The 10 best TV shows to watch this fall

The 10 best TV shows to watch this fall
September 8, 2026

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The 10 best TV shows to watch this fall


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We’re living in a post-peak TV world, and the fall TV calendar confirms that. Of course there are still tons of new dramas, comedies and reality shows to dig into, but the task feels less daunting than it did, say, seven years ago when it was absolutely necessary to take a sick day to catch up on Netflix and Hulu. Fall TV in 2026 isn’t overwhelming. It’s decidedly whelming.

Two of the major broadcast networks, ABC and Fox, didn’t add any new shows to their fall schedule. Both are welcoming back many favorites – among others, “Abbott Elementary” and “Grey’s Anatomy” on ABC and “Best Medicine” and “The Simpsons” (Season 38!!) on Fox – and saving their fresher offerings, if the Fox reboot of “Baywatch” counts as fresh, until midseason.

That said, the coming months still bring numerous spin-offs: “Snowfall” follow-up “The Drop: A Snowfall Saga” on FX and Hulu (Sept. 8); “Reacher” spin-off “Neagley” on Prime Video (Sept. 16); and “The Traitors: New Blood,” featuring civilian contestants, on NBC (Sept. 17). There are comedies starring famous faces – “Brothers” on Apple TV (Sept. 23), with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as versions of themselves, and “Newlyweds” on NBC (Oct. 23), starring IRL couple Tim Daly and Téa Leoni. And this limited series may ring familiar: Netflix is releasing a new adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice” (release date TBD) starring Emma Corrin and Olivia Colman, and I am more than fine with it.

After combing through the lineups for all the networks and streamers, here are the 10 fall shows that look the most promising.

‘A Different World’

Almost 40 years after “A Different World” premiered on NBC, the “Cosby Show” spin-off is getting a reboot on Netflix. Like the original, this dramedy follows the lives of students at Hillman College, a fictional HBCU. But this time around, the focus is on Deborah Wayne (Tony Award winner Maleah Joi Moon), the daughter of – I know my fellow Gen Xers are already way ahead of me – Hillman alumni Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison) and Whitley Gilbert (Jasmine Guy), both of whom starred in the original and co-star here. Sept. 24 on Netflix.

‘War’

You’re not going to believe this, but HBO’s most high-profile drama of the fall is about extremely wealthy people fighting with each other. No, it isn’t “Succession 2: Still the Eldest Boy.” It’s “War,” an anthology drama from George Kay, co-creator of “Lupin,” that focuses on a different contentious lawsuit each season. The initial eight episodes follow an extremely public divorce between a tech mogul (Dominic West) and a movie star (Sienna Miller). A second season, centered on a defamation case and starring Marisa Tomei, is already in production. Oct. 1 on HBO and HBO Max.

‘East of Eden’

John Steinbeck’s sprawling 1952 novel has been adapted for both stage and screen several times since the 1955 movie starring James Dean and directed by Elia Kazan. But this ambitious limited series may feel most connected to that first film, in part because Kazan’s granddaughter, actress Zoe Kazan, has written and executive-produced it. In the younger Kazan’s telling, the character of Cathy is much more central, which is extra good news since she’s played by the consistently terrific Florence Pugh.Oct. 1 on Netflix.

‘Carrie’

Stephen King’s novel about a telekinetic teenager has been adapted into a feature film twice, a made-for-TV movie and a stage play. Now it’s an episodic series helmed by Mike Flanagan, best known for a slew of successful streaming horror tales – “The Haunting of Hill House” and “Midnight Mass” among them – and for bringing multiple King stories (“Doctor Sleep,” “The Life of Chuck”) to the big screen. This “Carrie” recontextualizes the story for 2026: The protagonist, the daughter of a Christian conservative mother, has been home-schooled her whole life until she’s forced by authorities to attend the local public high school. I’m sure that will go just great. Oct. 7 on Prime Video.

‘Cupertino’

The latest from TV power couple Robert and Michelle King, creators of “The Good Wife” and “The Good Fight,” is another legally focused show with a clearly defined enemy: big tech. Mike Colter, who starred in the Kings’ brilliant “Evil,” plays a lawyer and start-up co-founder who is fired unjustly and decides to fight back alongside another laid-off colleague (Rachel Keller). By the end of the smart pilot, the two decide to start a law firm that represents individuals mistreated by their powerful Silicon Valley bosses. Given how fed up many Americans are with corporations, one-percenters and AI, I suspect there will be an audience for this. Oct. 8 on CBS and Paramount+.

‘Nocturne’

Liev Schreiber stars as a Philadelphia cop who decides to move his family to a smaller, more peaceful Pennsylvania town. But when he gets there, it turns out there’s a serial killer he’ll have to deal with, because of course there is. Based on a pair of thrillers by Lars Kepler, the pseudonym used by married writers Alexander Ahndoril and Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril, “Nocturne” boasts a strong cast that includes Zazie Beetz, Stephen Graham of “Adolescence” and Bill Camp.Oct. 30 on Apple TV.

‘The Greatest’

Jaalen Best, an actor with minor credits on “All American: Homecoming” and “American Horror Stories,” steps into an enormous and daunting role: the lead in a limited series about the life of Muhammad Ali. In the trailer for “The Greatest,” Best looks and sounds like the smooth-talking boxing giant, which is a positive sign. The quality of his performance will be key to the success of the first authorized scripted TV series about Ali, executive-produced by his widow, Lonnie Ali.Nov. 4 on Prime Video.

‘The Altruists’

This drama about the rise and massive fall of crypto con man Sam Bankman-Fried and his colleague/girlfriend, Caroline Ellison, stars Anthony Boyle (“The Plot Against America”) as Bankman-Fried and Julia Garner, decked out in a prosthetic nose and fake teeth, as the mathematically astute Ellison. Pro tip: If you really want to raise your blood pressure, watch “The Altruists” and “Cupertino” back-to-back!Nov. 19 on Netflix.

‘Dig’

Mike Schur, co-creator of “Parks and Recreation,” and Amy Poehler, star of that enduring local-government comedy, reunite for this show based on the novel “Excavations” by Kate Myers. The series follows a group of female archaeologists who unearth a controversial finding during a dig in Greece. Poehler plays the leader of the expedition, who I hope will be as much of a perfectionist as the über-organized Leslie Knope.Nov. 23 on Peacock.

‘Blade Runner 2099’

The sci-fi franchise becomes a live-action limited series for the first time with an eight-episode season set 50 years after the events of the 2017 film “Blade Runner 2049,” the sequel to 1982’s “Blade Runner.” Hunter Schafer (“Euphoria”) plays Cora, a human fugitive pretending to be a replicant, a.k.a. a bioengineered superhuman, who teams up with an actual replicant (Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh) in an attempt to regain power in a world where people no longer have any. Ridley Scott, who directed the ‘82 film, is an executive producer, but this adaptation is led by showrunner Silka Luisa, creator of the tense Apple TV drama “Shining Girls.” And before you ask: No, Harrison Ford is not in it.Nov. 25 on Prime Video.

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