What would happen if “Glee” cutthroat cheer coach Sue Sylvester met ditzy “Party Down” actor Constance Carmell? Well, according to Jane Lynch, the performer behind both characters, the two would actually get along quite nicely.
“I think they’d be fast friends,” Lynch told PvNew at the Season 3 premiere of “Party Down.” “Constance is not the smartest person in the world, but she’s confident in her own goodness. And she has great self-esteem, and deep down inside Sue Sylvester does not. They would be a great…good cop, bad cop. They could do a comic cop show, but I would have to play both characters, and it would be a lot more. Wouldn’t it be great, though?”
The original “Party Down” series, which debuted in 2009, depicts struggling actors working for a Los Angeles catering company as they await their big break. The reboot catches the stars a decade later, where some of the actors have made it big in Hollywood. Regardless, the gang all seems to make their way back to the company for one reason or another, landing at various parties with eccentric guests.
While met with critical acclaim, the series was not renewed after its second season. In 2021, Starz announced it was rebooting the series, which built up a cult following after it aired, executive producer Rob Thomas said. Almost all of the cast was able to return in some capacity for the six-episode third season, including Adam Scott (Henry Pollard), Ken Marino (Ron Donald), Martin Starr (Roman DeBeers), Lynch, Ryan Hansen (Kyle Bradway) and Megan Mullally (Lydia Dunfee). Lizzy Caplan (Casey Klein) is not in the third season.
The stars told PvNew how excited they were to get back together on set after keeping in touch throughout the years, with Hansen saying that the first day back was like “summer camp.”
Lynch confirmed that “Party Down” is still the most fun job she has ever had, and mentioned a scene in the upcoming season where Marino’s character has food poisoning. Lynch said she covered her mouth to hide her laughter, whereas Marino described the moment in one word: “painful.”
The reboot brought in new characters as well, including Jennifer Garner (Evie Adler), Tyrel Jackson Williams (Sackson) and Zoë Chao (Lucy Dang), along with guest stars such as James Marsden, Quinta Brunson, Nick Offerman and Liv Hewson.
Williams said the newcomers didn’t want to “mess up the formula” from the previous seasons. However, his character, an aspiring internet influencer, represents the younger generation. “It was very important early on that the joke of Sackson wasn’t ‘young people are weird,’ but that he was a more nuanced critique of modern culture and social media,” Williams said.
Show creators Thomas, Paul Rudd, John Enbom and Dan Etheridge served as executive producers, with Scott also executive producing. Enbom was the showrunner and Marino, Bryan Gordon, Heather Jack, Jude Weng, Viet Nguyen and Wendey Stanzler each directed episodes.
Season 3 of “Party Down” premieres Feb. 24 on Starz and the Starz App.
