The New Shows of the 2026 Winter TV Season

The winter months are a time for doing a whole lotta nothin' except watching a bunch of TV — same as spring, summer, and fall around these parts, actually — but don't worry, you won't have to subject yourself to the same old shows you saw in years past. The television machine never stops humming along, and there are dozens of new shows coming your way.

We've put together a list of the most noteworthy new shows premiering over the next few months on streaming giants like Netflix and Hulu, as well as cable and broadcast television networks like CBS and HBO. And you can expect even more new shows to join this list as new premiere date announcements are made.

Will they all be good? Heck no. In fact, we can already tell a few of them are going to stink. But that's how TV works; you get one gem out of a crop and it was all worth it. Here are the new shows coming this winter.

ALSO READ: The most anticipated shows of the winter TV season

This four-part documentary executive produced by Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson attempts to unravel the twisted mystery of Sean Combs, the hip-hop artist who rose to fame as Puff Daddy and other monikers and is currently serving jail time for transportation for the purposes of prostitution, as well as facing multiple lawsuits for assault and sexual assault. The series uses archival footage, interviews with those who know Combs and were his alleged victims, and video taken just days before his arrest, and has already drawn the ire of Combs, who has requested that Netflix drop the project.

Premieres Tuesday, Dec. 2 on Netflix

Not much is known about this new series, which Netflix is picking up after it was originally meant for Hallmark+. Ripple follows a quartet of New Yorkers who have crossed paths multiple times but never formally met. Frankie Faison, Julia Chan, Ian Harding, and Sydney Agudong star. 

Premieres Wednesday, Dec. 3 on Netflix

This Western drama is filled with strife and disputes both in front of and behind the camera. Lena Headey and Gillian Anderson play rival leaders of very different groups engaged in a land battle in 1854 Washington Territory; Headey's tribe is made up of orphans and misfits bound by love and trying to keep their land, Anderson's crew is well off, bound by blood and greed, and eager to expand. The series was created by Sons of Anarchy's Kurt Sutter but wasn't finished by him. The famously headstrong Sutter left the production over creative differences with Netflix, leaving others to finish the final episodes without him.  

Premieres Thursday, Dec. 4 on Netflix

Cable television's sexiest and sandiest series about swords and sandals returns almost 13 years after Spartacus: War of the Damned supposedly closed the chapter on the gladiator drama. Spartacus: House of Ashur centers on villain Ashur (Nick E. Tarabay), the former gladiator who's now in charge of a gladiator school. But how is he running a school if he was beheaded at the end of War of the Damned? House of Ashur is set in an alternate timeline that proposes what would have happened if Ashur lived and was rewarded by the Romans for helping to squash a rebellion. Don't worry, in this alternate timeline there is still plenty of the gratuitous violence and sex that Spartacus is known for. 

Premieres Friday, Dec. 5 on Starz

Super producer Simon Cowell gets the docuseries treatment as he attempts to put together another hit-making boyband. The series claims complete access to the process, from casting calls to releasing the band's first single.

Premieres Wednesday, Dec. 10 on Netflix

Joel McHale's favorite comedian Rowan Atkinson returns for another season of his baffling slapstick series Man Vs. In Season 1, Atkinson's Trevor Bingley botched a housesitting job because of an annoying bee; in Season 2, it's more of the same except the bee has been swapped with a baby.   

Premieres Thursday, Dec. 11 on Netflix

Little Disasters was released in the U.K. and Ireland in May, but it comes to the U.S. this December just in time to add even more paranoid stress to the holidays. Diane Kruger stars as a stay-at-home mom who brings her baby daughter into the ER for a head injury she can't explain, forcing her friend and on-duty doctor (Jo Joyner) to make the tough decision on whether to call social services or not.    

Premieres Thursday, Dec. 11 on Paramount+

It's beginning to look a lot like Swiftmas. Taylor Swift: The End of an Era is a six-episode docuseries going behind the scenes (and under the stage for a quick outfit change) of Taylor Swift's mammoth Eras tour, showing how it was all put together, how the surprise cameos came about, and just how amazing and infallible Tay-Tay is. And yes, Trav-Trav is also prominently featured. Taylor Swift - The Eras Tour - The Final Show, a concert film from her final stop of the tour in Vancouver, also airs on Disney+ the same day.

Premieres Friday, Dec. 12 on Disney+

The musical comedy Happiness follows acclaimed Broadway director Charlie Summers (Harry McNaughton) as he returns to his home country of New Zealand following an unfortunate incident during one of his performances of Cats. There, he visits his mother's local theater company and reluctantly takes over their newest production.

Premieres Sunday, Dec. 14 at 8/7c on PBS

Is it Gwyneth Paltrow's severed head? No, it's a prize! Neil Patrick Harris hosts this game show in which contestants answer trivia questions and then try to guess the contents of a box full of mystery.

Premieres Wednesday, Dec. 17 on Netflix

This scripted comedy, a rare original for the free streaming service, comes from the TikTok comedy duo A Twink and a Redhead and the comedian Robin Jordan. In it, a hip hop legend disappears just before the opening of his waffle joint, leaving his staff to solve the mystery.

Premieres Friday, Dec. 19 on Tubi

Getting your email hacked is bad enough, but your brain? That's the core concept of The Copenhagen Test, a spy thriller starring Simu Liu as an agent whose noggin has been infiltrated by bad guys, allowing them to access anything he sees and hears. Knowing that he's been compromised, Liu's character then puts on a charade, only giving the hackers information he wants them to have in a tricky game of cat and mouse. There are comparisons to The Truman Show, as a "reality" is constructed to keep the hackers at bay, which is cool, but our question is, "Where does the show go from there?" Melissa Barrera also stars.

Premieres Saturday, Dec. 27 on Peacock

The Bravo-fication of Netflix continues with Members Only: Palm Beach, a reality series that trails the social circle of a group of women in Florida as they talk a lot of s**t about each other and have brunch. 

Premieres Monday, Dec. 29 on Netflix

If New Year's Eve means popping champagne, then New Year's Day is sitting on the couch watching a new Harlan Coben adaptation on Netflix while you shake off the lingering effects of said champagne. This year, it's Run Away starring James Nesbitt as a father who finds his missing daughter only to lose her once again, sending him through the criminal underworld in a desperate attempt to be reunited with her.

Premieres Thursday, Jan. 1 on Netflix

TV loves doctors. TV loves small towns. TV loves doctors in small towns! Josh Charles gets to play one — a doctor, not a small town, though I would watch that — in Fox's new comedy-drama Best Medicine, which follows a doctor from Boston who starts a practice in a coastal town he used to vacation in.     

Premieres Tuesday, Jan. 6 at 8/7c on Fox

Author Harlan Coben has made a fortune through television, as several of his thriller novels have been adapted into hits for Netflix, Prime Video, and more. For CBS, he's getting in front of the camera for a true crime series that explores murder and crime cases with new interviews and never-before-seen footage.     

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

This six-episode psychological thriller stars Tessa Thompson as a news anchor in Atlanta who investigates a murder case in the town where she grew up. However, the local detective (Jon Bernthal) on the case becomes suspicious of her involvement, because he knows her — she's his ex-wife. Netflix describes it as such: "There are two sides to every story, which means someone is always lying." 

Premieres Thursday, Jan. 8 on Netflix

This spin-off of the reality series The Valley follows a group of Persian friends in the suburbs of Los Angeles. There really isn't much more to say about it!

Premieres Thursday, Jan. 8 at 9/8c on Bravo

The Walking Dead's Andrew Lincoln plays a man who relocates his family from London to a Scottish town in the countryside, where his new neighbor (Ewen Bremner) starts off friendly but then gives him the heebie-jeebies. 

Premieres Friday, Jan. 9 on Paramount+

This is one murder mystery for the books! In Bookish, a bookstore owner named Gabriel Book (Mark Gatiss) helps the Bobbies solve crimes in post-WWII England. 

Premieres Sunday, Jan. 11 at 10/9c on PBS

Fox is reviving the gross-out game show Fear Factor, which puts contestants through torture, like eating raw monkey butts or being thrown in a glass coffin and having mealworms dumped all over their bodies. Fear Factor was a phenomenon before the era of viral videos; now you can get the same thrills with two minutes on TikTok. Johnny Knoxville — a guy who knows a thing or two about gross stunts — hosts this version. We won't mention who hosted the original.  

Premieres Sunday, Jan. 11 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Fox following the NFL Wild Card game; moves to its regular time period starting Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 9/8c on Fox

Happy Valley creator Sally Wainwright is behind this comedy that's about the second coming of age. Riot Women follows a group of post-menopausal women who join forces to form a punk band. Joanna Scanlan, Tamsin Greig, Lorraine Ashbourne, Taj Atwal, and Rosalie Craig star. 

Premieres Wednesday, Jan. 14 on BritBox

The charming Mia McKenna-Bruce plays Agatha Christie's sleuthing heroine Lady Eileen "Bundle" Brent in this adaptation of the legendary author's 1929 book. When a young man is murdered after a practical joke goes wrong, Bundle goes on the case to unlock the mystery, while also dabbling in a little romance. It's a little YA, a little Bridgerton, and a little PBS Masterpiece Theater all in one. 

Premieres Thursday, Jan. 15 on Netflix

The Star Trek franchise is boldly going where it has never gone before: into YA space. Set at the end of the Star Trek timeline, Starfleet Academy follows the first class of young recruits in nearly a century after a cataclysmic event, charting their growth as the next Starfleet cadets while they also deal with all the things young people worry about. Holly Hunter, Paul Giamatti, and Robert Picardo star. Set your phasers to 6-7.

Premieres Thursday, Jan. 15 on Paramount+

Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) and Haley Lu Richardson (The White Lotus) heat up the Cold War in this thriller set in Moscow in 1977. The duo play secretaries at the American embassy in Moscow who get recruited by the CIA after their husbands are mysteriously killed. And because you're wondering why it's called Ponies, it's a play on the term "Persons of No Interest."

Premieres Thursday, Jan. 15 on Peacock

Tracy Morgan's comeback is in full effect. After starring in the new Paramount+ series Crutch at the end of 2025, he's headlining the new NBC comedy The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins in early 2026. Morgan plays a disgraced former NFL player who tries to rehabilitate his image with the help of a filmmaker (Daniel Radcliffe).

Premieres Sunday, Jan. 18 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT (time approximated, broadcast starts immediately following NFL playoff game); returns with an encore broadcast of the first episode on Monday, Feb. 23 at 8/7c on NBC, followed by a new episode at 8:30/7:30c

The wild world of Westeros has plenty of stories to tell, and HBO is more than happy to make money off of tell them. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is the latest Game of Thrones spin-off, this time set 100 years or so before the HBO megahit and following the unlikely duo of young knight Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) and his squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell). The tone is lighter than Thrones, so expect more fun adventures and less kingdom-shattering political intrigue. Also expect it to go by quickly: Season 1 is just six half-hour episodes, though HBO has already ordered a second season. 

Premieres Sunday, Jan. 18 at 10/9c HBO and HBO Max

Anthony Anderson hosts this reboot of the classic TV talent show in the hopes of finding the next Coors Light Twins, the winners of the 1987 Teen Dance competition. Or maybe Britney Spears, Adam Sandler, or Beyoncé, who all appeared on Star Search at some point in their early careers. Netflix's version will air live on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with live fan voting helping to determine who advances. 

Premieres Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 8:45 p.m. ET/5:45 p.m. PT on Netflix

Slackin' Ryan Murphy is waiting until three weeks into January to release his first new show of 2026, the sci-fi beauty industry drama (yes, you read that right) The Beauty. A pair of FBI agents (played by Evan Peters and Rebecca Hall) investigate strange and gruesome deaths of supermodels, leading them to a sexually transmitted disease that turns people into hotties and a tech trillionaire (Ashton Kutcher) who has created a miracle drug. It will air on both FX and Hulu. 

Premieres Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 9/8c on FX and Hulu

Game of Thrones' Sophie Turner stars in this on-the-nose titled caper about a pension fund investment company that gets robbed by a gang of thieves. But who would do such a thing to ordinary people? A jerk, that's who. 

Premieres Wednesday, Jan. 21 on Prime Video

This figure skating romantic drama follows a 17-year-old (Madelyn Keys) from a family dynasty of skaters who must pretend to be a couple with her new on-ice partner (Cale Ambrozic) in order to land a sponsorship deal.

Premieres Thursday, Jan. 22 on Netflix

We're still doing this? The Jersey Shore formula of cramming twentysomething partiers into a house and letting the fuse light itself moves north to Kelowna, British Columbia (that's Canada), to see if the T in GTL still stands for "tan" in the Great White North. Jersey Shore vet Snooki will be making appearances in Season 1 because what else is she going to do? 

Premieres Thursday, Jan. 22 on Paramount+

Shirtphobic comedian Bert Kreischer follows in his buddy Tom Segura's footsteps and gets his own Netflix series, Free Bert. In it, Kreischer plays a version of himself who must button up (quite literally; he puts a shirt on!) his behavior after his daughter gets accepted into an elite Beverly Hills school.

Premieres Thursday, Jan. 22 on Netflix

Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio direct this two-part docuseries on comedy legend Mel Brooks, who wrote, directed, and starred in movies such as Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs, History of the World: Part I, High Anxiety, Young Frankenstein, and more. 

Premieres Thursday, Jan. 22 at 8/7c on HBO; Part 2 airs the following day. Both parts available on HBO Max on Jan. 22

Patrick "McDreamy" Dempsey stars in this very busy drama about a man (Dempsey) who lives two lives: one as a father who sells photocopiers and another as an assassin for hire. But when he begins suffering from early onset Alzheimer's, things get complicated, especially when he learns that his wife's death may not have been an accident and that his pregnant daughter might be the next target. 

Premieres Sunday, Jan. 25 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Fox after the NFC Championship Game, followed by a new episode on Monday, Jan. 26 at 9/8c, its regular time slot

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is expanding with Wonder Man, a Hollywood satire that's more about the business of superhero entertainment than entertaining with superhero business. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley star as Simon Williams and Trevor Slattery, a pair of struggling actors trying to land roles in a Wonder Man movie remake. Presumably, Williams acquires some superpowers, making him the right man for the job. 

Premieres Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Disney+

The team that brought you Simone Biles Rising heads to the ice to profile three pairs of figure skating duos: Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates, Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, and France's Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Beaudry. Consider it light homework to get ready for the Winter Olympics.

Premieres Sunday, Feb. 1 on Netflix

A couple (Sam Claflin and Kaley Cuoco) heads to Paris for a romantic getaway, but their holiday turns into a nightmare when he goes missing while on board a train headed to the south of France. On her search to find him, she unearths secrets about her beau that change everything for her. 

Premieres Sunday, Feb. 1 on MGM+

This small-screen adaptation of the 1989 Tom Hanks horror-comedy film stars Keke Palmer as a recent transplant to the suburbs, where she spends too many hours in the day watching her suspicious new neighbor, who is definitely up to something. The eight-episode mystery comedy series also stars Jack Whitehall, Julia Duffy, Paula Pell, and Mark Proksch. 

Premieres Sunday, Feb. 8 on Peacock

Legendary British comedian Dawn French (French and Saunders) stars in this six-episode comedy as a grandmother with a secret: Her husband just died... except he didn't, and she's waiting around to collect his life insurance while he hides away in the loft. But that's not her only bit of undisclosed info; she hides a darker secret that could tear her family apart.

Premieres Thursday, Feb. 12 on Paramount+

Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee sticks to her native Ireland for this mystery comedy about three friends who attend their childhood friend's wake only to pick up on something not at all right with her mysterious demise, sending them on an adventure across the country to discover the truth. It's like Search Party but for people in their late 30s.

Premieres Thursday, Feb. 12 on Netflix

The latest in Ryan Murphy's American Story franchise isn't about horror, crime, or sports; it's all about love... and everything that comes with it. The first season of the series unpacks the relationship between presidential spawn John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, whose love affair was catnip for tabloids and ended tragically with a place crash. Sarah Pidgeon and newcomer Paul Anthony Kelly star as the couple, with Naomi Watts playing Jackie O.

Premieres Thursday, Feb. 12 at 9/8c on FX and Hulu

Like your family and coworkers, you can't choose your neighbors, which is why most of them suck. This docuseries will help you feel a little better about your blockmates, because it explores some truly outrageous beefs between neighbors across the country involving truly outrageous people. Though the conflict is serious, the series is not, and it spends as much time trying to figure out who these odd ducks really are as who is right in these petty arguments.

Premieres Friday, Feb. 13 at 9/8c on HBO and HBO Max

Netflix hit it pretty big with its docuseries on The Biggest Loser, so it's now setting its sights on another reality show from the 2000s: America's Next Top Model. This three-part docuseries details the drama in front of and behind the camera of the model search.

Premieres Monday, Feb. 16 on Netflix

The Prime Video erotic thriller 56 Days shouldn't be confused with the popular Netflix erotic thriller 365 Days, but it will be, and given that it was originally called Obsession but changed to 56 Days closer to its premiere, Prime Video probably wants it to be. Dove Cameron and Avan Jogia star as the central lovers, who dive hard and fast into a sexy relationship, but 56 days later, a brutally murdered body turns up and through the magic of flash forwards, flashbacks, and in media reses, we follow the investigation to see what happened.

Premieres Wednesday, Feb. 18 on Prime Video

The two-part true crime docuseries Murder in Glitterball City recounts the 2010 murder case of a man — a hairdresser and drag performer — found in the basement of a couple in Louisville, Kentucky. When the police came knockin', both men pointed fingers at each other, but it was the video evidence that came to light that turned the case on its head. 

Premieres Thursday, Feb. 19 at 8/7c on HBO and HBO Max

With a name like Strip Law, you'd think this animated comedy was about exotic dancers who passed the bar then twirl around a bar in their birthday suit. But it's actually about a Las Vegas lawyer (voiced by Adam Scott) who works with a local magician (Abbott Elementary's Janelle James) to tackle "the city's stupidest cases." Given all that, it's still not entirely out of the question that we will see some strippers practicing law. Fingers crossed.

Premieres Friday, Feb. 20 on Netflix

CBS and procedural spin-offs with acronyms for titles, name a more iconic duo. Dick Wolf's FBI franchise may have axed a few of its shows, but it's back to the spin-off machine with CIA, which brings together a buttoned-up FBI agent (Nick Gehlfuss) and a reckless CIA agent (Tom Ellis) to handle domestic terrorism cases. They may not get along at first, but one can hope their differing styles helps them catch some bad guys! 

Premieres Monday, Feb. 23 at 10/9c on CBS

Bill Lawrence slapped a defibrillator on his 2001 sitcom Scrubs, bringing back the series for a revival with original cast members Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke, Judy Reyes, and John C. McGinley reprising their roles as the hospital staff of Sacred Heart.

Premieres Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 8/7c on ABC

This new game show asks contestants to answer questions about how the average American lives, presumably with topics like Benson Boone, Chipotle, and Marvel movies. The winner gets a cash prize of $67,920, which is (depressingly) the average American salary. It will be hosted by the greatest average comedian, Nate Bargatze.

Premieres Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 9/8c on ABC

This eight-episode limited series follows four Southern women who became spies in favor of the Union, helping change the outcome of the American Civil War. Mary-Louise Parker, Daisy Head, Amethyst Davis, and Ben Vereen star.

Premieres Thursday, Feb. 26 on Prime Video

Everything you need for fall TV:

• The winter shows we're looking forward to most
• CBS's winter TV schedule
• ABC's winter TV schedule
• NBC's winter TV schedule
• Fox's winter TV schedule