Renewals and Cancellations: 'Dept Q.,' 'The Hunting Wives,' 'Traitors,' 'One Piece'

I watch a lot of mystery series, and my favorite this year—along with Patience—is probably Netflix’s Dept. Q. It’s a bit of a slow burn, both in its storytelling and in its reception for Netflix. It took nearly three months for the streamer to renew it, but it’s official: Matthew Goode will be back for a second season. Scott Frank — who oversaw two of Netflix’s best shows, The Queen’s Gambit and Godless — will return as writer and director.

Now, Netflix just needs to pull the trigger on a second season of The Hunting Wives, which I’m surprised hasn’t been picked up yet, though that may have something to do with the fact that it’s not a homegrown Netflix series. Recall, it was a Lionsgate series originally intended for Starz, but when Starz was spun off from Lionsgate, the latter kept the rights and licensed it to Netflix for one year. In other words, a potential second season could go anywhere (and bring the first season with it), though it’d be insane for Netflix not to secure it. Then again, Lionsgate also works with Apple (The Studio, Acapulco), and that streamer could certainly use a viral hit like The Hunting Wives. The four-year-old May Cobb novel upon which the series is based is also back on the NYTimes bestseller list.

Elsewhere, Netflix has also picked up a third season of America’s Sweethearts, the docuseries about the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders. I’ve never watched it, but oddly, my daughters do. While I was a little bothered by it initially (and not just because it’s the Dallas Cowboys), they’ve learned from it not just the value of hustle but also that cheerleaders are broke and have to work additional jobs on top of their demanding cheerleading schedules.

Last week, Netflix also picked up a third season of One Piece, well ahead of the second season, which won’t premiere until 2026. The renewal allows production to get a head start, so hopefully there won’t be years between seasons.

In the last bit of Netflix news, FUBAR has been axed after two seasons. The first season of the Arnold Schwarzenegger series did well, but the second fizzled, premiering at the bottom of the top ten before disappearing entirely. The good news is that it frees up Monica Barbaro to do much better things, like play Mira Murati in Artificial, Luca Guadagnino’s Sam Altman version on The Social Network (while Aaron Sorkin is making a sequel to the actual The Social Network).

Peacock’s huge reality hit The Traitors will launch a civilian edition for NBC next year. The first season was a mix of celebrities and non-celebrities, and the non-celebrities got creamed. The series went full celebrity in its second and third seasons, while the UK edition has found considerable success with civilian-only runs. NBC will now give that a try (alongside the celebrity edition) next year, likely premiering around the Winter Olympics.

And for those who find weird satisfaction in watching Dr. Pimple Popper, Lifetime has picked up the spin-off Dr. Pimple Popper: Breaking Out for an additional 20-episode season. See? Cable TV is not dead!