"Party Down" Scores a Gay Touchdown

*** Warning! This post contains spoilers on this week's episode of Party Down.***

I really like Party Down, but it's one of those comedies you hesitate to recommend to other people because it can be wildly uneven. This week's installment was one of the stronger episodes however, and gay viewers in particular might want to catch it when it repeats on Starz, or via Netflix streaming.

The show is about the employees of a Hollywood catering company, and each episode takes place at a single catering event. This gives the characters a perfectly constructed and finite "situation" to deal with each episode.  

None of the characters seem to take their job seriously. They are all aspiring writers, actors, comedians, and down-on-their luck divorcees, which sort of rings true for run-of-the-mill cater-waiters in LA.

What rings less true is that there's no GLBT presence within the regular cast. If any show is due for a gay character it is this one. I mean it's supposed to be Los Angeles, and gay cater waiters are a cliché for a reason.

And no, you can't count Jane Lynch, who was a cast member before defecting to Glee. Jane may be out and proud, but her Party Down character was ostensibly straight. 

This week's installment didn't solve the lack of gay representation in the regular cast – but at least it offered up an interesting storyline about a gay NFL draft pick.

The Party Down catering company is hired to work the draft day party at the home of star college quarterback Cole Landry.

All you Greek fans rejoice, Cole is played by Aaron Hill (a.k.a. "The Beaver")

Cole is watching the televised NFL draft with his friends, his father and his obnoxious sports agent. There's a camera crew there as well – ready to go live with Cole's reaction as soon as he gets picked.

Things start to get tense when draft round after draft round goes by without Cole being chosen by a football team.  

Meanwhile, a male party guest looks miserable in the background and (foreshadowing!) commiserates with the catering staff about being in "that place where the person you want to be with night and day only wants to be with you when there's no one else around."

Cole's agent works the phones madly to figure out why his star client is turning into an NFL draft day wallflower.

The TV sportscaster finally breaks the news that the various football franchises have declined to pick Cole because of rumors that he's gay.

"Are you kidding?" says Cole. "I'm drowning in p**sy. Just ask anyone!" Uh, except for that mopey guy talking to the bartender.

With the live cameras rolling in his living room, Cole tries everything to convince the world that he's straight. His agent even gets one of the cater waitresses to dress up like a floozy and pretend to be his girlfriend.

She puts on a pretty convincing show until the TV sportscaster throws up a grainy photo of Cole kissing another man in front of a gay bar. 

That's a big surprise for most everyone at the party. It also turns out to be the final straw for his mopey secret boyfriend, who chews him out on live TV and then storms off.

If the show had ended right there it would have been a bit of a downer. After all, here's a character who's pro sports prospects are entirely dashed once it's known he's gay. But the show did offer an amusing coda where Cole gets picked in the very last round of the NFL draft – by San Francisco. And what's more, his agent tells him he's got a major endorsement offer. "How'd you like to be the face of Abercrombie & Fitch!"

Cole is over the moon at this news. "I'm gonna get so much ass!"

Clearly, the mopey secret boyfriend was smart to dump him.

I sort of liked that Cole was ultimately a bit of a jerk. This guy didn't seem any better or worse than an equivalent straight jock. It would have been sort of saccharine for him to head off into the sunset with the secret boyfriend once his gay secret was out. (Remember Eric Dane and Bradley Cooper in that awful Valentine's Day?)

All in all, a fine Party Down episode. The show is likely to get picked up for a third season, although two of its regulars (Ryan Hansen and Adam Scott) have landed other gigs on network TV so there's likely to be some shakeup in the cast. Here's hoping they bring in a regular gay character to liven things up a bit. If nothing else, it would give us an excuse to cover this show more often.