The New Shows of the 2026 Fall TV Season

You may be mourning the last days of summer and the start of the fall, but streaming services, cable channels, and broadcast networks are loving it. Cooling temperatures, shorter days, and boring work-and-school routines mean you just want to go home and watch some television to escape your new reality. 

Luckily, you'll be more than happy with the new TV shows of the fall, which feature an infamous ax murderer, a pair of disgraced fraudsters, and A-listers who very well may be half-brothers. And that's just scratching the surface. 

And just because they're new shows, it doesn't mean they'll start off as total strangers. At least seven of the series feature characters you're well acquainted with from other shows and have found new homes on reboots, spin-offs, and sequels. (Welcome back, Sam Hanna!) The TV industry loves familiarity.

Here are the new shows of the fall 2026 TV season worth keeping an eye on.

Maybe we've taken this whole "let's make spin-offs of everything we've ever made ever" thing a little too far, or maybe there really is demand for a sitcom, in the year 2026, based on the side character Varnell Hill (Tommy Davidson) from the 1992 sitcom Martin. The workplace comedy stars Davidson as Varnell, a talk show host trying to keep up with the times.

Premieres Tuesday, Sept. 1 on Paramount+

Social media influencer Alix Earle gets her own show to socially influence viewers or whatever it is social media influencers actually do. 

Premieres Friday, Sept. 4 on Netflix

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness..." Sounds kind of like our current reality, but it's the famous opening to the Charles Dickens classic A Tale of Two Cities, which gets adapted for MGM+ with Game of Thrones' Kit Harington as Sydney Carton, Call My Agent!'s François Civil as Charles Darnay, and The Witcher's Mirren Mack as Lucie Manette, the woman caught between them.

Premieres Sunday, Sept. 6 on MGM+

Snowfall is still coming down at FX with this sequel series that follows Wanda (Gail Bean) and Leon (Isaiah John) as they try to thrive in 1990s Los Angeles during the rise of West Coast rap. 

Premieres Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 9/8c on FX and Hulu

This adult animated series follows a chill brother and sister whose easy-going lives in the Big Apple are upended when their older and much less chill sister shows up and wants to hang out with them. The voice cast includes Poppy Liu, Stephanie Hsu, and Andrew Law, who co-created the series with Matt Murray.

Premieres Tuesday, Sept. 8 on Netflix

In this Australian dad-show thriller, Patrick Brammall plays a police dispatcher who gets a distress call that rocks his world: The person on the other end of the line might be his daughter, who went missing 11 years ago. Naturally, he goes into hardcore dad mode and does everything he can to find out if it's her. 

Premieres Wednesday, Sept. 9 on Apple TV

Stop me if you've heard this before: After family drama, a high school girl (Miku Martineau) is forced to move to a small coastal town where her heart gets caught in a tug-of-war between two handsome young men. The details in these shows may change — this one is centered around the sport of rowing — but one thing never does: the division in the fandom about which hunk she should be with. (Cam, obviously!)

Premieres Thursday, Sept. 10 on Netflix

As you can tell by the photo and the fact that this is on Adult Swim, the home to TV's best absurdity, the sketch show The Terrors of Jordan Mendoza is a very serious program about one man (comedian Jordan Mendoza) coming face-to-face with his worst nightmares.  

Premieres Sunday, Sept. 13 at midnight on Adult Swim

Reacher is big, but it's getting bigger. The franchise based on Lee Child's books is getting its first spin-off with Neagley, which centers on Reacher's cereal-loving pal Frances Neagley (Maria Sten) as she investigates the mysterious death of a friend. And yes, the big guy himself makes an appearance. 

Premieres Wednesday, Sept. 16 on Prime Video

The cooperative arcade classic Golden Axe gets the animated series treatment, but before you say, "Who asked for this?" you should know that the voice cast includes Widow's Bay's Matthew Rhys and the funniest woman alive, Lisa Gilroy. So I guess I asked for this.

Premieres Wednesday, Sept. 16 on Paramount+

Peacock's Emmy-winning reality competition series is lending its format to its broadcast brethren with a new edition that abandons the celebrity format of the streaming version in favor of all normal folks. The rest of the rules remain the same: A small number of contestants are secretly given the roles of Traitors, and the rest, the Faithful, must suss out who they are while being picked off one-by-one by the Traitors. It's devious and a lot of fun if you enjoy watching people mentally anguish. Alan Cumming returns to host. 

Premieres Thursday, Sept. 17 at 8/7c on NBC

Ryan Murphy's gratuitous anthology series about history's most notorious serial killers uses its fourth season to bring the story of Lizzie Borden (Ella Beatty) to life — or whatever Murphy's version of the truth is. In this case, his truth involves freaky sex stuff and twisted power dynamics within the family. Vicky Krieps, Charlie Hunnam, and Rebecca Hall also star.   

Premieres Thursday, Sept. 17 on Netflix

Thirty years after his debut album, award-winning musician JAŸ-Z sits down with famed music producer Rick Rubin to talk about his career, process, and influences over eight episodes.

Premieres Friday, Sept. 18 at 8/7c on HBO and HBO Max

In this comedy, Sharon Horgan embodies the claim that "50 is the new 30" as her character, a 50-year-old divorcee, searches for sex and love while caring for her ailing parents and adult son.   

Premieres Sunday, Sept. 20 at 10/9c on HBO and HBO Max

Based on the podcast of the same name, American Hostage digs into the 1970s incident when Tony Kiritsis (Giovanni Ribisi) took his mortgage broker (Kristoffer Polaha) hostage and demanded to be interviewed by Indianapolis radio host Fred Heckman (Jon Hamm). 

Premieres Sunday, Sept. 20 on MGM+

Line of Fire is one of the — if not THE — biggest new network shows coming out this fall, at least according to NBC. The drama follows members of a family who work in various branches of protective services and all get caught up in a dangerous conspiracy. Peter Krause, Hope Davis, Kat Cunning, Tommy O'Brien, Taylor Bloom, and Charlie Barnett star.

Premieres Monday, Sept. 21 at 10/9c on NBC

True Detective costars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson have been buddies for a long time now, but they may have been brothers for longer. The actors previously revealed that they may actually be half-brothers but haven't taken a DNA test to prove it, instead using that story as fuel for a new buddy comedy in which they play exaggerated versions of themselves who stumble upon their possible lineage.

Premieres Wednesday, Sept. 23 on Apple TV

Even though it nearly murders and permanently disfigures children, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is still somehow seen as a world of pure imagination. Now it's a world of IP plundering as Netflix creates a reality competition program centered on the popular book and film. And in an icky move, the show uses the late Gene Wilder's voice recreated by artificial intelligence, after getting permission from his estate. Hopefully it's better than the viral-for-all-the-wrong-reasons Willy Wonka Experience.

Premieres Wednesday, Sept. 23 on Netflix

You won't see Netflix reminding you that the '90s sitcom A Different World, which the streamer is revisiting with a sequel series this fall, was a spin-off of The Cosby Show for obvious reasons. This new version of A Different World returns to the HBCU Hillman College to follow Deborah Wayne (Maleah Joi Moon), the free-spirited youngest daughter of Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison) and Whitley Gilbert (Jasmine Guy).  

Premieres Thursday, Sept. 24 on Netflix

Hondo is back. Again! Shemar Moore reprises his character from the many-times-canceled CBS series S.W.A.T. in this follow-up series that sees Hondo lead a new experimental LAPD squad made up of untested recruits. Sounds perfectly safe. It's already been renewed for a second season.

Premieres Friday, Sept. 25 on Starz

(Same "joke" that everyone else is making warning! Read at your own risk!) LEGO needed more than just one piece to make the LEGO One Piece series, which transforms the hit live-action adaptation of the popular manga into the world of the classic building blocks. The voices are provided by the cast of Netflix's One Piece.

Premieres Tuesday, Sept. 29 on Netflix

It's back to school time for a trio of teenage witches and their crush-worthy warlock peers in this fantasy YA series from High School Musical: The Musical: The Series creator Tim Federle. Jordan Leftwich, Malina Weissman, and Ora Duplass star as the student sorceresses attending an elite boarding school in New Orleans for budding mages.

Premieres Thursday, Oct. 1 at 10/9c on Freeform

This one is being described as "Succession meets Industry," at least by people from HBO, which is lofty praise. However, this isn't set in the worlds of media or finance, this one is a legal drama about two law firms involved in a very messy divorce between a tech titan (Dominic West) and a movie star (Sienna Miller). 

Premieres Thursday, Oct. 1 at TBD on HBO and HBO Max

This seven-episode adaptation of John Steinbeck's classic follows the multigenerational drama of the Trask family and their roots in Central California between the Civil War and World War I. Florence Pugh stars as Cathy Ames, Christopher Abbott plays Adam Trask, and Mike Faist plays Charles Trask.  

Premieres Thursday, Oct. 1 on Netflix

Catherine Zeta-Jones stars as Jackie Price, a former drug smuggler whose new life of peace is disrupted by a gang of assassins hired to kill her. Rather than roll over and die (because that wouldn't make a good show), she becomes determined to slay her would-be killers one-by-one.

Premieres Friday, Oct. 2 on AMC+

Alan Cumming and David Morrissey star in this five-episode miniseries that could have been Beef Season 3. They play neighbors Leo (Cumming) and Clive (Morrissey) whose peaceful existence is disrupted over Leo's sexuality and Clive's son, who is closeted. It was created by Russell T Davies, who has produced some the U.K.'s most socially conscious miniseries, like Years and Years and It's a Sin. 

Premieres Friday, Oct. 2 on Starz

The city so nice they named it twice is getting the procedural so popular they spun it off seven times. LL Cool J's NCIS agent Sam Hanna leaves Los Angeles for his hometown of New York City, where he partners up with a roguish agent (Scott Caan). Hey bad guys, we're arresting people here!

Premieres Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 9/8c on CBS

Horror maestro Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass) gives his take on Stephen King's Carrie for Prime Video in his first series under his new deal with the streamer. The updated version will lean closer to King's 1974 book than the 1976 Sissy Spacek movie, and will be moved to modern day where the pressures of social media amplify bullying. But at least we also have high-tech stain removers for pig's blood!

Premieres Wednesday, Oct. 7 on Prime Video

2026 is the year to head up to an island in the Northeast to get scared (Widow's Bay) or solve some family drama (Sterling Point). Netflix's six-part miniseries Below says why not both? Josh Hartnett plays a fisherman in Newfoundland whose father mysteriously died decades ago. When his community is terrorized by an unknown sea creature, clues to the island's secrets and his father's fate surface with it. Charlie Heaton and Mackenzie Davis also star.

Premieres Wednesday, Oct. 7 on Prime Video

CBS's comedy lineup is getting a little spookier. Joe Port and Joe Wiseman, the duo behind the hit American adaptation of Ghosts, are sticking with the supernatural in Eternally Yours, a family comedy about a vampire couple (Allegra Edwards and Ed Weeks) who are bored of their relationship after 500 years of marriage. But when their daughter's passionate boyfriend (Parker Young) shows up in their lives, the sparks may be rekindled.

Premieres Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 8:30/7:30c on CBS

Cupertino is a new legal drama from Robert and Michelle King (The Good Wife, Evil) about a pair of lawyers (Mike Colter and Rachel Keller) who fight for the little guy against the all-powerful tech titans of Silicon Valley. 

Premieres Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 10/9c on CBS

Showrunner Terry Matalas (12 Monkeys) heads up this Disney+ series centered on Paul Bettany's Marvel Cinematic Universe android. VisionQuest is described as the final series in a trilogy that also includes WandaVision and Agatha After All.

Premieres Wednesday, Oct. 14 on Disney+

This spin-off and sequel series to the 2010 Nickelodeon series Victorious follows now-adult Trina Vega (Daniella Monet) as she returns to Hollywood Arts as a substitute teacher where she deals with a whole new generation of performing arts students.

Premieres Thursday, Oct. 15 on Netflix

Before there was Jason Vorhees, there was Pamela Vorhees. The mom — and true villain of the original Friday the 13th movie — of the famed hockey mask-wearing slasher gets her own origin story in this prequel series. Linda Cardellini plays Pamela, whose murderous motivations that kick off the franchise become quite clear at the cursed Camp Crystal Lake.

Premieres Thursday, Oct. 15 on Peacock

The new sitcom Newlyweds feels like a throwback to NBC's Must See TV comedy days, with real-life couple Tea Leoni and Tim Daly in a love story between two "older" people who get married later in life. Jamie Lee Curtis also stars and executive produces.

Premieres Friday, Oct. 23 at 8:30/7:30c on NBC

Scandi-noir comes to Pennsylvania in Apple's new thriller Nocturne, which is based on the novels Lazarus and The Sandman by Swedish author Lars Kepler (the pen name of husband and wife authors Alexander and Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril). Liev Schreiber stars as a detective who moves to a small town in Western Pennsylvania only to find it under attack by a serial killer (Stephen Graham). 

Premieres Friday, Oct. 30 on Apple TV

The trailblazing U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves, whose life was the basis for Taylor Sheridan's 2023 series Lawmen: Bass Reeves, gets animated and transported into a cyberpunk Western in this new series. Brian Tyree Henry voices Bass. 

Premieres Tuesday, Nov. 3 on Netflix

I'll just let the official logline speak for itself: "After a dance-team initiation gone wrong, a group of badly behaved Catholic school girls begin having prophetic visions that set off mass hysteria in their town." Sign us up.

Premieres Wednesday, Nov. 11 on Netflix

One of the fall's big book-to-screen adaptations is this limited series* televisionized version of Karin Slaughter's 2017 thriller The Good Daughter. Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy star as sisters who must once again contend with a traumatic and violent event from the past when a new crime hits their small town. 

* the exact definition of "limited" depends on ratings (see: Big Little Lies, The Five Star Weekend)

Premieres Thursday, Nov. 12 on Peacock

This heist thriller is propped up by a peculiar gimmick. Each episode features three timelines: the 12 months of planning the heist, the 12 hours of the heist, and the 12 days following the heist. Anthony Mackie stars as the FBI agent tracking the American criminal (Jamie Dornan) across Europe. Apple could have waited a month and released this on Dec. 12, but instead it opted for Friday the 13th. Good luck with that!

Premieres Friday, Nov. 13 on Apple TV

Streaming's obsession with limited series about fraudsters continues with The Altruists, about crypto bamboozler Sam Bankman-Fried (Anthony Boyle) and his partner-girlfriend Caroline Ellison (Julia Garner), two hyper-intelligent believers in effective altruism, and the bankruptcy and collapse of their exchange FTX when it was discovered he embezzled as much as 8 billion dollars. 

Premieres Thursday, Nov. 19 on Netflix

Parks and Recreation vets Amy Poehler and Michael Schur team up again for this 10-episode comedy about a group of four female archaeologists who unearth an artifact that alters the course of history. Hugh Laurie, Geraldine Viswanathan, Antonia Thomas, and Fina Strazza also star.

Premieres Monday, Nov. 23 on Peacock

Set 50 years after Denis Villanueve's 2017 film Blade Runner 2049, this limited series stars Michelle Yeoh as a Replicant near the end of her lifespan who works as a Blade Runner hunting down rogue Replicants and Euphoria's Hunter Schafer as her new partner, a human pretending to be a Replicant.  

Premieres Wednesday, Nov. 25 on Prime Video

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