How NBC Picked What to Cancel to Make Room for ‘Our Biggest New Show’ — the NBA — and What to Keep

Only two bubble shows were promised futures after NBC‘s all-day Friday cancellation of five shows.

The Hunting Party and Brilliant Minds were both renewed (for full, second seasons in the 18- to 22-episode range) — but the news wasn’t anywhere near as good for the following, longer-running programs: Lopez vs. Lopez, Night Court, Found, The Irrational and Suits LA. (Grosse Pointe Garden Society‘s fate is currently, theoretically TBD.)

‘THE NBA IS A HUGE PRIORITY’

NBC’s unusually brutal axe was the result of a need to clear out Tuesday nights this fall for NBA games (as part of its big-bucks deal with the pro hoops league). Come February 2026, a second night of NBA action will occupy Sundays, where any combo of midseason dramas and reality-TV usually air.

With the NBA ultimately claiming seven total hours of primetime real estate, “We had a lot of shows that we had to pass on in order to put our schedule together,” Jeff Bader, President of Program Planning Strategy for NBCUniversal Entertainment, told reporters at a Saturday press conference. “In the fall, the NBA is a huge priority for us. That is our biggest new show in the fall.”

THE SHOWS THAT SHOWED POTENTIAL

In deciding which of its bubble shows to keep and which to cut, “We looked at what their performance was, week to week, episode to episode, on both linear and digital, to try and glean which ones we thought had the best ratings story…,” Bader explained. “And then on the creative side, the creative teams did the same thing, [showing us] which ones have the best potential to capture a new audience.”

The Hunting Party, a high-concept procedural, and Brilliant Minds, a medical drama, wound up demonstrating that potential. “These are the two shows that made their way to the top,” Bader said.

As for the knee-jerk question of, “Why not move ____ to Peacock?!” — as happened a year ago with Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 — “We had that conversation about every show,” Bader said. No bubble show got “saved” this year, however, by becoming a streaming exclusive.

‘SUITS LA HAS NOT RESONATED’

Bader was tactfully reluctant to detail the why behind every cancelled show, though he did speak to the one-and-done fate of the Stephen Amell-starring Suits LA spinoff that hoped to capitalize on the streaming records set by the original Suits in 2023.

“Suits [LA] has had a very short run, but it really just has not resonated with the way we thought it would,” he acknowledged. “People were speculating why it hasn’t… but it’s just not really showing potential to grow for us in the future, unfortunately, and those are the decisions we had to make.”