Critic Reviews
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In the first two episodes, a lot of the gags are just stupid: a stuffy man gets a cake in the face; Mary gets caught in a medieval chastity belt...But Taylor makes Mary easy to like, and John Cameron Mitchell provides nice counterpoint as her pal Derrick, who works in fashion photography and has an ironic comment on everything. [9 Sept 1996, p.6D]
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The problem is that self-styled bohemians, including sidekicks like a fey fashion photographer (John Cameron Mitchell) and a dumb-hunk bartender (Matt Borlenghi), hardly look natural delivering glib one-liners and performing slapstick spit-takes. [9 Sept 1996, p.3D]
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The show is based on a small independent film of the same name, which was never terribly daring to begin with. Any sharpness has been smoothed away for television. Mary and her friends talk endlessly about drinking, but never get drunk; they make knowing references to long-ago loss of virginity, but never seem to have sex. Party Girl is as sweetly innocent as "Clueless," the film that seems to provide its true inspiration.
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Aside from Kurtz, everything else in this makeover is about the same. That's not good.[9 Sept 1996, p.1]
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The tweaked pilot, with the addition of Swoosie Kurtz ("Sisters") as the godmother, is amusing and quite charming. The "bonus" episode is about as funny as the Dewey decimal system. [9 Sept 1996, p.C1]