The New Shows of the 2025 Summer TV Season

It wasn't long ago that the summer meant you could throw your TV out the window for a few months, because there was nothing worth watching from June to August. But the streaming era has made television a year-round business, and in 2025, some of the best new shows of the year are coming out during the warmer months. 

This year, the new TV shows of the summer include familiar shows — Dexter, Outlander, The Terminal List — expanding with spin-offs, famous franchises getting new TV shows (you've seen Alien, but have you seen that alien... on Earth?), and even that rare unicorn in the business: the original idea! Even if it's about zombies or another reckless agent doing things his own way.

But rather than have you watch every show to see if it feels new to you, we've rounded up the new shows coming out this summer that are worth keeping an eye on. Now go forth and find your next favorite TV series!

ALSO: The most anticipated TV shows of the summer

This unsettling three-part docuseries will make you think twice about who you choose to handle your meat suit when you shuffle off this mortal coil. David Sconce ran the Lamb Funeral Home in Pasadena, Calif., in the 1980s, and eyebrows were raised when he was cremating more than 10 times the amount of bodies as his rivals. Well, that's because he was mutilating corpses and performing mass incinerations, handing off a collection of ashes from multiple bodies to those who paid to memorialize their loved ones. And that's just the start. Sconce, recently released from prison, is featured prominently in the series in candid interviews that will give you the creeps.

Premieres Sunday, June 1 at 9/8c on HBO and Max

Look who's quack! Err, back! Willie and Korie Robertson show off their flock and new roost in this spin-off of the wildly popular reality series Duck Dynasty. The series' launch is bittersweet as Robertson patriarch Phil Robertson died in May.

Premieres Sunday, June 1 at 9/8c on A&E

Owen Wilson plays a washed-up golf pro whose road back to legitimacy hinges on the swing of a young golf prodigy whom he takes under his wing. It's Caddyshack meets Ted Lasso, kind of. Marc Maron, Judy Greer, and Peter Dager also star. 

Premieres Wednesday, June 4 on Apple TV+

Kristin Cavallari, of Laguna Beach and "I married Jay Cutler" fame, has a lot to talk about, apparently. So she's got a podcast! And she's taking that podcast on a live tour! And she's bringing cameras along to film a docuseries about taking that podcast on a live tour! Honestly, I would do the same if my life were remotely interesting. 

Premieres Wednesday, June 4 at 10/9c on Bravo and E!

Long submerged secrets come ashore in this Australian drama about a man who returns to his hometown where, 15 years earlier, he was involved in an incident that resulted in two people drowning and another going missing. 

Premieres Friday, June 6 on Netflix

TLC is known for its own brand of programming, and the new docuseries Virgins fits right in. The show follows a quartet of people in their 30s and 40s who are still holding onto their V-card but looking to lose it. It could be an awkward situation, but having four men follow them around with huge cameras should help!

Premieres Monday, June 9 at 9/8C on TLC

Is "citizen journalists" just a nicer way of saying "conspiracy theorist"? Find out in this Hulu thriller that follows a group of "citizen journalists" who uncover a vast shadow government conspiracy around the world. 

Premieres Tuesday, June 10 on Hulu

Podcaster Alex Cooper, who created the wildly popular sex advice podcast Call Her Daddy, is the subject of this two-part docuseries that follows Cooper's rise to media mogul.  

Premieres Tuesday, June 10 on Hulu

The Dutch miniseries Families Like Ours is the first dive into TV for Thomas Vinterberg, who was nominated for an Oscar for the 2020 film Another Round. The story follows a mass evacuation event in Denmark due to rising sea levels, turning an entire country into refugees. While the wealthy have fewer issues relocating, the poor are forced to rely on government assistance moving to more challenging destinations. 

Premieres Tuesday, June 10 on Netflix

The success of The Traitors has other networks jumping on the social reality competition bandwagon, and Fox's entrant is this Jim Jefferies-hosted show in which the best manipulator walks away with a ton of cash. It sounds like the twist here is that instead of voting on who to kick out, players are saved one by one until the last person is eliminated.

Premieres Tuesday, June 10 at 9/8c on Fox

Wynonna Earp fans, saddle up: Melanie Scrofano stars in this eerie adaptation of Tim Seeley and Mike Norton's graphic novel about a small Wisconsin town where the dead come back to life, not in decaying flesh zombie form, but pretty much how they were when they died. Scrofano plays a cop trying to make sense of it all — and solve all the murders that happen.

Premieres Thursday, June 12 at 10/9c on Syfy; Thursday, June 19 on Peacock

It's right there in the title: Who in the flip is Jason Porter? Well, he's a con man who preyed on older women and their flush bank accounts with the promise of romance, only to empty their safes and move on to the next target. This two-part docuseries follows some of his victims who fought back to bring him to justice.

Premieres Friday, June 13 on Prime Video

Lions and tigers and bears, bye-bye! Ryan Reynolds narrates this docuseries that highlights the animal kingdom's second-rate citizens, those who aren't the glory hogs on the top of the food chain. Each episode of Underdogs looks at unique behaviors — mating strategies, questionable parenting styles, and more — among meerkats, hairy frogfish, mad hatterpillars, and others. This is a nature show for us weirdos.

Premieres Sunday, June 15 at 9/8c on National Geographic, June 16 on Hulu and Disney+

The creators of the cult Canadian horror series Slasher are back with this eight-episode series about 10 true-crime influencers invited to the reopening of a hotel that was the site of a grisly mass murderer. While there, the guests are picked off one by one, with each kill more gruesome than the last. Eric McCormack stars.

Premieres Tuesday, June 17 on Shudder and AMC+

This adaptation of E. Lockhart's 2014 novel follows the extended Sinclair family, a wealthy clan who owns an island near Martha's Vineyard. Following a tragic accident when she was 15 that left her unable to remember what happened, eldest granddaughter Cadence (Emily Alyn Lind) revisits the island on her 17th birthday, where she and her friends — dubbed "The Liars" — recall what happened. And guess what? It wasn't good.

Premieres Wednesday, June 18 on Prime Video

TV legend Kevin Williamson (Dawson's Creek, The Vampire Diaries) created this tense drama about the Buckleys, a powerful family in the fishing and restaurant industries that rules a coastal North Carolina town. But after the patriarch (Holt McCallany) suffers a heart attack, they need to dip into unscrupulous methods to stay afloat. It's Ozark meets Outer Banks meets Bloodline.

Premieres Thursday, June 19 on Netflix

Marvel's new series focuses on one of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever's breakout characters, Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), aka Ironheart, a young genius who builds a suit of armor like Tony Stark's Iron Man. There's a tech vs. magic theme in the series, as Riri goes up against The Hood (Anthony Ramos), who uses dark magic.

Premieres Tuesday, June 24 on Disney+

Jensen Ackles has a new show! Jensen Ackles has a new show! Jensen Ackles has a new show! The Supernatural star leads this new thriller about an LAPD detective (Jensen Ackles!) who gets recruited to a task force to solve the murder of a DHS officer, and naturally it culminates in millions of lives in danger.

Premieres Wednesday, June 25 on Prime Video

The team behind Apple TV+'s excellent miniseries Black Bird reunite for Smoke, an adaptation of the podcast Firebug, in which an arson investigator (played by Taron Egerton in the series) and a detective (played by Jurnee Smollett in the series) track down a pair of serial arsonists. 

Premieres Friday, June 27 on Apple TV+

Already released in Europe last year, Nautilus hits American shores via AMC this summer. It's a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea prequel, providing the origin story for Captain Nemo (Shazad Latif), a seafaring explorer who uses his submersible to exact revenge on the East India Mercantile Company.

Premieres Sunday, June 29 at 9/8c on AMC

OK, this is weird: All the Sharks is a reality competition in which shark experts battle to photograph the most sharks by diving into various underwater locales around the world. The main prize? $50,000 for the charity of their choice. The other prize? Not being eaten. 

Premieres Friday, July 4 on Netflix

Survivors of harrowing experiences and natural disasters tell their stories of making it out alive against all odds in this docuseries from NBC News. The first episode covers Hurricane Ian, which devastated Cuba, Florida, and the Carolinas in 2022, and other episodes cover the Maui wildfires, the Amtrak 501 train derailment, and the sinking of the Costa Concordia. 

Premieres Monday, July 7 at 10/9c on NBC

Charles Dance (Game of Thrones) stars as an aging Michelangelo as the legendary artist looks back on his rivalries with Leonardo Da Vinci and Raphael in this three-part series from the BBC. Battling for clout and commissions like painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, these three masters wrestled with political upheaval and changing ideologies while trying to outdo each other. 

Premieres Tuesday, July 8 at 9/8c on PBS

Netflix already proved that love is blind, but what about creating the next musical supergroup? Is that blind, too? Building the Band is a singing competition in which aspiring artists are cordoned off from each other, and the only way for them to judge other competitors and decide whether they want to collaborate with them is to listen to — but not see — them perform. Noted musicians who were part of lab-created groups — Nicole Scherzinger, Kelly Rowland, and the late Liam Payne — serve as judges. 

Premieres Wednesday, July 9 on Netflix

In Michael Connelly's TV universe, good cops get shows titled after their surname. The Bosch spin-off Ballard follows Maggie Q's LAPD detective Renée Ballard as she catches bad guys, both on the street and in her own department. Keep your eyes peeled for Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver), who will be popping up here and there in the series.

Premieres Wednesday, July 9 on Prime Video

Scott Westerfeld's 2009 steampunk novel Leviathan gets anime-ized for Netflix in this new series. Set in an alternate timeline in 1914 during World War I, Leviathan follows a pair of teens looking to change history while Germany and Austro-Hungarians use mechanized war machines to fight the British, who employ genetically engineered creatures to battle. Fans of the book are already praying that Netflix doesn't mess this up.

Premieres Thursday, July 10 on Netflix

In this social experiment (read: reality show), normal families are blasted back to the past of covered wagons and westward expansion to see if they can hack the simple life. Three clans live like 1880s homesteaders, forgoing modern tech while attempting to survive by building shelter, raising livestock for food, and *gulp* going No. 2 without any plumbing. 

Premieres Thursday, July 10 at 8/7c on Magnolia Network and Max

The headline is "new show from Girls creator Lena Dunham," but the real draw to Netflix's new comedy Too Much is Hacks scene stealer Meg Stalter. Stalter plays a New Yorker who takes a new job in London, where she forms an unusual connection with a local lad (Will Sharpe). 

Premieres Thursday, July 10 on Netflix

In 2022, the unexplained murders of four University of Idaho students rattled the country. This four-part series details the tragic crime and the horrific aftermath, as told by the families and friends of the victims. 

Premieres Friday, July 11 on Prime Video

How do you say "pissed off and fed up" in Spanish? Find out in this series from Spain, which follows five women who share an unusual bond over connected incidents they're involved in. The trailer hints that they all end up in some wellness retreat to manage their emotions, and it doesn't go smoothly. Well-known Spanish actresses Carmen Machi, Candela Peña, Cecilia Roth, Nathalie Poza, and Pilar Castro star.

Premieres Friday, July 11 on Max

The Dark Passenger is calling shotgun again. Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) returns for a third Dexter spin-off, this one following up on the sequel series Dexter: New Blood, in which Dexter almost died at the hands of his son Harrison. Resurrection sees Dexter head to New York City to look for his missing son, while Angel Batista (David Zayas) is in pursuit.

Premieres Friday, July 11 on Paramount+ with Showtime and Sunday, July 13 at 8/7c on Showtime

Stephen King and Jack Bender (Lost) executive produce this spooky thriller about a facility — some might call it an "institute" — with a secret agenda: to kidnap teenagers with supernatural abilities. Mary Louise Parker, Ben Barnes, and Joe Freeman star. 

Premieres Sunday, July 13 at 9/8c on MGM+

Peacock is extending the life of its popular reality dating franchise Love Island USA by following some of Season 6's most popular contestants when they aren't in the villa and are going about their "regular lives" in Los Angeles. Let's all give Peacock its flowers for being pro-recycling. 

Premieres Sunday, July 13 at 9/8c on Peacock

This twisty three-part true crime docuseries recounts the 1998 missing persons case of Amy Bradley, who vanished while on a cruise ship vacation with her family in the Caribbean. Though some theories include her falling overboard, years later, some witnesses claimed to see her alive and well abroad. 

Premieres Wednesday, July 16 on Netflix

This four-part true crime docuseries recounts the 2018 incident known as the "Furry Zoosadist Leaks," which exposed horrifying animal abuse among a few members of the otherwise warm Furry community. Members of the community took it upon themselves to investigate the crimes and deliver justice. 

Premieres Thursday, July 17 at 10/9c on Sundance TV, Sundance Now, and AMC+

Take a hike! And while you're at it, solve a murder. Eric Bana stars as a National Parks Service special agent investigating the mysterious death of a young woman in Yosemite. Was it an accident? Was it an animal attack? Before he figures that out, he'll have to confront his own traumatic past, obviously. The six-episode murder mystery comes from American Primeval creator Mark L. Smith and his daughter, Elle Smith. 

Premieres Thursday, July 17 on Netflix

Piano dude Billy Joel is the focus of this two-part extensive look into the life of the musician from Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin, the creative team behind Jane Fonda in Five Acts. Episode 1 starts with this childhood and follows his early career, while Episode 2 covers The Nylon Curtain to the present. 

Premieres Friday, July 18 at 8/7c on HBO and HBO Max

Entrepreneur Marcus Lemonis gives professional advice to small businesses at a crossroads in this business reality series. 

Premieres Friday, July 18 at 8/7c on Fox

The Hunting Wives, an adaptation of May Cobb's book of the same name, was originally set up at Starz, but Netflix has now scooped up the rights to the series. Set among the elite in East Texas, the thriller follows a woman who befriends the titular group of wives; shootin', jealousy, and murder ensue. Brittany Snow, Malin Akerman, Dermot Mulroney, and Chrissy Metz star.

Premieres Monday, July 21 on Netflix

Based on Esi Edugyan's 2018 novel of the same name, Washington Black is a globe-spanning coming-of-age story. Unlike the book, the limited series is split between two timelines, with the first following the young George Washington "Wash" Black (Eddie Karanja) as he escapes enslavement in Barbados and travels the world with the plantation owner's brother, Titch (Tom Ellis). The series also jumps ahead to find an older Washington (Ernest Kingsley Jr.) living in Nova Scotia, where he's mentored by town leader Medwin Harris (Sterling K. Brown), a Black refugee with his own traumatic past. -Kelly Connolly

Premieres Wednesday, July 23 on Hulu

This critically acclaimed British drama already came out across the pond, but now it's coming to America. Code of Silence stars Rose Ayling-Ellis as a deaf woman who is hired by the police for her lip reading abilities to help with a case against a gang. But despite her critical role in the investigation, she becomes drawn to one of the gang members.

Premieres Thursday, July 24 on BritBox

The sci-fi classic War of the Worlds gets updated for the post-pandemic era with a TV series that looks like it was filmed mostly over Zoom. Ice Cube stars as a Homeland Security cyber-security expert who begins to question what the government is hiding during an alien invasion. Prime Video didn't announce the series until four days before its premiere date, which is a very, very bad sign.

Premieres Wednesday, July 30 on Prime Video

Mediocre-but-incredibly-successful sitcom genius Chuck Lorre (The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men) created this comedy starring Leanne Morgan as a 60-year-old woman who restarts her life after her husband leaves her for a younger woman. Sounds like a sitcom premise to me!

Premieres Thursday, July 31 on Netflix

When Jason Momoa takes on a passion project, he really commits. Momoa learned Olelo Hawai'i, the Hawaiian language, to star in Chief of War, a series he co-created and executive produced with Thomas Pa'a Sibbett; he also directed the finale. The show, which features a predominantly Polynesian cast, is a historical epic about the unification of Hawaii, following the warrior Ka'iana (Momoa) as he tries to unite the islands before Western colonization in the late 18th century. -Kelly Connolly

Premieres Friday, Aug. 1 on Apple TV+

The A24-produced four-part true crime series The Yogurt Shop Murders take a deep look into the 1991 murders of four teenage girls at an I Can't Believe It's Yogurt shop in Austin, Tex. that remains unsolved decades later. But the pain of the lives lost remains, and the series pays as much attention to the grief the families and community still contend with as it does the details of the mystery.

Premieres Sunday, Aug. 3 at 10/9c on HBO and HBO Max

This four-episode animated anthology series is set in the fictional country from Black Panther and follows various warriors throughout Wakanda's history as they go on quests for Vibranium artifacts. And for Marvel completionists, it's the first TV series of Phase Six of the MCU, coming out less than two weeks after The Fantastic Four: First Steps. 

Premieres Wednesday, Aug. 6 on Disney+

Tubi is throwing a lifeline to this sci-fi comedy that was originally set to air on AMC back in 2023. The free streamer will now debut the series, which stars Okieriete Onaodowan as a man who uses experimental reality-building technology to try to become a better person.

Premieres Thursday, Aug. 7 on Tubi

Welcome to Necaxa! This sports docuseries from Eva Longoria in partnership with Welcome to Wrexham's Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac follows Longoria as she tries to bring prestige back to Club Necaxa, one of Mexico's oldest and most stories soccer teams.

Premieres Thursday, Aug. 7 at 9/8c on FXX

How does the epic romance Outlander expand its franchise with a spin-off? With another epic romance, natch. The prequel Blood of My Blood, which isn't based on an existing Diana Gabaldon novel, follows the love stories of Jamie's and Claire's parents in the early 18th century Scottish Highlands and WWI England, respectively. Don't expect time travel, but do expect timeless love. 

Premieres Friday, Aug. 8 at 8/7c on Starz

One of the most exciting or terrifying (depending on who you are) experiences of a particular type of young woman's life is rush, when college ladies vie to join the forever sisterhood of a sorority house. Just like everything else in our lives, these days the process to get in to Greek life is absurd, and this reality series follows young women as they subject themselves, and their overly eager moms, to the whims of power-tripping college seniors picking their favorites to join their Stepford-esque status.

Premieres Monday, Aug. 11 at 10/9c on Lifetime

It was only a matter of time before the Alien franchise got the TV treatment. Alien: Earth, which is written and directed by Fargo's Noah Hawley, functions as a prequel to the first Alien film, chronicling what happens in the aftermath of the mysterious deep space research vessel USCSS Maginot crash-landing on Earth. Out of that research vessel comes a discovery that forces a group of tactical soldiers to contend with a dangerous threat. And if you know anything about the Alien movies, you probably have an idea of what that threat is. -Allison Picurro

Premieres Tuesday, Aug. 12 at 8/7c on FX and Hulu

Daniel Dae Kim stars as a spy on the run in this adaptation of the 2015 graphic novel by Arash Amel and Marguerite Bennett. Kim's character finds himself pursued by an assassin after a choice he made years ago comes back to bite him in the behind. It was filmed in South Korea and features dialogue in both Korean and English. 

Premieres Wednesday, Aug. 13 on Prime Video

Remember the transformative power of NBC's weight-loss competition The Biggest Loser? Well, it wasn't always looser pants and success stories, and this three-part docuseries examines the good, bad, and complicated that went into creating the show.

Premieres Friday, Aug. 15 on Netflix

John Grisham is gonna make it rain on USA Network, which returns to exclusive original scripted programming after a short break. Grisham's 1995 novel The Rainmaker — which was previously adapted into a 1997 film — gets the TV treatment with John Slattery suiting up as a big shot lawyer challenged by a legal newbie (Milo Callaghan) who uncovers conspiracies related to the death of his client's son. Episodes will also stream on Peacock a week after they air on USA.

Premieres Friday, Aug. 15 at 10/9c on USA Network (Aug. 22 on Peacock)

Did you know that before adults spent hundreds of dollars on LEGO Millennium Falcons, LEGO was meant... for kids? This spin-off of LEGO Masters has kids competing to make a bunch of cool stuff out of the toy bricks, and is hosted by Kelly Osbourne. 

Premieres Monday, Aug. 18 at 8/7c on Fox

How 'bout them Cowboys!?!? How 'bout a docuseries 'bout them Cowboys? Netflix's relationship with the Dallas Cowboys — please watch the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders docuseries America's Sweethearts, it's very, very good — continues with this four-episode series examining the Jerry Jones era of the team, which won three Super Bowls in the 1990s after Jones was ripped to shreds by locals for firing legendary coach Tom Landry and bringing in Jimmy Johnson. It does not talk about how the team is essentially a joke now, though.

Premieres Tuesday, Aug. 19 on Netflix

The best reason to watch the docudrama The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox (it obviously isn't for the title) is that Amanda Knox is an executive producer, allowing her to tell her story of how she was wrongfully convicted of the murder of her roommate in Italy. Tell Me Lies' Grace Van Patten stars as Knox.

Premieres Wednesday, Aug. 20 on Hulu

BoJack Horseman was one of the great TV shows of the past 10 years, which makes us especially excited about Raphael Bob-Waksberg's new animated series, Long Story Short. Netflix hasn't released many details about the series, but so far we know that the animated comedy (likely thing for Bob-Waksberg to make) will follow a family through the years, jumping around from childhood to adulthood and back again. The voice cast includes Abbi Jacobson, Max Greenfield, Nicole Byer, Dave Franco, and Ben Feldman. -Allison Picurro

Premieres Friday, Aug. 22 on Netflix

Prime Video's The Terminal List came out almost three years ago, but before we get a Season 2, we're getting a prequel spin-off. (This is how TV works now, apparently.) Dark Wolf focuses on Taylor Kitsch's Ben Edwards as he goes from Navy SEAL to the CIA's special ops, and, in keeping with the flagship's theme, will focus on the human cost of warfare with an emphasis on authenticity. Chris Pratt, star of The Terminal List, will make an appearance in Dark Wolf.

Premieres Wednesday, Aug. 27 on Prime Video

More TV things:

• The complete guide to summer TV
• Our most anticipated shows of the summer
• The best movies on Max
• The best movies on Netflix
• The best movies on Prime Video
• The best movies on Hulu
• The best movies on Peacock