Winter TV Preview 2026: Inside Must-Watch New and Returning Shows From ‘Bridgerton’ to ‘The Traitors’

The winter of 2026 delivers a dazzling lineup of returning hits and fresh premieres — from Bridgerton’s Cinderella season to The Traitors’ Scottish skulduggery and The Pitt’s July 4th ER drama. This is your ultimate guide to everything you need to know before the season begins.

The winter TV schedule is overflowing with highly anticipated premieres and returns including Y: Marshals, Bridgerton, Best Medicine and more.

Based on Julia Quinn‘s book series, each season of Bridgerton focuses on a different member of the titular family as they attempt to find love in 19th-century London. The hit Netflix show is expected to have eight seasons based on the eight novels written by Quinn about each Bridgerton sibling.

Season 4 is based on An Offer From a Gentleman, which is centered around the love story of Benedict (Luke Thompson) and Sophie (Yerin Ha).

Y: Marshals is a new addition to the Yellowstone universe. Peacock is bringing back another season of The Traitors, and HBO’s The Pitt is scrubbing in for a July 4th shift.

Midseason 2026 TV Schedule: See When ABC’s ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ CBS’ ‘Y: Marshals’ and More Shows Air

‘Worst Cooks in America: Reality Check’ (Food Network)

Among the latest kitchen failures: Salt Lake City Housewife Lisa Barlow, The Challenge’s CT Tamburello and Dancing With the Stars’s Val Chmerkovskiy. (January 4)

‘Best Medicine’ (Fox)

Based on the British series Doc Martin (IYKYK), this dramedy transplants a Boston heart surgeon (Josh Charles) to a tiny town. The curmudgeon is welcomed with whoopie pies and a lack of protocol — he can’t wait to leave. (January 4/6)

‘The Rookie’ (ABC)

Field trip! L.A. cop John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) and the team go to Prague, with villainous ginger Monica Stevens (Bridget Regan) in tow. (January 6)

‘Harlan Coben’s Final Twist’ (CBS)

The mega mystery writer presents some tales of true crime. (January 7)

‘The Masked Singer’ (Fox)

Season 14 celebrates the Spice Girls and Clueless, and costumed competitors include Eggplant and the Croissants. (January 7)

‘The Traitors’ (Peacock)

Alan Cumming spirits more stars, including Lisa Rinna and Donna Kelce, away to the Scottish Highlands for skulduggery. (January 8)

‘The Valley: Persian Style’ (Bravo)

Yes, it’s a mashup of The Valley and Shahs of Sunset. (Reza! GG! MJ!) (January 8)

‘The Pitt’ (HBO)

Season 2 of this freshman hit starts with a 10-month time jump as dedicated ER doc Robby (Noah Wyle) clocks in for a shift on July 4 weekend. It’s also when resident Langdon (Patrick Ball) returns to work following a rehab stint — and after Tracy Ifeachor’s exit as Collins. (January 8)

‘Girl Taken’ (Paramount+)

Alfie Allen, a.k.a. Theon Greyjoy, oozes creepy as a kidnapper/teacher. (January 8)

‘Industry’ (HBO)

After Kit Harington joined last season, the drama set in London’s financial world has signed on more stars we love: Kal Penn, Stranger Things’ Charlie Heaton, Kiernan Shipka and The Handmaid’s Tale’s Max Minghella. (January 11)

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ (ABC)

In a role created just for her, Jamie-Lynn Sigler guest-stars as Dr. Laura Kaplan, a urologist who — like Sigler — is living with multiple sclerosis. She comes to Grey Sloan to share her expertise with surgeon Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) on a case. (January 15)

‘Ponies’ (Peacock)

The former Daenerys Targaryen, Emilia Clarke, pairs up with Haley Lu Richardson (The White Lotus) in Ponies. Widowed in 1977 Moscow, they seek answers as secretaries at the U.S. Embassy. (January 15)

‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight’ (HBO)

More Game of Thrones! Baratheons and Targaryens abound here, a century before our first glimpse of Westeros, but the names to watch are “Dunk” (Peter Claffey) and “Egg” (Dexter Sol Ansell). Their knight-and-squire adventures are comical yet bursting with courage. (January 18)

‘The Beauty’ (FX)

Guest stars such as Bella Hadid help put over a bold concept: A virus — transmitted sexually — can make you hot but then mess you up. Dead models draw the FBI (Evan Peters and Rebecca Hall), who start to look at Ashton Kutcher’s billionaire. (January 21)

‘Steal’ (Prime Video)

Sophie “Sansa Stark” Turner plays an office drone caught up in a major steal. (January 21)

‘American Idol’ (ABC)

The gang’s back together! (January 26)

‘Bridgerton’ (Netflix)

It’s a true Cinderella season for the beloved period piece. Benedict Bridgerton (Thompson) is smitten with a mystery lady at a masquerade ball — yet also attracted to maid Sophie (Ha). He just needs to connect the dots. (January 29 and February 26)

‘Summer House’ (Bravo)

The hijinks continue with Kyle Cooke, Amanda Batula, Lindsay Hubbard, Carl Radke and more. (February 3)

The Olympics (NBC and Peacock)

Start laying in the I-can’t-look-away-for-one-second supplies to get you through the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympic Games. There’s lots of Team USA talent skiing, skating and sledding toward a medal or even a “moment.” (February 6 to 22)

‘The ’Burbs’ (Peacock)

With a nod to Tom Hanks’ 1989 horror-comedy, Keke Palmer and Jack Whitehall play young marrieds who move into his childhood home. Too bad a new neighbor prefers secrets to the proverbial cup of sugar! Still, we’ll visit any cul-de-sac with Paula Pell (Girls5eva) and Mark Proksch (What We Do in the Shadows)! (February 8)

‘CIA’ (CBS)

Despite shakeups in front of and behind the camera, CBS and Dick Wolf are pros at this sort of crime drama. Nick Gehlfuss (Chicago Med) and Tom Ellis (Lucifer) star as the classic odd-couple colleagues — one from the FBI; the other, the CIA. (February 23)

‘The Voice: Battle of Champions’ (NBC)

A trio of winning coaches — Kelly Clarkson, Adam Levine and John Legend — go to war. (February 23)

‘The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins’ (NBC)

A Venn diagram of 30 Rock fans and Potterheads would reveal a crazy-excited overlap of viewers for this sitcom. From Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, Reggie charts the image rehab of an NFL pro (Tracy Morgan) by a respected documentarian (Daniel Radcliffe). (February 23)

‘Scrubs’ (ABC)

The irreverent docs of Sacred Heart first entered our TV lives a quarter of a century ago! And call it a medical miracle, but the bromance between J.D. (Zach Braff) and Turk (Donald Faison) is as healthy as ever, though they haven’t scrubbed in together in a while. For John C. McGinley, a.k.a. Dr. Cox, reviving the show was easy: “Like riding a bike. Like falling out of bed. We’ve all stayed close over the years.” Sarah Chalke and Judy Reyes also return, with new faces such as SNL vet Vanessa Bayer, Loot’s Joel Kim Booster — and a whole slew of interns. (February 25)

‘Survivor 50’

The milestone season brings in a celeb presence (Jimmy Fallon, Billie Eilish) and our favorite player ever, The White Lotus creator Mike White. (February 25)

‘Love Story’ (FX)

The short-lived but eternally sparkling romance between John F. Kennedy Jr. (Paul Anthony Kelly) and Carolyn Bessette (Sarah Pidgeon) — killed in a 1999 plane crash — plays out in a Ryan Murphy limited series. Whether you aim to scrutinize or get swept away, you can’t not watch. (February)

‘Y: Marshals’ (CBS and Paramount+)

Yellowstone rides again in this latest spinoff, roping in Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton. Let’s not forget he has Navy SEAL experience to supplement his cowboy skills as he joins the U.S. Marshals in Montana. On his team: And Just Like That’s Logan Marshall-Green and Rescue: HI-Surf’s Arielle Kebbel. (March 1)

‘Outlander’ (Starz)

Ye ken this is farewell, right? It’s the final season for soulmates Claire (Caitríona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan). (March 6)

‘Scarpetta’ (Prime Video)

“I can’t even tell you how many millions of people have bought these books!” Jamie Lee Curtis tells Us of Patricia Cornwell’s rich 29-title thriller series. Nicole Kidman stars as forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta. (Curtis is sister Dorothy.) Dr. Scarpetta seems infallible, but a 28-year-old case casts some doubts. (March 11)

‘The Comeback’ (HBO)

Note to self: We do need to see this! Here’s another worth-while revival, with Lisa Kudrow reprising her role of actressy actress Valerie Cherish for a third and final season. (March)

‘Rooster’ (HBO)

National treasure Steve Carell! In this comedy set on a college campus, fiction author Greg Russo (Carell) can’t fix every problem life is throwing like hand grenades at his adult daughter (Charly Clive). Scrubs pros Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses are running the show and keeping the laughs coming. (March)

Want more? Dive deeper into what’s coming next season across every network — from exclusive cast reveals to premiere dates — only trustedinfo.com has you covered. Don’t miss a single twist, turn or tear-jerker.