“The Afterparty” Season 2 will tackle episodic genres from ’90s-era erotic thrillers to Austenian period pieces, creator-executive producer Chris Miller teased during the 2023 Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour.
Additionally, Miller told journalists that Sam Richardson’s Aniq will once again get a romantic comedy-themed episode, as with last season, likening it to a “sequel” of sorts. However, Zoë Chao’s Zoe will not get an animated episode, but rather a different genre. There will also be styles reminiscent of Wes Anderson films, with Miller describing a “twee indie film,” as well as a heist-themed episode.
From Academy Award winners Miller and Phil Lord, the 10-episode second season of “The Afterparty” will follow Aniq, Zoe and Detective Danner (Tiffany Haddish) as they’re embroiled in a murder-mystery that claims the life of the groom on the day of his wedding, where every guest is a suspect. Created by Miller, each episode explores a different character’s account of one fateful evening, all told through the lens of popular film genres and unique visuals to match the storyteller’s perspective. The new cast of characters includes Elizabeth Perkins, Zach Woods, Paul Walter Hauser, Poppy Liu, Anna Konkle, Jack Whitehall, Vivian Wu, John Cho and Ken Jeong.
“[The writers room] had six different whiteboards that were double-sided, and it looked like ‘A Beautiful Mind’ with yarn and magnets and timetables — who was where and when?” Miller said of crafting the second season, at which point executive producer Anthony King joked that “Apple ran out of yarn.” “Every aspect of it is like a complicated Jenga tower that if you pulled one little thing out the whole thing crumbles, and it is a real mind eraser.”
King added of the show’s challenges, “As you’re developing, you’re always wanting to come from character, but you also have these recurring scenes that are happening again and again throughout the season. And so when you change something in Episode Eight, you’re like, ‘Well, now we have to go back and rewrite that scene in every other episode.’ So it is a enormous undertaking. It is hard to keep track of all of that.”
“The Afterparty” is produced for Apple by TriStar TV and Sony Pictures Television as part of Lord and Miller’s expansive five-year overall television deal. Season 2 is co-showrun by Miller and King — the Tony- and Emmy-nominated writer, producer and performer — who serve as executive producers. Miller is an EP alongside Lord through the pair’s production banner, Lord Miller. Lord Miller’s Senior Vice President of Television Aubrey Lee is a producer on the series.
Season 2 of “The Afterparty” will premiere with its first two episodes on April 28, followed by new episodes on Fridays, culminating in the season finale set for June 23.
