A Big Week of Premieres Begins

There is something special about fall television.

Yes, the television landscape has changed dramatically. Streaming has made the traditional September-to-May season far less important than it once was, and there is rarely a week anymore without something new arriving somewhere. But September still feels different. Television networks begin rolling out their biggest shows, streaming services bring out some of their most anticipated titles, old favourites return, and suddenly our watchlists become completely unmanageable again.

For television fans, it really is the most wonderful time of the year and if you have been waiting for the 2026 fall season to truly get underway, this is the week. Clear the schedule. Fall TV is back.

Tuesday, September 15

ABC gets the week started Tuesday with a strong one-two punch.

Dancing with the Stars returns for Season 35, bringing another group of celebrities into the ballroom alongside the show’s professional dancers. Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough are back as hosts, while Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough return to the judges’ table. This year, ABC is making the launch even bigger with a two-night premiere event beginning September 15.

Then, following the ballroom at 10/9c, R.J. Decker returns for its second season. ABC has even found a fun way to connect its Tuesday-night lineup, with Dancing with the Stars pros Jenna Johnson and Val Chmerkovskiy making appearances alongside former Mirrorball champion Joey Graziadei in the R.J. Decker Season 2 premiere.

Wednesday, September 16

If Tuesday opens the door to fall TV, Wednesday kicks it off the hinges.

Prime Video expands the Reacher universe with Neagley, putting Maria Sten’s fan-favourite Frances Neagley front and center. The new series finds the Chicago private investigator pursuing answers after someone close to her dies under suspicious circumstances, sending her down a dangerous path in search of justice.

Sten has already made Neagley one of the standout characters in Reacher, so giving her a series of her own feels like a natural expansion rather than a spin-off created simply for the sake of building a franchise. She possesses the intelligence, toughness and wonderfully direct personality needed to carry a story without Jack Reacher standing beside her. For Reacher fans, this is easily one of the week’s biggest premieres.

Over on Paramount+, Tyler Perry enters limited-series territory with Route 187. The thriller follows journalist Mason James as an investigation leads him toward a serial killer connected to a violent city bus route. The four-episode series arrives September 16, offering viewers something that can potentially be devoured quickly amid an increasingly crowded fall schedule.

Photo Credit: Paramount+

Then there is one of television’s most consistently excellent dramas. Slow Horses returns to Apple TV for Season 6, once again bringing Gary Oldman’s brilliantly cantankerous Jackson Lamb and the dysfunctional agents of Slough House back into action. This time, Diana Taverner pulls the team into a deadly game involving retaliation and revenge, with the six-episode season premiering September 16 before continuing weekly.

Of course, maybe international espionage isn’t your preferred form of chaos. Fortunately, Bravo has you covered.

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City returns for Season 7 on September 16, with the women attempting to put their differences aside, an ambition that, given this particular group, probably has a limited shelf life. Bravo promises that established friendships will be tested while unexpected new relationships begin to form.

Thursday, September 17

Ryan Murphy’s Monster anthology returns to Netflix on Thursday, and this time it turns its attention to one of America’s most infamous murder cases: Lizzie Borden.

Ella Beatty takes on the role of Borden, who was accused of murdering her father and stepmother with an axe in Massachusetts in 1892 before ultimately being acquitted. The case has remained part of American true-crime mythology for more than a century, inspiring books, films, television projects and endless speculation about what actually happened inside the Borden home. It is also material almost tailor-made for Murphy’s particular brand of television.

Expect this one to generate plenty of conversation.

Friday, September 18

As if the week wasn’t crowded enough already, Friday brings two major sophomore-season returns.

MobLand is back for Season 2 on Paramount+ after its debut introduced viewers to a dangerous criminal world led by an impressive ensemble that includes Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren. The shows return brings the power struggles, family loyalties and inevitable betrayals back for another round.

The first season’s combination of Guy Ritchie’s crime sensibilities and an absurdly stacked cast gave MobLand an immediate identity. Season 2 now has the chance to deepen those relationships while escalating the consequences of living in a world where family and business are virtually impossible to separate.

Photo Credit: Luke Varley/Paramount+

For viewers looking for something very different, Starz also brings Outlander: Blood of My Blood back for its second season.

The Outlander prequel has given longtime fans the opportunity to explore an earlier generation of the saga, expanding the mythology while retaining the romance, history and sweeping emotional storytelling that made the original series such an enduring favorite. Season 2 arrives with the advantage of an audience that already understands this world but still has plenty to discover about the characters whose stories ultimately helped shape Jamie and Claire’s.

The Best Time of the Television Year Has Arrived 

There was a time when nearly every major television show returned within a few hectic weeks in September. Streaming has changed that forever, spreading premieres across the entire calendar and making the concept of a traditional television season increasingly flexible. But weeks like this prove that fall TV still matters.

In four days, viewers can go from the ballroom of Dancing with the Stars to the crime-solving world of R.J. Decker, follow Frances Neagley into the expanding Reacher universe, return to Slough House with Jackson Lamb, investigate the Lizzie Borden murders with Ryan Murphy, step back into the criminal underworld of MobLand and travel into the past with Outlander: Blood of My Blood. And that doesn’t even account for whatever chaos the women of Salt Lake City have prepared for us.

The hardest part won’t be finding something to watch, it will be finding enough hours to watch all of it. Fall television is officially here and this is only the beginning.