I’d honestly thought we’d pretty much gotten through all of the major network cancellations as the summer 2026 TV schedule continues developing. NBC fans already said goodbye to favorites like Law & Order: Organized Crime, the Zachary Quinto-led Brilliant Minds, and the one I was personally saddest to see go, Stumble. Amidst all that brouhaha, however, I’d forgotten the Peacock Network had not made up its mind about Melissa Roxburgh’s Hunting Party.
Unfortunately, no news was better news than what we ultimately got. The two-season show was officially axed by NBC as June rolled around, and it will not be back for Season 3. We long knew The Hunting Party was on the bubble this year, and there’s likely a big reason the show got cancelled. Let’s talk it out.
NBC Had An Incredibly Strong Pilot Season This Year
NBC is blessed to be a network with extremely strong content. Like much network television these days, it relies on a strong, stable core of dramas, many of which are parts of major franchises. Law & Order and the One Chicago shows both spring to mind.
As NBC was looking ahead to the 2026-2027 TV season, some familiar names started cropping up. There was Bones and Buffy star David Boreanaz saying yes to a remake of The Rockford Files. There was Parenthood’s Peter Krause back at Peacock after getting killed off on Fox’s hit series 9-1-1. Jake Johnson’s also back with a new comedy and fellow Bones alum Emily Deschanel seems to be making a TV comeback, too.
In short, NBC is hoping to try for some winners that can bring in higher eyeballs than what The Hunting Party was offering, and I get that. I’d been hoping Roxburgh would land a second big hit with NBC after Manifest kept audiences glued to their seats for four solid seasons (though in that case there was a whole cancelled/uncancelled narrative). However, this show, about an FBI profiler, failed to bloom into as big of a deal as her first major series at the network.
I have no idea if this is a conspiracy theory or not, but part of me wonders if the title of the show really didn’t do anything to help it. The Hunting Party came out around the same time as The Hunting Wives, and I’ve met more than one person who has mixed the two programs up. In addition, I do think The Hunting Wives aptly explains the general gist of that show, while The Hunting Party does not really explain it’s about hunting serial killers on the loose. It’s just a thing that’s been niggling me for a while, and now the show is over, I think it’s worth mentioning.
Regardless, it's still a bummer this news came so late in the game. While I’m sure Roxburgh and co. will land on their feet, it’s always a sad day when a show gets the axe. When the news comes this far into the year, people aren't set up with fall gigs yet. There's always streaming shows to strive for, though in that case, we're still seeing a lot of first season shows get cancelled.
We'll keep you posted, and of course keep you up to date on all that shiny new programming coming down the pipeline.
