SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

It's time for another edition of Fri-Yay! That means we will take a look back on some sitcom happenings in recent days or weeks or other fun sitcomy stuff. It's a sitcom lover's paradise! Happy Fri-Yay!

by Vincent

This week, the third season of Search Party premieres on HBO Max. Search Party is a mystery-noir sitcom following a group of millennials who become fixated on the disappearance of their college acquaintance Chantal. The show goes through many twists and turns in its run that I won't spoil here, but overall it's an amusing and very well made series with strong performances from its cast, including leads Alia Shawkat of Arrested Development fame and John Reynolds (best known as his recurring role as a police officer on Stranger Things). Search Party is an interesting case even beyond the fact that it's a very good show. The show's second season aired nearly 3 years ago in 2017 on TBS, where the show premiered and aired its first 2 seasons. After being in limbo for a few years (the show was renewed but never got a premiere date), it was announced it would be moving to HBO Max. So the show premieres on a new streaming service three years since it last aired.

Search Party's third seasons was filmed 2 years ago and originally intended to air on TBS, so the new seasons doesn't yet get to enjoy the freedoms of airing on a streaming service vs. cable. The show also feels a bit dated in some ways, as the "hipster Brooklyn millennial" stereotype that the show is parodying no longer feel like the dominant cultural presence they were in the mid-2010s. (To be fair, the show addresses this somewhat, with a character saying 'I don't think people really care about millennials anymore. That kind of talk has died down.') Not all of the show's legal parodies land, either, and feel less earned than the mystery parodies of Seasons 1 and 2. Still, the third season of Search Party (which premiered on HBO Max today - so far, I've seen the first few episodes) remains extremely entertaining, as the cast is still excellent, the writing still funny, biting and surprising, and the ability to "binge" each episode plays very nicely with the show's story-driven writing style. It may feel slightly dated, but Search Party Season 3 is still a really fun time, and I can't wait to see what they come up with for Season 4.

HBO Max announced an overall deal with Marlon Wayans, which includes a number of projects in the works from the multi-hyphenate star. On the stand-up front, the deal includes an all-new hour-long special from Wayans along with a multi-act special in which he will serve as host. In addition, HBO Max will have a first look deal at his scripted and unscripted projects. The first identified scripted project is a half-hour comedy, Book of Marlon, on the hilarious trials of his real life, following the fictionalized version of Wayans as he attempts to reconcile being a good person and father with...being Marlon. The series is co-created by Rick Alvarez, who will also co-write the pilot with Wayans. The untitled stand up special is a funny, twisted, and extremely honest look at Marlon's life that digs even deeper than his recent hit special Woke-ish.