The Afterparty TV Series (2022–2023) – Watch Online, Release Date, Cast, Episodes, Story, Platform, Trailer, Poster, Review
Trailer, Teaser & Videos
The Afterparty TV Series Details
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genres | Anthology, Murder Mystery, Comedy |
| Seasons | 2 |
| Episodes | 18 |
| Release date | January 28, 2022 – September 6, 2023 |
| Running time | 31–48 minutes |
| Age rating | TV-MA |
| Starring | Tiffany Haddish, Sam Richardson, Zoë Chao, Ike Barinholtz, Ben Schwartz, Ilana Glazer, Jamie Demetriou, Dave Franco, John Cho, Paul Walter Hauser, Ken Jeong, Anna Konkle, Poppy Liu, Elizabeth Perkins, Jack Whitehall, Zach Woods, Vivian Wu |
| Created by | Christopher Miller |
| Showrunners | Christopher Miller, Anthony King |
| Directed by | Christopher Miller, Anu Valia, Eric Appel, Tamra Davis, Peter Atencio |
| Written by | Christopher Miller, Nicole Delaney, Anthony King, Rachel Smith, Jordan Shipley, Justin Shipley, Jack Dolgen, Phil Lord, Kassia Miller, Bridger Winegar, Brenda Hsueh, Anna Lockhart, Katie Miller, Mike Rosolio |
| Produced by | Michael Cedar, Bridger Winegar, Aubrey Lee, Annie Court, Nicole Delaney |
| Executive producers | Anthony King, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller |
| Cinematography by | Carl Herse, Ross Riege |
| Edited by | Joel Negron, Nick Olah, Ivan Victor, Marissa Mueller |
| Music by | Daniel Pemberton, David Schweitzer (Season 2) |
| Casting by | Nicole Abellera, Jeanne McCarthy |
| Production Design by | Bruce Robert Hill |
| Art Direction by | Gary Warshaw, Sita ‘Tarn’ Lerdjarudech |
| Set Decoration by | Kaitlynn Wood |
| Costume Design by | Meredith Markworth-Pollack, Trayce Gigi Field |
| Production Company | Lord Miller Productions, Sony Pictures Television Studios, TriStar Television |
| Original Network | Apple TV+ |
The Afterparty Cast & Characters
Main
- Tiffany Haddish as Detective Danner, a police detective investigating the murder of Xavier. After leaving the police to become an author and private detective, she returns to help solve the murder of Edgar.
- Sam Richardson as Aniq Adjaye, an escape room designer and the primary suspect who attempts to use his escape room skills to clear his name after being accused of Xavier’s murder, and later to investigate Edgar’s murder.
- Zoë Chao as Zoë Zhu, Aniq’s high school crush, and following her divorce from Brett, later his girlfriend.
- Season 1
- Ike Barinholtz as Brett, a volunteer firefighter and Zoë’s ex-husband
- Ben Schwartz as Yasper E. Lennov (guest season 2), Aniq’s best friend and Xavier’s former bandmate, who hopes to restart his music career
- Ilana Glazer as Chelsea, a veterinary clinic receptionist who blamed Xavier for her ostracization by the whole school
- Jamie Demetriou as Walt Butler (guest season 2), a partygoer whom no one seems to remember from high school
- Dave Franco as Xavier, a pop icon and movie star who is the murder victim. While publicly mononymous, his real full name is later revealed to have been “Eugene Xavier Duckworth, Jr.”.
- Season 2
- John Cho as Ulysses Zhu, Grace and Zoë’s absentee uncle and Feng’s half-brother
- Paul Walter Hauser as Travis Gladrise, Grace’s ex-boyfriend and a citizen detective
- Ken Jeong as Feng Zhu, Grace and Zoë’s father, and Taiwanese shaved ice business owner
- Anna Konkle as Hannah Minnows, Edgar’s adopted sister
- Poppy Liu as Grace Zhu, Zoë’s newlywed sister who becomes the prime suspect in Edgar’s murder
- Elizabeth Perkins as Isabel Minnows, Edgar and Hannah’s mother
- Jack Whitehall as Sebastian Drapewood, Edgar’s childhood friend, business partner, and the best man A young version of Sebastian is played by actor Shylo Molina in episodes 4 and 5.
- Zach Woods as Edgar Minnows, Grace’s newlywed billionaire husband who is the murder victim
- Vivian Wu as Vivian Zhu, Grace and Zoë’s mother
Recurring
- Season 1
- John Early as Detective Culp (guest; season 2), Danner’s partner
- Tiya Sircar as Jennifer #1, a pregnant mean girl
- Ayden Mayeri as Jennifer #2, another pregnant mean girl who goes missing upon Danner’s arrival
- Genevieve Angelson as Indigo
- Kelvin Yu as Ned, Jennifer #1’s husband.
- Everly Carganilla as Maggie, Zoë and Brett’s daughter
- In addition, Christopher May and Miracle Laurie co-star as Mr. Shapiro and Quiet Heather, respectively, a science teacher and former student who, as a running gag during the first season, are caught having intimate relations in each of the stories.
- Season 2
- Will Greenberg as Judson, Sebastian’s cousin who is Jaxon’s brother
- John Gemberling as Jaxon, Sebastian’s cousin who is Judson’s brother
- Zack Calderon as Kyler, the wedding videographer
- Jade Wu as Ruth, an aunt of Grace and Zoë’s
Special guest stars
- Channing Tatum as himself (season 1), who co-starred with Xavier in the Hall & Oates biopic
- Will Forte as himself (season 1), who co-starred with Xavier in a dramatic film adaptation of the board game Hungry Hungry Hippos and was due to reprise his role in the sequel before Xavier’s death
- Gemma Chan as “Zoë” (season 2), an actress cast as Zoë in Danner’s film X Marks the Murder Spot
- Keke Palmer as “Danner” (season 2), an actress cast as Danner in Danner’s film X Marks the Murder Spot
- Elijah Wood as “Yasper” (season 2), an actor cast as Yasper in Danner’s film X Marks the Murder Spot
- Jaleel White as himself/”Aniq” (season 2), cast as Aniq in Danner’s film X Marks the Murder Spot and Danner’s fiancée. White’s casting serves to pay off a recurring gag of characters comparing Aniq to Urkel, whom White played on Family Matters
The Afterparty Storyline
The first season takes place at a high school reunion after-party with each episode “a different character’s perspective” of what happened that night. Critic Olivia Rutigliano noted that it is an example of “the millennial whodunnit”, a new subgenre of murder mystery in which the investigation is a vehicle for characters to find second chances, personal fulfillment, and a departure from boring or oppressive daily life (through the feeling that their life has become a new genre).
The second season takes place the day after a wedding, following the same formula of each guest’s perspective of the preceding after-party and the events leading up to it.
About The Afterparty TV Series
The Afterparty Development
- The Afterparty was conceived by Christopher Miller in the early 2010s, inspired by his love of murder mysteries and Rashomon.
- The concept originally focused on multiple witness perspectives of a murder, later incorporating a high school reunion setting after Miller attended one himself.
- Initially, Miller wrote it as a feature film titled The Reunion while working on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and 21 Jump Street with Phil Lord.
- In June 2013, Sony Pictures set up The Reunion as a film with Miller as writer and director, producing alongside Lord, Jonathan Kadin, and Hannah Minghella.
- The film never materialized due to Miller and Lord’s commitments to The Lego Movie and 22 Jump Street.
- Miller later revisited the project and decided to develop it as a mini-series to better explore the characters and showcase different perspectives through unique genre styles.
- On June 24, 2020, Apple TV+ ordered an eight-episode series titled The Afterparty, with Miller as creator and showrunner, executive producing alongside Lord. Aubrey Lee served as a producer, with Sony Pictures Television and TriStar Television handling production.
- On March 2, 2022, Apple TV+ renewed The Afterparty for a second season.
- On April 27, 2022, it was announced that the second season would have ten episodes, set around a wedding murder mystery, with Anthony King joining as co-showrunner.
- On January 24, 2023, executive producer Katie Miller revealed via Instagram Live that a third season had entered development, with the second season finale teasing a new murder at the premiere after-party of X Marks the Murder Spot, a film based on the events of season one.
- The teaser featured Jaleel White as himself, along with Gemma Chan, Keke Palmer, and Elijah Wood as unnamed actors playing roles in the fictional film.
- On October 13, 2023, Apple TV+ canceled The Afterparty and did not proceed with a third season.
The Afterparty Casting
- In November 2020, the main cast for The Afterparty was announced, featuring Tiffany Haddish, Sam Richardson, Ben Schwartz, Ike Barinholtz, Ilana Glazer, and Dave Franco.
- Schwartz later revealed that he was informed of his character being the murderer when cast but kept it secret from the rest of the actors until the final episode’s table read.
- After the first season, The Afterparty was renewed for a second season, with Haddish reprising her role as Detective Danner and a new cast of suspects.
- In April 2022, Richardson and Zoë Chao were confirmed to return for season two, joined by Elizabeth Perkins, Zach Woods, Paul Walter Hauser, Poppy Liu, Anna Konkle, Jack Whitehall, and Vivian Wu.
- The new cast members played Isabel, Edgar, Travis, Grace, Hannah, Sebastian, and Vivian, respectively.
- In May 2022, Ken Jeong and John Cho were cast as series regulars for season two.
- On June 13, 2022, Will Greenberg and John Gemberling were added in recurring roles.
The Afterparty Filming
- On November 11, 2020, Miller confirmed via Instagram that filming for The Afterparty had officially begun.
- Miller directed all eight episodes of the first season, marking his first solo directorial project without his usual collaborator, Lord.
- On February 17, 2021, Miller announced that filming for the first season had wrapped.
- Episode six featured animation by ShadowMachine, the studio behind BoJack Horseman and the 2023 Clone High revival.
- The animation, designed by Lindsey Olivares (The Mitchells vs. the Machines), was created simultaneously with the live-action sequences.
- Filming for the second season started on May 11, 2022, with Miller returning as director.
- On September 1, 2022, Jack Whitehall confirmed that production for season two had wrapped.
The Afterparty Release Date
The Afterparty premiered on January 28, 2022. The second season premiered on July 12, 2023, which was pushed back from its original date of April 28, 2023, with the first two episodes available immediately and one new episode debuting on a weekly basis until the season finale.
| Season | Episodes | First released | Last released |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | January 28, 2022 | March 4, 2022 |
| 2 | 10 | July 12, 2023 | September 6, 2023 |
