Will The Hunting Party Season 3 happen? What we know after NBC's cancellation

NBC has officially canceled Universal Television’s crime procedural drama The Hunting Party, adding it to the network’s growing list of axed series. While fans were hopeful that the Melissa Roxburgh-starrer procedural might not witness the same fate as the medical drama Brilliant Minds (which was canceled after two seasons), NBC is determined to axe this title from its library.

However, there is a sliver of hope. Universal Television will reportedly shop The Hunting Party to other outlets, namely Netflix, which boosted its ratings after NBC decided to launch the freshman season on the streaming juggernaut during the Winter Olympics.

While NBC executives postponed their decision to cancel the show in May and carefully monitored its streaming and linear performance, the odds were stacked against it.

In an interview with Deadline, Jeff Bader, NBCUniversal’s President of Program Planning Strategy, explained the network's decision to axe the crime procedural:

“We’re looking for places where we can grow the network, and that is a time period where we think we can do better. Nothing negative about Hunting Party, but for our linear schedule, we absolutely need to try and do a little bit better there.”

Reportedly, The Hunting Party's Thursday 10 p.m. time slot will be replaced with the flagship Law & Order next Fall.

More on this in our story.

Can The Hunting Party return with Season 3?

NBC's crime procedural, created by JJ Bailey, debuted in January 2025 and follows former FBI profiler Rebecca "Bex" Henderson and her team of elite soldiers as they track down deadly criminals who escaped after an unexpected explosion at a secret prison hidden underneath the Wyoming countryside. Each episode focuses on a new criminal and the squad's quest to catch them before it's too late.

In addition to Melissa Roxburgh, who plays FBI Special Agent and criminal profiler Bex, the series also stars Patrick Sabongui, Nick Wechsler, Josh McKenzie, and Sara Garcia.

While The Hunting Party failed to pull linear views, there were talks about moving it to Peacock. However, NBC executives eventually concluded that a renewal was not worthy and axed the show from its library. The series' treatment is quite similar to that of the Melissa Fumero-starring drama series, Grosse Pointe Garden Society, which was withheld during the 2024–2025 TV season but was eventually canceled after one season.

With Universal Television determined to shop the procedural to Netflix, all hope is not lost. Considering the impressive streaming numbers for the freshman season, The Hunting Party Season 3 could move forward on the platform. While a show's chances of finding success on a new platform after cancellation are often limited, they are not impossible. Following the crime thriller's impressive run on Netflix, the platform might invest in a third season.

With Netflix's growing library of crime thrillers, it also revived shows like Manifest and Lucifer, after they were canceled on NBC and FOX, respectively. Since the platform has pulled off this miracle before, The Hunting Party could get a streaming home on Netflix for Season 3.

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