I'm about to do a third watch. I can relate to the show in so many levels. Working on a beep job with people you probably never would met if it wasn't for the job which can create hilarious situations. And also having a dream to become an actor or filmmaker which myself is trying to pursue, not as an actor but on the other side of the camera. I have seen actors that act in short films that are kinda desperate but aspiring wannabe actors. So sometimes this show can be sad, so I guess it's kinda a tragic comedy.
But I guess most people can relate to it on different levels.
I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me

I think a lot of people have a need to 'root' for characters in shows and movies. I kind of like the darker comedy where a lot of people are just not nice people. I find it more real. I can totally see you point, and see why someone wouldn't like this show. I personally just found it, and am absolutely loving it. Maybe it's because I was a f'up at one point and can relate, I am not sure. People get in ruts like the characters in the show. The stuff in this show is not far fetched to me at all. I'd say it's either a show people will really like, or really dislike. I can't imagine too much of a middle ground.

I didn't like it at all. I rented it based on the very high IMDb rating, but couldn't see what the fuss was all about. I found the characters pretty repellent, but not in a funny way, like say Basil Faulty. They just seemed like a bunch of spoiled rotten brats, particularly the lead guy, whose story is that he got type-cast by doing a commercial that everyone remembers the catch-phrase for, so of course his whole life is over and there's no alternative but to drink himself to death.
Then there's his love interest: she's not an overnight success in standup comedy and her marriage hits a rough spot so of course she should abandon the marriage and sleep with the co-worker she's known five minutes. They all act as if a clean, un-strenuous, indoor job like catering is the absolute nadir of existence, so of course there's no need to actually do the work. And their boss is a buffoon; he must be if he takes seriously the need to actually do a good job.
If the characters were the slightest bit endearing or funny these character flaws wouldn't matter, but lacking any entertainment value I couldn't help seeing the whole thing as a bit of an indictment of precious, pampered aimless young people who think the world owes them not only a living, but fame as well.

This is more on the line of Judd Apatow style, such as Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared. It has nothing to do with Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld, The Office.
It's a brilliant show, incredibly funny, and I love the premise, of failed actors working in a catering business. It's just beep up that shows like these always get cancelled.

I gave it a try but did not like it at all, its not my kind of humor.
When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth

I liked it!!!!!

It's a show the neverwere crowd gets behind.

I caught about five minutes of one episode, thought it was really funny, bought the dvds and have watched all of the first season and laughed two or three times at best.
This show isn't even bad, but for some reason I just don't like it much.
Likable cast but meh, it just is not doing it for me.
"Rock 'n roll martian!"

this show is not like the office, man I loved this show. I've never seen a show like it, maybe Extras can be similar because it deals with people on the fringe of the entertainment business. I think it was such a perfect format that I'm surprised this wasn't a bigger show on a better network with bigger star actors. Having it centered on a catering company allows the show to have a different theme every episode and not have it be distracting or contrived, because thats what they do, they cater different kinds of events.
The fact that the show is made up primarily of has beens or struggling actors/writers/etc allows for a lot of funny conversations between the actors and so on, once again great material. Honestly the actors are what I like about this though, primarily Ben and Ron Donald. On the State way back when, Ken Marino was the good looking Italian and he was the stud in all of their skits, so its so funny to now see him with that square haircut playing the ultimate douche loser who means well but will never succeed. I will i guess admit that Ron is where it resembles the Office, because the bosses are simple losers

I'm not saying whether the three shows are good or not (I can't really vouch for AD anyways), but the point was that all of the TV critics and online fans always put Party Down in the same "category" as these three - as in a underrated comedy that only a few get.

Parks and Rec, Community, and Arrested Devlopment all blow.

Seriously!!! I kept hearing that this show was one of those hidden gems, that just never got the recognition and ratings that it deserved (like Parks and Rec, Community, and Arrested Development), buteh. There were a couple of really funny moments and greats endings, but overall, I thought it was a very mediocre show. It had to resort to drug use/sex to make it funny (I'm not a prude, but think these make for an easy laugh) and the characters were all pretty unlikeable.

I was rewatching some of episodes of Party Down and I would say I still love it after first seeing it 2 years ago. Show has some problems like first I would say world in this show is just too dark and not in realistic way lot of the characters and situations are just too dark and at same time not believable. For example character J.K Simmons plays he is just trying to be too angry and doesn't really come off as scary, surely that is part of comedy but dark stuff seems a bit forced. However at same time darkness of the show is part of its appeal and its soul, thing that sets it apart from shows like office, its about people struggling to find their way in the world and not in an easy world. They have high dreams and hopes, they are working at depressing job and times are bad. I think this show would not had worked as long as the office did, it would had been kind of like why are these people not giving up, why do they keep trying and why can't they just except what their lifes are.

Wow, this show could not be more unlike the office. The office is a mockumentary, relying on floating head bits to keep the plot and jokes moving. Party Down is nothing like that. Both shows have completely different humor, and I am just baffled that you think Party Down stole jokes from the office. Don't get me wrong, I really liked the first 4 seasons of the office, but your comparison and complaints are just stupid.

I don't see the resemblance to The Office either. It's definitely nowhere near as good as Seinfeld (but what show is?). I rarely laugh out loud, but I'm usually slightly grinning throughout and I never feel like I've wasted my time watching an ep. I agree the second season was not as strong as the first.
Jane Lynch hysterically yelling at the conservatives "Since when is Toronto not a part of the United States of America?" is probably the best moment of the series.

I liked the first season, the second season..not so much.

This.
I couldn't have said it better myself.
It's such a fine line between stupid and clever.

What I find unique and creative about the formula of Party Down is that its scope is both broad and narrow. Most of the caterers are chasing different dreams in Hollywood (actor, writer, comedian, stage mom, etc), so we get to see these different types of struggling artists. On top of that, each character has a well-developed personality in addition to their artistic identity so they're not reduced to a general type.
Then, since each episode is a different catering event, the show also gets an opportunity to explore other weird groups of people. What I always find hilarious is that many of the events get screwed up by the very people putting them on, not simply the Party Down crew being unprofessional. To me, that's the unique voice of the show - every one is dissatisfied with life, no matter if they're a failed actor or an ex-class president who finally sleeps with her high school crush or famous rock star or a wealthy estate lawyer.
So we watch a group of Hollywood misfits catering events thrown by nearly every type of "successful" Los Angeles stereotype (rich suburban families, famous producers, smart college kids, whatever) and yet everyone is their own unique and very specific character. I haven't watched extensively all of the shows you've listed but I think that because of the flexibility of Party Down's premise it carved out a niche for itself. I loved Arrested Development, but I felt that its world was very confined. I never had a sense of how any of the characters functioned in the outside world. The Office also had very little room for that group of people to interact with anyone else. Which is fine, that's how those shows worked. I like the malleability of Party Down better. The fact that the show established the characters' personalities despite always changing up the situation and dedicating half the episode to the problems of characters we never see again is a testament to its great writing.

I'm confused about this complaints how characters don't have chemistry, and look like they were forced to spend time together? Do you have chemistry with all your work colleagues?
It's not like premise of the show was, 'best friends from childhood run catering agency' it was supposed to be awkward and it was

Do Ape descendants have no pride any more?

I liked the show because it was different and featured a lot of actors I liked. Added to that was the fact that "Veronica Mars" is one of my favourite shows ever.
There were definitely some minuses though. I did feel the humour was way too obvious sometimes. It was almost a love/hate relationship, as I liked how realistic the show was in terms of the "chasing dreams" theme, but didn't like that it was also realistic in not having happy endings for a single person. It really was too depressing sometimes, and none of the characters connected with each other except for the obvious couple. There was no real character development, which is huge for me. Except maybe between Henry and Casey (they would make progress and then regress), but whenever two characters immediately get into a romantic relationship, I feel like it's a bit of a cop out. Plus, I could never get into Henry and he was a main character.
Don't get me wrongthe show is still better than most of the other dark comedy shows from the past however-many years. But it did have more faults than "Arrested Development", "Curb Your Enthusiasm", "Community", "Modern Family", etc. It didn't really give the viewers 3-dimensional characters. Maybe it didn't get a chance to, but I feel like it should've happened during the 1st season, regardless of when it was cancelled.

Yes I do. Its called a laugh track. Its the device that separates all comedies that respect their audience enough that they do not need a signal to tell an audience that a joke has been told, to comedies that do not trust their audience with such responsibility. You need the signal. I do not.

Really? You can know everything you needed to know just by knowing what the person likes? Wow

Darlin you told us all we needed to know by saying you are a big fan of Big Bang Theory: A show about smart people for dumb people.

I chuckled at the irony when you mentioned you were a Big Bang Theory fan yet you disliked this show because the characters were "characters were unlikable" and "episodes were bland." The Big Bang Theory is arguably the second most over-rated comedy sitcom out right now next to Two and 1/2 Men. Talk about unlikable characters, simplistic storylines, in your faces jokes and lack of creativity.
That's not opinion, that's science. And science is one cold hearted bitch with a 14 inch strap on!