Friday, June 26, 2020
Fri-Yay: Search Party Season 3 Thoughts; HBO Max Teams Up with Marlon Wayans
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.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Thursday, October 10
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 7)
Thursday, October 10
- Billy Crystal (The Comedians/Soap) - Catch Billy on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Jessica Williams (Shrinking/Love Life/Just for Kicks) - Jessica appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Aparna Nancherla (Lopez vs Lopez/Search Party/Corporate) - Aprana is a guest on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Martin Lawrence (Partners/Martin/What's Happening Now!!) - E! News has an interview with Martin at 11pm on E!.
- Eric Idle (Suddenly Susan/Nearly Departed) - Eric is a guest on Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Rachel Bloom (Reboot) - Rachel will be on CBS Mornings some time between 7-9am.
- Ali Wong (Big Mouth/American Housewife/Are You There, Chelsea?) - Ali discusses her new comedy special on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
- Lamorne Morris (Woke/New Girl) - Lamrone talks about Saturday Night on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
- Gael García Bernal (Mozart in the Jungle) - Gabriel and Diego Luna talk about La Máquina on ABC's Good Morning America some time between 7-9am.
- Nicole Eggert (Charles in Charge/Who's the Boss?) - Nicole talks about After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Wiilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) - Wilmer discusses his series NCBIS and his book An American Story: Everyone's Invited on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Sindhu Vee (The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh) - Sindhu is a guest on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:30am.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
09/10 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-7
09/10 - The Ropers - The Complete Series (VEI)
09/10 - Ted - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/17 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - Video Scrapbook
09/17 - Top Cat - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K Ultra HD)
09/24 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Seventh Season (DVD) / The Complete Series (DVD) (Blu-ray)
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
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