Popular TV shows, albums, books and movies mark anniversaries in 2026

A new year means new music, movies, TV shows and even books are on the horizon for entertainment.

New albums on the way in 2026 include those from A$AP Rocky, Mumford and Sons and The All-American Rejects, per Billboard.

Highly anticipated movies, according to Variety, include “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” “The Odyssey,” “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Dune: Part Three” among many others.

Expected TV shows mostly are returning series for new seasons, such as “The Pitt,” or “Bridgerton,” but there are some new shows coming, such as “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” and “Lanterns,” among others, and finally a few reboots, including “Malcolm in the Middle,” “Scrubs” and “Baywatch,” per The Hollywood Reporter.

Significant book releases according to USA TODAY include “Half His Age” by Jennette McCurdy, “Whidbey” by T. Kira Madden and “John of John” by Douglas Stuart, among others. The Columbia Tribune is part of the USA TODAY Network.

But what about what was popular 10, 20, 30, 40 and even 50 years ago. The Tribune is taking a trip through time to look at what was popular or best selling on these anniversaries. Will there be surprises? Now is the chance to find out.

These are the most popular album and songs, highest grossing films, most watched TV shows and best selling books from 2016, 2006, 1996, 1986 and 1976. Sources include Billboard charts, worldwide film financial data from Box Office Mojo, Nielsen ratings and book selling lists. All most popular items were released in the respective noted years, with the exception of TV shows, which notes the most popular programs for the year regardless of first airing date.

2016

Most popular album, “25” by Adele on the Billboard Hot 200; Most popular song, “Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end list
Highest grossing film based on worldwide box office, per Box Office Mojo, “Captain America: Civil War” with $1.15 billion in ticket sales.

Most popular TV show, per Nielsen, was the regularly scheduled “The Big Bang Theory,” which first started airing in 2007. Shows that were popular with people who recorded to a digital video recorder, such as TiVo, for later viewing, but watched within seven days were “Better Call Saul,” (started airing 2015; highest percentage of change in viewers) and “The Walking Dead” (started airing in 2010; overall largest change in viewing numbers). The top-viewed single program of 2016 was Super Bowl 50 between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos.
The best selling book was “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” which was the stage script written by Jack Thorne from a story developed by Thorne, J.K. Rowling and John Tiffany. More than 4.1 million copies were sold, according to Nielsen. Notable nonfiction includes “Blood in the Water” by Heather Ann Thompson, “When Breath Become Air” by Paul Kalanithi and “Dark Money” by Jane Mayer, based on multiple sources.

2006

Most popular album, “High School Musical” movie soundtrack and most popular song was “Bad Day” by Daniel Powter, per Billboard charts.
Highest-grossing film from worldwide box office, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” with $1.06 billion in sales.

Most popular regularly scheduled and time-shifted TV shows were “American Idol” (first airing in 2002) and “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” (premiered in 2006) per Nielsen.
Best selling fiction was “For One More Day” by Mitch Albom, while nonfiction was “Marley and Me” by John Grogan, based on Forbes reporting of Nielsen BookScan data.

1996

Most popular album, “Jagged Little Pill” by Alanis Morissette and the most popular song was “Macarena (Bay Side Boys Mix)” by Los Del Rio, based on Billboard charts.
Highest-grossing film from worldwide box office was “Independence Day” with $306 million in domestic ticket sales. This figure is not adjusted for inflation.
The No. 1 show in the U.S. was “ER” per Nielsen (first airing was 1994). Time-shifted show data was not yet developed as DVRs did not hit the market until 1999. So, rounding out the top three was “Seinfeld” and “Caroline in the City.”
Best selling fiction, based on Publisher’s Weekly reporting, was “The Runaway Jury” by John Grisham and nonfiction was “Make the Connection” by Oprah Winfrey and Bob Greene.

1986

Most popular album was Whitney Houston‘s self-titled album, and the most popular song was “That’s What Friends are For” by Dionne Warwick and Friends (Gladys Knight, Elton John and Stevie Wonder), based on Billboard charts.
Highest-growing film from worldwide box office was “Top Gun” with $176 million in domestic sales, not adjusted for inflation.

The top TV show in the U.S. was “The Cosby Show” (first airing in 1984). Others in the top were “Family Ties” and “Cheers,” per Nielsen.
While harder to pin down, most sources cite Stephen King’s “It” as the best selling fiction, while “Fatherhood” by Bill Cosby was the nonfiction bestseller for the year.

1976

Peter Frampton came out on top with “Frampton Comes Alive” in the Billboard Top 200 albums, while the most popular song on the year-end Billboard Top 100 was “Silly Love Songs” by the Paul McCartney-fronted band Wings.
“Rocky” was the highest-grossing U.S. film with roughly $117 million in domestic sales.
The show with the most audience was “Happy Days” (first airing in 1974). Others in the top were “Laverne and Shirley” and the “ABC Monday Night Movie.”
Depending on sources it was either “Trinity” by Leon Uris or “Interview with a Vampire” by Anne Rice that were the fiction bestsellers for this year. The most popular nonfiction was, again depending on sources, either “The Final Days” by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein or “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins.