The 25 Shows That Will Rule Fall TV Season

Honestly, we're still pouring one out for the University of North Carolina-set, Bill Belichick-led Hard Knocks that reportedly never was. Still, I'll accept a few weeks with Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills—who are still chasing the franchise's first-ever Super Bowl ring—as a consolation prize. Cue the obligatory scene of the Bills linemen chowing down on some of the locally famous wings.

It's time for another semester at Nevermore Academy. Jenna Ortega returns in her star-marking role of Wednesday Addams in season 2 of the Netflix hit. This year, while putting up with her newfound fame as a Nevermore folk hero, Wednesday tries to prevent the death of her roommate after seeing dark visions. It might be a little early for Halloween, but a new batch of Wednesday episodes feels like the best way to bid summer farewell.

Platonic doesn’t bother with the cliché that men and women can’t just be friends. Of course they can! The problem is that everyone around you, including your spouses, will most likely bring up “how strange it is” every time you hang out. At least, that’s what happens to Will (Seth Rogen) and Sylvia (Rose Bryne) in Platonic, which will continue their friendly relationship drama into a second season on Apple TV+.

In space, no one can hear you scream. But they might hear you here on Earth. As the summer begins to cool down, television maestro Noah Hawley is bringing the Alien franchise to TV in the standalone series Alien: Earth. Set two years before the 1979 cinematic classic, Alien: Earth follows a group of cutting-edge hybrids—synthetics with the minds of real, human children—who are on the frontlines of humanity's first contact with a certain acid-spewing extraterrestrial threat.

Daniel Dae Kim takes charge in the upcoming spy series Butterfly, adapted from the BOOM! Studios comic book series. Butterfly stars Kim as a former CIA operative in South Korea whose past continues to haunt him. This puts him fact-to-face with a ruthless rival agent, played by Reina Hardesty, and the shadowy organization she works for. Set to release as summer comes to an end, his international series is bound to bring some spy thrills right before autumn chills.

With the smash success of America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, it was only a matter of time before Netflix delivered the ultimate portrait of franchise owner Jerry Jones's legendary career. The Gambler and His Cowboys will track Jones's purchase of the team all the way through the team's on-field heroics in the Emmit Smith and Michael Irvin era.

James Gunn's Superman rejuvenated the DC franchise, but can Peacemaker keep up its dominance? On August 21, Peacemaker makes its long-awaited return to HBO Max with season 2. John Cena once again dons the chrome helmet of Peacemaker, who struggles to find his place in a rapidly growing world of gods and monsters. While John Cena's championship reign of terror unfolds in WWE, his hero's journey continues in Peacemaker.

Fans of The Terminal List on Prime Video were stunned when Taylor Kitsch's CIA operative Ben Edwards wound up the betrayer against Chris Pratt's James Reece. Before The Terminal List continues for another season, Prime Video is giving fans a peek at Ben's origins in the prequel/spin-off The Terminal List: Dark Wolf. Taylor Kitsch returns as Ben, with the show chronicling how Ben evolves from Navy SEAL to shadowy CIA operative that sets him on the road to betraying his best friend.

The Office ended—wait for it—twelve years ago. When you think about the sheer impact of the legendary NBC comedy, which still inspires wedding dances 'round the world, it's a wonder that 2025 will see The Office's first spin-off: The Paper. The comedy will see Domhnall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore try to survive in the world of small-town journalism—where, at the titular paper, the reporters are volunteers. The Paper sounds a little more like The Office creator Greg Daniels's other comedy hit, Parks and Recreation, which sounds like a damn good time to us.

Listen, we love The White Lotus and The Last of Us as much as the next loyal viewer of HBO's Sunday-night offerings. But the prestige-TV king has sorely missed a tried-and-true crime drama for a little too long now. Enter Task, an original series from the mind of Mare of Easttown's Brad Ingelsby. The show sees Mark Ruffalo play an FBI agent who is tasked (see what we did there?) with investigating a string of robberies in the Greater Philadelphia Area.

How many murders can take place in one building? Selena Gomez, Steve Martin, and Martin Short will look to answer that question when Only Murders in the Building returns later this year. Luckily, we already know where the story begins. Lester, the building’s doorman, was murdered during Oliver (Short) and Loretta’s (Meryl Streep) wedding at the end of season 4. Newcomers along to help solve—or deter—the case in season 5 include Logan Lerman, Beanie Feldstein, Keegan-Michael Key, Renée Zellweger, and (hopefully!) another appearance from Paul Rudd.

The Apple TV+ drama starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon will gain three amazing new additions to the cast in season 4, including Marion Cotillard, Greta Lee, and Aaron Pierre. Artificial intelligence seems like the big topic for the fourth season. As the logline reads, “In a world rife with deepfakes, conspiracy theories and corporate cover-ups—who can you trust? And how can you know what’s actually real?"

Netflix has been in sore need of an Ozark-style crime drama ever since drama aired its series finale. Thankfully, Jason Bateman—who won an Emmy Award in 2019 for his work on the series—returned to the streamer to do exactly that. Black Rabbit stars Bateman and Jude Law (!) as brothers entrenched in the New York City restaurant industry and... quite a bit more than that. Think The Bear meets Ozark. To us, that means one thing: Appointment viewing.

Ethan Hawke will star in a new FX series this fall loosely based on Oklahoma historian and activist Lee Roy Chapman, who published an investigation in 2011 that revealed Tulsa’s secret historical connection with the Ku Klux Klan—and forced the Oklahoma City to rethink much of its founding history. The Lowdown is helmed by Sterlin Harjo (Reservoir Dogs). The cast also includes Tim Blake Nelson, Kyle MacLachlan, Keith David, rapper Killer Mike, and Tracey Letts.

Gary Oldman will return for a fifth season of his British spy series on Apple TV+, which features the adventures of a group of MI5 rejects relocated to reserve building called the Slough House. Season 5 marks the final season for creator Will Smith, though the show is renewed for two more seasons under new showrunners. Season 5 will follow the plot of Mick Herron’s novel, London Rules, which sees the unit attempting to recover after a string of random terrorist attacks.

You're telling us that Hulu is giving Chad Powers—the Eli Manning skit where he donned a costume and hustled a bunch of college chumps with his skills—the Ted Lasso treatment? And it stars Glen Powell in the Eli Manning role? And Steve Zahn as the coach? Well, my friend, I would tell you that I'm in.

Henry Cavill may no longer be the White Wolf, but there's still muscle in Netflix's high fantasy adventure. Liam Hemsworth takes over as the new Geralt of Rivia, who is separated from Ciri and Yennefer while the Continent is engulfed in a horrible war. The Witcher is set to end with its fifth season, making season 4 a must-watch for fans to see Geralt ride off into the sunset.

The threat of plane crashes is a major fear in the world today—just ask The Rehearsal. Well, Apple TV+ thought of an even scarier scenario. What if a plane crash accidentally let loose a whole bunch of incarcerated inmates? That’s the premise behind The Last Frontier, a new series coming to the streamer this fall starring Jason Clarke as the Alaskan U.S. Marshal tasked with rounding them back up.

Just when you thought the nightmare was over, It: Welcome to Derry dares you to witness the beginning. A prequel to Andy Muschietti's It (2017) and It: Chapter Two (2019), It: Welcome to Derry takes place in early 1960s Maine to follow a Black family as they move into a white suburb. But hostile neighbors aren't the only evil in town, as the origins of Pennywise the Clown (reprised by Bill Skarsgård) are finally revealed. With Andy and Barbara Muschietti on board as executive producers, there's trust the dark magic of the It films are still present, floating down below.

We've long waited for the iconic TV creator Vince Gilligan to step out of the world he built in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. We'll finally see Gilligan embrace life outside New Mexico in Pluribus, a mysterious new sci-fi series that stars Better Call Saul's Rhea Seehorn. Details on the project are scarce, but here's the logline, per Apple TV+: "The most miserable person on Earth must save the world from happiness."