Search Party will see season five on HBO Max. Season four premiered Jan. 14. HBO Max signed showrunners Charles Rogers and Sarah-Violet Bliss to a two-year overall deal to develop programming for the streamer.

“Charles and Sarah-Violet are the masters of genre-blending and we can’t wait to see what they come up with next!” said Sarah Aubrey, head of original content, HBO Max. “It’s been a joy working with them – they are whip smart, wildly funny and have such a distinctive worldview. We couldn’t be happier that they are continuing to call HBO Max their home.”      

Search Party stars Alia Shawkat, John Reynolds, John Early and Meredith Hagner. 

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"We are thrilled that HBO Max has not only given the world a fifth season of Search Party, but also shown this much faith in our partnership with them as we develop new projects for the platform,” said Bliss and Rogers. “Potential titles for upcoming shows include Monkeys Love Manhattan and The Pineapple Predicament. Those aren't actual shows we would ever pitch but it exhibits that we can make up titles if we need to."

The first three seasons followed best friends Dory (Shawkat), Drew (Reynolds), Elliott (Early) and Portia (Hagner) through a messy private investigation, semi-accidental murder, absurd cover-up and sensational trial. In season four, Dory was held prisoner by her psychotic stalker Chip (played by Cole Escola), forcing Drew, Elliott and Portia to once again become a search party – this time, for Dory. 

Search Party is executive produced by Bliss, Rogers, Michael Showalter and Lilly Burns and Tony Hernandez for Jax Media.

Search Party, a comedy with thriller elements, is back on HBO Max Jan. 14. Three new episodes drop that day, then three more Jan. 21, then the final four in season four Jan. 28. 

Dory, played by Alia Shawkat, is held prisoner by her psychotic stalker Chip (Cole Escola), who is determined to make Dory believe that they are best friends. Portia (Meredith Hagner) is starring in a film about the trial, although not as herself. Elliott (John Early) has switched party lines to become a far-right conservative talk show host, and Drew (John Reynolds) is trying to escape his dark past by working as a cast member in a theme park. 

Search Party is executive produced by Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers, Michael Showalter, and Lilly Burns and Tony Hernandez for Jax Media.

Turning up as guests are Susan Sarandon, Busy Philipps, Ann Dowd, Griffin Dunne and Lillias White. Sarandon plays Lylah, the unapologetically wealthy aunt of Chip, Dory’s kidnapper.

Children’s author R.L. Stine has a cameo role. 

Disney Plus' much anticipated debut of Marvel Studios' WandaVision and the return of HBO Max comedy series Search Party lead a list of new shows debuting this week.

WandaVision, which debuts Jan. 15, follows Marvel Universe characters Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) who seek to live idealized suburban lives, but begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems, according to the streaming service.

Also Read: Disney Plus Now at 86.8 Million Subscribers

HBO Max will debut on Jan. 14 the fourth season of Search Party. The streaming service aired the third season of the comedy series after TBS aired the show's first two seasons. HBO Max will air the first three episodes of the season on the 14th, with three more airing on Jan. 21 and the remaining four episodes on Jan. 28.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting the week of Jan. 11 to Jan. 16 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

Jan. 11 -- Straight Up With Steve Austin (returning series) -- USA Network

Jan. 13 -- Everyone Is Doing Great (comedy) -- Hulu

Jan. 13 -- Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer (documentary) -- Netflix

Jan 14 -- The Event (documentary series) -- HBO Max 

Jan. 14 -- Locked Down (movie) -- HBO Max

Jan. 15 -- Servant (returning series) -- Apple TV Plus

Jan. 15 -- One Night in Miami (drama) -- Prime Video

July 15 -- Secrets of Sulphur Springs (sci-fi) - Disney Channel

Jan. 17 -- Exhumed (reality) -- Oxygen

Season four of comedy-thriller Search Party is on HBO Max in January. The season sees Dory, played by Alia Shawkat, held prisoner by her psychotic stalker Chip (Cole Escola), who wants to make Dory believe they are best friends.

Meredith Hagner, John Early and John Reynolds are also in the cast. 

Turning up as guests are Susan Sarandon, Busy Philipps, Ann Dowd, Griffin Dunne and Lillias White. Sarandon plays Lylah, the unapologetically wealthy aunt of Chip, Dory’s kidnapper.

Children’s author R.L. Stine has a cameo role. 

The first two seasons of Search Party were on TBS. 

Search Party is executive produced by Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers, Michael Showalter, and Jax Media’s Lilly Burns and Tony Hernandez.

The first week of summer will see the final season debut of OWN's Greenleaf as well as the return of CBS' All-Access' The Twilight Zone. 

OWN on June 23 will premiere the fifth and final season of its mega church drama Greenleaf, starring Keith David and Lynn Whitfield. The series finished its fourth season as the most watched original scripted series on ad-supported cable for African-American women and total viewers, according to OWN.

On June 25 streaming service CBS All Access will return anthology series The Twilight Zone for its sophomore run. The series, based on the 1960's series of the same name, is executive produced by Jordan Peele. 

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several other shows debuting the week of June 22 to June 28 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

June 25 -- Esme & Roy (returning animation series) -- HBO Max

June 25 -- Doom Patrol (returning series) -- HBO Max

June 25 -- Search Party (returning series) -- HBO Max

June 26 -- My Spy (action movie) -- Prime Video

June 28 -- Black Monday (returning series) -- Showtime

June 28 -- I’ll Be Gone In the Dark (documentary) -- HBO

Drama series Search Party will mark its debut on the HBO Max streaming service on June 25, the service said Monday.

Search Party, which ran for two seasons on TBS, will continue the exploits of a group of privileged, self-absorbed twenty-somethings whose search for a missing friend leads them down a dark and shocking path of no return, according to HBO Max. Alia Shawkat, John Reynolds, John Early and Meredith Hagner star in the comedy thriller. 

The next two seasons of comedy Search Party will stream on HBO Max. The streaming service is set to launch in spring 2020. About a group of privileged twenty-somethings covering up a murder, Search Party stars Alia Shawkat, Meredith Hagner, Brandon Micheal Hall, John Early and John Reynolds.

Search Party previously aired on TBS.

“With HBO Max we have the unique opportunity to continue this brilliant, acclaimed series and connect with even more of the younger, digital natives who have worshipped it the most,” said Kevin Reilly, chief content officer, HBO Max and president of TNT, TBS and truTV.

Season three finds the gang swept up in the trial of the century after Dory and Drew are charged for the semi-accidental murder of a private investigator. As Elliott and Portia grapple with whether or not to testify as witnesses, the friends are pitted against each other and thrust into the national spotlight. As Dory’s sanity begins to tear, it becomes increasingly clear that they may not have brunch together for some time.

Search Party is executive produced by Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers, Michael Showalter and Jax Media’s Lilly Burns and Tony Hernandez.

“Search Party is alive and thriving!! We are so thrilled to show the world what we’ve been working on the past two years and for new fans to find it on HBO Max,” said Bliss and Rogers. “You’re going to love the two new seasons, but if for some reason you don’t, then you’ll get your subscription fee back. Actually, that’s not true. That’s a joke. We don’t have that kind of power.”

TBS said it has ordered a second season of the new comedy series The Last O.G. and ordered a third season of Search Party along with signing a development deal with Search Party executive producers Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers.

The Last O.G., starring Tracy Morgan and Tiffany Haddish, debuted on April 3 and has ranked as the top cable comedy of 2018, according to TBS. Its executive producers include Jordan Peele and the cast also includes Cedric the Entertainer.

Search Party stars Alia Shawkat, Meredith Hagner, John Early, John Reynolds and Brandon Micheal Hall and grew by double-digits in its second season, according to TBS, which also said it was the network's top series on digital and "became the fastest TBS original to reach one million views on VOD in season one."

TBS said executive producers Bliss and Rogers, who created the series with executive producer Michael Showalter, will continue to oversee Search Party while also developing and producing new projects exclusive to Turner in television and digital programming.  

As the holiday season approaches, several cable networks will hope to receive an early ratings gift by premiering high-profile scripted content in mid-November.

With the end of a long and ratings-rich presidential election and with the broadcast networks set to take a hiatus from scheduling new episodes of scripted shows heading into the holidays, cable networks like BBC America, Pop, National Geographic, TNT and TBS are all hoping to fill a programming void with original content.

“We wanted to get in just ahead of the holiday programming and take advantage of a moment when a lot of the noise around fall launches is abating,” BBC America president Sarah Barnett said. “No week of the year is uncluttered today, but believe it or not, there can be a small moment of relative space here.”

PAUSE BEFORE HOLIDAYS

BBC America on Wednesday (Nov. 16) will premiere crime drama Undercover, one of at least eight new cable scripted series premiering within 10 days of Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24). Typically, networks tend to shy away from premiering new shows in the days leading up to the holiday season and the glut of holiday specials and movies. But with more than 400 scripted shows launching year round, Barnett said no time period is off-limits.

Pop president Brad Schwartz said strong ratings for presidential election coverage has shortened what is normally a solid series premiere window running from mid- October through mid-November. As a result, the network will debut its late night-themed comedy series Nightcap later than desired, on Nov. 16.

“If you’re waiting for the election to end but you want it be in front of the holidays, this is the time to launch,” Schwartz said. “You don’t want to get too far into the holiday season because then you get close to Christmas when people’s viewing habits begin to change and it becomes harder to get the message out for your show.”

National Geographic will premiere its highly-touted Mars series tonight (Nov. 14, see review). The network is launching a new on-air look and rebrand around the Brian Grazer/Ron Howard produced series, which will feature both scripted and documentary elements around the future colonization of the red planet.

“Mars is the centerpiece of our new premium strategy and its creatively ambitious for us,” Courteney Monroe, CEO of National Geographic Global Networks, said. “We’re really interested in what the audience thinks and how they react.”

‘SEARCH PARTY’ ON THE WAY

TBS and BBC America said they too are altering the debut schedule of their respective new shows to help build greater awareness and ratings. TBS will launch its 10-episode comedy series Search Party over five consecutive nights beginning Nov. 21, according to network officials.

BBC America’s six-hour Undercover series will air over two nights. Barnett said the network wanted to create some additional buzz for the series by allowing viewers to binge view the series over consecutive nights.

“As a linear network, we understand that there is some content that audiences especially love to binge, and phenomenally written, dramatically shocking mini seasons fall into this category of ‘must devour’ TV,” Barnett said. “We scheduled it in a way where fans could truly immerse themselves in this riveting thriller.”

SIDEBAR: On Script

A partial list of the scripted cable series premiering between Nov. 14-24:

Show                          Network                    Genre                     Premiere Date

Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nat Geo . . . . . . . . . Drama . . . . . . . . . . .Nov. 14

Good Behavior . . . . . . . .TNT . . . . . . . . . . . Drama . . . . . . . . . . . Nov. 15

Shooter . . . . . . . . . . . . . .USA . . . . . . . . . . Drama . . . . . . . . . . .Nov. 15

Sweet/Vicious . . . . . . . .  MTV . . . . . . . . . Dramedy . . . . . . . . . .Nov. 15

Ice . . . . . . . . . . . . Audience Network . . . . . Drama . . . . . . . . . . .Nov. 16

Nightcap . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pop . . . . . . . . . . . Comedy . . . . . . . . . . Nov. 16

Undercover . . . . . . . BBC America . . . . . . . Drama . . . . . . . . . . .Nov. 16

Lovesick . . . . . . . . . . . . Netflix . . . . . . . . . Comedy . . . . . . . . . . Nov. 17

Search Party . . . . . . . . . .TBS . . . . . . . . . . . Comedy . . . . . . . . . . Nov. 21

SOURCE :Multichannel News research