Summer TV is no longer a slow stretch between spring finales and fall premieres. The 2026 calendar is packed with franchise plays, prestige dramas, YA adaptations, crime thrillers, sci-fi returns, comedy revivals, and several major finales. HBO has “House of the Dragon” returning and “Lanterns” launching DC’s Green Lantern mythology on TV; FX is closing “The Bear”; Netflix has “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” “I Will Find You,” and “The Boroughs”; Apple TV has “Cape Fear,” “Sugar,” “Star City,” “Silo,” “Lucky,” “Ted Lasso,” and “Dark Matter”; and MGM+/Prime Video has “Spider-Noir,” with Nicolas Cage finally stepping into live-action superhero-noir mode. Below are 45 scripted shows worth tracking, ordered by premiere date, with a short TBA section for a few major expected 2026 titles.
READ MORE: 53 Must-See Films To Watch Summer 2026
May
“M.I.A.”
“Ozark” co-creator Bill Dubuque created Peacock’s Miami-set crime drama, with Karen Campbell serving as showrunner. Shannon Gisela stars as Etta Tiger Jonze, whose family’s drug-running business collapses after a cartel massacre. Brittany Adebumola, Dylan Jackson, Alberto Guerra, Danay García, Maurice Compte, Cary Elwes, Gerardo Celasco, and Marta Milans co-star. The nine-episode binge release follows Etta from the Florida Keys into Miami’s criminal underworld as she seeks revenge and tries to survive the fallout.
Premiere Date: May 7, 2026, via Peacock.
“The Terror”
Christopher Cantwell and Victor LaValle serve as showrunners on the third season of AMC’s horror anthology, adapted from LaValle’s novel “The Devil in Silver.” Karyn Kusama directs, with Dan Stevens starring as Pepper, a New Yorker wrongfully confined to a psychiatric hospital that may be hiding a monstrous secret. CCH Pounder, Michael Aronov, Stephen Root, Marin Ireland, and Judith Light co-star. After the Arctic nightmare of Season 1 and the Japanese American incarceration story of Season 2, this installment moves the series into the realm of institutional horror.
Premiere Date: May 7, 2026, via AMC+/Shudder.
“Legends”
Neil Forsyth created and wrote “Legends,” with Brady Hood and Julian Holmes directing the six-part British crime drama. Tom Burke, Steve Coogan, Hayley Squires, Tom Hughes, Aml Ameen, Jasmine Blackborow, Douglas Hodge, Johnny Harris, Gerald Kyd, and Charlotte Ritchie star. Inspired by the memoir of former undercover customs officer Guy Stanton, the series follows ordinary government workers in 1990s Britain who are trained to infiltrate drug networks and pose as criminals.
Premiere Date: May 7, 2026, via Netflix.
“Off Campus”
Louisa Levy developed Prime Video’s “Off Campus,” with Levy and Gina Fattore serving as co-showrunners and author Elle Kennedy producing. Ella Bright stars as Hannah Wells, a songwriter drawn into a fake-dating arrangement with hockey star Garrett Graham, played by Belmont Cameli. Mika Abdalla, Antonio Cipriano, Jalen Thomas Brooks, Josh Heuston, and Stephen Kalyn co-star. The first season adapts “The Deal,” the opening book in Kennedy’s college romance series.
Premiere Date: May 13, 2026, via Prime Video.
“Good Omens”
Michael Sheen and David Tennant return as Aziraphale and Crowley for the final “Good Omens” chapter. Based on the world created by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, the Prime Video series has always leaned on the chemistry between its angel-and-demon leads. The final installment brings the story back after the emotional fracture of Season 2, giving the show one last chance to resolve the relationship that became its real center.
Premiere Date: May 13, 2026, via Prime Video.
“Nemesis”
Y’lan Noel and Matthew Law play men on opposite sides of the law in Netflix’s “Nemesis.” Noel plays an expert criminal, while Law plays the brilliant detective trying to bring him down. The eight-episode binge release gives Netflix a straightforward cat-and-mouse crime series for May, with the appeal built around two leads moving through the same criminal world from opposite directions.
Premiere Date: May 14, 2026, via Netflix.
“Dutton Ranch”
Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser continue Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler’s story in “Dutton Ranch,” the “Yellowstone” spinoff executive-produced by Taylor Sheridan. Finn Little returns as Carter, with Annette Bening, Ed Harris, Juan Pablo Raba, Jai Courtney, J.R. Villarreal, Marc Menchaca, and Natalie Alyn Lind joining the cast. Set after the sale of the Yellowstone Ranch, the series moves Beth and Rip to Texas, where they try to build a new future while facing a rival ranching family.
Premiere Date: May 15, 2026, via Paramount+.
“Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed”
David J. Rosen created and serves as showrunner on Apple TV’s “Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed,” with David Gordon Green directing and executive producing. Tatiana Maslany stars as Paula, a newly divorced mother pulled into a dangerous mess involving blackmail, murder, and youth soccer. Jake Johnson, Dolly de Leon, Charlie Hall, Jessy Hodges, Jon Michael Hill, Brandon Flynn, and Murray Bartlett co-star. Maslany’s comic timing and volatility give the suburban thriller a strong center.
Premiere Date: May 20, 2026, via Apple TV.
“The Boroughs”
Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews, the creators of “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance,” created and serve as showrunners on Netflix’s “The Boroughs,” with The Duffer Brothers executive producing. Alfred Molina, Geena Davis, Alfre Woodard, Denis O’Hare, Clarke Peters, Bill Pullman, Jena Malone, Ed Begley Jr., Jane Kaczmarek, and Rafael Casal star. The eight-episode sci-fi series is set in a retirement community where a group of residents must stop an otherworldly threat from stealing their time.
Premiere Date: May 21, 2026, via Netflix.
“The Chi”
Lena Waithe’s Chicago drama “The Chi” returns for its final season, with Jacob Latimore, Alex Hibbert, Yolonda Ross, Curtiss Cook, Luke James, and more closing out the long-running ensemble series. The Showtime/Paramount+ drama has spent years following shifting families, friendships, politics, and neighborhood loyalties on the South Side of Chicago. Its final run gives the show a chance to resolve its major character arcs after becoming one of Showtime’s most durable contemporary dramas.
Premiere Date: May 22, 2026, via Paramount+.
