The story
Drifting through life in Brooklyn, Dory notices a missing-person poster for Chantal, a woman she barely knew at college, and decides that finding her could give her life meaning. She recruits her passive boyfriend Drew, attention-hungry friend Elliott and scatty actress Portia, and their amateur sleuthing soon spirals into something far darker, and far more absurd, than any of them bargained for.
Why it matters
Search Party was one of the shows lined up for HBO Max's 2020 launch, moving from cable channel TBS, which had already ordered a third season. The move let a cult critics' favourite finish its story across three more seasons, and its first three seasons all scored 93% or higher on Rotten Tomatoes.
How it was rescued
TBS aired the first two seasons from November 2016 and in April 2018 ordered a third, but in October 2019 it was announced that the show would move to HBO Max instead. Season three premiered there on 25 June 2020, and HBO Max carried the show through to its fifth and final season.
Filed under: Moved from TV to a streamer
Notable facts
- Producers Jax Media paid for the pilot themselves, fearing the show's genre-blending tone would be hard to sell. (source)
- It grew out of Bliss and Rogers' 2014 film Fort Tilden, which won the grand jury award at South by Southwest. (source)
- The first season holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. (source)