Party Down, "Taylor Stiltskin Sweet Sixteen"
One of the best new comedies of the year, Party Down follows a group of aspiring — or once aspiring — actors and screenwriters working for a catering company serving the more fortunate in and around Hollywood. (It's like Taxi with an open bar.) The brilliance of the setup is that the characters are dealing with their frustrations and disappointments while putting on bashes for people who are having the time of their lives — or, at least, who are supposed to be. This episode, with a party for an obnoxious mogul's spoiled daughter (who's miserable because of the number of no-shows) was a hilarious pileup of showbiz eccentrics and offered a twisted moral: it is extremely important to be the most popular kid. They say Hollywood is high school with money, and this episode proves it.
(Starz)