The shows arriving in 2026 that have ‘hit’ written all over them

In high school and college, I was the kind of person who watched at least five episodes of a TV show every single day. At the time, these were mostly anime or shorter sitcoms, but not a single one of my teenage nights, full of elan and energy, could pass without me watching at least a few episodes. My repertoire also included several evergreen classics and everything you would expect for that period: Grey’s Anatomy, Breaking Bad, How I Met Your Mother… You already know that I was an extremely exhausting conversational partner for those who were not equally fanatical as I was, while at the same time an incredibly fun companion in adventures that required an inhuman number of references from the pop culture of the time. That desire and need to belong to many worlds and stories at once, to follow them passionately, has not disappeared even ten years later, and TV series are still an integral part of my life. As the years go by and life habits and responsibilities change, the possibilities become more limited, at least when it comes to the number of episodes one watches per day. Sometimes it is one or two, and sometimes an entire week goes by without me watching a single episode. And that is completely okay. It does not mean that I did not feel that teenage excitement brought by new seasons and plot twists while exploring everything that awaits us in the TV series sky in 2026. Trust me, it will be stellar and dazzling!

Game of Thrones: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms – season 1

Imdb

Game of Thrones: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is first on the list because I have been eagerly awaiting it ever since I learned, through my main source of information gathering that I am sometimes embarrassed to admit is TikTok, that it would be released at the beginning of 2026. I am also anticipating it because it promises a return to what once made Westeros intimate. Not spectacle, but people. The story takes us back almost a century before Daenerys, to the time of Duncan the Tall and a young Aegon Targaryen, when history had not yet turned into myth but was still being built through small decisions, journeys, and loyalties. This series does not feel like another grand saga, but rather like a quiet, almost travelogue-like story about honor, friendship, and a world slowly falling apart. In 2026, we are waiting for a slower rhythm, warmer emotion, and a Westeros that breathes.

Invincible – season 4

Prime video

Invincible has held me from the very first season because it refuses to be just another superhero story. Beneath the brutal animation and, at times, violence that is extreme for my taste, there has always been a question of growing up, responsibility, and the boundaries we cross when we realize that power does not come with an instruction manual. We are awaiting the fourth season in 2026 because it arrives at a moment when Mark Grayson can no longer hide behind the idea of being “a good guy who is trying.” The world is broken, relationships are permanently damaged, and moral decisions are becoming increasingly gray. What Invincible brings is emotional exhaustion, but also maturity: a story about a hero who understands that saving the world often means losing yourself.

Euphoria – season 3

Patrick Wymore / HBO

I hope everyone shares my opinion that we all grew up with Euphoria. Some literally, some metaphorically. The series began as a highly romanticized and glittery story about teenagers on the edge of existence, but very quickly became a mirror of a generation that learned the language of anxiety, addiction, and emotional exhaustion too early. We are awaiting the third season in 2026 because we are no longer talking about the same characters, nor the same time. Rue, Jules, and the others are entering the space of adult life, where mistakes are not easily erased and consequences remain. At times completely absurd life choices of former teenagers now fast-forward us into their early twenties, where we will see what came back to haunt them and what they ultimately managed to learn from. What Euphoria can now bring is not shock for the sake of shock, but a quieter, more mature pain, the kind that arrives when you realize you survived the chaos but are not sure what to do with it. It happened to me, and to you too, right? That is a step further, and perhaps the hardest one yet.

The Boys – final season

Amazon

The Boys has been a series that was never afraid to be uncomfortable. Not because of violence or provocation, but because it relentlessly exposes the idea of power, heroism, and contemporary spectacle. We are awaiting the final season in 2026 because there is no more room for postponement. The world is on the brink, Homelander stopped pretending to be a savior long ago, and the line between politics, media, and violence has been completely erased. What awaits us is not just the end of a story, but a mirror of the moment we live in: fatigue from false narratives, fear of the masses, and the question of what remains when the myth of the hero finally cracks. The Boys does not promise catharsis, but a resolution that will likely hurt. And that is exactly why we are waiting for it.

Bridgerton – season 4

Netflix

Is your TikTok also filled over the past month with that famous monologue Lord Anthony Bridgerton delivers to Kate Sharma, peaking with “You are the bane of my existence. And the object of all my desires”? You all know which one I mean, and I am sure some of us know it by heart. Shonda Rhimes has been the reason for my tears and restlessness many times, and it seems that will not stop in 2026 either, because the fourth season of Bridgerton is coming.

Bridgerton is a series through which we learned that romance can be both escapism and a mirror of society, wrapped in silk, gossip, and carefully choreographed glances. We are awaiting the fourth season in 2026 because it brings a shift in tone and focus, with a story that should be more mature, more intimate, and less reliant on pure fairy tale. Characters we once watched as part of a lavish social ballet are now facing choices that are not only romantic, but existential. What does love mean when you are no longer playing by the rules of family, class, and expectations? Bridgerton remains a visual delight, but what we are now looking for is an emotion that lasts longer than a single dance.

The Night Agent – season 3

The Night Agent is not a series we watch for big ideas, but for the tension that slowly creeps under your skin and makes you want to sit on the edge of your chair. And that is precisely why it works. At the center is always the same feeling: that the system never sleeps, that someone is listening, that the truth is hidden behind procedures and closed doors. I do not recommend it if you are naturally paranoid. We are awaiting the third season in 2026 because the series has reached a point where reacting is no longer enough. Peter Sutherland is no longer someone who accidentally found himself at the center of a conspiracy, but someone who understands the cost of loyalty and the danger of power. What the new season brings is a broader picture of a world where threats are not only external, but deeply institutional. Less naivety, more suspicion. And that constant feeling that no one is completely safe, no matter which side of the line they stand on.

Malcolm in the Middle: Life Is Still Unfair – revival

Malcolm in the Middle: Life Is Still Unfair

It would be an understatement to say that this series is just a part of my childhood. It is absolutely etched into my memory almost from my very first recollection, and for some reason I often associate it with the holiday season. It carries a warm, family-like, completely chaotic energy that is often linked to the holidays. If you had a larger family, or even just one sibling, some of the scenes surely provoked, if not deep identification, then at least a smile on your face. Malcolm in the Middle was brutal and gentle at the same time, a series that never romanticized family, but loved it exactly as it was. The revival Life Is Still Unfair, expected in 2026, carries the weight of that legacy. The characters are older, the problems different, but no smaller. What we are waiting for is an encounter with the question of what remains of that crazy, loud family when you grow up and realize that life truly is still unfair.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale – new series

Imdb

For me, Buffy the Vampire Slayer was never just another vampire series, even though we all know that I am a huge fan of vampires and vampire series and films. It is probably the only form of horror that never pushed me away, but instead always drew me in magnetically. Honestly, Twilight is probably to blame for a lot of it, but Buffy was the one that turned that fascination into something deeper. New Sunnydale, arriving in 2026, is therefore something I am awaiting with special curiosity. What excites me most is the new potential to once again use vampire mythology as a tool for telling stories about contemporary fears, identity, and a sense of not belonging. If it manages to retain the emotional intelligence of the original and translate it into today’s context, this series could be much more than a reboot.

3 Body Problem – season 2

Netflix

If there is a series that made me realize that science fiction no longer has to be “fun” to keep me glued to the screen, it is 3 Body Problem. The first season threw us, with very little explanation, into a world where physics no longer applies, the cosmos does not care about us, and the idea of progress begins to seriously wobble. We are waiting for the second season in 2026 because that is when the real psychological and political chaos begins. The stakes are no longer just contact with the unknown, but the question of how humanity reacts when it realizes it is being observed, evaluated, and potentially replaceable. We can expect more strategy, more paranoia, and fewer illusions of control. 3 Body Problem remains a series that does not offer answers, but instead poses uncomfortable questions with precision. And it does so quickly, coldly, and quite mercilessly.

Elle: Legally Blonde – prequel series

Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

One of the most underestimated characters in pop culture, and one that audiences have defended for years, is definitely Elle Woods. The Legally Blonde prequel 2, arriving in 2026, takes us back to the phase before Harvard, pink outfits, and courtrooms, to the moment when Elle is still forming. This is not a story about a “dumb” blonde who “accidentally” turns out to be smart, but about a girl who very early on understands that intelligence and femininity do not have to exclude one another. What we are expecting is a faster pace, sharper humor, and a generational update. Social media, pressure to succeed, expectations to be everything at once. Prequel 2 has a chance to tell a story that is entertaining but also precise, about ambition, self-confidence, and the idea that pink has always been a political color.

The Pitt – season 2

HBO

Believe me, The Pitt is a series that has quietly but surely become a guilty pleasure for a serious audience. No glamour, no romantic filters, just an emergency room in real time and people cracking at the seams while trying to save others. As a big fan of medical dramas, of course I had to join in on this one as well. Nothing will ever replace Grey’s Anatomy, that much is clear, but The Pitt is playing a completely different game, and in its own league it is an absolute champion. The first season hooked us precisely with that rawness, the feeling of being trapped in a shift that never ends. We are waiting for the second season in 2026 because we know this is not a series that takes the easier path. The characters are more exhausted, the system even more brutal, and the line between professionalism and total collapse increasingly thin. What The Pitt brings is a return to medical drama without pathos, but with plenty of adrenaline and dark humor. Fast, intense, and painfully real. Exactly as it should be.

Industry – season 4

BBC/Bad Wolf Productions/HBO/Marc Hom

I love it when a series does not ask me whether I want to enter its world, but simply pushes me into it and locks the door. Industry did exactly that, and I found myself trapped in a world of power, money, and ambition. We are awaiting the fourth season in 2026 because this universe is only now reaching its breaking point. What Industry does better than most is combine generational anxiety with cold corporate realism. We expect even dirtier moves, even faster dialogue, and even fewer illusions about success.

Run Away – season 1

Netflix

Run Away, arriving on Netflix on January 1, feels like the perfect series for that moment between holiday lethargy and New Year’s resolutions we have not yet started taking seriously. On paper it is a thriller, but in reality it is a story about escape that is never purely physical. The first season introduces us to a world in which one disappearance triggers a chain of lies, family secrets, and bad choices. We are anticipating it because the series plays on the slow unraveling of a seemingly normal life, something I, at least, can never get enough of. There are no big explosions, only small cracks that become unbearable. What Run Away promises to deliver is tension built through relationships rather than action, and a question we all recognize: what happens when you realize that the life you built has become a cage.