NBC‘s lineup resembles one giant bubble this year with only two of 15 current scripted series — representing an hour of primetime — renewed and most of the others in serious limbo as the network’s scripted and unscripted rosters are facing a major trim to make room for about 180 hours of primetime NBA programming next season.
In addition to the already picked up freshmen comedies St. Denis Medical and Happy’s Place, the list of scripted locks for 2025-2026 is short, and each title on it has the same name next to it: Dick Wolf. Like every year, there are budget conversations between the network and sister studio Universal Television, but the three Chicago dramas and the two Law & Order series on NBC are all expected to return next season.
It would come as no surprise as Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., Chicago Med and Law & Order: SVU lead NBC’s linear scripted ratings and Peacock’s viewership roster, regularly ranking in the Top 5 on the streaming platform. The mothership Law & Order is right behind them on linear. It is not as potent as the other four on streaming but is still a solid performer and, despite its overall age (24 seasons to date), its current incarnation is significantly younger than the other Wolf Entertainment series for NBC, making it an attractive financial proposition.
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As Deadline reported exclusively last week, in anticipation of a Season 27 renewal of flagship Law & Order: SVU, the series has tapped Michele Fazekas as new showrunner, marking the first time a woman will be at the helm of the venerable crime drama.
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Beyond the five Wolf dramas, there is deep uncertainty — probably as deep as the cuts looming over NBC’s slate as one night of entertainment programming in the fall (Tuesday) and two starting in January (Tuesday and Sunday) will be reassigned to basketball coverage under NBCUniversal’s deal with the NBA.
Of the other scripted shows, any could get the ax. It may come down to scheduling as NBC executives try to build a puzzle with the remaining time periods, seeing which existing pieces fit. For instance, NBC will have to rethink the longtime air pattern for The Voice, which has been running on two consecutive nights, Monday and Tuesday, and also relocate its current Tuesday comedy block elsewhere.
Things are looking hopeful for one of the two Warner Bros TV-produced dramas — freshman medical show Brilliant Minds and sophomore missing person procedural Found — to continue. Both have been respectable performers, with the former taking advantage of its sizable Voice lead-in on NBC. Fellow sophomore procedural The Irrational, produced by NBC sibling Universal TV, has been pretty quiet, so its future is in doubt.
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Then there are the three new NBC dramas that premiered this midseason, all from Universal TV or sibling UCP. On them, The Hunting Party has been the strongest performer, also like Brilliant Minds aided by its cushy post-Voice slot. It is looking promising for a renewal if there is space for it on the schedule.
I hear NBC also is considering a second season of Suits: LA despite the spinoff’s below-expectations ratings. It is a high-profile IP for NBCUniversal, and the network already invested a lot in marketing and gave the show additional exposure on Thursday. The numbers are still not great, but there have been a couple of recent rating upticks, including one tied to the return of original Suits star Gabriel Macht, that would likely earn the show more time with a renewal while it is evolving its tone and pace to more closely resemble the mothership series.
Grosse Pointe Garden Society, which originally launched behind Suits: LA on Sunday, also just got a linear ratings bump in its move to the Friday 8 p.m. slot with a stronger lead-in. The increase is not significant enough to earn a renewal by NBC, where the mystery drama remains dead last in the ratings. But the scheduling move may have boosted Grosse Pointe‘s chances for renewal consideration by sibling Peacock; the serialized drama with comedic overtones from the Good Girls duo of Jenna Bans and Bill Krebs was always considered better suited for streaming. With the show’s shift to Friday, new episodes are now becoming available on Peacock on Saturday instead of Monday.
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That may have made a difference as Grosse Pointe made an appearance on Peacock’s Top 10 this past weekend. It’s still considered a long shot, but the show is liked creatively and costs significantly less than a Peacock original drama, so if streaming consumption continues to increase over the next month, there is at least a chance.
While on the drama side renewal decisions will come down to how many of the existing series can fit in NBC’s drama slots available next season, for comedies the situation is more complicated because the network also has three comedy pilots versus zero drama ones. All three are single-camera — as is one of the renewed half-hour series, St. Denis Medical — while both bubble comedy series, Night Court and Lopez vs. Lopez, are multi-cam like Happy’s Place.
Of the three pilots, the untitled Tracy Morgan comedy may be the only one ready by the upfronts where fall schedules are traditionally revealed. The other two are still in early stages of casting. The Tracy Morgan project also is considered the strongest contender among the three based on its talent: star Morgan and creative auspices Tina Fey and Robert Carlock.
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If there are still outstanding pilots by mid-May for midseason 2026 consideration, it is conceivable NBC may not make all of its comedy renewal decisions by the upfronts. Both Night Court, from WBTV, and Lopez vs. Lopez, from Universal TV, are believed to be heavily on the bubble with a 50-50 chance at best. It may come down to how many comedy pilots NBC will pick up to series, one or two, and whether it needs a multi-cam companion for Happy’s Place. Third-year sitcoms Night Court and Lopez vs. Lopez are pretty evenly matched in performance, with the former’s audience skewing a little younger and the latter’s being more diverse.
We are largely post-peak vertical integration, with the broadcast networks typically valuing performance over ownership, so NBC is not expected to make all renewal calls in favor of series coming from its own studios.