Acclaimed Mystery Series ‘Search Party’ Arrives on New Streaming Service After HBO Deleted It

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Warner Bros. Discovery owns many different brands and streaming services, so they often move shows around to try and find the best audience. Unfortunately, they’ve also been removing successful shows from their platforms to save money. This happened recently with all five seasons of Search Party, but the good news is the entire series will now be available on Netflix starting February 5th.

Created by Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers, and Michael Showalter, Search Party first aired on TBS in 2016. Starting with its third season, the show moved to HBO Max and concluded after five seasons in 2022. The series stars Alia Shawkat, John Reynolds, John Early, and Meredith Hagner, and features guest appearances from Brandon Micheal Hall, Ron Livingston, Christine Taylor, and Cole Escola.

What Is ‘Search Party’ About?

Okay, so the first season really hooked me. It centers around this group of friends in Brooklyn – let’s just say they’re all about themselves – and their old college friend suddenly vanishes. Then things get weird, with these strange encounters pushing them to try and find her. But what I found fascinating wasn’t just if they’d find her, but why they were looking. Were they genuinely worried, or were they more interested in looking like the good guys? That question really drove the whole season, and it made for some seriously compelling viewing.

The show consistently uses dark humor, but the overall feel changes a little with each season depending on the story. The first season is mainly a classic mystery, while the second leans into thriller territory. Later seasons explore different genres, including legal dramas, kidnapping plots, and even surreal science fiction.

Consistent Critical Praise


HBO

Throughout its five seasons, the TV series Search Party consistently received positive reviews from critics. The first season was remarkably well-received, earning a 100% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Subsequent seasons maintained high scores – 96% for Season 2, 93% for Season 3, and back up to 96% for Season 4. All four of these seasons were designated as “Certified Fresh” due to the overwhelming positive feedback. While Season 5 currently boasts a perfect 100% score, it hasn’t yet earned the “Certified Fresh” label because it’s based on a smaller number of reviews (only 14). Overall, consistently high praise across all five seasons is a significant accomplishment for the show.

Back in 2016, Sonia Saraiya of Variety said of the first season:

Search Party is a show that can be both scary and funny. It occasionally gets a little too focused on being smart for its own good, but when it hits its stride, it’s a surprisingly captivating exploration of different genres that really shouldn’t work together so well.

In 2022, Esther Zuckerman wrote for Thrillist that the fifth and final season of Search Party was surprisingly wild. She described it as a bold and unexpected turn for the show, maintaining the same characters but placing them in a strange, alternate version of Brooklyn.

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Even though it was well-received, HBO Max took Search Party off its platform in spring 2025 to save money on payments to actors and writers. Search Party was fortunate its removal happened after the show finished, unlike series like Westworld, which were canceled mid-story and then removed from the streaming service.

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2026-01-31 20:03