Written by HIH Houseguest, Caleb Bacon.

WordSpy.com defines “appointment television” as “television programming for which one sets aside time to watch, either live or on videotape.”

I blame HBO.

One day, our nation’s elites (they say: “cinemaphiles”) had their own Must See TV. NBC’s Thursday Night lineup became simply pedestrian compared to Sunday Nights on HBO where shows like The Sopranos and Six Feet Under looked, sounded, and watched like film.

Weekly appointments were made by the affluent and hundred-aires alike to gather around the ole’ idiot box. I was one of them. Then came the blow-up of TiVo, DVR, Hulu, and even (gasp!) Torrents. Appointment television became less of… well, an appointment.

Then came the second season of Party Down.

Party Down was a show whose first season had been chicken soup in DVD-form on an overcast Los Angeles day where I was under the weather. Sunset Boulevard billboards suggested the second season’s premier was shortly after. I knew I wasn’t waiting a year for DVD set and I certainly wasn’t in the 0.003% of Americans with Starz (even if I do have it, it’s probably impossibly buried somewhere between 584 and 1,483b.)

I downloaded that second season premier on the very night of its release, thanks to a Starz partnership with Netflix, whose instant watch option did the trick and quick.

(While Netflix Watch technically streams content, “appointment stream” sounds a little too pervy, even for me.)

My appointment book featured a thirty-minute block on Friday nights spent with a group of showbiz up-and-comers and near-misses who paid rent via civilian employment as event caterers. Ten Fridays were spent appointment downloading.

I loved those five total hours with Henry Pollard (Adam Scott, Step Brothers’ wonderfully douchetastic Derek) Ron Donald (The State’s Ken Marino,) Kyle (Ryan Hansen,) Roman (Freak and Geek Martin Starr,) Henry’s love interest Casey (Lizzy Caplan, recently topless on True Blood,) and newcomer Lydia (Megan Mullally.)

As a writer in Hollywood, I typically loathe the dramaticization of youngsters trying to make it in Tinseltown. (I also hate people who say “Tinseltown.”) It’s a lazy premise that bores me and exposes a lack of creative imagination. Party Down was nothing like that — it was smart, had heart, great writing, great characters, and a strong assault of weekly guests.

Unfortunately, Starz recently announced that weren’t picking up (read: canceling.)

the low-rated yet critically acclaimed Party Down for a third season.

Looks like I have to cancel an appointment.

Caleb Bacon is a staff writer for LAist, and eventual screenwriter who co-hosts the weekly men’s interest comedy podcast, The Gentlemen’s Club. He lives in Los Angeles and writes his bios in the third person (but not Tweets.)

http://calebbacon.com

http://www.gentlemensclubpodcast.com/

http://twitter.com/thecalebbacon