'Party' Tries To Find a Cause To Celebrate

"Well, I think every episode that we've done, we've really touched these people, and they're very, very fortunate for what we've done for them," she said. "So I mean, we can only hope that we've helped them in a good way."

All in all, much better than helping them in a bad way.

When they couldn't think of anything to ask about "Get This Party Started," the critics asked Cavallari about "Laguna Beach." Why, one wanted to know, did some people think that show was fake?

"I don't know," she said. "You ask me. I mean, you tell me."

Toward the end of tonight's premiere, mention is made of the Jones family's recent losses, which sound like a perfect assignment for the crew of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." But this series isn't about helping to fix houses. The parents receive a nice consolation gift.

In television terms, a program like this can be produced for pocket change, which explains, at least partly, its presence on the UPN schedule. But last week's announcement that UPN and the WB are merging to form the CW network raises questions about the future of each network's current lineup. With "Get This Party Started," those questions seem particularly acute.

In Pasadena, Grodner, Erickson and Cavallari listed the other places where they've staged parties -- among them, Phoenix, San Francisco, Austin, New York and Fayetteville, N.C. In a confident aside, Grodner later announced, "We'll hit every state."

Well, maybe. But not if the network dings them first.

Get This Party Started (60 minutes) airs tonight at 11 on Channel 20.