Are we having fun yet?

“Are we having fun yet?”

That tagline, which comes from a commercial that helped make Adam Scott’s character Henry famous, is a perfect way to sum up Showtime’s “Party Down.” And from the very first moment of the pilot episode, the answer to that question is a resounding yes.

After quitting acting, Henry joins Party Down catering company, which is staffed by a cast of characters trying to break into Hollywood – or open an all-you-can-eat soup buffet if your bossman Ron Donald (Ken Marino).  

This single camera comedic gem thrusts the Party Down crew into different jobs each week, from a college republicans celebration to an elderly singles mixer to a sweet sixteen party. And every single job unravels within moments thanks to a combustible mix of apathy, incompetence and subterfuge. 

Every member of the cast hits it out of the park, whether it’s Ken Marino’s tense overachiever, Martin Starr’s pretentious asshole or Jane Lynch’s usual uncorked bitch performance. Scott spends a lot of time playing it straight, but his dry delivery works perfectly off of the goofier Marino or Ryan Hansen.

It’s little seen thanks to airing on Starz, but “Party Down” was one of the best new series of 2009 – and one of the best comedies on television, period.