TV Susan Sarandon, Busy Philipps join Search Party in new season 4 photos The HBO Max mystery-satire will return for its fourth installment in January. By Chancellor Agard Chancellor Agard Chancellor Agard is a former staff writer at Entertainment Weekly. He left EW in 2022. EW's editorial guidelines Published on November 24, 2020 11:00AM EST Photo: HBO Max On Tuesday, HBO Max revealed that Susan Sarandon (Ray Donovan), Busy Philipps (Cougar Town), Ann Dowd (The Handmaid's Tale), Griffin Dunne (I Love Dick), and Lillias White (The Life) will appear in the forthcoming season, which is expected to debut in January 2021. Not only that, but famed Goosebumps author R.L. Stine will also make a cameo appearance. Why? Who knows at this point! Last time we checked with the mystery satire, Dory (Alia Shawkat) and Drew (John Reynolds) had just been found not guilty of the murder of Keith Powell at the end of season 1. Unfortunately, Dory couldn't simply just go back to brunch because psychotic stalker Chip (Difficult People's Cole Escola) kidnapped her in the season 3 finale, thereby setting up season 4 to return to Search Party's season 1 roots. Well, assuming her "friends" even notice she's missing. When season 4 begins, Chip is still holding Dory prisoner and intent on making her believe they're best friends. Unfortunately for Dory, her friends simply assume she's touring Europe and move on with their lives: Portia (Meredith Hagner) is cast as Dory in a movie about the trial; the opportunistic Elliott (John Early) rebrands himself as a right-wing talk show host; and Drew becomes a costumed cast member at a theme park to escape everything. Eventually, the millennials start to realize Dory may be in trouble and "must decide whether or not to put their traumatic pasts behind them and once again become a search party – but this time, for Dory," according to the season's logline. HBO Max Check out the first look photos as well as the guest-stars' character descriptions below. HBO Max Susan Sarandon as Lylah: Chip's "unapologetically wealthy aunt." HBO Max Busy Philipps as Donna DiMarco: "A former teen star who is cast as Portia in a film portraying the murder of Keith Powell" HBO Max Ann Dowd as Paula Jo: "A nosy Christmas-obsessed townie who gets a little too close to Chip's house for his own comfort." HBO Max Griffin Dunne as Richard Wreck: "The CEO of a pastry company called Lil' Sticky's which might offer a vital clue to finding Dory's whereabouts." HBO Max Lillias White as Wilma: "A world-famous talk show host who has an obsession" with Clare McNulty's Chantal. HBO Max Search Party returns January 2021 on HBO Max. Related content: Search Party creators reveal season 3's biggest pop culture influences Dory becomes famous for murder in Search Party season 3 trailer Search Party season 3 puts the truth on trial: Review