadfall – interesting characters
This Is 40 – Altman-esque funny
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance – dispiriting garbage
Catch .44 – Tarantino knock-off
Rio – fun characters
A Good Old Fashioned Orgy – awkwardly funny
Conan the Barbarian (2011) – brutally bad
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning – suprisingly effective
The Adventures of Tintin – overly violent
Kung-Fu Panda 2 – fu fun
Tower Heist – time theft
Colombiana – revenge porn
Rango – weirdly entertaining
Joy Division – insightful doc
Deadfall – interesting characters
This Week In Music: 12/31/12-1/6/13
The Black Keys: Magic Potion – magic riffs
Dan Auerbach: Keep It Hid – day job
Cabaret Voltaire: Mix-Up – let down
The Cure: Boys Don’t Cry – early uneveness
Dream Theater: A Change of Seasons – interesting interpretations
Mr. Big: What If… – more same
The Kills: No Now – wow factor
Quiet Riot: QR II – not quite
T. Rex: Bolan’s Zip Gun – varied output
Dan Auerbach: Keep It Hid – day job
Cabaret Voltaire: Mix-Up – let down
The Cure: Boys Don’t Cry – early uneveness
Dream Theater: A Change of Seasons – interesting interpretations
Mr. Big: What If… – more same
The Kills: No Now – wow factor
Quiet Riot: QR II – not quite
T. Rex: Bolan’s Zip Gun – varied output
Concert Review: Violent Femmes @ Anderson Arena, BGSU (4/11/1997)
Like a lot of concerts in my college days, exact dates are bit… hazy. I know it was in the Spring of 1997, but I’m not exactly sure of the date (update - thanks to BG News archives, I nailed down the date - April 11th). Unlike most other concerts I attended, this one I had a personal involvement in. The Bowling Green State University Universities Activity Organization had approached our radio station in the Fall of 1996 to get ideas on bringing a musical artist to BG in the Spring around the same time the station was researching the same concept. As I just moved into the Programming Director role, I got picked to work with the UAO and review a list of artists they had already narrowed down to based on costs.
As we were an alternative rock station, alternative rock bands made sense for us. The UAO crowd had a different idea, preferring a safe pick like Blues Traveler or The Steve Miller Band. Ultimately UAO made the final decision and went with the Violent Femmes, who pretty much a legacy act by 1997 and not relevant to our station.
Some politics went on that I wrote about at the time (and comes across as pretty immature and whiny, to be honest) and the show was not enjoyable from a personal standpoint, though the band was fine, and afterward while helping them load out turned out to be relatively nice and friendly guys.
As we were an alternative rock station, alternative rock bands made sense for us. The UAO crowd had a different idea, preferring a safe pick like Blues Traveler or The Steve Miller Band. Ultimately UAO made the final decision and went with the Violent Femmes, who pretty much a legacy act by 1997 and not relevant to our station.
Some politics went on that I wrote about at the time (and comes across as pretty immature and whiny, to be honest) and the show was not enjoyable from a personal standpoint, though the band was fine, and afterward while helping them load out turned out to be relatively nice and friendly guys.
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