HBO’s Search Party concluded this year with its fifth and final season answering the questions behind Dory’s abduction and her eventual transformation as a cult leader. Now that the show has come to an end, fans will have to resort to other binge-worthy options in the dark comedy genre.
As for the narrative’s central kidnapping case, Search Party is also reminiscent of other shows like Mare of Easttown or the first season of Stranger Things. Such dramas tend to focus on a character’s disappearance and the mass hysteria that it causes.
Arrested Development (2003 - 2019) - Available On Netflix
Garnering a cult fan following over the years, Arrested Development deals with the everyday misadventures of the Bluths. After the rich family loses their fortune because of financial fraud, it is up to the good-natured son Michael Bluth to maintain some balance at home.
One of the main characters from Arrested Development is Maeby Fünke, a sarcastic member of the family who has hilarious encounters with her father Tobias and her romantic interest George Michael. While the sitcom is thematically different from Search Party, fans should still watch it to get a glimpse of Alia Shawkat's first big role. Before becoming Dory for Search Party, she started out as the equally sassy and inquisitive Maeby in Arrested Development.
Sharp Objects (2018) - Available On HBO Max
Based on Gillian Flynn's novel of the same name, this HBO miniseries finds crime reporter Camille Parker revisiting her small town as some dark secrets are revealed. Even though she's investigating the murder of two teenage girls, the protagonist ends up opening some past wounds herself.
Sharp Objects succeeds at showing the destructive impact such cases of crime can have on the ones pursuing them. The way Camille gets personally involved in the case is reminiscent of the efforts of Dory Sief's friends in Search Party.
Dead To Me (2019 - ) - Available On Netflix
Netflix's Dead To Me is a darkly comic TV show on grief and death as two women become unlikely friends while facing losses of their own. But as one of them investigates the car accident in which her husband died, the duo goes down a dark rabbit hole of shocking third-act reveals.
In terms of its tone and themes, Dead To Me is a perfect fit for those who enjoyed Search Party. It shows how people deal with loss in their own uniquely amusing ways while offering enough sentimentality to balance out the humor.
Only Murders In The Building (2021 - ) - Available On HBO Max
When it comes to HBO comedies, Only Murders In The Building is one of the most trending titles. Debuting last year with its first season, the show deals with three ordinary people obsessed with true crime. The trio gets together to use their skills and observations when a murder happens in their own apartment building.
Only Murders In The Building is a delightful homage to the common tropes in murder mystery movies and shows. Further, the activities of the amateur investigators are bound to remind viewers of the early seasons of Search Party which involved Dory's friends looking for her.
American Horror Story Cult (2017) - Available On Hulu
American Horror Story Cult and its brave characters show the dangerous extent to which social media influencers can go in creating cults of their own. Set in the aftermath of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, it deals with a cult that creates terror in their neighborhood and eventually the rest of America.
Dory's cult from Search Party is, of course, not as intense as Kai's gang of miscreants in American Horror Story, but both serve as interesting case studies of modern-day cults. Unlike in the past, today's cult leaders have the power of social media to manipulate emotions, and characters like Dory and Kai bear further testimony to this.
Veronica Mars (2004 - 2019) - Available On Hulu
Veronica Mars' eponymous lead is an independent private investigator, a task she undertakes after her high-school best friend is murdered. Dealing with both season-long and episodic mystery arcs, the show is a treat for fans of teen detective fiction.
While the titular "Search Party" isn't as smart and efficient as Veronica Mars, they do find themselves in similar circumstances. In fact, Search Party can be seen as a satirical parody of such investigative mystery shows.
American Vandal (2017 - 2018) - Available On Netflix
An anthology series doubling down as a parody of the true-crime genre, every season of American Vandal plays out as in the tone of a serious gut-wrenching crime documentary. Meanwhile, the cases that it deals with are the most random and bizarre high-school antics. While the first season describes an attack of phallic graffiti on school premises, the sophomore season investigates a mysterious figure known as "The Turd Burglar."
This premise itself captures the absurd humor of the show. So, if audiences loved the way Search Party satirizes true crime, cults, and social media, they will be entertained with a parody like American Vandal. Even though it is canceled now, it is still regarded as one of the funniest shows on Netflix.
Wet Hot American Summer: First Day Of Camp (2015) - Available On Netflix
Camp Firewood is the notorious summer camp from the first Wet Hot American Summer movie, a parody of sex teen comedies. Ever since the movie gained cult status, it spawned the prequel series that offers more context behind Firewood and its wild bunch of counselors and campers.
Much like the movie, the series is created by Michael Showalter, who also plays the part of Ronald Reagan and camper Gerald "Coop" Cooperberg. Showalter went on to create and direct Search Party, also appearing as the recurring character, Max. Hence, First Day of Camp is a good viewing option to get a taste of Showalter's pre-Search Party career and his comedic versatility.
Stranger Things (2016 - ) - Available On Netflix
The Netflix sci-fi series Stranger Things has become a pop culture phenomenon with its coming-of-age story and extraterrestrial tropes. But it all started out as a mystery related to Will's disappearance and his mother Joyce Byer's desperate attempts to get him back.
Even though Will is found by the end of the first season, there are still a lot of unanswered mysteries that haunt him and the other Stranger Things characters. Strangely enough, this pattern is comparable to Search Party, which again, started out as a kidnapping mystery. However, when Dory is finally found, a whole lot of other unexpected events come into play. So, while the genres are completely different, the two shows share a common sense of tension following a character's disappearance.
Mare Of Easttown (2021) - Available On HBO Max
As the disappearance and subsequent murder of a teenager rock the sleepy settlement of Easttown, a detective struggles to balance her personal life and her involvement with the case. Mare of Easttown is the perfect show to understand the psyche of an investigator in the face of danger.
As the plot thickens with more shocks and surprises, the whole town is shaken in its search for the truth. It is this feeling of paranoia that is satirized in Search Party as Dory’s friends try finding her, each having their own motives.