Movable feast of laughs

Rob Thomas, the man behind “Veronica Mars� and “Cupid� (the old “Cupid,� with Jeremy Piven, and the coming new “Cupid� with Bobby Cannavale) and briefly associated with the rebranding of “90210,� has found a new outlet on the relatively remote reaches of Starz, the cable network that shares a name with a bushy-haired 1970s power-pop band. “Party Down,� which premieres tonight, is the show in question, and it is a smart, affable, mostly unpredictable ensemble comedy that reminds us that in the 500-channel universe, fine things can happen in unlikely places, as long as you are clever about budget, commit to a sensible number of episodes -- in this case 10 -- write well and cast right, and that what matters ultimately to heaven is not the eminence of the venue but the quality of the work.

“Party Down� follows a troupe of Southern California caterers as they go from job to job, an arrangement that requires only a single location for each episode and insures variety across the series. It’s a bit like “The Office� on wheels, except where “The Office� is about people who, for better or worse, really identify with their jobs, “Party Down� is mostly about people who want something else. Except for enthusiastic team leader Ron (Ken Marino), a formerly aspiring actor who has had a Damascus moment and now regards his job with cult-like satisfaction, none are in catering for catering’s sake. They are all show business hopefuls staying alive between auditions and the rare gig -- or, in the case of Ron’s old friend Henry (Adam Scott), who was briefly famous for a beer commercial, merely lacking any better plan.

“Were you that guy?� asks fellow caterer and possible love interest Casey (Lizzy Caplan), finally recognizing him.

“Yes I was.�

“You were. You’re totally that guy. That is bananas. I remember you. What are you doing working here?�

“Do you remember me from anything else?�

It’s not only the caterers who are looking for something better. In the pilot, Enrico Colantoni guests as the host of a homeowners association party who feels trapped by respectability (“I wasn’t always like this -- I was in a band, living crazy�) and winds up naked in his pool yelling at his neighbors, “You’re already dead.� In another episode, set at a seminar for elderly singles (led by Marilu Henner), a character played by Ed Begley Jr., enumerates to Kyle (Ryan Hansen) the pills he takes in order to feel young: “Keep the right balance, dude, I’m a teenager.� (It is not as depressing a show as I may have just made it sound.)

More than a few viewers will be attracted to this series merely by the presence of Martin Starr, of “Freaks and Geeks� fame, who has pushed his glasses back up his nose and acquired attitude, as a writer of unsold “hard sci-fi� screenplays. Also here are the divine Jane Lynch as an aging veteran minor actor (“You ever play a corpse? . . . That’s a challenge�) who uses the parties she works as a kind of substitute stage, and Hansen as a woolly brained actor-musician.

Given all the catered functions in this town, and all the many opportunities for things to go wrong, or get weird, I am sure that everything that happens here has happened somewhere -- sex, drugs, CPR -- though perhaps not with such antic frequency. Really, it’s a wonder anyone gets their food.

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