Starz Cancels Party Down
This isn’t a a huge surprise, but a disappointment nonetheless. With the second season of Party Down just wrapping up a couple of weeks ago, Starz has decided not to renew the half-hour comedy for a third. Despite the fact that the show received some critical acclaim, it was apparently not being watched by anyone. The season 2 finale drew a 0.0 rating in the age 18-49 bracket. I don’t know exactly what that means, but I can only assume that zero isn’t a good number when it comes to ratings.
Party Down was the brainchild of Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars) and also had Paul Rudd on board as one of the producers, but even with a cast that included Jane Lynch, Adam Scott, Martin Starr, Lizzy Caplan and Jennifer Coolidge, it could not find an audience. I guess part of the problem is that many of the cast members started to leave for better gigs; Jennifer Coolidge and Jane Lynch weren’t around for season two, and Adam Scott has since landed a recurring role on Parks and Recreation.
I won’t shoulder any of the blame personally because we don’t even get Starz in Canada, but I think we all could have helped spread the word a little more as decent half-hour comedies are increasingly hard to come by. As for Rob Thomas, apparently his next project will be a pilot for a Showtime drama involving corporate espionage. Are you disappointed about the cancellation of Party Down? Could Starz have done something differently to save the show, or did it just not have a wide enough appeal?
Comments (13)
I really enjoyed Party Down. I watched it every week and have the first season on DVD. This is a bummer.
Posted by Daemon on July 5th, 2010This was a great show! The problem is that not many people knew about it or had STARZ. If this had been more available and a little bit of marketing thrown in the show could have been a hit.
Posted by Jeff on July 5th, 2010http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V3CfD8TPac&feature=related
Posted by Frank on July 5th, 2010I think people have been watching it more on DVD or streaming it on line. I first heard about it after the first season came out and am almost through season 1 (Netflix streaming). I don’t get or receive Starz. The Neilsen method is very outdated anyway.
Posted by mason on July 5th, 2010Yeah, I’m sure the ratings had nothing to do with putting a 18-30 yr old half-hour comedy on Starz on Friday night :\ I watched every single episode (and loved it) but I had to do it online.
Posted by prence on July 5th, 2010Yeah I only watched it through streaming. While this is disappointing to be sure, I’m glad they didn’t end it after the first season. That would have been even more disappointing.
Posted by Nate on July 5th, 2010I watched mostly through Netflix streaming as well, though my Time Warner Cable did have some episodes free to watch on demand. So I didn’t watch any of the episodes when they originally aired, and didn’t pay for Starz (unless you count the Netflix subcription).
Posted by Brendan on July 5th, 2010I was also surprised when I got through all the episodes except the finale on Netflix right before the finale aired. Then the finale was available right after it aired on Starz. So it’s pretty understandable that the show didn’t get ratings, but it did have a following.
I’d never even heard of the show except for references on the podcast, which on one hand is surprising because of the talent involved, but on the other doesn’t surprise me at all, because I’ve seen no publicity for it whatsoever, and it’s on Starz, which (aside from not having nearly the same kind of exposure as HBO or Showtime) isn’t really known for it’s original programming. Crash and Spartacus are both niche shows, but even THEY had some sort of marketing push. Even with Spartacus, I don’t know anyone that watches it ON Starz, it’s always on Netflix.
Posted by PlanBFromOuterSpace on July 5th, 2010This just proves that great talent (writing, directing, editing and acting) too often goes unnoticed. The show was simply hilarious and I am still watching episode via on demand.
Posted by Mark on July 5th, 2010This fuckin sucks ta hear. I am happy that the last episode of season 2 ended a whole lot better than the first one, though…what a bummer
Posted by Derek on July 6th, 2010Best comedy on TV, bar none. Ah well.
Posted by Matt Gamble on July 6th, 2010Shocker…another great comedy canceled (remember Arrested Development). Dumping Starz now, that was the only reason I had it. One can only hope that “Kendra” is renewed though!!! What a joke. I really hope another cable network picks PD up, this is a bummer.
Posted by JimmyJam on July 11th, 2010Great cast, guest stars, and completely unlike any other show. Totally the best comedy on TV, figures they’d cancel it. Huge shame and the only reason i kept Starz.
Posted by wendy on July 30th, 2010Leave a Reply