The First Season

Chances are if you have not heard of Jenny McCarthy, then you have been living under rock for the last century or you just weren't around to find out just who she is. On the chance you don't know who she is (or you need a refresher), Miss McCarthy was a beautiful blonde vixen who found her way into the entertainment business by removing her clothes. Yes, folks, she got naked and everyone looked. In 1993, she took the title of Playboy's Miss October and was featured in a number of Playboy pictorials, magazines, videos, etc. Her frame came quickly, as she was picked as the 1994 Playmate of the Year.

But Jenny did not stop there, she moved into mainstream media and starred in a variety of television shows and movies. Notably, she had her own sketch comedy series The Jenny McCarthy Show, a sitcom about an odd group of wannabe Hollywood actors living under the same roof Jenny, and another sitcom with attitude The Bad Girl's Guide. Throughout the years, McCarthy has become one of many blonde bombshell icons from the 1990s.

Jenny McCarthy returns to television as the hostess of reality television series Party @ The Palms. The series first aired in the summer of 2005 and had twelve episodes in its first run, which are all included in this season set. The show was an E!: Entertainment Television original, and oddly enough (or maybe not?) feels just like other E!: Entertainment Television productions such as Wild On! with Brooke Burke, except of course, there's no Brooke.

The basic premise of Party @ The Palms is Jenny McCarthy acting wild and crazy, offering a "candid" perspective of Vegas' wild party life, interviews with real celebrities, and other things. In general, there is no real purpose to the episodes, or at least, nothing interesting. It is just Jenny doing and showing things that are fun and wild in the Palms Casino Hotel. For example, in the opening of the first episode, Jenny approaches Dan MacCannell, Network Censor, E! Standards & Practices. Jenny goes over what kinds of words she can use (ass, asshole, bitch), gestures (how much butt can she show during a lap dance segment), what is considered okay behavior during an interview, and squeezing her own boobs (she's told she can't squeeze someone else's).

The kinds of things you will specifically see in watching this show is a bachelor party with strippers, Jenny with arena football cheerleaders, celebrities like Criss Angel and Colin Foster perform their tricks of the trade, some nobodies and their tricks of the trade like Lee the exotic body painter, interviews with celebrities like Niptuck's Kelly Carlson, interviews with guests who are staying at the hotel, interviews with real life strippers, behind the scenes and interviews with Playboy cyber girl casting calls, etc. And of course there are plenty of scantly clad girls, cleavage, butts, and even muscular guys.

As for my opinion about Party @ the Palms, I personally did not care for it. A few minutes into it and I was suffering. There is no point to the episodes and the candid, Jenny-perspective of the wild life at the Palms Casino Hotel had zero appeal to me. In addition, the interviews with the guests at the hotel (celebrities, regular folk, or otherwise) and the subject matter usually addressed had little appeal to me. What really doesn't work (besides the uninteresting content) is McCarthy. There are times when her overly eccentric personality makes for a few laughs, but generally it comes off as forced. It feels like McCarthy is trying to be wild and crazy (and she is), but it is not funny, nor is it interesting. In the end, I see very little reason to invest any time or money in this set.

Episode Guide

1. Episode 1: Jenny McCarthy kicks off her new show with an exclusive interview with the high priest of pimping, Archbishop Don "Magic" Juan.
2. Episode 2: Jenny McCarthy is a guest to a lingerie party hosted by supermodel Caprice. Plus, a sexy guessing game is in order.
3. Episode 3: Kelly Carlson bares all in a very revealing interview with Jenny McCarthy, and we find out if love truly is blind.
4. Episode 4: Jenny McCarthy hitches a ride with Sum 41. Plus, join in on Playboy's search for a new Cybergirl.
5. Episode 5: Jenny McCarthy puts Survivor's Jenny Lyon in the hot seat. Plus, couple of models can get into trouble on their last night of freedom.
6. Episode 6: Three Vegas "virgins" experience to the desert nightlife for the very first time. Plus Jenny hangs with actress Miss Pyle.
7. Episode 7: A lucky girl works it as a Sacramento Kings dancer. Plus, a conservative couple attend a "Pimp and Ho" party.
8. Episode 8: Ivan Kane's 40 Deuce casts a sexy new dancer. Plus, get a front seat at a fashion show featuring Nicky Hilton's new designs.
9. Episode 9: Jenny McCarthy gets down and dirty with sexy pinup, Leanne Tweeden. Plus, an instant wedding.
10. Episode 10: Jenny gets intimate with Playboy centerfold, Brande Rodderick. And some college seniors celebrate a birthday, Vegas style.
11. Episode 11: Jenny feels the magic of Lance Burton. Plus, we'll take a spin with 10 time BMX champ, Dave Mirra.
12. Episode 12: Jenny and NHL star Jeremy Roenick perform a figure skating routine. Then beautiful girls compete for a Playboy photo shoot at the mansion.

The DVD

Video:
The video is given in its original television aspect ratio of 1.33:1 ratio full frame color. The picture quality is pretty good. The image remains fairly sharp throughout the episodes with detail crisp and clean. However, there are occasional patches when the episodes get a dark and rough.

Audio:
The audio is given in English 2.0 Dolby digital stereo sound. The track is dialogue driven. For the most part, it sounds good, but there are moments when the background noise from the hotel gets overpowering.

There are no subtitles included with this season set.

Extras:
For extras, this set comes with twenty extras scenes. The total runtime is 43 minutes and 39 seconds. The scenes include "The Psychic", "Breath Test", "Wax On, Wax Off", "Sexpressions", "Bingo", "Heart Beats", "More Than a Mouthful", "Sexy Games", "After School or After Dark? ", "Bikefest 2005", "What's My Position? ", "Pool Rules", "Palms Fantasy", "Thong or No Thong?", "Body Parts", "The Rusty Brick", "Black Jack", "Hit Me Up", "Palms Confessional", and "The Magician".

There is also a trailer for "Palms.com".

Final Thoughts:
Party @ the Palms: Season 1 is a collection of twelve episodes with host Jenny McCarthy going on a variety of adventures, interviews with celebrities and regular John's and Jane's, breasts, cleavage, and butts, as well as strippers, Playboy girls, and other racy characters. McCarthy tries to push the racy-like content with a wild and funny personality, but fails on many levels. Sure, there are a few funny moments, but they are not nearly enough to sit through the entire season.