The Hunting Party Crime Drama Picked Up to Series at NBC

NBC is throwing a Hunting Party.

The network has handed out a series order for the high-concept procedural The Hunting Party, from creator JJ Bailey. The pickup for the drama comes more than a year after NBC opened up a writers room for the project that it describes as revolving around “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.”

Bailey (Echo) created Hunting Party and is attached to serve as co-showrunner alongside fellow writer and exec producer Jake Coburn (The Endgame). The drama hails from Universal Television, where Bailey is based with an overall deal and Coburn is set with a first-look pact.

NBC has been using a two-pronged development slate since 2020, using both the pilot model as well as opening up writers rooms in a bid to bypass the pricey and prolonged development model. NBC opened rooms for both The Hunting Party and Grosse Pointe Garden Society in February 2023. The network ordered Garden Society, from Good Girls duo Jenna Bans and Bill Krebs, to pilot earlier this month.

Hunting Party is NBC’s first series pickup earmarked for the 2024-25 broadcast season. The network still has a slate of previously ordered originals — drama Dr. Wolf and comedy St. Denis Medical — that were picked up last year and were delayed by the strikes. It’s unclear if both of those shows will air as part of the current 2023-24 season or be held for 2024-25.  

NBC is the only network making pilots this season, though the network’s overall volume is down considerably with only three in the works including a Reba McEntire comedy, Garden Society and Suits: L.A.

Keep track of all the new series orders, renewed and canceled broadcast shows with THR‘s handy scorecard.