Party Down: Main Characters, Ranked By Intelligence

On the Party Down catering team, several quirky personalities come together. The aspiring creatives of the catering company get into various conflicts based our their job and personal lives in the universe of the show. Some people on the team are characterized by their goofy behavior like Bobbie St. Brown.

Others are known for their grumpy attitudes like Roman DeBeers. Characters’ dispositions are exposed in some of Party Down‘s best quotes. Sillier personalities perhaps seem less smart than their peers. However, Party Down‘s characters present their intelligence in the way they respond to conflict and address problems.

Bobbie St. Brown

Jennifer Coolidge’s Bobbie is Constance Carmell’s roommate who replaces her when she leaves the Party Down team. She has a bubbly personality. However, she presents her lack of intelligence during her time working for the catering company.

Bobbie shows a lack of foresight when she takes hallucinogens as her shift begins, unaware she’ll cause trouble for the event. However, she proves to have emotional intelligence. She is in control of her temper and rarely lashes out at others. She is confident in herself. Despite this, she rarely showcases brilliant behavior.

Lydia Dunfree

Lydia is played by Megan Mullally. Unlike most of her peers, she is not an aspiring showbiz person. Instead, she hopes to start a career for her daughter Escapade. Lydia is naive. She shows her lack of critical thinking in her conversations with coworkers and actions during catering jobs.

Lydia’s naivité comes out in her attempts to gain connections for her daughter. She tries to bid on an expensive dinner with Tom Hanks, convinced he will love Escadape and help her in her career. She lacks the foresight to know it is an unrealistic expectation.

Ronald Wayne “Ron” Donald

Ken Marino’s Ron is the team leader for Party Down until he leaves and returns at a demoted position. He shows his smarts in his leadership. He tries to be organized to keep his team in line, creating a whiteboard list of “do’s and don’ts” for the employees to follow. He uses techniques inspired by critical thinking, like the “talking ball” exercise. However, these methods don’t always work out.

Ron shows his lack of foresight in his investment in the ill-fated Soup R’ Crackers franchise. He is almost scammed by a phony investment seeker. He shows his lack of emotional intelligence in his outbursts and his devastation following the loss of a superficial relationship. He shows a lack of critical thinking when he counts a sleeve of cups one by one rather than reading that each sleeve holds 100.

Kyle Bradway

Ryan Hansen plays Kyle. He is an aspiring actor, model, and musician. He is a goofy character and is presented as self-centered and air-headed, overly confident about his future in show business. However, he also shows his smarts in certain moments.

When Roman berates Kyle, calling him a no-talent “haircut,” Kyle tricks Roman into thinking he is hurt, showcasing his acting skills. He shows his quick thinking when he replaces a Valhalla Catering team member in an attempt to get close to guests and make connections in the acting world.

Constance Carmell

Jane Lynch plays Constance. She is one of the more likable characters in Party Down. She presents some unintelligent actions. She proves to lack attention to detail and naivité at times. A guest during a party who Kyle befriends manipulates her, making her think that she has promise for a role in an upcoming film that doesn’t exist.

However, Constance is emotionally intelligent. She rarely flies off the handle by letting emotion cloud her thoughts. She is eloquent and shows reasoning in giving her coworkers advice. She has some goofy moments but is smarter than many of her peers.

Henry Pollard

Adam Scott plays Henry in Party Down, one of his highest-rated roles. Many fans might say Henry is the show’s most relatable character. He shows his wits in his actions. He presents his emotional intelligence in his calm behavior, rarely letting his temper get the best of his like Ron. However, his emotions sometimes cloud his mind, like when guest star Rick Fox flirts with Casey.

Henry is organized. His critical thinking and attention to detail get him promoted to the position of Team Leader. He shows his reasoning when Casey challenges why he takes the job seriously, saying that he gets paid enough to do so with his new title.

Roman DeBeers

Martin Starr plays Roman. He is characterized by his bookishness and grumpy attitude. He presents himself as an intellectual, often challenging guests and coworkers about their knowledge on various subjects. He is sometimes outsmarted by Kyle in their ongoing feud.

Roman also shows a lack of emotional intelligence in his angry moments, like when he is offended that Casey doesn’t consider him attractive. He often condescends towards others, like when Kyle doesn’t recognize his Repo Man reference. He shows his critical thinking in these snide remarks, like when he sizes up the script the team reads in Steve Guttenberg’s guest-starring episode.

Casey Klein

Lizzy Caplan’s Casey is Henry’s romantic interest in Party Down. She is a comedian and shows her sharp wits in her jokes and sarcastic comments. She shows critical thinking in her plan to blackmail Ron when he tries to make her clean up a trail of dog crap he drags inside a guest’s house.

Casey sometimes shows her lack of emotional intelligence when she loses her temper. However, she thinks critically. She weighs the options of staying at Party Down with Henry or chasing her dreams performing on a cruise ship. She uses reasoning to come to a conclusion. She speaks clearly and presents her ideas thoughtfully.

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