Every Main Character In Party Down Ranked

The greater Los Angeles area is filled with struggling artists working whatever jobs they can to stay afloat while they chase their creative dreams. One of those gigs, those day jobs everyone is just waiting for the chance to quit, is catering. The 2009 Starz sitcom "Party Down" follows a group of those aspiring artist-caterers struggling to keep the dream alive, even while the industry and the world at large stomp on them and spill red wine on their crisp white button-downs. 

The hugely underrated comedy was unceremoniously canceled following its second season. After a plan for a movie didn't pan out, fans were ready to give up hope, but a six-episode order for a revival was issued in 2021. Then, in March 2022, Adam Scott confirmed that the new "Party Down" had finished shooting. Over a decade later, "Party Down" fans can look forward to catching up with their favorite ensemble of catastrophic cater waiters. It's been a long time, and it's uncertain what the world will look like for the original "Party Down" crew when they come back. Will they have learned from their mistakes? Will they have grown and matured as people and stopped drinking so much on the job? I certainly hope not. In honor of the show's long-awaited comeback, here is every main character from "Party Down," ranked. 

Every member of the "Party Down" ensemble is a necessary cog in the comedy machine and removing one of them from the equation would make the show a lesser version of itself. Everyone at Party Down Catering is a mess of the highest order, but that's part of what makes them so entertaining. Without the mess, there would be none of the shenanigans, awkward misunderstandings, and ridiculous hijinks. If they were perfect people, good people, or even largely pleasant to be around, the show wouldn't achieve the impeccable levels of cringe comedy that it's known for.

Also ... Roman is the worst! He's a vital piece of the "Party Down" puzzle, of course, but still undeniably the worst, a resentful, performatively cynical nerd with a stack of unfinished screenplays and an attitude toward women that can only be described as "incel-adjacent." He has his rare moments of clarity, and even when he doesn't, it can be delicious schadenfreude to watch his pretentious attitude get thrown back in his face. With all that, there are still plenty more reasons for him to come in at the bottom of this ranking. 

Every workplace comedy needs an incompetent leader at the helm. "Abbott Elementary" has self-absorbed Principal Ava Coleman, "The Office" has the hapless Michael Scott, and "Party Down" has Ron Donald, a man desperate to reinvent himself and rise above his station but just can't stop putting his foot in his mouth and making a mess of things. Ron once struggled with drugs and alcohol, spending his time goofing around and getting high on the job, but now, he has gotten sober and transformed into New Ron, determined to run a tight ship at Party Down Catering, with himself as the captain. Unfortunately, he's on board a sinking vessel crewed by incompetent slackers who would much rather be doing anything else. 

Ron's intensity often takes him over the line from "top-notch customer service" to "guy who makes people deeply uncomfortable at their own party." He always says the worst possible thing at the worst possible time, has no sense of boundaries, and at one point, almost kick-starts a porn career while on the job. Yet, he is the perfect counterpart to the rest of his team, a man who cares too much, surrounded by people who couldn't care less about their jobs. "Party Down" just wouldn't be the same without Ron.

The animated, hilarious Megan Mullally as the out-of-touch stage mom to a teenage daughter named Escapade? Yes, please! Lydia Dunfree stepped in to replace Jane Lynch's character, Constance, in Season Two, doing her best to fill the void left behind by her departure. The show isn't quite the same without Constance, but Lydia manages to hold her own just the same. She isn't a perfect substitute, but she doesn't try to be. Rather than an aging actress still convinced that she is just one great audition away from her next big break, Lydia is a full-time momager who ignores the emotional wounds of her recent divorce by throwing herself into her daughter's entertainment career. 

The audience doesn't get as much time with Lydia as they do with most of the other characters, and therefore, doesn't get to form as much of an emotional attachment to her, but Megan Mullally's performance is hysterical. The stage mom gimmick gets a little bit old at times, but watching her interact with the exhausted Escapade, played by a baby Kaitlyn Dever, at the Party Down company picnic after she has been fired as her manager, is priceless.

Most of the Party Down Catering crew are chasing some kind of dream. Ron wants to own a Soup R' Crackers franchise, Roman wants to be a successful science fiction writer, and Kyle — handsome, empty-headed Kyle — wants to be an actor, a musician, and just a superstar in general.

Roman's natural nemesis, Kyle, is everything that he is not: charming (sort of), likable (sometimes), and great with women (if he doesn't talk too much). The two of them have more in common than they might realize, though. They both think very highly of themselves, and despite their bravado, they are both a lot less worldly and aware than they think they are. Like Roman, Kyle's ego frequently gets him into hot water. However, unlike Roman, Kyle doesn't know any better. He has a dopey, Golden Retriever-like quality that renders him more endearing than he has any right to be. He does have his nobler moments, such as turning down an opportunity to schmooze with a rich jerk instead of spending time with his coworker Constance. However, just when you think he might have started to grow up, he tosses that head of golden hair and gets himself into trouble all over again. 

Jane Lynch is best known as the brash, trash-talking cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester on "Glee." On "Party Down," she plays Sue's polar opposite to perfection. Constance Carmell is a chaotic but kind actress and chronic namedropper who refuses to give up no matter how long it's been since her last on-camera role. She and Kyle make perfect counterparts — not just because they have almost identical haircuts. They fully buy into each others' nonsense, while others might not, whether that's coaching an audition monologue for the role of a sensitive bad boy or preparing cow sounds for a hypothetical live-action "Old MacDonald" film. 

Constance could easily be a one-note character, but she has more to her than meets the eye. For example, the show establishes her as something of an unexpected sexual dynamo, drawing the fascination of various men, including a Russian mobster enamored with her older, more erotic film work, and an aging producer looking for his next wife. Jane Lynch is fantastic as a mean, brassy broad, but her turn as Constance shows off her sweeter, sillier side to great effect. 

Casey projects an air of cool-girl detachment. She fires off quippy one-liners at a rapid pace, but no matter how hard she tries to hide it, she can't stop herself from caring. She brushes off oblivious dreamers like Kyle and Constance, but the truth is that she wants to succeed just as badly as they do, and it breaks her heart just as much every time that next big opportunity doesn't pan out. Lizzy Caplan masterfully walks the line between sarcastic and vulnerable, offering only fleeting glimpses of the parts of Casey that she is afraid to show. 

On some level, Casey secretly wishes she could be as hopeful as her coworkers, and that kills her. When she is cut out of the movie that promised to be her big break, and Henry attempts to comfort her, she breaks down and says, "I know what you're trying to do. I know you're trying to help me. Maybe if we were the same kind of crazy, but we're not. Because if you're not crazy enough to believe it for you, how are you going to believe it for me?" A lesser version of her character would be nothing more than a potential love interest for Henry, but Casey is funny, frustrating, and in rare beautiful moments, absolutely devastating. 

While the rest of his colleagues try desperately to keep the dream alive, Henry Pollard put the dream out to pasture; buried it in a shallow, unmarked grave; and doesn't even bother to visit its burial site with flowers. Henry was once a semi-successful actor, but his career hit a dead end after his appearance in a popular beer commercial featuring the tagline "Are we having fun yet?" Like the beating of "The Tell-Tale Heart," that phrase haunts Henry throughout "Party Down" as a reminder of the man he once was. Aside from Casey, Henry is the most emotionally complex of the main characters and the one who seems the most like a real person. His cynicism can be frustrating, but it's also deeply relatable, especially for anyone who has ever felt stagnant in their life. Henry is the patron saint of dreams deferred, the comedic straight man bobbing in a sea of weirdos. 

This is Adam Scott at his most sardonic yet lovable. Henry is at his best when the façade cracks, and he shows the real person beneath the snark. His on-again-off-again relationship with Casey is an inadvisable mess, but their chemistry and the way she makes Henry's face light up with a genuine smile is one of the best parts of the show.