‘The Hunting Party’ Canceled, Despite High Praise
TV networks have been making some pretty unexpected moves this season. Still, some cancellations are shocking fans more than others. NBC’s decision to pull the plug on The Hunting Party came as a big surprise. While the series lacked buy-in from critics, fans loved it, and they are hoping the series will find a new home. Here is everything we know so far.
NBC Cancels ‘The Hunting Party’
On June 2, 2026, NBC announced that it would not be moving forward with a third season of The Hunting Party. The announcement came late, weeks after most series learned their fate, and after the network shared the shows it was most excited about at the May upfront. The Melissa Roxburgh-led procedural seemed to be truly on the bubble until the very last second.
There is a good reason why the network might have taken so long to make a decision. While The Hunting Party amassed a solid fan base after its first season, critics never really warmed to the series. A dip in viewership in season two didn’t give the network much confidence in its future, either. According to several sources, there just wasn’t enough interest to justify a third season, though executives reportedly toyed with the idea of sending the series over to Peacock as an original. That idea was ultimately canned when the cost of the show didn’t align with existing budgets.
While NBC and Peacock won’t be picking the series up, it might not be the end for it just yet. According to Deadline, Universal Television owns the rights to the series and is said to be shopping it elsewhere. A landing spot on Netflix feels like an organic move, as the streaming service licensed the show’s first season. Still, no decisions have been made.
Viewers and Critics Could Not Agree on the Series
The Hunting Party is a unique take on the crime procedural. In the series, Melissa Roxburgh, best known for her work on Manifest, stars as Rebecca “Bex” Henderson. Bex is a former FBI profiler who leads a team tasked with tracking down the world’s most dangerous killers. There is a bit of a sci-fi turn to the series, as all of the hunted killers have escaped from “The Pit,” a top-secret government prison that wasn’t just a prison.
Its inaugural season offered a lot of action, but didn’t impress everyone. Critics panned the series across the board. After its first season, several critics suggested it was a series that didn’t need to be made. Others argued that the constraints of network television made the show’s unique premise too surface-level to be interesting. Viewers were far more enthusiastic, giving the series favorable reviews. They liked the fast-paced nature of the series and its unique yet still familiar premise. Whether their feelings will be enough to save it in the long run, however, remains to be seen.
