From giant crab men to searing satire, here's the best TV of 2026 so far

There's never been a more difficult time to keep up with TV shows. It feels like every day new streaming services enter the market, raise their prices or just change their names completely.

Add in the regular stressors of everyday life and it's hard to find the time to commit to a 10-episode show only to realise on episode six that it kinda stinks.

So we've done the heavy lifting, siting through dozens of 2026 series to bring you the best new TV of the year so far.

Widow's Bay

It's been almost seven years since Apple TV entered the streaming war, and one thing has become apparent: the studio is great at making bespoke shows but terrible at telling the world about them.

Which is how Widow's Bay, the best show of the year slid into our lives in late April, quietly waiting for the audience to discover its unearthly delights. And boy did they. Within weeks there were glowing reviews, with everyone from Guillermo del Toro to Jonathan Bailey singing the praises of the hybrid horror-comedy.

Created by former Parks and Recreation writer (and perhaps more importantly, the genius behind the Babadook at the adult halloween party tweet), Katie Dippold, Widow's Bay is like you took a misty Stephen King horror mystery and shook it up with your favourite workplace comedy. Mayor Tom (Matthew Rhys, slapstick master) is desperate to rehabilitate Widow's Bay's reputation from creepy New English island (with rumours of settler cannibalism) to the hottest new yuppie holiday destination.

Tom manages to fan some of the smoke away from the fire he's hiding but the island has other plans, as its haunted past returns to chase people away from its shores. The first half of the season has an almost monster-of-the-week feeling, with a sprinkle of side-splitting cringe comedy. Episode four 'Beach Reads' is nothing short of a revelation, when socially ostracised council worker Patricia's (Kate O'Flynn, give her the Emmy now!) determined efforts to throw a successful cocktail soiree are mortally derailed by a possessed party book.

From there the show ramps up its overarching lore — including why no one born on the island seems to be able to leave — but never loses its office comedy charm. Jump on it now before you're the person who waited until season two to watch Severance.

Velvet Winter

Where to watch: Apple TV

Saturday Night Live UK

In 2026, no television show had more of an uphill battle than Saturday Night Live UK. A British version of a beloved American comedy institution which has, admittedly, waned over the years? You may as well do a British remake of The Simpsons!

On paper it sounded like a terrible idea, which is why at every turn in the lead up to the April premiere audiences and critics alike were frothing at the mouth for its failure.

Then after the first couple of weeks, in one of the biggest displays of crow-eating seen this year, critics and commentators were forced to admit SNL UK was kinda good? Not perfect by any stretch — there were some clunky sketches and wobbly hosts, but that's nothing new for SNL, broadly. But the admittance from the public that SNL UK was even a little bit enjoyable was akin to the show being lifted in Bacchanalian celebration.

The praise falls squarely on the cast and writers, who worked with incredible speed and precision to not only solidify the tone of the show but establish moments that made you want to talk about: Jack Shep's coy Princess Diana, Hammed Animashaun as the worlds most truthful junket interviewer, Emma Sidi's shopping channel host baffled at why her fingers have become gnarled but cracking on with it, Paddy Young and Ania Magliano's wall-crashing chemistry as Weekend Update anchors - the list goes on!

A special shoutout must go to MVP George Fouracres who swung from Keir Starmer to David Attenborough to oppressed Mario without breaking a sweat. The comedian is also responsible for the funniest (and most catchy) 45 seconds of TV this year.

SNL UK feels fresh and boundary-pushing at a time where SNL US is content with the same Trump impressions and stock sketches they've been wheeling out for the last 10 years.

Velvet Winter

Where to watch: HBO Max

The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins

Fans of fast-paced, pop-culture laden, joke-a-second sitcoms like 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt might seem like a relic of a more optimistic time but writers Robert Carlock and Sam Means have been pumping out genuine gems like Great News and Girls5eva only for them to slip quietly onto Netflix with nary a peep, despite glowing reviews and the occasional awards recognition.

Well now Carlock and Means have served up another hit with The Rise and Fall of Reggie Dinkins, which was all but impossible to watch in Australia until a few weeks ago. They've been trying to keep a buddy comedy starring Tracy Morgan and Daniel Radcliffe away from us!

Morgan plays the titular Reggie Dinkins, a once-lauded football star blacklisted after a gambling scandal. He tasks Arthur Tobin (Radcliffe), an Oscar-winning documentarian fresh off a green-screen-blockbuster-induced breakdown, with creating the doco that will get Reggie into the NFL Hall of Fame.

Like most of his projects, Morgan is a big, friendly octopus extending his impeccable comedic skills like tentacles to lift up anyone with whom he shares a scene. Whether that be Arthur, his entrepreneur fiancee Brina (Precious Way), manager ex-wife Monica (Erika Alexander) or his live-in best friend Rusty (Bobby Monighan, never not landing a joke).

Like with many shows from the creators, The Rise and Fall of Reggie Dinkins prioritises laughs-per-second above all else, but they always make sure to leave a little room for the humanity of their characters — they're ridiculous but you also want the best for them.

Velvet Winter

Where to watch: 7 Plus

Always Was Tonight

From The Panel to Rove Live to Sam Pang Tonight, Australian TV has a proud legacy of late night talk shows. But what we don't have (at the moment, RIP Tonightly) is a completely satirical late night show a la John Oliver or Stephen Colbert. This is my bid for Always Was Tonight to be that show.

The 30-minute special has been seared into my mind since it hit screens on January 26 this year. Tony Armstrong is an excellent pseudo-news anchor, with his years as an ABC News Breakfast darling giving him the perfect cadence to land the the broadcast desk updates, and deal with any guest that might pop by (Megan Wilding as a lisping Rainbow Snake affected by the cost-of-living crisis is particularly side-splitting). Staffed by an incredible writing team including Wilding, Yaraman Thorne, Aaron Collins, Jay Wymarra and Dave Woodhead, the jokes are incredible but you could sit on mute reading the relentless ticker tape of one liners and still have a great time.

But then you'll be missing Always Was Tonight's greatest strength: its ability to embed powerful messaging in entertainment. In closing the special, Armstrong highlighted the plight of Indigenous children in custody with a chilling rendition of I Still Call Australia home.

In an incredible twist of irony, the ABC received dozens of concerns over the wellbeing of the children being pretend spit-hooded (all cleared; the ABC Indigenous team is VERY good at its job), completely side-stepping the fact there are real children who are being threatened with the same treatment.

Bring Always Was Tonight to series now!

Velvet Winter

Where to watch: ABC iview

Honourable mentions: Tip Toe (Binge), Homebodies (SBS), Scrubs (Disney+)

Margo's Got Money Troubles

Margo (Elle Fanning; The Great) wants to be a writer, and she reckons she's pretty good at it. Studying at community college, she believes her teacher when he tells her she could get published. So, she sleeps with him. Loudly and repeatedly.

She discovers she's pregnant and he's married with kids — and resolves to keep the baby and raise it on her own, bringing chaos to her sharehouse, where she lives with her friend Susie (Thaddea Graham; Sex Education) and two other young women.

But parenthood isn't as easy as Margo thought it would be, even though her mother Shyanne (a deliciously not-maternal Michelle Pfeiffer) warned her.

Especially when everyone but Susie moves out (actually though, who can blame them?) — and her previously absent, former wrestler, drug addict father Jinx (Nick Offerman; Parks and Recreation) moves in.

Unable to continue in her job as a waitress, Margo turns to OnlyFans, putting her half-finished creative writing course to use and even finding an unexpected community of other adult content makers.

This bubblegum-y comedy-drama from David E Kelley (Ally McBeal; Big Little Lies), based on a book by Rufi Thorpe, is unflinching in its portrayal of the struggles of young motherhood, teacher-student power dynamics, and class.

But its strength goes beyond authenticity and roundly good performances from its all-star cast. It's about families — both chosen and not — and how it takes a village to raise a child.

Hannah Story

Where to watch: Apple TV

Dog Park

Unlike the rest of the characters in ABC TV's Dog Park, Leon Ford (The Letdown) as the middle-aged curmudgeon Roland does not seem to particularly like his dog.

Instead, he seems to think his dog is pretty annoying — an extra piece of work he has to do in the absence of his wife, Emma (Brooke Satchwell; Dear Life), who has moved to America for her dream job, leaving Roland with his teenage daughter Mia (Florence Gladwin).

More annoying are his dog's "friends" and their owners, who meet up in a Melbourne park most days. Among this group of well-meaning oddballs, who share an easy companionship but little else, is Samantha (Celia Pacquola; currently competing on Taskmaster), whose unfailingly positive attitude is at odds with Roland's dedicated misanthropy, as he clutches onto any and every petty gripe.

Will Samantha — and a pack of dogs — be able to help Roland become a better man? Or even just enjoy life again?

And will Ford — also the series' co-creator, who earned his chops as a writer on Love Me and Offspring — return with a second season and an answer to the will-they-won't-they kinda-sorta-friendship-romance of the first?

If you like your TV laidback, charming and brimming with images of dogs frolicking through a park, you'll probably be happy spending some time in the Dog Park.

Hannah Story

Where to watch: ABC iview

The Killings at Parrish Station

The horror TV wave (Widow's Bay; The Boroughs; From) has finally made it to Australia — and it's perhaps the best Australian TV show we've seen this year.

It's so exciting to see an original scripted drama on our screens, instead of the deluge of book-to-TV adaptations decision-makers have grown to rely on (after all, everything is IP).

The Killings at Parrish Station, from first-time creator Ben Jenkins (ABC TV's The Checkout), is compelling and original, combining a murder mystery with horror elements across two timelines.

In 1987, detectives Georgia (Mia Wasikowska; Leviticus) and Michael (Xavier Samuel) arrive at a research station in the remote desert, where four scientists have been killed in gory — and seemingly otherworldly — ways.

In the present, another officer involved in the original case, Millie (Doris Younane; Five Bedrooms), investigates a string of seemingly copycat murders. She enlists a hitherto institutionalised Georgia (Heather Mitchell; The Narrow Road to the Deep North) to help her figure out what is really going on.

The trail in both timelines leads to the owner of the station, Callum Parrish, whose sinister affect is embodied in the 80s by Nic English (Ten Pound Poms) and the present by Alan Dale (The OC).

The series is at times genuinely hair-raising and bound together by the assured performances of Mitchell, who elevates everything she's in; Robert Taylor as modern-day Michael (Territory); Wasikowska and Samuel, who share an often wryly funny intimacy.

Hannah Story

Where to watch: Stan

Tip Toe

The on-screen image that has stuck in my brain this year is of legs swinging from a telephone pole in a suburban Manchester street. It's a graphic lynching; terror made ordinary — which feels like it can't be the opening and devastating conclusion of a show set today.

Tip Toe, from Russell T Davies (AIDS drama It's a Sin), tells the stories of next-door neighbours Leo (Alan Cumming; The Good Wife), the owner of a local gay club; and Clive (David Morrissey; also fantastic this year in crime drama Gone), a struggling electrician, who can't hide his distaste for either queer people or the migrants he believes are stealing his livelihood.

While they've lived beside each other for years, Leo and Clive only become entwined in each other's lives — seemingly against their will — after the former finds himself locked outside, mostly naked, and goes to Clive and his family for help.

Cumming's performance holds the show together, offering glimpses of the hard-won queer community he built and nurtured over decades, including the young people who face cultural challenges distinct from those of her forebears. At the same time, Tip Toe humanises Clive, whose gruff exterior barely hides a frustrated, fragile man.

Both of them can't seem to reach across the chasm of their differences to say the things they need to say or to make themselves understood. But only one of them is emboldened to an act of chilling violence. Searing, gripping television.

Hannah Story

Where to watch: Binge

Honourable mentions: Alice and Steve (Disney+); Gone (Stan); Kylie (Netflix); Make that Movie (HBO Max); Rooster (HBO Max); Run (Binge).

Vote for your favourite show below

Did any of these TV shows make your list? We'd love to hear what you think is a show of the year contender below by voting in our poll.

We've added a few more notable titles into the mix as well.