20 TV shows we’ll all be watching in 2026

1 month ago 20

It’s official: the 2025 television year is in the rearview mirror. From Adolescence to Andor to the recently concluded Pluribus, there were plenty of outstanding shows, but now we have to get ready for 2026. The line-up of scripted series for the next 12 months, both those making their debut and returning for a fresh instalment, is full of promise. Whatever your preferred genre is, we’ve got some exciting recommendations.

AUSTRALIAN

Anna Torv stars in new ABC series Dustfall.

Dustfall: Australian star Anna Torv looks to continue her already stellar recent run – Mindhunter, The Last of Us, and The Newsreader – with this topical, tropical noir, where she plays a police detective, Tig Pollard, assigned to her Queensland hometown to investigate a series of drink-spiking assaults. When the case takes an unexpected turn, she has to go further to find answers. ABC, TBC.

Deadloch (season two): Relocating from Tasmania to the Top End, this hilariously astute comic procedural finds mismatched police detectives Dulcie Collins (Kate Box) and Eddie Redcliffe (Madeleine Sami) investigating the suspicious death of the latter’s former partner. Look out for truly wild vernacular, full bore banter, and Luke Hemsworth as a wildlife park owner. Amazon Prime, March 20.

COMEDY

Jeremy Swift, Hannah Waddingham, Juno Temple and Jason Sudeikis in Ted Lasso, coming soon to Apple TV.

Ponies: In this Cold War-era comic-thriller, Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) and Haley Lu Richardson (The White Lotus) play the wives of CIA agents stationed in Moscow. When their husbands don’t return from a covert mission, the amateur duo start investigating what happened, reasoning that the KGB will not suspect two PONIES – persons of no interest – looking into the case. Binge, January 16.

Ted Lasso (season four): When season three of the beloved sports comedy about Jason Sudeikis’ big-hearted American football coach taking his unique talents to England’s Premier League concluded in May 2023, talk was the show had finished. Nope. New episodes have been shot in Kansas City and London, with Ted now coaching a women’s football team and the majority of the existing cast also making a comeback. Apple TV, TBC.

CRIME

Jon Hamm returns in season 2 of Your Friends and Neighbours.

The Killings: Parrish Station: The cosmic and the cold-blooded intertwine in this outback crime mystery, which begins with the horror-tinged murder of a group of scientists at a remote research facility in 1987. Mia Wasikowska (Stoker) plays the young detective, Georgia Cooke, assigned to the case, but when events resurface the case in the present day, Heather Mitchell’s now veteran Georgia is drawn back in. Stan, TBC.

Your Friends & Neighbours (season two): Jon Hamm had his best role since Mad Men in this spiky, anthropological crime caper about a Wall Street alpha who gets fired and has to steal from his privileged community to make ends meet. It was Breaking Bad for the 1 per cent, with Hamm’s Andrew Cooper starting to enjoy himself. Season two will test his mettle. Apple TV, April 3.

DRAMA

Jacob Elordi returns for Euphoria season three.

Margo’s Got Money Troubles: Nobody puts an ensemble cast together like David E. Kelley. This latest series from the Big Little Lies creator stars Elle Fanning (A Complete Unknown) as a pregnant university student who turns to OnlyFans for financial stability. Helping and hindering her are a waitress mother (Michelle Pfeiffer), ex-pro wrestler dad (Nick Offerman), and a mediator assigned to her problematic baby daddy (Nicole Kidman). Apple TV, April 15.

Euphoria (season three): They actually enforced the contracts. Since Sam Levinson’s over-revved high school drama last aired in 2022 half the leads – Zendaya, Jacob Elordi, and Sydney Sweeney – have become movie stars. Nonetheless, they’re all finally back for a third season, which jumps forward five years to post-university life. Could be a mess, could be amazing. Must-see either way. HBO Max, April TBC.

DRAMEDY

Steve Carell plays a successful author and professor in this new comedy.

Rooster: There’s a long creative history of stories about academics and their prickly relationships, which Steve Carell will add to in this bittersweet comedy. The much-loved comic actor plays a successful author and professor whose campus life is buffeted by his complicated connection with his adult daughter (Charly Clive). The creators include Bill Lawrence, who also has a hand in the upcoming Scrubs revival and ongoing series Shrinking. HBO Max, March TBC.

Shrinking season 3: This witty comic-drama about a widowed therapist, Jimmy Laird (Jason Segel), whose grief gave him some unorthodox working methods definitely went feel-good in season two. Nonetheless, it remains a delight, especially whenever Harrison Ford gets to cut loose as Jimmy’s vinegary mentor, Paul Rhoades. Apple TV, January 28.

ROMANCE

Australian actor Yerin Ha is the new leading lady in the new season of Bridgerton.

American Love Story: Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have already launched American Horror Story, American Crime Story, and American Sports Story. American Love Story was plainly next. The real-life inspiration for the anthology’s first season is the headline-making 1990s romance between John F. Kennedy Jr (Paul Kelly) and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy (Sarah Pidgeon). Naomi Watts plays John’s mother, presidential widow Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Disney+, February TBC.

Bridgerton (season four): Releasing in two instalments, one of Netflix’s most reliable hits introduces a new central relationship in the show’s alternate-history, Regency-era London. This time it’s Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) and Sophie Baek (Australian actor Yerin Ha) who meet at a masquerade ball and must fight to survive the strictures of high society. Netflix, January 29 and February 26.

SCI-FI

Neuromancer: First published in 1984 and set in a near-future dystopia, William Gibson’s Neuromancer is one of science-fiction’s most influential texts: it imagined the internet before it existed. Adapting the story of a hacker (Callum Turner) hired for a digital heist by a mysterious former soldier (Mark Strong), the show’s relevancy and fidelity will be judged by hard-core fans (including me). Apple TV, TBC.

Ahsoka (season two): Anchored by Rosario Dawson’s commanding performance in the title role, this Star Wars series set in the years after Return of the Jedi flies the flag for the franchise’s space-opera storytelling. A live-action update of animated characters, the new season finds Dawson’s Jedi and her apprentice, Sabine Wren (Australia’s Natasha Liu Bordizzo), a long way from home. Disney+, TBC.

SPIN-OFFS

Peter Claffey in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: With prequel series House of the Dragon not matching the heights of Game of Thrones, the new adaptation from the vast fantasy realm of author George R.R. Martin pivots hard. It’s a character-driven adventure, shared by a rookie knight, Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey), and his lippy adolescent squire, Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell). Smaller in scale, funnier in tone, and tactile in detail. HBO Max, January 19.

Dune: Prophecy (season two): With Denis Villeneuve and Timothee Chalamet’s Dune: Part Three hitting cinemas at year’s end, it’s good timing for a return of this spin-off prequel series about the origins of the franchise’s Bene Gesserit sisterhood. Emily Watson and Olivia Williams return as sibling leaders, with the galaxy-spanning plot reaching the desert planet of Arrakis. HBO Max, TBC.

SUPERHEROES

Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler in new TV series Lanterns, about intergalactic peacekeepers The Green Lanterns.

Lanterns: With 2025’s Superman reboot launching James Gunn’s DC Universe, the next offering is this series about intergalactic peacekeepers The Green Lanterns. But with Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre starring, this is an Earth-bound detective story more hard-edged than fantastical. Notable among the creators is Damon Lindelof, who previously did wild things with the Watchmen limited series. HBO Max, TBC.

The Boys (season five): A superhero satire that became more popular than the real thing. The over-the-top chaos of The Boys concludes with this high-stakes final season. As ever the flawed vigilantes led by Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) are trying to bring down the totalitarian superhero Homelander (Antony Starr) and his freaky lackeys. Blood and heavy-handed provocations inbound! Amazon Prime, April 8.

THRILLER

Nicole Kidman stars as a determined medical examiner in Scarpetta, a new Patricia Cornwell adaptation.

Scarpetta: Nicole Kidman, the hardest working woman in streaming, headlines this adaptation of Patricia Cornwell’s much-loved series of crime novels about determined medical examiner Dr Kay Scarpetta. Leaning into forensic detail and a serial killer plot as Scarpetta’s professional legacy is threatened, the series co-stars Jamie Lee Curtis as the good doctor’s older sister Dorothy, and Bobby Cannavale as a law enforcement associate. Amazon Prime, March 11.

The Night Agent (season three): After featuring in the ensemble for Kathryn Bigelow’s nerve-shredding Netflix movie A House of Dynamite, Gabriel Basso steps back into the perpetually frayed suit of covert US government agent Peter Sutherland for another season of this twisty conspiratorial drama. Season two ended with Peter spying on his own compromised superiors, but don’t be surprised if creator Shawn Ryan (The Shield) once more puts his indomitable hero on the run. Netflix, February 20.

Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.

Read Entire Article