“Party Down,” the cult-classic comedy series about cater waiters in Los Angeles, is back for season three a dozen years after Starz cancelled it because, despite the show being brilliant, hilarious, and poignant, no one was watching it. Its revival is great news for anyone who likes to laugh. Here, The Ringer delivers a behind-the-scenes look at how “Party Down” came to be in the first place, a story that involves Paul Rudd, weed, and the British version of The Office, as told by the creators and stars themselves:
Starr: The one thing that was tough is we just didn’t have time for improv. And I think a lot of us were familiar with, and wanting, to play in that way. And when it came down to it, we just didn’t have the time for it. We didn’t have the budget for it. But luckily, Enbom is such an incredibly talented writer that you don’t need it.
Hansen: In fact, so many people are like, “That’s got to be improvised, right?” The way John writes, it just feels so natural.
Enbom: Martin’s character always resented Kyle, and that was their relationship. Originally, Kyle did not pay much attention to Roman, just because he didn’t think much of him. And so the fact that this kind of little weird relationship evolved has a lot to do with just how the two of them got on.
Starr: When it was in the dialogue a little bit, we leaned into it and it became kind of our natural on-screen/off-screen rapport. Because it’s also a fun place to play. I think we enjoy that kind of humor naturally, anyway. So we kind of end up doing it even when we’re not working.
Hansen: You know what wasn’t in the dialogue? Martin slapping me on camera.
Enbom: It became this running thing of — without him even knowing it was coming — just Martin whapping Kyle.
Starr: It wasn’t in the face. It was mostly …
Hansen: A lot of nut shots.
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