With Warner Bros. Discovery owning a number of brands and platforms, it’s become a common practice to move titles around to be able to optimize a project’s reception, especially once its streaming platform HBO Max (formerly known as Max and also formerly known as HBO Max) entered the mix. In a more depressing trend, the brand also has a habit of removing titles from its service as a cost-cutting measure, regardless of success. This was the case with all five seasons of Search Party, but luckily, the entire series is heading to Netflix, beginning on Feb. 5. Created by Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers, and Michael Showalter, the series premiered on TBS in 2016. Starting with Season 3, the series pivoted to HBO Max, where it stayed until it ended with 2022’s Season 5. Search Party stars Alia Shawkat, John Reynolds, John Early, and Meredith Hagner, with Brandon Micheal Hall, Ron Livingston, Christine Taylor, and Cole Escola having guest-starring roles throughout its five seasons.
What Is ‘Search Party’ About?

The first season of the series focused on a group of self-centered Brooklynites whose old college acquaintance goes missing under mysterious circumstances. After a few unexplained encounters, the millennials embark on a quest to find this woman, though whether they are doing this out of the goodness of their hearts or because they want others to praise them for their quest is a major topic of debate. The entire series is darkly comedic throughout, with each season seeing a slight tonal shift based on its narrative. While Season 1 is a bit more of a straightforward mystery, Season 2 embraces thriller elements, as subsequent seasons became courtroom dramas, kidnapped narratives, and even became surrealist sci-fi.
Consistent Critical Praise

The Season 5 cast of ‘Search Party’HBO

Even if the overall tone of the series evolved over time, one consistent thing that was maintained throughout Search Party’s tenure was its reception from critics. Season 1 debuted to a rare 100% positive reviews on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, while Season 2 secured a still-impressive 96%. Season 3 dipped ever so slightly to 93% before Season 4 bounced back up to 96%. All four of these seasons secured enough positive reviews to earn the “Certified Fresh” distinction, and while Season 5 sits at the 100% perfect score, it hasn’t earned the “Certified Fresh” badge, as this is calculated on only 14 reviews. Still, for an entire five-season series to score such acclaim is an impressive feat. Back in 2016, Sonia Saraiya of Variety said of the first season:
“It’s sometimes horrifying and sometimes silly, and at times, Search Party can get a tiny bit precious with its own cleverness. But when it works, it’s an astounding and engaging journey through genre conventions that should be at odds with each other.”
Meanwhile, in 2022, Esther Zuckerman shared for Thrillist, “The fifth and final season of Search Party is, frankly, bananas. It takes a ridiculous, ballsy, massive swerve, keeping the same familiar characters but plunging them into a quasi-alt-universe version of the Brooklyn they had previously inhabited.”

Despite that acclaim, HBO Max removed the series from the service in the spring of 2025 as a cost-cutting measure to avoid paying residuals. Given that its removal came after the series had concluded is somewhat lucky for Search Party, as shows like Westworld were canceled before getting to wrap up their storylines and subsequently pulled from the streamer.

Search Party

Release Date

2016 – 2022-00-00

Network

TBS, HBO Max

Writers

Starlee Kine, Matt Kriete, Andrew Pierce Fleming, Christina Lee, Anthony King, Jordan Firstman, Craig Rowin, Sabrina Jalees

Meredith Hagner

Portia Davenport