📺 “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” Trailer: Dominic McLaughlin Heads to Hogwarts as HBO Reimagines the Wizarding World for a New Generation with Arabella Stanton, Alastair Stout, John Lithgow, Janet McTeer, Nick Frost, and Paapa Essiedu — Premiering This Christmas on HBO and HBO Max
We’re of two minds when it comes to this new Harry Potter series. On one hand, why redo the books when they’ve already been turned into a hugely successful film franchise that audiences have loved for years? On the flip side, television gives the story much more room to explore the characters and subplots the movies simply didn’t have time to tackle. Putting aside the other controversies surrounding the series, one thing seems certain: it’s Harry Potter, damn it. People are going to watch no matter what. That alone makes it one of the most anticipated shows of the year.
Featuring an entirely new cast that includes newcomers Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley, along with John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid and Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, this new adaptation sets out to introduce the books to a whole new generation while also giving longtime fans a chance to see more of the story and details that never made it into the original films.
With acclaimed TV director Mark Mylod (Succession, Game of Thrones) helming multiple episodes and Emmy winner Francesca Gardiner (Succession, Killing Eve) serving as showrunner, the first season of the HBO series will follow Harry’s first year at Hogwarts, from discovering the wizarding world and forming his friendship with Ron and Hermione to uncovering the mystery surrounding the Philosopher’s Stone.
The plan is for each season to adapt one book in the series, following Harry’s journey as he grows from an uncertain young wizard into the person destined to confront the dark forces threatening the wizarding world; namely Lord Voldemort, aka He Who Must Not Be Named.
And whenever there’s a plan to revisit and reboot a franchise this beloved, you can expect plenty of online backlash. That started with the very first production announcement, continued through the cast reveals, and picked up again with the release of the teaser trailer a few months ago.
We don’t expect that kind of backlash to slow down anytime soon, especially now that the original Harry Potter films have become beloved classics in their own right and mean so much to the generation that grew up with them.
That being said, there’s clearly a huge amount of interest in this new fantasy series, and Potter fans will likely be tuning in from day one to see whether HBO can recapture the same magic as the original films, while perhaps finding a little new magic of its own.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is scheduled to premiere this Christmas on HBO and HBO Max.
📺 “East of Eden” Trailer: Florence Pugh Takes Center Stage in Zoe Kazan’s Seven-Part Adaptation of John Steinbeck’s Sweeping Trask Family Saga with Christopher Abbott and Mike Faist — Premiering Thursday, October 1st on Netflix
John Steinbeck’s classic 1952 novel East of Eden was famously adapted into an equally classic 1955 feature film, notably featuring one of only three major film performances by James Dean before his death later that same year.
But here’s the thing: Steinbeck considered the novel his magnum opus. And for good reason. The book is a sprawling multigenerational family saga that explores inherited burdens, morality, personal regret and the choices people make against the changing landscape of California, from the post-Civil War era through World War I.
The James Dean movie, however, focused primarily on the latter portion of Steinbeck’s novel, centering on brothers Cal and Aron Trask while leaving much of the earlier multigenerational story untouched.
Fast forward more than 70 years, and Netflix is giving Steinbeck’s sprawling Trask family saga much more room to breathe with this seven-part limited series. This time, Florence Pugh takes on the pivotal role of Cathy Ames, a character who is central to the novel but was kept largely at a distance and used more as a mystery in the 1955 film adaptation. So there’s a good chance this new miniseries will feel considerably different in both tone and structure from the James Dean film.
And here’s another interesting connection between the film and this new miniseries: series creator Zoe Kazan is the granddaughter of legendary filmmaker Elia Kazan, who directed the 1955 adaptation.
A notable actress in her own right, known for starring in The Big Sick and HBO’s The Deuce, Zoe takes on writing and co-showrunning duties for the Netflix series, bringing the Steinbeck story full circle in a very personal way. Her previous screenwriting credits include Ruby Sparks and Wildlife, both collaborations with her longtime partner Paul Dano.
Joining Florence Pugh in the cast are recently announced X-Men star Christopher Abbott as Adam Trask and Challengers breakout Mike Faist as his half-brother Charles. Pugh’s Cathy Ames becomes the scandal-ridden and deeply troubled woman whose arrival dramatically alters both brothers’ lives, setting off a chain reaction of resentment, betrayal and family trauma that will echo across generations.
Also in the cast is Tracy Letts as Cyrus Trask, Adam and Charles’s stern, domineering war-veteran father, while Hoon Lee, Martha Plimpton, Ciarán Hinds, Joseph Zada and Joe Anders round out the ensemble.
With Jeb Stuart also serving as co-showrunner, Australian filmmaker Garth Davis (known for directing the Oscar-nominated Lion and episodes of the acclaimed miniseries Top of the Lake) directs the first four episodes of this new East of Eden adaptation. French filmmaker Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre (Lady Chatterley’s Lover, The Mustang) takes over directing duties for the final three episodes.
East of Eden is due to premiere October 1st on Netflix, with all seven episodes arriving at once.
📺 “Kill Jackie” Trailer: Catherine Zeta-Jones Is a Former Drug Smuggler Forced Back Into Her Violent Past in This Darkly Comic Crime Series with Daniel Ings, Óscar Jaenada, and Ron Perlman — Premiering October 2nd on AMC+
The Godfather Part III may not be considered the strongest entry in the franchise, but it did give us one of its most memorable lines: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!” Thus, it helped cement one of the most enduring gangster-movie tropes: the former criminal who thinks they’ve escaped the life, only to get dragged right back into it.
Catherine Zeta-Jones is Jackie Price, a tough broad who has built herself a successful empire selling fine art to the rich and famous. She has the perfect life with her husband and daughter. But Jackie also has a past she thought she had left behind: she was once an international drug smuggler dealing with some of the most dangerous people in the criminal underworld.
Now after 20 years of keeping that part of her past buried, Jackie discovers that an elite group of assassins known as the Seven Demons has been hired to kill her, putting not only her own life in grave danger but also threatening the family and comfortable new life she has spent decades building.
Left with no other choice, Jackie must lean back into her violent instincts to protect everything she has built... and everyone she loves. That means she must hunt down and kill the assassins before they can get to her first.
Kill Jackie is a new darkly comic crime thriller from showrunner Tom Butterworth, with Killing Eve veteran Damon Thomas serving as lead director and co-creator.
Zeta-Jones is joined by actor Daniel Ings as Jackie’s clueless businessman husband. Coming off a breakout performance in the Game of Thrones spinoff A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Ings plays a man seemingly unaware of just how dangerous his wife’s past really is, but who is about to get pulled straight into the middle of an increasingly dangerous mess.
Hattie Hook, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Óscar Jaenada, Darci Shaw, Raff Law, Enzo Cilenti, Christine Adams, Julian Barratt and Ron Perlman also round out the cast.
Kill Jackie is slated to premiere October 2nd on AMC+ in the U.S., with new episodes arriving weekly. Amazon Prime Video will stream the series in the U.K.
📺 “Tulsa King: Season 4” Teaser: Sylvester Stallone’s Dwight Manfredi Fights to Keep His Criminal Empire From Crumbling — Premiering Friday, October 16th on Paramount+
If you come at the king, you best not miss. Sylvester Stallone returns for another season as mobster Dwight Manfredi, still fighting to hold onto the empire he built in Tulsa. Once out of prison, Dwight was essentially sent into exile in Tulsa to spend his remaining days—only to turn the town into a hotbed of criminality. Now he runs the show, but being at the top means everyone is looking for a way to knock him off. Swimming through a sea of corruption, murder, and deadly sharks, Dwight ain’t folding any time soon. Because in this dirty business, it’s not the dirtiest who’s left standing. It’s the one who knows exactly when to get his hands dirty.
📺 “The Terrors of Jordan Mendoza” Trailer: Sketch Comedian Jordan Mendoza Turns Everyday Fears Into Surreal Dark Comedy With Thomas Lennon, Marc Maron, Martha Kelly, Steve Buscemi, and More — Premiering Sunday, September 13th at Midnight on Adult Swim
Sketch comedian and comedy writer Jordan Mendoza has rounded up an impressive list of guest stars to join him in this surreal horror-comedy series. Starring as a frightened man stumbling through a series of absurd and unsettling dream-like scenarios, both whimsical and frightening, Mendoza turns familiar fears into a twisted dark comedy. From UFO sighting press conferences and strange workplace encounters to soldiers at war, slam poetry, and an awkward career day, no everyday anxiety is safe from getting a little weird. Fred Armisen, Martha Kelly, Marc Maron, Toby Huss, Thomas Lennon, and Steve Buscemi are among the big-name guest stars joining Mendoza as things get progressively stranger... and funnier.
📺 “Abbott Elementary: Season 6” Promo: Quinta Brunson and the Gang Head Back to Class With a Schoolhouse Rock!-Inspired Animated Throwback — Premieres Wednesday, October 7th on ABC and Streaming Next Day on Hulu
Anyone raised on ’70s cartoons probably has fond memories of Schoolhouse Rock! and its earworm jingles designed to make learning fun and memorable. Quinta Brunson’s hit sitcom about a group of dedicated Philadelphia public-school teachers returns for another season, using Schoolhouse Rock! as the inspiration for this animated promo. Starring Quinta Brunson, Tyler James Williams, Janelle James, Chris Perfetti, Lisa Ann Walter, William Stanford Davis, and Sheryl Lee Ralph, the Emmy-winning comedy heads back to class with the same sharp humor and warm ensemble chemistry that made it a favorite. A new season means a fresh batch of classroom headaches, staffroom drama, and lessons nobody planned for.
📺 “Sheriff Country: Season 2” Trailer: Morena Baccarin’s Sheriff Mickey Fox Faces Family Trouble on Both Sides of the Badge as Ben McKenzie Joins the Mix — Premiering Friday, October 9th on CBS and Paramount+
When it comes to law enforcement, family dynamics can make the line between duty and loyalty a little harder to draw. Deadpool’s Morena Baccarin returns for another season as hard-nosed Sheriff Mickey Fox. Her idea of protecting her town is simple: don’t mess with her unless you wanna feel the full brunt of the badge. But when it comes to arresting her ex-con father (W. Earl Brown) and dealing with a mother (Rachel Ticotin) she hasn’t seen in years, doling out justice gets a whole lot more personal. Meanwhile, her responsibilities as sheriff don’t get any easier, with problems continuing to pile up around her. And to make it even more of a family affair, Baccarin’s real-life husband, Ben McKenzie, will be popping in for a few episodes as a fellow sheriff to stir things up. Co-starring Matt Lauria and Christopher Gorham, expect plenty of family drama, small-town trouble, and a sheriff caught somewhere in the middle.
📺 “Marshals: Season 2” Trailer: Luke Grimes Returns as Kayce Dutton, Facing the Personal Cost of Protecting Montana — Airs Sunday, October 4th on CBS and Paramount+
Luke Grimes returns as Kayce Dutton in this Yellowstone spinoff, now entering its second season. After joining the U.S. Marshals and becoming part of an elite unit, Kayce begins to feel the psychological toll of protecting Montana from any riffraff looking to bring violence to the region. He thought he could leave that kind of brutality behind with the Yellowstone Ranch, but once it starts affecting his teenage son Tate (Brecken Merrill), the job becomes impossible to keep at arm’s length. Logan Marshall-Green, Arielle Kebbel, and Ash Santos also return, while Yellowstone regulars Gil Birmingham and Mo Brings Plenty are back as Thomas Rainwater and Mo. This new season asks whether Kayce Dutton is a “good man,” but the answer may depend on how far he’s willing to go to protect his family and do his job. For a Dutton, home is everything, but family is what you fight for.
📺 “R.J. Decker: Season 2” Trailer: Scott Speedman Returns as South Florida’s Laid-Back P.I. for Stranger Cases and Bigger Trouble — Premieres Tuesday, September 15th on ABC and Streaming Next Day on Hulu / Disney+
In Florida, everything’s a little different; including the private eyes. They’re a little more laid-back, a little more tipsy, and never short on island wear. Scott Speedman returns for a new season as ex-con, former photojournalist, and newly minted private investigator R.J. Decker. His assignments are the same as any other private eye. The big difference? The backdrop looks a whole lot more like a tropical postcard. And in this new season, Decker finds himself taking on even stranger cases, as South Florida seems to attract all the weirdos on the wrong side of the law. But one of his biggest cases hits much closer to home when Decker’s former flame, Emi Ochoa (Jaina Lee Ortiz), becomes convinced her father was killed by the cartel and asks him to get to the bottom of it. You know what they say: you can’t catch any fish without a little bait. And in Florida, Decker never seems to be short on any..
📺 “S.W.A.T. Exiles” Trailer: Shemar Moore’s Hondo Leads a New Unit of Misfits While Hunting a Mole From Within — Premieres Friday, September 25th on STARZ
Shemar Moore is back to reprise his role as LAPD S.W.A.T. Sergeant Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson in this S.W.A.T. spinoff series centered on a new tactical unit of rejects and misfits. Hondo was once viewed as a LAPD legend, but after a fatal shooting on the job and his refusal to bury the truth, he was forced into retirement. Now he’s getting a second chance to do some good, leading a group of young officers the department has written off. They might not be the department’s first choice, but Hondo will make sure they get the chance to prove they belong. That’s until he discovers a mole within his unit, turning the real mission into smoking out the traitor before the team comes crashing down from the inside. From Lucifer executive producer Jason Ning, the new series takes the S.W.A.T. franchise from CBS to STARZ, bringing with it plenty of attitude and swagger.
📺 “NCIS: Season 24” Trailer: Michael Weatherly’s Tony DiNozzo Is Back as He Rejoins the Team in This Long-Running Procedural Drama with Sean Murray, Wilmer Valderrama, Katrina Law, and Gary Cole — Airs Tuesday, October 6th on CBS and Paramount+
It’s been 24 seasons, so what could possibly get fans excited now? How about bringing back an old favorite? That’s right, Michael Weatherly is returning as former NCIS field agent Tony DiNozzo. It’s another season of the long-running CBS crime series, and that means more murder cases to solve, more bodies turning up, and more criminals to chase down. Just when you thought the season before its big 25th milestone might play it on the safe side, saving a little for next year, the series is back at it with all-new missions to tackle. Also returning are Sean Murray, Wilmer Valderrama, Katrina Law, Gary Cole, Brian Dietzen, and Diona Reasonover, proving this procedural drama might be getting a little long in the tooth, but we all know why this series has lasted so long: it’s comfort food for those who love a little murder mystery before bedtime.
📺 “Fire Country: Season 5” Trailer: Max Thieriot’s Bode Leone Jumps Back Into the Fire as Station 42 Faces New Wildfires — Premieres Friday, October 9th on CBS and Paramount+
Max Thieriot returns to jump back into the fire. Once a convict seeking a shorter sentence through a Northern California firefighting program, Bode Leone (Thieriot) now walks free while continuing his path toward redemption with Cal Fire. In season five, massive wildfires bring dangerous rescues and unpredictable threats, giving Bode and the rest of the Station 42 crew another reason to put everything on the line to protect their community… and maybe find a place where they truly belong. Sure, firefighters may seem fearless, but it’s not the thrill that keeps them going; it’s the chance to find redemption in every life they save.
📺 “Trespasses” U.S. Trailer: “Furious” Star Lola Petticrew and Tom Cullen Embark on a Forbidden Romance Set During the Troubles in This Four-Part Irish Drama with Gillian Anderson — Premieres Sunday, September 20th on PBS and the PBS App
Irish actress Lola Petticrew just might be the talk of the town after her breakout performance in one of the buzziest TV series of the year, Hulu’s serial-killer thriller Furious. But just before that, she appeared in this Irish drama, which is now getting its U.S. debut this month. Petticrew stars as Cushla, a young Catholic schoolteacher in 1975 Belfast who becomes romantically involved with Michael (Tom Cullen), an older, married Protestant barrister known for defending IRA suspects. Gillian Anderson plays Cushla’s alcoholic mother, Gina, whose drinking problems leave Cushla carrying much of the responsibility at home. It all becomes an explosive mix of forbidden romance, family pressure, and political tension. Based on the novel by Louise Kennedy, the four-episode Irish drama was adapted for television by writer Ailbhe Keogan and directed by Dawn Shadforth.
📺 “Pierre” U.K. Trailer: David Harewood Takes on a Fractured Legal System as a Down-on-His-Luck Lawyer in This New British Crime Series With Michele Austin and Jason Flemyng — Coming October 2026 to UK’s Channel 4
David Harewood is a man on a mission in this British legal drama, playing a West London duty solicitor determined to uncover the truth behind the suspicious death of a young client. Harewood, best known for starring on American shows such as Homeland and Supergirl, returns to his home country of England to dive into a fractured legal system meant to deliver justice, but increasingly strained by cuts, corruption, and institutional pressure. As a down-on-his-luck criminal lawyer, Harewood’s Pierre Jeffreys is a man of conviction, but conviction alone won’t keep his struggling practice afloat. When one case shockingly turns into an unsolved homicide, Pierre refuses to accept the official story and starts digging for answers. What he discovers pulls him into a web of institutional corruption that could cost him his career, his family, and everything he’s fighting to protect.
📺 “Scrubs: Season 2” New Promo: Zach Braff, Donald Faison, and Sarah Chalke Poke Fun at the Classic Operation Board Game — Premiering Wednesday, September 30th on ABC and Hulu / Disney+
It’s a real-life game of Operation in full effect. Those lovable doctors at Sacred Heart poke a little fun at the classic board game in this new promo for season two of the Scrubs revival. J.D. (Zach Braff), Turk (Donald Faison), and Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke) return for another round of hospital hijinks, now as seasoned veterans guiding a new generation of young physicians who may know the medicine but still have plenty to learn about being doctors. The Bill Lawrence-created medical sitcom has only grown more beloved since ending its initial run, becoming a comfort-watch favorite for fans who never really left Sacred Heart behind. And after all these years, the show continues to prove that laughter is, indeed, the best medicine.
📺 “Maxton Hall: The World Between Us: Season 3” Trailer: Ruby and James Face Their Biggest Test Yet in the Final Season of the German Romance Drama — Premieres Wednesday, December 9th on Prime Video
This German coming-of-age drama series, based on Mona Kasten’s romance novel trilogy, returns for one final season. Starring Harriet Herbig-Matten and Damian Hardung, the story once again follows Ruby and James as their relationship faces its biggest test yet. After being suspended from Maxton Hall College, Ruby finds her future (and her dream of attending Oxford) suddenly hanging in the balance. Meanwhile, James stands by her as she fights to clear her name, even as new revelations put their relationship under pressure. They say love can conquer anything thrown at it… now it’s time to prove it.
📺 “Stavros Halkias: Uncle Stav” Promo Short: Stavros Halkias Goes Full Mission: Impossible in Matt Johnson’s Spy-Movie Parody — Streaming Tuesday, September 8th on Netflix
If you’ve ever wondered what Stavros Halkias might look like as an action star, hanging from the ceiling in a tight black suit… well, here’s your chance. The stand-up comedian spoofs Tom Cruise’s famous Mission: Impossible ceiling-drop scene in this new comedy short, serving as a promo for Stavros’s upcoming Netflix comedy special. Filmmaker Matt Johnson, who recently directed Stavros in the biopic Tony, also directs and appears in the parody, watching in horror as the comedian gets a little too excited about hacking a CIA computer that happens to have some eyebrow-raising photos on its desktop. Talk about some classified material... for your eyes only, huh?
📺 “Nimesh Patel: Buy the Dip” Sneak Peek: Stand-up Comic Nimesh Patel Takes Aim at Parenting, His Indian Family, and a Certain Famous Patel — Streams Tuesday, September 22nd on Netflix
As the first Indian-American comedy writer on Saturday Night Live, stand-up comic Nimesh Patel brings that same biting wit to the stage. In his Netflix comedy special, Patel spares no one, taking aim at parenting, his Indian family, and other well-known Patels, including a certain FBI director who has a funny way of making headlines lately.
📺 “Band of Brothers: Legacy” Trailer: Cast Members Reunite 25 Years Later to Reflect on the Emmy-Winning WWII Miniseries and the Soldiers Who Inspired It in This New Behind-the-Scenes Reunion Special — Streams Wednesday, September 9th on HBO Max
HBO’s award-winning Band of Brothers miniseries remains one of the defining World War II dramas in television history. Everyone involved in the production, including the cast and crew, still holds the profound experience of making it close to their hearts. Now, 25 years after its initial airing, several cast members have returned for this reunion special chronicling the legacy of the Emmy-winning war series. And once again, they set out to highlight the true heroes behind the story: the soldiers whose courage became history, including those who never lived long enough to tell it themselves.
📺 “A Killer Story” Trailer: Investigative Journalist Joe Sexton Reexamines a Decades-Spanning Double-Murder Case and Questions Whether Justice Was Really Served in HBO’s Three-Part True-Crime Series — Debuts Thursday, September 10th on HBO and HBO Max
The truth isn’t always as clear-cut as you might think. In this new HBO true-crime miniseries, investigative journalist Joe Sexton digs into a decades-spanning double-murder case that refuses to offer an easy answer. The case was closed, and a woman was convicted and sent to prison. But was justice served? Joe teams up with a homemaker-turned-citizen sleuth and her husband to uncover whether Dana Chandler was actually guilty of murdering her ex-husband and his girlfriend. It turns out this obscure double-homicide case in Topeka, Kansas, raised much deeper questions about the justice system... and whether the evidence was ever as concrete as it seemed.
📺 “Not a Stranger” Trailer: A Seemingly Ordinary Nanny Brings Growing Unease Into a Young Couple’s Home in This Turkish Psychological Thriller Starring Elçin Sangu, Ozan Dolunay, and Melis Sezen — Streams Thursday, September 17th on Netflix
In this Turkish psychological drama series, a mother’s attempt to reclaim her old life becomes increasingly worrisome after she and her husband invite a seemingly ordinary nanny into their home to look after their newborn child. What begins as a practical arrangement with a woman meant to make their lives easier quickly turns into something far more unsettling as strange changes begin to take hold inside the home. It seems the person they invited in has become the source of growing unease and suspicion. Starring Elçin Sangu, Ozan Dolunay, Melis Sezen, and Cemal Hünal, this Turkish thriller turns a simple act of trust into something increasingly hard to shake.
📺 “Crime and Punishment in America” Trailer: Ken Burns-Produced Four-Part PBS Documentary Traces 250 Years of Crime, Punishment, and Justice — Airing Over Four Consecutive Nights From Monday, November 16th Through Thursday, November 19th on PBS
Leave it to the Ken Burns team to deliver another in-depth, comprehensive four-part documentary about America—this time chronicling the history of the country’s criminal justice system. Since the birth of the nation 250 years ago, Americans have wrestled with questions of crime, punishment, and what justice should actually mean. Director Lynn Novick, known for her numerous collaborations with award-winning documentarian Ken Burns, who also serves as an executive producer, examines how those ideas have evolved over more than two centuries. For every crime, there’s a punishment. But the bigger question is how you build a system that delivers justice without losing sight of mercy and reform.
📺 “The Unbelievable: Encounters with Dan Aykroyd” Trailer: Dan Aykroyd Hosts Eight Strange Tales of Ghosts, UFOs, Aliens, and the Unexplained — Now Streaming on Hulu / Disney+
Here’s some fun trivia: Dan Aykroyd didn’t just co-write and star in Ghostbusters, he’s actually a true believer, with a long-standing fascination with the paranormal and unexplained. Aykroyd brings that same enthusiasm to this paranormal anthology series, digging into strange encounters involving ghosts, UFOs, aliens, and other things that defy easy explanation. Before you know it, Halloween season will soon be here again, and what better way to get into the mood than with eight strange tales hosted by your favorite Ghostbuster? Now streaming on Hulu.
📺 “NFL Melbourne Game 2026” Trailer: San Francisco 49ers Face the Los Angeles Rams in a Historic Australia Showdown as the NFL Goes Global — Streams Live Thursday, September 10th on Netflix
Netflix continues to expand its live-event lineup, this time with an NFL regular-season game as the Los Angeles Rams face the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia. It’s another step in the NFL’s push to take American football global, while giving Netflix another chance to build its live sports presence. As sports become one of the last true forms of appointment viewing, this team-up between the NFL and Netflix feels like a natural progression. So, who’s ready for some football... and a little shrimp on the barbie?
