Unless you’re devoted to Love Island or And Just Like That…—and, let’s face it, if you’re reading this, you probably are—the summer months can feel like a vast desert for TV lovers. So it’s a good thing that the end of the 2025 Emmy season will lead into a raft of intriguing fall premieres. We’ve got stalwart old favorites, like Slow Horses and Stranger Things; we’ve got shiny new projects, coming from proven talents (hello again, Ken Burns and Vince Gilligan!) and zeitgeisty creators on the cusp of the mainstream (welcome, Rachel Sennott and Tim Robinson—both, incidentally, premiering new comedies on HBO). Read on for more information about the 24 shows we’re most looking forward to, premiering between Labor Day and December 31.
Wednesday, season two, part two
Premiere date: September 3Network: NetflixNoteworthy cast: Jenna Ortega, Emma Myers, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzmán, Fred Armisen, Steve Buscemi
Wednesday became Netflix’s most popular English-language show of all time following its November 2022 debut, and its sophomore season is finally upon us. Jenna Ortega reprises her titular role as the angsty adolescent daughter of the delightfully macabre Addams family. In season two, she’s reunited with mother Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones), father Gomez (Luis Guzmán), and roommate Enid (Emma Myers), as well as Fred Armisen’s Uncle Fester. And a few new faces have come to populate Wednesday’s gothic orbit, including Christopher Lloyd, Haley Joel Osment, Joanna Lumley, and reportedly even Lady Gaga herself. (Gaga did not appear in the first part of season two, which launched in August—so she’s got to be coming in this batch of episodes.) —Savannah Walsh
The Paper
Premiere date: September 4Network: PeacockNoteworthy cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Sabrina Impacciatore
Some two decades after the Steve Carell–starring American version of The Office debuted—following the show’s success in the UK with original star Ricky Gervais—a third chapter in the series’ story is being told. Don’t call it a reboot—but rather, a new comedy set in the same workplace universe. “The documentary crew that immortalized Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch is in search of a new subject,” says Peacock, “when they discover a dying historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it with volunteer reporters.” British Independent Film Award nominee Domhnall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore, best known for season two of The White Lotus, star in the mockumentary-style project from Michael Koman (SNL, Late Night With Conan O’Brien) and Greg Daniels, who developed the American version of The Office. —S.W.
Task
Premiere date: September 7Network: HBONoteworthy Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Tom Pelphrey, Emilia Jones, Thuso Mbedu
Mare of Easttown creator Brad Ingelsby returns to Delco for another gritty drama shot through with dark humor. This one is about Mark Ruffalo’s Tom, an FBI agent tasked with unmasking a team that’s been robbing drug houses—an operation that, unbeknownst to him, is headed by Tom Pelphrey’s seemingly mild-mannered Robbie. The cat-and-mouse element adds some tension, moving Task away from well-trod whodunit territory. And after Ruffalo’s years in Marvel movies, it’s certainly exciting to see him play a real guy again. —Hillary Busis
Only Murders in the Building, season five
Premiere date: September 9Network: HuluNoteworthy cast: Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Renée Zellweger, Christoph Waltz, Téa Leoni, Keegan-Michael Key
Once again, Hulu’s cozy murder comedy has drawn an impressive cast of guest stars for its new outing. But after a sojourn in Los Angeles, it’s also getting back to basics. As showrunner John Hoffmann recently told Deadline: “We’re going straight into a New York story that’s happening very much currently. It’s also happening across the country, obviously, but also in the city itself. We’re pulling from the headlines to ask very specific questions about the balance of power in New York and who has that power…. The history of power in New York is pretty colorful, with the old Mob and the new Mob mixing in. What do those two look like, and how do they sit on either side, with our trio in the center of it?” —HB
The Girlfriend
Premiere date: September 10Network: Prime VideoNoteworthy cast: Robin Wright, Olivia Cooke, Laurie Davidson, Waleed Zuaiter
Robin Wright is entering Claire Underwood mode again for this adaptation of author Michelle Frances’s psychological thriller, about a wealthy woman who’s convinced her beloved son’s new girlfriend (Olivia Cooke) is lying about her past. Seems like classic streaming-limited-series material in the post–Big Little Lies era, with one fun twist: Wright is executive-producing the series and also directing it, in addition to starring on it. —H.B.
The Morning Show, season four
Premiere date: September 17Network: Apple TV+Noteworthy cast: Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Marion Cotillard, Billy Crudup, Karen Pittman
When last we left embattled TV news anchor Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon), she was turning herself in to the authorities for her role in covering up her brother’s involvement in the January 6 storming of the Capitol. (Y’know, normal morning-news-personality stuff.) Her coworker and frenemy, Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston), was dealing with the fallout from her relationship with a tech zillionaire, played by Jon Hamm. We’re not really sure where season four of Apple’s loopy but engaging current events melodrama will find Bradley and Alex—or newcomer Marion Cotillard as a network exec—but we are eager as ever to find out. At its best, The Morning Show is a glossy good time; it may not be the most politically trenchant show on the air, but at least it swings big. —Richard Lawson
Black Rabbit
Premiere date: September 18Network: NetflixNoteworthy cast: Jason Bateman, Jude Law, Troy Kotsur
Three years after the end of Ozark, Jason Bateman is back with another Netflix crime series. This one is set far afield of Ozark’s rural lakeside, bringing us to the belly of Manhattan, where Bateman’s chaotic character—a gambling-addicted ne’er-do-well—returns to mess up the life of his restaurateur brother, played by Jude Law. Bateman and Law might not be the most obvious sibling pair, but both are fine actors. And there’s good pedigree behind the camera too; cocreator Zach Baylin was Oscar-nominated for writing the film King Richard. Plus, the series was shot entirely in and around New York City, which ought to give it the same specific time-and-place texture that benefited Ozark. We’re looking forward to something dark, suspenseful, and elegantly tailored. Who said only HBO can do that? —R.L.
The Lowdown
Premiere date: September 23Network: FXNoteworthy cast: Ethan Hawke, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Kaniehtiio Horn, Tim Blake Nelson, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Kyle MacLachlan
Creator Sterlin Harjo follows up Reservation Dogs with this drama, focused on Ethan Hawke (who also executive-produces) as Lee Raybon, a Tulsa native, journalist, and amateur sleuth investigating the suspicious suicide of a powerful family’s black sheep (Tim Blake Nelson). FX describes the show as “Tulsa noir,” a label that makes it sound like the Sooner State’s answer to the same network’s Midwestern crime drama, Fargo—and TV could certainly use more shows like Fargo. —H.B.
Slow Horses, season five
Premiere date: September 24Network: Apple TV+Noteworthy cast: Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas, Rosalind Eleazar
Tell your dad: Apple TV+ is planning on not one, not two, but three more seasons of Gary Oldman’s spy dramedy, based on author Mick Herron’s Slough House series—which itself includes eight novels, with a ninth on the way, plus five novellas. Which means that Oldman might need to adjust his plan to retire sometime in the near future. This year’s installment comes in the wake of season four’s quartet of Primetime Emmy nominations, including nods for outstanding drama series and Oldman’s acting work. “That is truly the wonderful gift that keeps on giving,” the star recently told Deadline. “I just adore the hell out of it, and the people. It is just such a wonderful thing, really, to be part of.” And part of, and part of. —H.B.
Chad Powers
Premiere date: September 30Network: HuluNoteworthy cast: Glen Powell, Steve Zahn, Toby Huss, Quentin Plair
Few people have had a bigger few years than Glen Powell: He led the 2023 box office phenomenon Anyone but You and dominated the spring-summer of 2024 with hit movies both in theaters (Twisters) and on streaming (Hit Man). There’s some delightful surprise, then, in seeing such a bona fide movie star turn to a shaggy TV comedy for his next act. Based on an Eli Manning character sketch, this Hulu half hour finds Powell playing a troublemaking quarterback who dons a disguise to keep his crashing football career alive. —David Canfield
Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy
Premiere date: October 16Network: PeacockNoteworthy cast: Michael Chernus, Gabriel Luna James Badge Dale
The minds behind Peacock’s take on the notorious serial killer aren’t openly slagging Netflix’s Monster series—but they seem very determined to make their murder show the right way. “Absolutely in no way did I want to be a part of something that was glorifying John Gacy,” actor Michael Chernus recently told David Canfield. “I didn’t want to be involved in something that was gratuitously showing graphic violence or sexual assault.” Other serial-killer dramas that shall remain nameless have fallen into that trap, he added: “The victims, if they’re named at all, only [appear] in their relation to the person who perpetrated the crimes.” Hence Devil in Disguise, which seeks to focus more on the victims and less on the man who killed them. That didn’t stop Peacock from putting Gacy’s name in the title, though. —H.B.
Nobody Wants This, season two
Premiere date: October 23Network: NetflixNoteworthy cast: Kristen Bell, Adam Brody, Justine Lupe, Timothy Simons
Netflix’s acerbic rom-com about a gentile podcaster (Kristen Bell) who falls in love with a rabbi (Adam Brody) was an immediate hit in season one, thanks to the chemistry of its leads—though the way the show depicted Jewish women left a sour taste in some viewers’ mouths. It’ll be interesting to see how Erin Foster’s show incorporates that feedback into season two, which adds two new showrunners and executive producers—Girls alumni Jenni Konner and Bruce Eric Kaplan, who, for the record, are both Jewish—as well as new cast member Leighton Meester, who is married to Brody in real life. —H.B.
It: Welcome to Derry
Premiere date: October 2025Network: HBONoteworthy cast: Bill Skarsgård, James Remar, Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, Stephen Rider
What a friendly title for a show about a homicidal clown! As implied, this prequel to Andy Muschietti’s It movies settles into the Maine hamlet haunted by one Pennywise, revealing an origin story for the malevolent spirit who’s been giving actual children nightmares for decades now. The series was originally slated to stream only on HBO Max before being moved to HBO proper; perhaps that’s a vote of confidence for this latest Stephen King adaptation. —H.B.
Monster, season three
Premiere date: October 2025Network: NetflixNoteworthy cast: Charlie Hunnam, Laurie Metcalf, Tom Hollander, Olivia Williams
The first season of Ryan Murphy’s anthology series was a bleak, leering look at serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, but a more humane portrait of some of his victims. Season two covered brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez in sometimes fascinating, but ultimately frustrating fashion. Now Murphy turns his attention to one of the 20th century’s most notorious murderers. Ed Gein’s crimes inspired Psycho and, later, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre—and thus pretty much all of the slasher cinema that followed. Charlie Hunnam plays Gein, while Laurie Metcalf portrays his mother. What’s perhaps more interesting is that Murphy has added a Hollywood dimension: Tom Hollander plays Psycho director Alfred Hitchcock, while the great Olivia Williams plays Hitchcock’s wife and occasional collaborator, Alma Reville. That is intriguing enough to draw us back into Murphy’s world of death and despair at least one more time. —R.L.
Pluribus
Premiere date: November 7Network: Apple TV+Noteworthy cast: Rhea Seehorn, Karolina Wydra, Carlos Manuel Vesga
We know very little about Rhea Seehorn and Vince Gilligan’s Better Call Saul follow-up, beyond the fact that Seehorn and Gilligan are involved; its first season is nine episodes long; it’s been picked up for a second season; and this is the logline: “A genre-bending original in which the most miserable person on earth must save the world from happiness.” An early clip indicates that it’s set in Albuquerque, which has been a rich font of inspiration for Gilligan since his Breaking Bad days; the show’s mysterious key art involves a petri dish and a Q-tip, indicating a sci-fi element. But honestly, even if these two were getting together to read the phone book, we’d be listening. —H.B.
The American Revolution
Premiere date: November 16Network: PBSNoteworthy cast: Peter Coyote
Documentary master Ken Burns returns to PBS—alongside codirectors Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt—with this six-part, 12-hour series examining America’s war for independence from every angle. The list of actors “playing” historical figures in the project is truly staggering—there are almost 200 individual characters being voiced by the likes of Kenneth Branagh, Josh Brolin, Claire Danes, Morgan Freeman, Paul Giamatti, Jonathan Groff, Tom Hanks, Ethan Hawke, Samuel L. Jackson, Laura Linney, Edward Norton, Mandy Patinkin, Wendell Pierce, and Meryl Streep, among others. Block off Thanksgiving weekend—you’re going to need it. —H.B.
Stranger Things, season five
Premiere date: November 26Network: NetflixNoteworthy cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Maya Hawke, Sadie Sink, Gaten Matarazzo, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Caleb McLaughlin
The fifth and final season of Stranger Things, the hit sci-fi show by brothers Matt and Ross Duffer—which launched the career of Millie Bobby Brown and reintroduced the world to Winona Ryder—finally comes to Netflix in three parts. Joined by her cadre of friends—played by Gaten Matarazzo, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, and Caleb McLaughlin—Brown’s Eleven will take on Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) and the Upside Down one last time before entering adulthood—first in a chunk of episodes released around Thanksgiving, then in a batch debuting on Christmas, with the grand finale coming on New Year’s Eve. No spoilers, but the eighth and final episode is reportedly titled “The Rightside Up”—so perhaps the Stranger Things kids will actually get to the bottom of the Upside Down after all these years. —Chris Murphy
Untitled Rachel Sennott Series
Premiere date: Fall 2025Network: HBONoteworthy cast: Rachel Sennott, Odessa A’zion, Jordan Firstman, True Whitaker, Josh Hutcherson
We’re living through a mini boom in young-people hangout shows: Adults, Overcompensating, and, arguably, Too Much. Now we can add Rachel Sennott’s new comedy to the list—though we still don’t know what to call it. The series, written and executive-produced by Sennott, who also stars, centers on “a codependent friend group that reunites, navigating how the time apart, ambition, and new relationships have changed them.” Sounds almost Gossip Girl–esque, though this one will have more jokes, of course. —H.B.
The Chair Company
Premiere date: Fall 2025Network: HBONoteworthy cast: Tim Robinson, Lake Bell, Sophia Lillis, Will Price
Friendship may be the funniest movie of 2025, and soon, Tim Robinson will have an even longer showcase for his particular brand of cringe comedy. Robinson reunites with his longtime collaborator Zach Kanin for The Chair Company, about a man who “finds himself investigating a far-reaching conspiracy” after “an embarrassing incident at work,” per HBO. Could any logline sound more Robinson-y than this one? —H.B.
All Her Fault
Premiere date: Fall 2025Network: PeacockNoteworthy cast: Sarah Snook, Jake Lacy, Sophia Lillis, Michael Peña, Dakota Fanning, Abby Elliott
Would you believe that this fall, a streaming platform is premiering a new mystery based on a best-selling thriller, with a stacked cast of TV mainstays and Emmy vets? This one centers on Sarah Snook’s Marissa, who goes to pick up her son from a playdate and discovers that he’s nowhere to be found. It’s the actor’s first big swing since the end of Succession and her Tony-winning work in The Picture of Dorian Gray—high-energy, high-stress projects that have probably prepared her nicely for her first venture into Nicole Kidman TV territory. —H.B.
The Diplomat, season three
Premiere date: Fall 2025Network: NetflixNoteworthy cast: Keri Russell, Allison Janney, Rufus Sewell, David Gyasi
Hail to the chief. After a thrilling season two finale that saw corrupt VP Grace Penn (Allison Janney) become the new president of the United States, The Diplomat will be back for more in 2025. While the plot for season three is under wraps, Keri Russell’s Kate Wyler will certainly have her hands full handling Penn, particularly now that her adversary has become the most powerful person in the world. —C.M.
Death by Lightning
Premiere date: Fall 2025Network: NetflixNoteworthy cast: Michael Shannon, Matthew Macfadyen, Nick Offerman, Betty Gilpin, Bradley Whitford
Finally, a presidential period drama that isn’t about Abraham Lincoln or John F. Kennedy. Death by Lightning covers another assassinated president, James Garfield. The series follows Garfield (Michael Shannon) and his eventual killer, Charles Guiteau (Matthew Macfadyen, hot off Succession), as Guiteau evolves from Garfield fan to foe. Very promisingly, the series was created by Mike Makowsky, whose 2019 film, Bad Education, was one of the best of that year—a creeping real-life drama about the private machinations of a man in power. Perhaps Makowsky will bring that same thoughtful, whip-smart energy to this project, which covers an area of history perhaps best known now as one of the plotlines in the musical Assassins. —R.L.
Emily in Paris, season five
Premiere date: Fall 2025Network: NetflixNoteworthy cast: Lily Collins, Ashley Park, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Lucas Bravo
Mais oui, Lily Collins’s Emily is still in Paris—and Rome, where she’s being wooed by the suave Italian Marcello (Eugenio Franceschini). It seems, however, that one original cast member won’t be returning for another jaunt around Europe: Camille Razat, whose character (also named Camille) was last seen leaving in shame after faking a pregnancy. We shouldn’t expect to see Rupert Everett return either. “I did a scene in the latest season, and they told me, ‘Next year we’ll speak,’” the actor told VF Italia this summer. “I waited for them to call me—but ultimately, it never came, and they just fired me.” —H.B.
The Beast in Me
Premiere date: Fall 2025Network: NetflixNoteworthy cast: Claire Danes, Matthew Rhys, Brittany Snow, Natalie Morales, David Lyons
Claire Danes gets to flex her paranoid Homeland muscles in this absorbing thriller. She plays Aggie, an author with writer’s block who finds herself drawn to Matthew Rhys’s Nile Jarvis—a millionaire real estate titan who moves next door a few years after the mysterious disappearance of his first wife. There are shades of Robert Durst in Jarvis, and of Janet Malcolm in Aggie—especially when she decides he might just be the perfect subject for her new book. From its logline to its production value and creative team—the series’ showrunner is Howard Gordon, a Homeland vet also known for his work on The X-Files—The Beast in Me feels like a throwback to the peak-TV era. In a good way. —H.B.
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