The 16 Best and Buzziest TV Shows of 2026 (So Far)
Featuring erotic academia, everyone’s favourite star-crossed ice hockey players, emergency room doctors under pressure, and an enigmatic “Lady in Silver”.
The only thing better than a new television series to binge? A whole lot of them. If 2026 has gifted us anything, it’s an abundance of small-screen stories to sink our teeth (and evenings) into.
From the long-awaited return of Bridgerton’s fourth season – cleverly drip-fed in two servings across January and February – to new worlds inhabited by heavyweights like Steve Carell, Jason Bateman, and Emilia Clarke, here we’ve rounded up 16 of the most-hyped TV shows to tune into this year. Do not disturb.
1. Bridgerton Season 4, Parts 1 and 2
Where can I watch it? Netflix
Netflix’s darling, Bridgerton, is back for its glittering fourth season (a tale in two parts), proving that the world is truly healing. Splurging more of society’s secrets, Lady Whistledown points her pen toward Benedict Bridgerton (played by Luke Thompson), the second son of the prestigious family, who was happy living the bach life until a “striking Lady in Silver” – Sophie Baek – stuns him into subservience at his mum’s masquerade ball. The only problem? Sophie’s actually a maid. Surely no one in the British aristocracy will have any problem with that whatsoever…
2. The Night Manager Season 2
Where can I watch it? Prime Video
In season 2 of espionage thriller The Night Manager, Jonathan Pine AKA Alex Goodwin AKA Tom Hiddleston’s past pays him an unexpected visit. Set years after season 1, we find him now living a reasonably quiet life in London as an MI6 officer. That changes when an old Roper associate takes him on a trip to Colombia to infiltrate a dangerous arms operation run by the villainous Teddy Dos Santos. Olivia Colman, Alistair Petrie and Douglas Hodge also return, alongside new recruits Diego Calva and Camila Morrone.
3. Love Story
Where can I watch it? On Disney+
From The Assassination of Gianni Versace to The People v. O.J. Simpson and Bill Clinton’s Impeachment, Ryan Murphy’s ‘American Crime Story’ series is a masterclass in the dramatisation of pop culture history. This time he’s trading crime for romance, retracing the tumultuous, trendsetting, and ultimately tragic relationship between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette that plastered the covers of gossip mags in the 90s. From a chic chapel wedding in Georgia to the plane crash that stopped the nation, nothing is off the table.
4. Industry Season 4
Where can I watch it? On HBO
The ruthless world of high finance gets even spikier in Industry’s fourth season, written and created by former investment bankers Mickey Down and Konrad Kay. No longer fresh-faced grads scrambling for relevance, Harper Stern (Myha’la) and Yasmin Kara-Hanani (Marisa Abela) are now seasoned operators navigating a far more dangerous game of money, power, and survival. Newer leads – including Max Minghella’s slippery tech founder Whitney Halberstram and Kit Harington as chaotic aristocrat Henry Muck – are pushing the show further into the morally murky corners of capitalism, while the season arc sees ambition collide with the uncomfortable realisation that youth may finally be running out. (It’s worth watching for the dark finale twist alone.)
5. Rooster
Where can I watch it? On HBO
From the mind of Ted Lasso and Shrinking creator Bill Lawrence comes Rooster, a campus comedy series centred around a strained father-daughter relationship. Steve Carell plays an author and dad who shows up to his daughter Katie’s college, where she teaches as a professor, to comfort her post-divorce. While there, he becomes charmed by campus life and the fandom for his novels he never knew existed. Less coming-of-age, more being middle-aged, Rooster is a funny, warm-hearted exploration of parenthood and reflection.
6. Heated Rivalry
Where can I watch it? On HBO
While Heated Rivalry technically debuted at the tail end of 2025, it really picked up pace (and a particularly rabid brand of fandom) in early 2026 – so allow us this mild loosening of the timeframes. For the few uninitiated, the six-episode series (based off the Game Changers book series by Rachel Reid) follows professional ice hockey rivals Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov across their secret decade-spanning situationship. It’s hot and heavy, as well as surprisingly sensitive and moving. Already binged? Might we suggest scrolling back to episode one and hitting play – it’s somehow even better the second time around.
7. Vladimir
Where can I watch it? On Netflix
Based on Julia May Jonas’ 2022 novel of the same name, Vladimir is an erotic academia dramedy starring Rachel Weisz and Leo Woodall. Set in a liberal arts college, Weisz plays a literature professor whose husband gets caught sleeping with his students. In response, Weisz begins to explore her own desires and becomes infatuated with her much younger colleague (played by Woodall). Prepare to be as obsessed with this eight-ep drama as its leading lady is with her new beau.
8. Shrinking Season 3
Where can I watch it? Apple TV+
Turn your sofa into a shrink’s chair and indulge in some TV therapy with season 3 of everyone’s favourite feel-good-after-feeling-sad series, Shrinking. Starring Jason Segel as a messy but sometimes clean therapist grieving his wife’s unexpected death, the theme of season 3 is all about ‘moving forward.’ Look out for a very special guest role as Michael J. Fox joins the cast as a mentor to Harrison Ford, whose character Dr. Paul Rhoades navigates his Parkinson's diagnosis.
9. The Pitt Season 2
Where can I watch it? On HBO
The hugely successful and award-winning medical drama returns with another high-pressure shift inside Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Centre. Picking up months after the events of season one, Dr. Michael “Robby” Rabinavitch (Noah Wyle) prepares to lead his final ER shift before taking a much-needed break, while a new doctor steps in with big ideas about technology and reform. Set across a chaotic Fourth of July in the emergency department, the second season once again unfolds in the show’s gripping real-time format – juggling fireworks injuries, heatstroke cases and deeply human moments between exhausted staff.
10. Ponies
Where can I watch it? BINGE
You met her as Daenerys Targaryen, but now it’s time for a new introduction. In the new Cold War spy series, Ponies, Emilia Clarke stars as Bea, a Russian-speaking daughter of Soviet immigrants whose CIA agent husband is mysteriously killed, leaving her to take over his role. Teaming up with her on the mission is The White Lotus’ Haley Lu Richardson, whose husband was also killed in the crash. Set in the tense world of 1970s Moscow, prep for eight episodes of suspense, mystery, and plenty of action.
11. Spring Fever
Where can I watch it? Prime Video
Based on a web novel of the same name by Baek Min-a, Korean rom-com series Spring Fever is the perfect love story to kick off the new year. The 12-episode series follows Yoon Bom (Lee Joo-been), a disconnected teacher in search of a new beginning after moving to the small rural town of Sinsu. Her quiet life is turned up a few (hundred) decibels when high energy Sun Jae-gyu (Ahn Bo-hyun) arrives in town, forcing her to let her guard down and get her feet swept high off the ground.
12. Vanished
Where can I watch it? Prime Video
A romantic trip to Paris goes very south for Alice and Tom (played by The Big Bang Theory’s Kaley Cuoco and Daisy Jones & the Six’s Sam Claflin) in Vanished, a mystery thriller with bite. When Tom suddenly disappears on a train bound for the south of France, Alice uncovers secrets about the man she thought she knew as she desperately tries to find him. Instead, all she discovers is lie after lie, plunging her into a web of intrigue and danger – a far cry from the carousel of pastries and Provençal countryside pics she thought she’d be posting from her trip.
13. Scrubs Season 10
Where can I watch it? Disney+
No, you have not been transported by a time machine back to 2009. We are very much in 2026, and what better time than now to get our favourite duo back in their Sacred Heart scrubs for a nostalgia-heavy reunion? Zach Braff and Donald Faison return as JD and Turk for nine episodes of medical misadventure and budding bromance in Scrubs, at a time when we need their light-hearted humour most. As the internet would say, “The world is healing.”
14. The ‘Burbs
Where can I watch it? On Binge
A series adaptation of the 1989 cult classic film of the same name starring Tom Hanks and Carrie Fisher, The ‘Burbs is set in present-day suburbia, where young couple Samira (Keke Palmer) and Rob (Jack Whitehall) have returned to Rob’s childhood home for a wholesome new chapter of life. But when the neighbours from hell (possibly literally) move in next door, their idyllic suburban story turns into a tale from the creepy cul-de-sac.
15. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Where can I watch it? On HBO Max
Ever wondered what life was like a century before Game of Thrones kicked off? Created by Ira Parker and George R. R. Martin, the highly-hyped GoT prequel is the third series in Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy franchise. An adaptation of the Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas, the six-episode epic follows Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire, Egg, as they make their way across Westeros while the Targaryens still rule the Iron Throne.
16. DTF St. Louis
Where can I watch it? On HBO
Who said love triangles belonged to two teen brothers and their mum’s best friend’s daughter? In DTF St. Louis, Jason Bateman, Linda Cardellini, and David Harbour become entangled in a love triangle that loses shape when one of them ends up dead. Spurred by mid-life crises and a hookup app that David Harbour suspiciously seemed to know his way around very well, this black comedy takes the dangers of dating to a whole new level.
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