History Series / PartyDown

* ArcWords: "It's like a fairy tale." First said by Constance at the un-fairy tale-like ending of "Taylor Stiltskin Sweet Sixteen," and used to reinforce how shallow supposedly happy things are. As explained by Evie in "Jack Botty's Delayed Post-Pandemic Surprise Party" when describing her unhappy marriage:

* ArcWords: "It's like a fairy tale." First said by Constance at the un-fairy tale-like ending of "Taylor Stiltskin Sweet Sixteen," and used to reinforce how fake supposedly happy things are. As explained by Evie in "Jack Botty's Delayed Post-Pandemic Surprise Party" when describing her unhappy marriage:

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Howard, Constance's fiancee in the Season 2 finale, is a DirtyOldMan who Casey and Henry take an instant dislike to. However, he insists that he truly loves Constance [[spoiler: and he proves it by signing his prenup with a false name, thereby successfully evading his daughter's wishes and leaving his fortune to Constance.]]

-->'''Evie''': It is like a fairy tale. Yes, it is. See, that should be a big red flag. Why does anybody say that? If it's like a fairy tale, it ''is'' a fairy tale. It seems super obvious when you say it out loud.

* TookALevelInKindness: While he's hardly a ''nice'' person, Roman is much less acerbic and creepy in Season 3 than in the show's original run. He's still a pretentious nerd who can't stand Kyle, but he shows emotional maturity, doesn't act like a perv as much, and even manages a quasi-friendship with Lucy, as the two of them encourage each other not to give up on their dreams. By the end of the season he's possibly on the way to JerkWithAHeartOfGold status.

** The beginning of Season 3 reveals this happened to [[spoiler: both Ron and Henry. Ron's girlfriend Danielle left him for someone else, and Casey has since gotten famous and left Los Angeles and Henry behind.]] At the end of the season, this happens to [[Henry again, when he chooses to end things with Evie and keep his job as an English teacher. However, the final scene of the season teases that Henry and Casey might still get back together some day.]]

* DidNotGetTheGirl: The ending of [[spoiler: "James Rolf High School Twentieth Reunion."]]
* TheDitz: Constance in Season 1 and Lydia in season 2. Although both Jane Lynch and Megan Mullaly were playing a ditzy female character, both brought their own brands of ditziness.

*** "Once Upon a Time Proms Away Prom-otional Event" gives us a closer look at Lydia's relationship with Escapade.

*** "Once Upon a Time Proms Away Prom-otional Event" centers around Lydia's relationship with Escapade.

* JerkassHasAPoint: In "Kyle Bradway is Nitromancer," Lydia and Constance reminisce about Casey and Henry's relationship and get challenged by Roman. Although we know Roman was jealous of them, he points out that it's weird to be that invested in such a short-term fling:

* JerkassHasAPoint:

** Escapade has also only appeared onscreen twice (so far) but is frequently mentioned my Lydia.

* AffablyEvil: After many twists and turns, [[spoiler: Ricky Sargulesh]] turns out to be this. [[spoiler: He's]] intimidating but actually quite friendly, buttering up the Party down crew and getting along with everyone. Every suspicious thing about him seems to be all a misunderstanding until [[spoiler: Roman realizes Ricky really does intend to murder his driver.]]

* AffablyEvil: After many twists and turns, [[spoiler: Ricky Sargulesh]] turns out to be this. [[spoiler: He's]] intimidating but actually quite friendly, buttering up the Party down crew and getting laughing along with everyone. Every suspicious thing about him seems to be all a misunderstanding until [[spoiler: Roman realizes Ricky really does intend to murder his driver.]]

* AffablyEvil: After many twists and turns, [[spoiler: Ricky Sargulesh]] turns out to be this. [[spoiler: He's]] intimidating but actually quite friendly, and Roman's suspicions seem to be all a misunderstanding until [[spoiler: he realizes Ricky really does intend to murder his driver.]]

* TookALevelInKindness: While he's hardly a ''nice'' person, Roman is much less acerbic and creepy in Season 3 than in the show's original run. He's still a pretentious nerd who loves messing with Kyle, but he shows emotional maturity, doesn't act like a perv as much, and even manages a quasi-friendship with Lucy, as the two of them encourage each other not to give up on their dreams. By the end of the season he's possibly on the way to JerkWithAHeartOfGold status.

* TookALevelInKindness: While he's hardly a ''nice'' person, Roman is much less acerbic and creepy in Season 3 than in the show's original run. He's still a pretentious nerd who loves messing with Kyle, but he shows emotional maturity, doesn't act like a perv as much, and even manages a quasi-friendship with Lucy, as the two of them encourage each other not to give up on their dreams. By the end of the season he's possibly on the way to JerkWithAHeartOfGold status instead of the CasanovaWannabe and SmallNameBigEgo he started as.

* CelebrityParadox: In the first season, Casey mentions not getting a part on ''Series/Reno911''. Two cast members from that show, Thomas Lennon and Kerri-Kenney-Silver, would later show up as other characters in ''Party Down''.

* SlobsVersusSnobs: The undisciplined, quirky slobs of Party
Down versus the regimented, vaguely terrifying snobs of Valhalla Catering. This is most evident in the picnic episode when the rivalry leads to a kickball game between the two companies. [[spoiler: Despite Casey's efforts, Party Down ultimately loses when their "ringer" collapses on the field.]]