The 10 best TV shows of 2026 (so far)

Let’s hear it for the comedies!

There’s no doubt that 2026 has provided lots of laughs, whether we’re talking about the fifth and final season of Hacks or new series like Widow’s Bay or Big Mistakes. And that’s not even mentioning the magic Bill Lawrence is bringing to our small screens.

But this list isn’t all about comedy. We’ve rounded up the best of the best — whether hysterical, heartbreaking, or somewhere between — as we celebrate the television shows that stand out amongst the rest in 2026 (in alphabetical order).

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Big Mistakes (Netflix)

Dan Levy certainly has experience crafting a comedy about a brother and sister who are perpetually annoyed by each other, but what differentiated his new Netflix entry (co-created by Rachel Sennott) from Schitt’s Creek was a surprisingly gripping season-long story of two bumbling siblings (Levy and Taylor Ortega) inadvertently entering the world of organized crime. Watching the duo consistently make bad choices while also attempting to gain a measure of agency in their dealings with the mob certainly brought the humor, but also led to a few surprising plot twists we didn’t see coming. What you do see coming from a mile away is another pitch-perfect performance from Laurie Metcalf as the duo’s politically-inclined mother. Casting Metcalf is never a big mistake. —Dalton Ross

Hacks (HBO Max)

I mean, any show that carries a season-long Xena subplot is ending up on our best list regardless of absolutely anything else, but the fact that the HBO Max comedy about stand-up comedy also stuck the landing in its fifth and final season helps cement its place here. The final 10 episodes certainly did not shortchange on laughs (witness Ava being accepting of her new boyfriend’s sex work while not being able to see past his love of magic), yet also hit an emotional apex in a finale that brought the Deborah (Jean Smart) and Ava (Hannah Einbinder) personal and professional relationships full circle. I’m not even going to reference anything that happens in the final episode because spoiling perfection in the off chance somebody reading this has yet to watch would be as diabolical as Bob Lipka’s Madison Square Garden stunt. —D.R.

Industry (HBO)

Industry made bank with season 4, taking this former slow-cooker show about horny, toxic financial-types into the stratosphere of obsessive TV binging. Consider us “Mucked” — after Kit Harington’s Henry Muck — because just like the drugged-out Game of Thrones veteran getting subbed in the back of a neon-lit gay bar, we too were desperate for Max Minghella’s roughhousing. And we haven’t even touched on the most surprising finale twist of the year, which is the promise of Marisa Abela’s Ghislaine Maxwell era. —Nick Romano

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (HBO)

Who could’ve guessed that a modest, half-hour drama filled with poop gags and 10 inches of prosthetic man meat would be the show to revitalize the fandom’s faith in Game of Thrones? The prequel — about a massively tall, naive knight-in-the-making and his diminutive squire with a secret identity — never took itself too seriously, which was the tonic we needed to everyone trying to become the next great, fantasy TV epic. Daniel Ings dancing around in an antler crown > pretty much all of House of the Dragon season 2. —N.R.

Paradise (Hulu)

Sometimes a big swing pays off, and Paradise‘s second season is the perfect example of that. After an entire season in the bunker, season 2 broke out in a major way, with a premiere that followed the years-long apocalypse story of an entirely new character (played by the wonderful Shailene Woodley). The rest of the season followed suit, delivering Teri’s (Enuka Okuma) apocalypse story, and so much more. With Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) as its anchor, it’d be difficult for this show to go wrong. —Samantha Highfill

The Pitt (HBO Max)

The smartest thing The Pitt did in its second season was not try to one-up its first. Instead of delivering a mass casualty that would top the drama of season 1, it shifted gears, focusing on the emotional impact that being an emergency room doctor has on someone like Robby (Noah Wyle). But that’s not to say it dropped the drama. Thanks to a cyber attack, the hospital had to go analogue, addressing a very current topic while simultaneously giving the season a throwback feel. And let’s not forget about the real star of the season: Baby Jane Doe! —S.H.

Rooster (HBO)

Let Steve Carell cock-a-doodle-doo! Although, letting his character, commercial author Greg Russo, say the word “cock” in any context would probably land the new writer-in-residence at Ludlow College a meeting before the disciplinary board. It’s that kind of hijinks that gave real comfy, cozy The Four Seasons vibes (another Carell show) and made us fall in love with this gold-hearted former frat bro and well-meaning “father of a daughter.” —N.R.

Shrinking (Apple TV)

Some things only get better with age: Wine, Harrison Ford, and Shrinking — to name a few. Bill Lawrence’s heartfelt comedy following Jimmy (Jason Segel) and his fellow therapists grows stronger with each season, as it leans more and more into its incredible ensemble and the many relationships at play. Need we mention Brian (Michael Urie) and Jimmy’s Les Misérables performance? (And, of course, Paul’s hilarious reaction to the entire spectacle?) If they’d like to perform the entire musical next season, we won’t object. —S.H.

The Vampire Lestat (AMC)

Interview With the Vampire has always made bold choices, but its strongest season yet is by far the boldest. With The Vampire Lestat, the show shifts into Lestat’s (Sam Reid) perspective as we follow his life as a rock star. And whatever you think of when you think of a vampire rock star? It’s even wilder than that. But it’s so perfectly Lestat, which is why this season thrives. This show — and showrunner Rolin Jones — knows its characters so well that it’s fearless when it comes to just how far it can take its story. Vampire drug trip? No problem. Incest? Absolutely. And much like Lestat’s incredible wardrobe, it just works. —S.H.

Widow’s Bay (Apple TV)

Katie Dippold’s sublimely strange and surprisingly scary Widow’s Bay was perfectly poised to fall victim to the Apple TV curse — competently made, intellectually engaging shows worth watching never finding audiences and one by one disappearing beneath the waves. But the horror comedy about a tight-knit New England island community besieged by an ancient curse was miraculously rescued by that vanishing phenomenon in the world of TV fandom: genuine word-of-mouth fervor. Matthew Rhys reminds viewers why he’s one of the best to ever do it on the small screen as skeptical Mayor Tom Loftis, while Christian Sprenger and Cody Jacobs’ cinematography is superbly unsettling. But the real coup is Dippold’s command of tone, deftly pivoting between nightmarish, surreal, wickedly funny, and soul-stirring modes, sometimes within single scenes. —Ryan Coleman

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