The Ultimate Guide to What to Watch on Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, HBO Max, and More in July 2026

If you’re looking for something to watch between trips to the beach this July, we’ve got you covered. Early in the month, the Legally Blonde prequel series, Elle, hits Prime Video to tell us all about our favorite future lawyer’s teenage years; Jennifer Garner takes some friends on a girls trip in Peacock’s The Five Star Weekend; and Will Ferrell takes on the world of golf in Netflix’s The Hawk. Fans of The Big Bang Theory can check out the spin-off series Stuart Fails to Save the Universe on HBO Max, while fans of FX’s Adults can check out a special standalone episode on Hulu before the comedy returns for Season 2 in August.

Our guide to the best TV and streaming movies in July is divided into three sections: the best shows to watch this month, the best shows to watch by streaming service, and a calendar of TV highlights. Whatever you’re looking for, you’ll find it below.

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The best shows to watch in July

Elle (July 1, Prime Video)

It’s time for Elle to approach the bench. Before Elle Woods (played here by Lexi Minetree) was an outsider at Harvard Law, she was an outsider at a high school in Seattle, which she starts attending after her father’s (Tom Everett Scott) new job moves their family from their very swanky, very pink life in Bel-Air. We’re rooting for this Legally Blonde prequel series, which has the very unenviable task of trying to match the energy of the beloved 2001 Reese Witherspoon film. What, like it’s hard? –Allison Picurro [Trailer]

The Five Star Weekend (July 9, Peacock)

Your classic summer beach read in TV form, The Five Star Weekend adapts Elin Hilderbrand’s 2023 novel of the same name. And like the last show based on a Hilderbrand book (Netflix’s The Perfect Couple), it’s going all in on star power, which is fitting, given the show’s title. Jennifer Garner plays Hollis Shaw, a cook and best-selling author reeling from a tragedy that shatters her picture-perfect facade. Looking for a way forward, she invites friends from different stages of her life to spend the weekend at her house on Nantucket, where not everything goes as planned. D’Arcy Carden, Gemma Chan, Regina Hall, Chloë Sevigny, Harlow Jane, and Timothy Olyphant also star. –Kelly Connolly [Trailer]

Lucky (July 15, Apple TV)

Anya Taylor-Joy is on the run in this new crime thriller adapted from Marissa Stapley’s 2021 book about a young grifter named Lucky (Taylor-Joy) dodging feds while trying to track down the boyfriend — well, ex-boyfriend now — who stole her illegally obtained millions. The adaptation comes from action specialist Jonathan Tropper, whose name you might not know, but whose work, including the high-octane Banshee and bone-crunching Warrior, you should. The cast also features Timothy Olyphant as Lucky’s father, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as the FBI agent after Lucky, and Annette Bening as the mob boss who wants her money back. –Tim Surette [Trailer]

The Hawk (July 16, Netflix)

To you, the person who begged the streaming gods to see Will Ferrell throw a fit in a bunker on a golf course: Your prayers have been answered. Ferrell heads to Netflix as the star of The Hawk, a comedy about former golf pro Lonnie Hawkins (Ferrell) trying to make it back on the tour more than 20 years after his peak to complete the career grand slam. Standing in his way are his golfer son (Jimmy Tatro), ex-wife (Molly Shannon), an old rival (Luke Wilson), and Hawkins’ aging body. –Tim Surette [Trailer]

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe (July 23, HBO Max)

Big Bang Theory spin-offs are a varied bunch. They’ve been set in the late 1980s as a single-camera coming-of-age sitcom, the mid-1990s as a multi-camera family sitcom, and now, all over the space-time continuum with Stuart Fails to Save the Universe. Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman), owner of the Comic Center, leads the cast of characters in this sci-fi comedy in which Stuart, Bert (Brian Posehn), Denise (Lauren Lapkus), and Barry (John Ross Bowie) get into multiverse shenanigans. –Tim Surette [Trailer]

Furious (July 27, Hulu)

Elizabeth Meriwether is taking a hard turn away from her days as the creator of New Girl with this crime thriller starring Shameless‘ Emmy Rossum as an FBI agent hunting down a female serial killer (Lola Petticrew). It sounds like one of those “two sides of the same coin” type of dramas, as both women have their own moral codes and interpretations of what’s right and wrong despite being on opposite sides of the law. But the real question is: Will they play a game of True American? –Tim Surette [Trailer]

Adults special episode (July 31, FXX and Hulu)

The FX series Adults, the latest hangout comedy following a group of Gen Z pals, is getting a head start on Season 2 with this special standalone prequel episode that goes into the origins of the friend group and specifically focuses on Paul Baker (Jack Innanen). Season 2 will premiere on Aug. 27. –Tim Surette [Trailer]

What’s on Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, Prime Video, and more in July

Netflix’s best new shows and movies in July

The forecast for Netflix in July is a heat dome of new releases, starting with Will Ferrell’s new comedy The Hawk, in which the Saturday Night Live veteran plays an aging golf pro trying to reignite his career in a last-ditch effort to complete the grand slam. If that sounds a little too city slicker-ish to you, Netflix also has a pair of pastoral programs to get you back in the saddle. Early in the month, a new adaptation of Little House on the Prairie settles in, and at the end of the month, Season 2 of Ransom Canyon debuts. Enola Holmes 3, starring Millie Bobby Brown as Sherlock Holmes’ sister, leads the slate of original movies coming to Netflix in the month of July. But don’t count out the plucky Heartstopper Forever, which wraps up the series with a feature-length movie. Licensed highlights include Christopher Nolan’s Memento, Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, and Wicked: For Good. And on the licensed TV series side, sink your teeth into the complete series of Hannibal or dive into the fourth season of Dark Winds. Here’s our list of the best shows and movies on Netflix in July, plus everything coming to and leaving Netflix in July.

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HBO Max’s best new shows and movies in July

HBO Max’s biggest TV premiere in July is, in fact, a Big Bang Theory spin-off. Were you hoping for Old Sheldon, or maybe Even Younger Sheldon? Too bad! It’s Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, a new series about Kevin Sussman’s titular comic book store owner entering the multiverse. And if that’s not your thing, new episodes of House of the Dragon air every Sunday night. On the movies end, HBO continues its partnership with A24 this month. Coming to HBO Max in July are the Zendaya-Robert Pattinson dark comedy The Drama and the Sofia Coppola-directed documentary Marc By Sofia, in which she interviews her longtime friend, the designer Marc Jacobs. The Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk, starring Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson, also hits the streaming service this month. Here’s our list of the best shows and movies on HBO Max in July, plus everything coming to HBO Max in July.

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Hulu’s best new shows and movies in July

Hulu’s July — which should be called Huly, c’mon Hulu — is mellow in terms of noteworthy new releases, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to watch. Once you’re done gorging on the final course of The Bear, which is served on June 25, you’ll have a wide variety of highlights to choose from, from the toe-tapping competition of Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro to the gripping drama of new series Furious to the Gen Z comedy of Adults. On the movies side, the action-horror Ready or Not 2: Here I Come makes its streaming debut on July 2, and Twi-hards note: The Twilight films hit Hulu at the top of the month. And for you agoraphobic music lovers, Hulu will stream the Lollapalooza festival at the end of the month live from Chicago. Here’s our list of the best shows and movies on Hulu in July, plus everything coming to Hulu in July.

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Amazon Prime Video’s best new shows and movies in July

Prime Video in July is all about the ladies. The month kicks off with one of the streamer’s biggest new releases of the year in Elle, a prequel to Reese Witherspoon’s Legally Blonde that follows a young Elle Woods as she breaks boundaries by wearing pink in a 1990s Seattle high school (and doing all the other things that help people not judge a book by its cover). There’s also the action buddy comedy Ride or Die, which stars Octavia Spencer as a woman who discovers her best friend (Hannah Waddingham) is a professional assassin. And if Prime Video seems a little more chatty in July, it’s because it’s bringing on all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls following the cult series’ departure from Netflix. Here’s our list of the best shows and movies on Amazon Prime Video in July, plus everything coming to Amazon Prime Video in July. 

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Peacock’s new shows and movies in July

Cheers to a summer of good streaming, and on Peacock, Jennifer Garner is raising a glass to her new show The Five Star Weekend. The drama is an adaptation of the 2023 book by Elin Hilderbrand, whose novel The Perfect Couple was adapted into a Netflix hit. Garner will be joined by famous friends D’Arcy Carden, Gemma Chan, Regina Hall, Chloë Sevigny, Harlow Jane, and Timothy Olyphant in this story about a group of friends who get together for a weekend retreat where not everything goes as planned. Also headed to Peacock are the streaming debuts of the billion-dollar-earning The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and the romance film Reminders of Him, the Love Island USA Season 8 finale, the series finale of Brilliant Minds, more FIFA World Cup action via Telemundo, and PGA’s Open Championship, better known as the British Open. Here’s our list of everything coming to Peacock in July.

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Paramount+’s new shows and movies in July

Boldly go where Star Trek has only gone for three seasons before, as Star Trek: Strange New Worlds returns for Season 4 on July 23. It’s the highlight of Paramount+’s new shows and movies in July, which kick off on July 3 with the Season 1 finale of the streamer’s big hit Dutton Ranch. Also coming to Paramount+ this July is Season 2 of Diarra From Detroit, the critically acclaimed BET+ crime-comedy that’s now a Paramount+ exclusive following the shutdown of BET+, which began in June. The end of the month will also see the Season 19 finale of Criminal Minds: Evolution and the series finale of The Chi. Here’s our list of everything coming to Paramount+ in July.

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July TV calendar highlights

July 1
Elle (Season 1, Prime Video)
Enola Holmes 3 (Film, Netflix)

July 8
Trying (Season 5, Apple TV)

July 9
Big Brother (Season 28, CBS)
The Five Star Weekend (Season 1, Peacock)
Little House on the Prairie (Season 1, Netflix)
The Man Will Burn (Docuseries, HBO)

July 12
The Westies (Season 1, MGM+)

July 13
Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro (Season 1, ABC)

July 15
Lucky (Limited Series, Apple TV)
Nation’s Dumbest (Season 1, Fox)
Ride or Die (Season 1, Prime Video)

July 16
The Hawk (Season 1, Netflix)

July 17
Heartstopper Forever (Film, Netflix)
They Fight (Film, Hulu)

July 20
King of the Hill (Season 15, Hulu)

July 23
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Season 4, Paramount+)
Stuart Fails to Save the Universe (Season 1, HBO Max)

July 24
72 Hours (Film, Netflix)
The Dink (Film, Apple TV)

July 26
President Curtis (Season 1, Adult Swim)
The Walking Dead: Dead City (Season 3, AMC)

July 27
Furious (Season 1, Hulu)

July 29
Diarra From Detroit (Season 2, Paramount+)

July 31
Adults (Standalone Episode, FXX and Hulu)