Want to know what’s going to be big in TV in 2026? Look for these 13 shows

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Wanna know what’s going to be big on TV in 2026? Finding the answer, sometimes, is just a matter of where you look. Despite the uncertainty of the global television business, more than 10,000 buyers and sellers of TV still converge every year for the world’s biggest content market. Sales are brisk. Risks are high. But all transactions are final.

Mipcom, or as it is fully titled, Marché International des Programmes de Communication, is the world’s biggest television trade show. Staged annually in Cannes, France, it is equal parts Sydney Royal Easter Show and Melbourne International Film Festival. It is where the people who make TV shows come to sell them, and it is where the people who buy TV shows come to go shopping.

Boston Blue star Donnie Wahlberg poses on the red carpet at Mipcom.

The market is useful for detecting deeper trends in the business. This year, for example, YouTube set up shop in Cannes, heralding what many saw as a closer alignment between the online creator economy and traditional television content. “It feels like a tipping point for the industry,” Mipcom Cannes director Lucy Smith said.

But the engine turning the wheels is still on-foot deal-making, with more than 10,000 delegates in attendance, some 3340 of whom were dedicated program buyers, all scouring the Palais des Festivals in Cannes hoping to find the next big thing before their competitors. The market hosted 350 exhibitors – studios, channels or production companies – from 107 countries.

And while the market does not lean on glamour, it is not without celebrity touches. Among the stars hawking their wares this year were Donnie Walhberg and Sonequa Martin-Green from Boston Blue, British actors Shaun Evans and Jodie Whittaker, Succession star Matthew Macfadyen, Norman Reedus from The Walking Dead, and the cast of Midsomer Murders, including Neil Dudgeon and Annette Badland.

So what’s going to make noise in 2026? The answer is a broad church of traditional police dramas and comedy/dramas, which range from a sizzling romance in the ice hockey world, to a pastiche of police and food on an exotic island on the coast of Italy. Boston Blue, which will premiere before the end of the year, was the headline grabber, along with 12 more shows that turned up the volume in Cannes.

Donnie Wahlberg and Sonequa Martin-Green in Boston Blue.

Boston Blue (CBS Studios)

The spin-off to the long-running police drama, Blue Bloods, shifts NYPD Detective Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) to Boston, and a new partnership with Detective Lena Silver (Sonequa Martin-Green) who, like Reagan, comes from an established law enforcement family. Boston Blue landed loud at the market, with its two leads turning heads everywhere they went. In a global market defined by hesitancy, a safe bet is an easy sell.

Keke Palmer and Jack Whitehall in The ’Burbs.

The ′Burbs (NBC Universal)

Based on the much-beloved 1989 cult film about life in a suburban cul-de-sac, this is an eight-episode mystery comedy about a young couple who move into the husband’s childhood home and realise there is more going on in the ’burbs than meets the eye. Written by Celeste Hughey with Seth MacFarlane, and produced by Brian Grazer, it stars Keke Palmer, Jack Whitehall, Julia Duffy and Paula Pell.

Jodie Whittaker and Suranne Jones in Frauds.

Frauds (ITV Studios)

A new British crime thriller about two former professional partners Bert (Suranne Jones) and Sam (Jodie Whittaker). With a decade in prison behind her, Bert is on the outside and decides to re-team with Sam for one last big heist. Whittaker, a former Doctor Who, gives the series its headline star, and the concept, created by Jones and Anne-Marie O’Connor, gives off major Widows vibes. It’s directed by Giulia Gandini.

The Copenhagen Test (NBC Universal)

James Wan and Thomas Brandon’s espionage thriller series is set five minutes in the future as first-generation-American intelligence analyst Alexander Hale (Simu Liu) learns his brain has been hacked, allowing the hackers access to everything he sees and hears. Time is ticking for him to flush out the perpetrators. Melissa Barrera, Sinclair Daniel and Brian d’Arcy James also star.

Rebecca Gibney and Harry McNaughton (front) in Happiness.

Happiness (DCD Rights)

A musical comedy series from New Zealand, Happiness is the story of a big-name Broadway director (Harry McNaughton) who returns home and must contend with the fact that despite two decades of ascendancy in New York, he’s back living in his childhood bedroom and helping his mum, Gaye, (Rebecca Gibney) run the local community musical theatre society, Pizazz, which is populated by an enthusiastic, if not talented, crew. The show premieres on HBO Max on November 4.

Warren Brown, Beau Gadsdon and Phyllis Logan star in A Taste for Murder.

A Taste for Murder (ITV Studios)

A sort of cross between high crimes and food porn, this is a British crime drama about a grieving London detective (Warren Brown) who moves with his daughter to the Italian island of Capri.

The recipe – inevitably – is murder, and Joe Mottram (Brown) becomes enmeshed in the investigation. The series leans on its astonishing setting, filmed in Italy and Croatia.

Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie in Heated Rivalry.

Heated Rivalry (Sphere Abacus)

Two of the ice hockey league’s biggest stars, Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), are professional rivals whose fierce competitiveness turns into a magnetic attraction that neither can avoid. A one-night fling turns into a clandestine relationship that is constantly challenged by their rising profiles and the homophobia embedded in professional sport.

Matthew Macfadyen, Sian Clifford and O-T Fagbenle promote The Miniature Wife at Mipcom Cannes.

The Miniature Wife (Sony Pictures)

The marital woes of Lindy (Elizabeth Banks) and Les (Matthew Macfadyen) are laid bare when a technological accident induces the ultimate relationship imbalance: Les remains human-sized, while Lindy is shrunk.

A “high-concept marital dramedy”, this gives Honey, I Shrunk the Kids vibes, but comes with a much more solid pedigree. The series also stars Sian Clifford and O-T Fagbenle.

Betrayal (ITV Studios)

A new British espionage thriller, more John le Carré than Ian Fleming, about an intelligence agent working for MI5 who detects a threat to national security. Written by playwright David Eldridge, the series stars Shaun Evans (Teachers, Ashes to Ashes) as Agent John Hughes.

Mozart Mozart (Beta Film)

A six-hour historical drama series that examines one of the most misunderstood women in history: the talented but overlooked Anna Maria Mozart, sister of the more famous Wolfgang Amadeus. With the family on the brink of financial ruin – Mozart has an injured hand and is unable to perform – Anna is forced to disguise herself as her brother for a performance in front of Emperor Joseph II in Vienna, to wild acclaim. Stars Havana Joy as Maria Anna Mozart.

Lord of the Flies (Sony Pictures)

A Stan* original, based on William Golding’s groundbreaking 1954 novel. Two feature films (1963 and 1990) have been made, and while it has never been adapted for television, one could argue Yellowjackets deserves an honourable mention. The ultimate scripted Survivor, it is the story of a group of British schoolboys stranded on an uninhabited island after a plane crash who quickly descend into murderous savagery. It screens on Stan next year.

Pearce Quigley (left) in Mackenzie Crook’s Small Prophets.

Small Prophets (Sphere Abacus)

Mackenzie Crook’s dark comedy is about a DIY store worker (Pearce Quigley) whose father (Michael Palin) gives him a recipe for a potion that shows the future. It sends him off on a search to find his missing wife, who vanished years earlier. Crook, best known for The Office, writes, directs and co-stars. The series, which blends live-action and animation, also stars Lauren Patel, Sophie Willan and Jon Pointing.

Dear Life (Hat Trick International)

A Stan original, described as a “bittersweet and deeply human relationship drama”, about a young woman who tries to deal with her grief after the death of her partner by seeking out the recipients of his donated organs. The series, which stars former Neighbours and SeaChange actor Brooke Satchwell, was one of the market’s major titles. It screens on Stan next year.

*Stan is owned by Nine, the publisher of this masthead.

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