David Farnor | On 06, Dec 2022

Update: Season 1 to 5 of Search Party will all be released on BBC iPlayer on 1st January 2023.

The BBC has stepped in to pick up the UK TV rights to Search Party, the breakout murder mystery comedy thriller.

The dark satire of millennial culture, full of escalating events and consequences, follows the disappearance of former college acquaintance Chantal, which leads several twenty-somethings to get entangled in the mystery.

Heading the search party is Dory, a lifelong doormat who works as a rich housewife’s assistant. Dory makes it her personal mission to find Chantal and involves her friends in the investigation. Narcissist Elliott can sometimes put his ego aside to help Dory, brazenness being useful in detective work. Bubbly actress Portia excels at chatting up suspects for information because of her desperate need to be in the spotlight. Sheltered Drew has to grow a spine to help solve the mystery and save his deteriorating relationship with Dory. Dory’s ex-boyfriend Julian seeks the truth because of his background as a journalist. However, finding Chantal is just the start.

The series stars Alia Shawkat, John Reynolds, John Early and Meredith Hagner. The first three seasons follow best friends Dory (Shawkat), Drew (Reynolds), Elliott (Early) and Portia (Hagner) through their messy private investigation and its even messier consequences. In Season 4, Dory becomes the subject of a search party, before Season 5 sees the cast expand to include Jeff Goldblum as charismatic tech billionaire Tunnel Quinn. Other guest stars include Susan Sarandon, Busy Philipps, Ann Dowd, Griffin Dunne and Lillias White, as well as RL Stine in a cameo role.

Except, well, nobody in the UK has been able to see most of this, because while Season 1 and 2 were released exclusively on All 4 in the UK several years ago, the broadcaster never picked up the rights beyond those two seasons, even as HBO Max continued the programme through to a fifth and final run, which aired in January this year.

“This scathingly funny mystery thriller is a TV highlight of the year,” we wrote in our review of Season 1 in 2016.

“Dark, hilarious, unpredictable and unique, Season 2 of Search Party is one of the best TV shows of the year,” we wrote in our review in 2017.

Now, however, Season 3, 4 and 5 will officially get their UK premiere on the BBC. The exact dates are yet to be confirmed, but the Beeb has said that the show will land on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer in early 2023.

The deal with Warner Bros Discovery International Television Distribution also includes the UK rights to Our Flag Means Death.

 

Search Party Season 3 set for June US release

13th May 20202

Search Party Season 3 finally has a US release date, with the millennial satire-slash-crime-thriller set to return this June.

Starring Alia Shawkat, Meredith Hagner, John Early, John Reynolds and Brandon Micheal Hall, the show became a breakout hit when it premiered in 2016 on TBS – and, on the UK, on All 4 as an exclusive box set.

Since Season 2 in 2017, however, there has been little to no word on season 3, despite the fact that Season 4 has already been filmed. That’s primarily because of Warner’s restructuring of its assets, as it prepares to launch its new streaming platform, HBO Max, in the US. Now, with that arriving later this month Stateside, HBO is starting to reveal its planned release dates for a range of original programming – and Search Party is near the top of that list.

Season 3 will once again bring back its bunch of privileged millennials and will even see the wedding of Early’s character, Elliott, to long-suffering boyfriend Marc (Jeffery Self) – a natural move for Elliott, when he finds himself in the spotlight and able to capitalise on the newfound fame.

Meanwhile, Shawkat’s Dory and the others are gradually pursued by a US attorney played by Michaela Watkins. Another addition to the cast will be Wallace Shawn as an unscrupulous investor and a guest at Elliott’s wedding.

“There’s something pretty relevant about how there’s, like, no truth? There’s just noise,” Elliott told Vanity Fair, which debuted the first look image above. “All the current noise we’re living in, with no adherence to facts… it leads to people not being held accountable.”

“Not to give anything away,” he added. “But obviously, the four of them have managed to escape, thus far, accountability – even a personal accountability. They haven’t really reckoned with what they’ve done.”

Season 3 premieres in the US on 25th June, which means that a UK air date should not be too far behind. Where that UK premiere will be is another matter, although with Channel 4 signing a deal previously for Season 1 and 2, the odds are in the favour of All 4 once again getting the exclusive box set. Stay tuned for confirmation as soon as we get it.

Look no further. #SearchParty returns for Season 3 June 25 on @HBOMax pic.twitter.com/aJAqYBvy6t

— Search Party (@searchpartymax) May 13, 2020

 

 

Search Party renewed for Season 4

8th October 2019

Search Party has been renewed for a fourth season – before its third season even has a release date.

TBS’ unique comedy, a satire of privileged self-absorbed twenty-somethings fused with a murder mystery, stars Alia Shawkat, Meredith Hagner, John Early, John Reynolds and Brandon Micheal Hall. Upon its premiere in 2016, the show became a breakout hit.

In the UK, Channel 4 snapped up the rights to the show and released both seasons exclusively as box sets on All 4. It was hailed as one of the top TV shows of the year by this publication twice in a row.

“Dark, hilarious, unpredictable and unique, Season 2 of Search Party is one of the best TV shows of 2017,” we wrote in our five-star review.

Since then, though, there has been no sign of a much-anticipated third run, and equally little word on a release date. Now, that silence has been broken, with the news that Season 3 will arrive in spring 2020. While that is a long way off still, the good news is that there will eventually be a fourth too.

The delayed debut of Season 3 is due to the plans of TBS’ parent company, WarnerMedia, which is launching its own streaming platform – HBO Max – next spring. Search Party will air on the platform in the USA once launched. We expect All 4 to continue to be the UK home, although that is not yet confirmed.

“With HBO Max we have the unique opportunity to continue this brilliant, acclaimed series and connect with even more of the younger, digital natives who have worshipped it the most,” Kevin Reilly, chief content officer, HBO Max and president TNT, TBS and truTV, said in a statement.

Search Party joins a slate of comedies at HBO Max including Love Life, Made for Love and BBC Three co-production Starstruck.

“Search Party is alive and thriving!! We are so thrilled to show the world what we’ve been working on the past two years and for new fans to find it on HBO Max,” executive producers Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers added in a statement. “You’re going to love the two new seasons, but if for some reason you don’t, then you’ll get your subscription fee back. Actually, that’s not true. That’s a joke. We don’t have that kind of power.”

 

Search Party renewed for Season 3

24th April 2019

Search Party has been renewed for Season 3.

TBS’ unique comedy, a satire of privileged self-absorbed twenty-somethings fused with a murder mystery, has become a breakout hit since its premiere in 2016, with young audiences flocking to stream it on-demand.

Starring Alia Shawkat, Meredith Hagner, John Early, John Reynolds and Brandon Micheal Hall, Search Party grew double-digits in its sophomore season in the USA, where it is available on TBS. It was the channel’s number one series on digital, and became the fastest TBS original to reach 1 million views on VOD in Season 1. On-demand and digital views account for 11 per cet of the show’s multiplatform reach, with an on-demand audience as much as 17 years younger than linear.

In the UK, Channel 4 has snapped up the rights to the show and released both seasons exclusively as a box set on All 4. It was hailed as one of the top TV shows of the year by this publication twice in a row,.

“Dark, hilarious, unpredictable and unique, Season 2 of Search Party is one of the best TV shows of 2017,” we wrote in our five-star review.

Search Party executive producers Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers, who created the series with executive producer Michael Showalter, have now inked an overall deal with TBS. In addition to continuing to oversee Search Party, the duo will develop and produce new projects exclusive to Turner in television and digital programming.

“Making Search Party has been a very dreamy experience because of the support and enthusiasm of the entire TBS team, so we of course jumped at the chance to make more things with them,” say Bliss and Rogers. “Our plan is to pitch them one hundred shows a day, amounting to 36,500 pitches. It’s never been done before and that’s why it has to happen.”

“We couldn’t be prouder of these two comedies and that they’ve been recognized by critics and audiences alike for their uniquely hilarious points of view in a very crowded field,” adds Brett Weitz, executive vice president of programming for TBS. “We truly believe The Last O.G. and Search Party are two of the best shows on television.”

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