NBC’s The Hunting Party was canceled earlier this month after two seasons, and interest in the Melissa Roxburgh-led crime drama still continues. The show, which aired its Season 2 finale on May 7, will not return for a third season on the network, though its fate elsewhere is still being sorted out.
Why did NBC cancel ‘The Hunting Party’?
The short answer is ratings. The Hunting Party‘s linear performance was middling in Season 2, and the drama likely would have been canceled a month earlier based on those numbers alone, per Deadline. NBC postponed the final decision until after upfronts while executives took extra time to evaluate its performance across both broadcast and streaming, according to Deadline.
A tight schedule was also a factor. NBC president of program planning strategy Jeff Bader said the network had “a very, very tight schedule” due to its sports commitments, forcing it to “give up on some shows that we really love to make room to launch our future potential hits,” per The Wrap. The cancellation comes just under a month after upfronts, which also saw NBC ax Brilliant Minds and Stumble as it made room for returning series and four newly greenlit pilots, according to The Wrap.
Will there be a ‘The Hunting Party’ Season 3?
Not at NBC. But the story may not be over. Universal Television, which produces the series, is expected to shop it to other networks and streamers, per The Hollywood Reporter. Netflix, which currently licenses the show in the U.S. and gave Season 1 a streaming boost when it landed on the platform in February, would be a logical outreach, according to Deadline.
Both a third season on NBC and a move to Peacock were considered before neither option panned out, per Deadline. NBC and Peacock president of scripted content Lisa Katz had told reporters ahead of upfronts that the network was “discussing all options” for the show’s future, according to The Wrap. Fans have drawn comparisons to Manifest, another Roxburgh vehicle that NBC canceled before Netflix revived it for a fourth and final season.
Where can you watch ‘The Hunting Party’?
Both seasons of The Hunting Party are available to stream on Peacock. Season 1 is also available on Netflix.
What was ‘The Hunting Party’ about?
Per the official description, The Hunting Party followed former FBI profiler Rebecca “Bex” Henderson, who led a small team of investigators “assembled to track down and capture the most dangerous killers the world has ever seen, all of whom have just escaped from ‘The Pit,’ a top-secret government prison that’s not supposed to exist.” The series starred Roxburgh alongside Nick Wechsler, Patrick Sabongui, Josh McKenzie and Sara Garcia. JJ Bailey created the series and served as co-showrunner with Jake Coburn.
Featured image photo credit: Photo by: Ralph Bavaro/NBC
Leave a Reply