Search Party, the critics’ darling comedy series from Charles Roger and Sarah-Violet Bliss, has been renewed for a fifth season at HBO Max, according to Variety. The duo also signed a two-year overall deal with the platform.
In a statement, Bliss and Rogers said they are excited for Search Party and whatever else they make for HBO in the future.
“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,” Bliss and Rogers said, according to Deadline. “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.”
Search Party began on TBS in 2016 but moved to HBO Max with the premiere of season three, according to Variety. Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development), John Reynolds (Stranger Things), John Early (The Disaster Artist) and Meredith Hagner (Hits) are the stars of Search Party. The first three seasons of the show follow the group of best friends as they navigate the investigation and resulting trial of “semi-accidental” murder, according to Deadline.
Sarah Aubrey, head of originals at HBO Max, said the duo has a unique perspective and that she wants to see their continued work.
“Charles and Sarah-Violet are the masters of genre-blending and we can’t wait to see what they come up with next,” Aubrey said, according to Deadline. “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.”
The fourth season of the Search Party went a very different direction than the rest of the show. Bliss said the progression of the show says a lot about everyone who works to make the show.
“It’s such a testament to Alia and all the actors, and everyone who works on the show, being so willing to go to places that are really risky. And with each season, we have been able to kind of earn the next season,” Bliss said, according to Deadline. “I don’ think in Season 1 we thought we would take it exactly where we’ve taken it and where we are planning to take it. It’s progressed, we have been able to take more and more leaps to a point where people now trust us more and we trust ourselves more to be able to take risks that people really tend to respond to. It is a joy to get to try to create and work with people who are capable of pulling it all off.”
Season four of Search Party was originally planned to be the last, according to Deadline. Rogers said they have decided to be more patient for when they should end the series and does not know if season five will be the last.
“We assume it [season five] will be the final chapter but we have learned to take the show day by day,” Rogers said, according to Deadline. “Fate will tell us what to do.”
Bliss and Rogers, who serve as showrunners, created the series with Michael Showalter. The three creators all executive produce along with Lilly Burns and Tony Hernandez of Jax Media.