The Most Anticipated Shows of Summer 2025

The weather may be getting warmer, but you're still going to need TV to watch between trips to the beach. We have some suggestions: If you're in the mood for familiar favorites, The Bear, Squid Game, and Wednesday are among the shows premiering new seasons this summer. If you're hoping to get into something new, we're especially excited about shows like the Taron Egerton-starring Smoke; Long Story Short, the new animated comedy from the creator of BoJack Horseman; and the Alien prequel series Alien: Earth. And if you just want to know what's worth keeping your eye on in general, TV Guide has you covered with our picks for the most anticipated shows of the summer.

With a plot as simple as a three-foot putt with no break, Apple TV+'s golf comedy Stick isn't going to dominate the Emmys like Ted Lasso, but its underdog story makes it a familiar-feeling comfort show for those interested in an easy round with nice views. Owen Wilson stars as washed-up golfer Pryce Cahill, who's trying to rebuild his life by taking a young golf prodigy (Peter Dager) under his wing with hopes that he makes the tour and brings in the bucks. Along for the ride are the kid's mom (Mariana Treviño), Pryce's schlubby pal (Marc Maron), and one dog that pees where it wants to. -Tim Surette [Trailer]

Ginny & Georgia, which is all of the following genres — small-town comfort drama, high school dramedy, romance, and murder mystery — is a great example of the Netflix algorithm getting it right. Yet even as it's being pulled in all those directions, it is first and foremost a mother-daughter drama — the show famously referred to itself as "Gilmore Girls with bigger boobs" — focusing on the fractured relationship between Georgia (Brianne Howey) and her daughter, Ginny (Antonia Gentry), after they relocate to a quaint Massachusetts town and cause mayhem. Oh, and Georgia may have killed some people, which is why she was hauled off by the po-po in Season 2's game-changing cliffhanger. Like its protagonists, Ginny & Georgia is A LOT, but watching the series juggle its tones is part of the fun, and that's why it's one of Netflix's most popular shows. -Tim Surette [Trailer] [Everything we know about Ginny & Georgia Season 3 so far]

You wouldn't be wrong to say that The Buccaneers only exists because of the global success of fellow period romance Bridgerton, but Apple TV+ takes the "dames in gowns wooed by snappily dressed chaps" recipe and runs with it, emptying its wallet for its most gorgeous looking series and adding some vibrant YA energy to the formula with anachronistic delight. (No classical covers of pop songs here, just the real things!) Based on the unfinished novel by Edith Wharton and set half a century after Bridgerton, The Buccaneers follows a quartet of young American lasses who storm England looking for husbands, bringing their brash Yankee behavior with them while the stuffy Brits lose their monocles in their Earl Grey. The Season 1 finale was a tile-shattering mic drop, with lead buc Nan (Kristine Frøseth) marrying the less-loved leg of her love triangle for the greater good and becoming a duchess. Leighton Meester joins the cast in Season 2. -Tim Surette [Trailer]

The Waterfront is here to fill the "TV drama about a family fighting for control of their empire" void. Scream writer Kevin Williamson's new series follows the Buckley family, who have spent years dominating their North Carolina town's fishing and restaurant industries. Their territory is threatened as the Buckley patriarch, Harlan (Holt McCallany), recovers from a series of heart attacks, forcing his wife and son to go to dangerous lengths to keep their family afloat. -Allison Picurro [Trailer]

Good news for people who like to watch HBO shows starring Carrie Coon: The Gilded Age is returning for Season 3. The battle between old and new money in 1800s New York rages on, and it's as gossipy and scandalous as ever. Bertha (Coon) and George Russell (Morgan Spector) will continue their ascent to the top of high society, Agnes (Christine Baranski) will have trouble accepting her sister Ada's (Cynthia Nixon) new position as lady of the house, and Peggy (Denée Benton) just might fall in love again. Sounds like The Gilded Age! -Allison Picurro [Trailer]

Dominique Thorne's Riri Williams, who made her MCU debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, is suiting up again in the new limited series Ironheart. An MIT student and brilliant inventor who has created a suit of armor that rivals Iron Man's, Riri returns home to Chicago after the events of the movie and meets Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos), aka The Hood, whose cloak lets him tap into dark magic. When Parker offers to fund Riri's inventions, she'll have to decide how many lines she's willing to cross in order to accomplish something iconic. -Kelly Connolly [Trailer]

For the fourth year in a row, it's going to be a "yes, chef" summer: The Bear is officially set to return for its fourth season in June. If you remember anything about how Season 3 ended, you know Christopher Storer's restaurant dramedy has some explaining to do. The Season 3 finale ended on an ominous "to be continued" as Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) pored over the dreaded review of his troubled restaurant, and Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) toyed with the idea of leaving it all behind in favor of a more lucrative offer. I'm sure it will all be solved in rational and extremely emotionally stable ways. -Allison Picurro [Trailer] [Everything we know about The Bear Season 4]

If you loved the true crime drama Black Bird, add Smoke to your watchlist right now: Dennis Lehane, creator of the 2022 series, is teaming up with Taron Egerton once more. In Smoke, Egerton stars as arson investigator Dave Gudsen, who reluctantly partners with police detective Michelle Calderone (Jurnee Smollett) in order to catch two serial arsonists. Egerton is also credited as an executive producer, and he and Smollett are joined in the cast by Rafe Spall, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Hannah Emily Anderson, Anna Chlumsky, Adina Porter, Greg Kinnear, and John Leguizamo. -Kat Moon [Trailer]

The light's turning green one last time. After the uprising Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) led against the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) was entirely quashed, Player 456 is now forced to play more death games. He's joined by the survivors from last season, including mother-and-son duo Geum-ja (Kang Ae-sim) and Yong-sik (Yang Dong-geun), crypto fraudster Myung-gi (Yim Si-wan) and his pregnant former lover Jun-hee (Jo Yu-ri), and Hyun-ju (Park Sung-hoon), the player hoping to fund her gender-affirming surgery. Squid Game Season 3 is the conclusion to Hwang Dong-hyuk's record-breaking Korean thriller. -Kat Moon [Trailer] [Everything to know about Squid Game Season 3]

One of the most exciting — and totally demented — new anime in years returns for Season 2 this summer to finally (hopefully) explain what those weird old pervy men were doing in that hot spring. Dandadan, a finalist for Best Anime of the Year at Crunchyroll's Anime Awards, tosses sci-fi, horror, romantic comedy, and psychedelia into a blender to tell an X-Files-esque tale about two high schoolers, the spiritual medium Momo and demonically possessed Okarun, who battle supernatural and occult evils, as well as their growing crushes on each other. There's a ton of charm packed into the series, which somehow makes the bonkers plots — the driving story in Season 1 sees the gang trying to recover Okarun's stolen penis and testicles from aliens — feel natural, while surprises await around every corner. But even among the madness, Dandadan can deliver an emotional whopper: Season 1's "To a Kinder World," which reduced viewers to sobbing messes, was one of 2024's best episodes of TV. One bit of caution: Season 1's killer award-winning opening credit sequence is being replaced. Noooooooooo! -Tim Surette [Trailer]

This British sitcom created by Kat Sadler won the BAFTA, the British equivalent to an Emmy, for best comedy in 2024, proving jet-black humor about clinical depression and family dysfunction can be award-worthy. Sadler stars as Josie, a woman struggling with mental illness and her sexual identity, but more so with her single mom Deb (Louise Brealey) and narcissistic sister Billie (Lizzie Davidson). Things get uncomfortable and hilarious very quickly. -Tim Surette [Trailer]

A new season of TV's longest running live-action comedy is always worth highlighting. In its latest go-around, we'll see that Always Sunny-Abbott Elementary crossover from the gang's perspective, and, according to a press release announcing the premiere date, this will also be the show's "corporate" season. The upcoming episodes will tell "the story of how greed and the New American Dream have consumed Paddy's Pub." Considering how normal these five people have historically been about their obsessions, they'll probably be fine! Just kidding, it'll definitely get weird and grotesque. Can't wait. -Allison Picurro [Teaser]

Excellent news for people of a certain age: Girls creator Lena Dunham is finally returning to TV. ("Wait, you forgot about Camping—" No, I didn't.) In Too Much, Dunham's new romantic comedy series, Megan Stalter stars as Jessica, a New Yorker who moves to London after a bad breakup. There, she meets Will Sharpe's Felix, with whom she strikes up a surprising connection. The supporting cast includes Andrew Rannells, Janicza Bravo, Rhea Perlman, and Richard E. Grant. -Allison Picurro

Nothing says summer like the galactic adventures of Lee Pace and Jared Harris. Apple's adaptation of Isaac Asimov's supposedly unfilmable book series got off to a famously complex start in its first season, but in its second season, Foundation dialed up the fun, becoming the kind of sci-fi spectacle that's worth the investment. Season 3 picks up 152 years after Season 2 (and you thought waiting two years between seasons was a drag), when the Foundation is on the rise as the Cleonic Dynasty's Empire is dwindling. But a new threat is on the horizon in the form of the warlord known as The Mule, who was played by Mikael Persbrandt in Season 2 but will now be played by Game of Thrones' Pilou Asbæk. Oscar winner Troy Kotsur and Emmy winner Cherry Jones also join the cast. -Kelly Connolly [Teaser]

Team Jeremiah celebrated at the end of The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2 when Belly (Lola Tung) chose to be with the younger Fisher brother (Gavin Casalegno) instead of Conrad (Christopher Briney). But how long will our joy last? If we know anything about the love triangle in the series based on Jenny Han's trilogy, it's that it's always changing and ever unpredictable. We're joining Belly as she follows her heart one last time in the third and final season of the Prime Video drama. -Kat Moon [Teaser] [Everything to know about The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3] 

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 left off with Captain Pike (Anson Mount) facing a difficult decision: save the Enterprise crew members who were captured by hostile Gorn forces, or follow Starfleet's orders and retreat. A clip from New York Comic-Con promises that the prequel series will deliver on that cliffhanger, while a teaser hints at everything from an Agatha Christie-style whodunnit episode to a '60s-set adventure to Rhys Darby. -Allison Picurro [Trailer] [Everything we know about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3]

Based 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 

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. The stories behind the scenes are also worth digging into; previewing the series for GQ, Momoa and Sibbett discussed their unique casting process — including recruiting taro farmer Kaina Makua to play Kamehameha without an audition — and bringing in cultural advisors for every department. And for the record, Game of Thrones fans: Momoa says that learning Olelo Hawai'i was much harder than mastering Dothraki. -Kelly Connolly [Teaser]

Wednesday Season 2 is coming, and the excitement is very much alive for a show that's all about death — and Wednesday Addams' (Jenna Ortega) fascination with death. Created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar and executive produced by Tim Burton, the Netflix series is promising to return bigger and better, with new cast members including Steve Buscemi, Billie Piper, Joanna Lumley, Thandiwe Newton, and Christopher Lloyd — and even an appearance by Lady Gaga as a legendary Nevermore teacher. -Kat Moon [Trailer] [Everything to know about Wednesday Season 2]

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. -Tim Surette

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 [Trailer] [Everything we know about Alien: Earth]

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. -Tim Surette

Peacemaker fans are nothing if not good at waiting. The last time we saw John Cena's titular antihero was in 2022, but he and his gang of misfits are finally set to return in August. While James Gunn has remained tight-lipped on details, we do know that the second season will apparently connect Peacemaker to the new DC Universe. And while the first teaser does indeed show Chris auditioning for a new super-team run by Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn), Season 2 remains linked to the defunct DC Extended Universe in at least one way: Peacemaker will be forced to atone for his murder of Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) in Gunn's The Suicide Squad when Flag's father, played by Frank Grillo, shows up to avenge his son. -Allison Picurro [Teaser] [Everything we know about Peacemaker Season 2]

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

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