My first reaction to reviewing what’s coming up in terms of fall 2026 TV shows was a vague sense of disappointment. My second was an even more acute feeling of frustration.
But when I dug a little deeper, I figured out that there are nine TV shows coming up that I’m rather excited about.
That’s what Pop Thruster is here for people, to keep you dialed into the good stuff.
The frustrating feeling relates, oddly enough, to a show I’m rather amped for – American Hostage (premieres on September 20th) – which boasts an A list creator (Shawn Ryan) and cast (Jon Hamm, Giovanni Ribisi, Mireille Enos, among others. The premise also sounds appealing: Hamm plays a radio reporter in the late ‘70s Midwest who ends up getting brought in to interview an in progress kidnapping (Ribisi plays the kidnapper).
The problem of a sort is that American Hostage will be available on MGM+, the most “which one is that again, and you mean I need to pay for it?” TV streamers of the current moment. What with other prestige-y fare like The Westies on its current roster, it seems MGM+ is trying to make a play to be the AMC of the mid-2020s.
But let’s get to the other fall 2026 TV shows that should be on your radar.
- Slow Horses Season 6 (September 16th, Apple TV) – Locked in as a show my wife and I watch together.
- War (October 1st, HBO) – In short, I’ll watch Dominic West in anything, and here we get him as a tech entrepreneur involved in some kind of messy divorce with an actress, played by Sienna Miller. Sounds spicy.
- East of Eden (October 1st, Netflix) – A new take on a John Steinbeck classic, this one feels like Netflix is not completely abandoning the prestige TV drama lane just yet.
- Carrie (October 7th, Amazon Prime) – I’ll tamp down my frustration from my lifelong wait to get a proper Dark Tower TV adaptation, but in the meantime, any Stephen King adaptation is a good thing, right? And this one hearkens back to the novel that first brought the grandmaster of American fiction into the limelight.
- Below (October 8th, Netflix) – Because this thriller involves a remote northern town and a “mysterious sea creature,” it will inevitably be compared to Widow’s Bay. A high bar to clear to be sure, but the pedigree alone of its cast (Josh Hartnett, Mackenzie Davis, Charlie Heaton) will make it worth checking out.
- The Lowdown Season 2 (October 14th, FX/Hulu) – I wasn’t quite as hot on the modern, quirky noir starring Ethan Hawke as many, Tommy Lee Jones joining the cast for Season 2 sounds quite fun indeed.
- Nocturne (October 30th, Apple TV) – Stephen Graham, red hot coming off of his success with Adolescence, plays a serial killer, with Liev Schrieber playing a homicide detective going after him. For a crime drama junkie like yours truly, I am obligated to devour this one.
- Dig (November 23rd, Peacock) – A Parks & Recreation reunion of creator Michael Schur and star Amy Poehler, with a setting at an excavation site in Greece this time around makes this an instant must watch.
If you’re curious, there are a bunch of other shows that I’m more in a wait-and-see mode with. Hopefully some of this group will surprise us. This includes:
- Youth (September 20th, HBO) – Sharon Horgan is always worth watching.
- Brothers (September 23rd, Apple TV) – The True Detective (and EdTV!) Dream Team of Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson are back… and I pray this one ain’t CringeTV.
- Crystal Lake (October 15th, Peacock) – Linda Cardellini, always great, stars in what I believe to be is a Friday the 13th prequel… so we’ll see.