Following NBC’s shocking cancellation ofSuits LAlast week after just one season, the network has decided the fate of two of its more popular new shows. BothThe Hunting PartyandBrilliant Mindswill return for Season 2 in the fall, so fans of the crime drama and the medical procedural have nothing to worry about – at least for now.
Variety reported on the renewals this morning as NBC announced its fall 2025 schedule during its upfront presentation in New York. Debuting back in January,The Hunting Party’s premiere episode garnered 3.67 million viewers, with the 10-episode first season averaging an overall total of 4.26 million. Meanwhile,Brilliant Mindshit the airwaves in September 2024 to 3.92 million viewers, with its 13-episode first season averaging a total of 4.3 million. By contrast,Suits LA’s first episode was watched by just 2.61 million viewers, with its low point being episode 10, “Slugfest,” which was seen by only 0.97 million people.
TV Shows That Were Canceled Before They Could Properly Finish Their Story
The cancelation of a TV series often leaves its audience with a bitter taste, even more so if the story never really came to a conclusion.
Starring Melissa Roxburgh and Nick Wechsler,The Hunting Partyfollows a small team of investigators who are assembled to track down and capture the most dangerous killers our country has ever seen, all of whom have just escaped from a top-secret prison that’s not supposed to exist. Despite its strong viewership, the series has just an 18% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, though its Popcornmeter sits much higher at 84%, provingthat fans are digging the hot new series.
Elsewhere,Brilliant Mindsstars Zachary Quinto as Oliver Wolf, a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist. The series follows him and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier — the human mind — while grappling with their own relationships and mental health. Based on the exploits of real-life British neurologist Oliver Sacks, the series has earned praise from both fans and critics, with its Rotten Tomatoes score sitting at a healthy 99%.
‘Suits LA’ Wasn’t the Only Show NBC Canceled
WhileThe Hunting PartyandBrilliant Mindswill live to see another year, NBC gave the ax to more than justSuits LAlast week. Other cancellations includeFound,The Irrational,Lopez vs. Lopez, andNight Court.Some of these are obviously to make room for the NBA on Tuesday nights this fall, but, as in the case ofSuits LA, others were simply a ratings-based decision.
“It really just has not resonated the way we thought it would,” said NBC executive Jeff Bader last week when speaking about the cancellation ofSuits LA, adding: “There can be many, many reasons why, people are speculating why it hasn’t resonated, but it’s just not really showing the potential to grow for us in the future, unfortunately.” He continued:
“And it’s those decisions we had to make. We had to look at the performance of the shows, both on linear and on digital. We had to see the ones that looked like they had growth potential in the future. So we’re looking at how stable they are on their linear performance, how stable they are on digital, which ones are growing and which ones are declining. And we had to make some hard decisions.”
Of course, it is always possible that some of these shows could get picked up by another network or streaming service, but we’ve yet to hear of any interest from the likes of Netflix or Prime Video. For now, it appears as if their fate is officially sealed, and while that’s not necessarily the news fans wanted to hear, hey, maybe now that Stephen Amell is free, Netflix will finally give usthat third season ofHeelswe so desperately want.
Source:Variety
The Hunting Party
