Fri-Yay: Search Party Season 3 Thoughts; HBO Max Teams Up with Marlon Wayans

Friday, June 26, 2020

Fri-Yay: Search Party Season 3 Thoughts; HBO Max Teams Up with Marlon Wayans

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.

Marlon Wayans

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.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Wednesday, April 2

The Conners - "Fame, Flying Fists and Cold Feet" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The Conners get a taste of fame when their family restaurant is featured in a reality TV show, which inspires Becky to become an influencer. Meanwhile, Jackie and Dan meet with a lawyer, and Darlene connects with someone at The Lobo Lounge.

Abbott Elementary - "Ava Fest: Tokyo Drift" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
The Abbott teachers turn their open house into a carwash to help raise money for the school.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 31)

Wednesday, April 2

Adam DeVine (The Righteous Gemstones/Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin/Workaholics/Modern Family) - Watch Adam on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Michael B. Jordan (The Assistants) - Michael appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. He also talks about Sinners on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Hannah Einbinder (Hacks) - Hannah stops by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Rob Delaney (Bad Monkey/Catastrophe) - Rob appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke/Robbie) and Greta Titelman (Fantasmas/Search Party/Los Espookys) - Sasheer and Greta are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Wanda Sykes (The Upshaws/The New Adventures of Old Christine/Wanda at Large) - Wanda appears on Everybody's Live with John Mulaney at 10pm on Netflix.
Jennifer Lopez (South Central) and Jamie Foxx (Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!/The Jamie Foxx Show) - E! News has interviews with Jennifer and Jamie at 11pm on E!.
Chris Perfetti (Abbott Elementary) - Chris talks about Abbott Elementary on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Jenny Slate (The Great North/Big Mouth/Married/Bob's Burgers) - Jenny talks about Dying for Sex with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Judy Greer (Kidding/Married/Mad Love/Miss Guided/Arrested Development) - NBC's Today catches up with Judy in the 9am hour.
Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Glen Powell (Scream Queens) and Kristin Davis (And Just Like That.../Bad Teacher/Sex and the City) - NBC's Today catches up with Glen and Kristin in the 10am hour.
Tasha Smith (Survival of the Thickest/Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse/The Tom Show/Boston Common) - Tasha, who stars in Netflix's Surival of the Thickest, joins Tamron Hall to discuss how she found her freedom by sharing her story on her own terms and learning to embrace self-love, so check your local listings.
Gabourey Sidibe (Difficult People/The Big C) - Gabourey talks about starring in the new Lifetime movie Give Me Back My Daughter on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Seth Rogen (The Studio/Platonic/Undeclared) - Seth is joining Drew to tell her all about his new show The Studio on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.