AARP’s 10 Favorite TV Shows of 2026 (So Far)

‘The Comeback,’ ‘The Pitt,’ ‘Love Story’ and ‘Paradise’ are among our top picks

Chris Nashawaty,

AARP

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Published May 27, 2026

a collage with images from tv shows paradise, shrinking, hacks, the pitt, dark winds and the comeback

(From left) Sterling K. Brown in “Paradise,” Harrison Ford and Jason Segel in “Shrinking,” Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder in “Hacks,” Noah Wyle in “The Pitt,” Zahn McClarnon in “Dark Winds,” and Lisa Kudrow in “The Comeback.”

AARP (Shutterstock; Hulu/Courtesy Everett Collection; Apple TV+/Courtesy Everett Collection; HBO Max/Courtesy Everett Collection, 2; AMC/Courtesy Everett Collection; HBO/Courtesy Everett Collection)

With summer quickly approaching, it’s time to take stock of all the great shows that held us in their glow so far this year, from fizzy comedies and white-knuckle medical dramas to thrilling debuts and returning favorites. Every show on our list is streamable, and we’ve even told you where to check them out (and you should!). So without further ado, here are AARP’s 10 best shows of the first half of 2026.

Noah Wyle as Dr. Robby in “The Pitt.”

HBO Max/Courtesy Everett Collection

The Pitt, Season 2 (HBO Max)

There was every reason to think the peak era of the medical drama was over. After all, it’s been more than 21 years since Grey’s Anatomy premiered, and 16 since ER signed off. Then along came this gripping tick-tock procedural starring ER veteran Noah Wyle, 54, as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, a harried everyman in scrubs trying to hold down the chaotic triage unit at a fictional Pittsburgh teaching hospital. The show’s colorful characters and crises felt tense and real. Our faith in the genre was restored. Season 2 avoided the dreaded sophomore slump and has only deepened everything we love about this series. It’s about an empathetic look at life, death and doing the best you can, one patient at a time.

Where to watch: The Pitt

paul anthony kelly and sarah pidgeon in a scene from love story

Paul Anthony Kelly as John F. Kennedy Jr. and Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn Bessette in “Love Story.”

Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette (Hulu)

I’m not a big believer in the idea of “guilty pleasures.” If you like something, why should there be any guilt? But this limited series, about the whirlwind tabloid romance and tragic deaths of JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, was the ’90s New York City time capsule we didn’t know we needed. Let’s face it: Life was just better before cellphones and social media. Despite a very high degree of difficulty, Paul Anthony Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon are excellent as the famous and impossibly beautiful couple trying to hold it all together while dodging constant assaults by the paparazzi. Love Story is compelling as both a modern-day Camelot fairy tale and a still-unfathomable tragedy.

Where to watch: Love Story

lisa kudrow in a scene from the comeback

Lisa Kudrow as Valerie Cherish in “The Comeback.”

HBO/Courtesy Everett Collection

The Comeback, Season 3 (HBO Max)

The wait was worth it. Twelve years after going off the air, HBO finally came to its senses and resurrected this delirious, cringe-inducing cult comedy about fame and ambition. Lisa Kudrow’s deadpan portrayal of fading TV star Valerie Cherish is one of pop culture’s small miracles. In the showbiz satire’s third and final season, our barely-hanging-on heroine signs on to star in an AI-created sitcom — and gets panned for it by the public.

Kudrow, 62, remains a seething, slow-burning marvel as Valerie. The role fits her like a glove. Plus, her character’s desperation for fame, relevance and “likes” feels especially relevant in our current Real Housewives era. But make no mistake: The Comeback is first and foremost a brilliant showcase for the former Friends star, who brings genuine pathos and wisdom to a character others would have turned into a one-dimensional loser with a “kick me” sign on her back. The write-in campaign for a fourth season starts now.

Where to watch: The Comeback

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jean smart and carl clemons hopkins in a scene from hacks

Jean Smart as Deborah and Carl Clemons-Hopkins as Marcus in “Hacks.”

HBO Max/Courtesy Everett Collection

Hacks, Season 5 (HBO Max)

It may be the final season of this whip-smart comedy series, but its Emmy-winning star, Jean Smart, 74, seems determined to go out with a bang. Smart’s veteran comedian Deborah Vance is one of the great television creations of the 21st century, even when the show took a bit of a soap opera detour last season.

This time around, Deborah literally comes back from the dead and returns to her former stomping grounds in Las Vegas (along with Hannah Einbinder’s Ava) to claim her rightful showbiz legacy. The laughs and withering one-liners have always come at a fast-and-furious clip in this screwball series, but what continues to make it truly special is how it sprinkles in moments of genuine heart and tenderness between the zingers.

Where to watch: Hacks

wendie malick and harrison ford in a scene from shrinking

Wendie Malick as Dr. Julie Baram, Harrison Ford as Dr. Paul Rhodes, and Christa Miller as Liz in “Shrinking.”

Apple TV/Courtesy Everett Collection

Shrinking, Season 3 (Apple TV)

Turning grief into comedy is a tall order. But the writers’ room on this Apple TV gem makes it look effortless. Jason Segel, who launched his career in the raunchy comedies of Judd Apatow, has matured into a compelling (and occasionally heart-melting) actor on this show. Then again, sharing the screen every day with Harrison Ford, 83, will do that. Personally, I’d argue that Shrinking took a full season to really hit its stride, but in Season 3 it’s humming like a fine-tuned engine, especially as Ford’s Paul Rhoades begins to wrestle with the effects of Parkinson’s. Tune in for the goofy, “doctor-heal-thyself” storylines; stay for the supporting-cast magic of Wendie Malick, 75, and Michael J. Fox, 64.

Where to watch: Shrinking

Enuka Okuma (center) as Dr. Teri Rogers-Collins in “Paradise.”

Hulu/Courtesy Everett Collection

Paradise, Season 2 (Hulu)

The sophomore season of this postapocalyptic drama is even more paranoid and emotionally punishing than the first (in a good way!). What initially looked like a slick political thriller has evolved into something stranger and richer: a mysterious, grief-tinged fever dream about the end of the world. The show’s tense cliffhangers and morally compromised characters (special shout-out to the dazzling Sterling K. Brown, 50, and the brilliant Enuka Okuma) elevate this ambitious and uncompromising series into genuinely haunting television. It reminds me a bit of Lost in that way (a compliment). In Season 2, Paradise doesn’t just expand the mystery; it deepens the tragedy underneath it.

Where to watch: Paradise

Kathy Bates (left) as Madeline Matlock in “Matlock.”

Michael Yarish/CBS

Matlock, Season 2 (CBS, Paramount+)

I’ll be honest: I was a late adopter of this reboot. I think I had a hard time getting past my mothball-scented memories of the corny, case-of-the-week Andy Griffith original. That said, it only took one episode for this update to sink its hooks in me. The irrepressible Kathy Bates, 77, clearly isn’t after the same folksy vibes of the ’90s version (so much seersucker and sun tea!). Instead, she gooses this legal-eagle procedural with kooky charm and cunning, spinning it into something surprising and frisky. If you’re still on the fence about whether to check it out, check it out.

Where to watch: Matlock

billy bob thornton and sam elliot in a scene from landman

Billy Bob Thornton as Tommy Norris and Sam Elliott as T.L. Norris in “Landman.”

Emerson Miller/Paramount+

Landman, Season 2 (Paramount+)

Right now, Taylor Sheridan, 56, is responsible for 97 percent of the shows on TV. OK, not really, but it certainly feels that way, between Yellowstone, Marshals, Tulsa King, The Madison, Mayor of Kingstown … the list goes on. Still, our pick for the current head of the class is Landman. Why? Three words: Billy. Bob. Thornton. No one does seen-it-all swagger quite like Thornton, 70. He plays crisis fixer Tommy Norris, oozing end-of-the-bar cool and scorpion-stinger danger. Demi Moore, 63, adds another layer of intrigue to the show as the widow of oilman Monty Miller (Jon Hamm, 55). Bonus: Sam Elliott, 81, appears as the grizzled T.L. Norris. Sheridan has a real feeling for the shady world of oil money and the dynasties that grow fat as ticks off it. He also knows we love nothing more than to root for a smooth operator in a cowboy hat.

Where to watch: Landman

yerin ha and luke thompson in a scene from bridgerton

Yerin Ha as Sophie Baek and Luke Thompson as Benedict Bridgerton in “Bridgerton.”

Liam Daniel/Netflix

Bridgerton, Season 4 (Netflix)

It’s a good thing Netflix released the latest season of Bridgerton in two finger-sandwich-sized batches. Otherwise, fans of the sumptuous and sudsy Regency-era soap would have had to call in sick the next day, and the entire nation would have ground to a halt. Season 4 lived up to both the hype and the high bar set by Season 3 — and in some ways surpassed it, thanks to the juicier-than-ever romances and rivalries at Mayfair. The highlight? That’s easy: the swoony, Cinderella-inspired arc between Benedict (Luke Thompson) and Sophie (Yerin Ha). The pomp and spectacle of Lady Violet’s masquerade ball made the series feel like an escapist fairy tale again.

Where to watch: Bridgerton

Dark Winds, Season 4 (AMC)

Based on the best-selling novels of Tony Hillerman, this AMC crime procedural puts a fresh life-on-the-reservation spin on a classic law-and-order formula. Zahn McClarnon, 59, stars as Navajo Tribal Police Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, whose backcountry investigations lead him to Irene Vaggan (Franka Potente, 51), a German hitwoman who’s oddly obsessed with him and his culture. The chemistry between the two shoots off some strange and unsettling Fatal Attraction sparks, further proof that this underrated western noir isn’t afraid to jackknife into unexpected directions. TV could use more of that.

Where to watch: Dark Winds

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Chris Nashawaty, former film critic for Entertainment Weekly, is the author of Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story and a contributor to Esquire, Vanity Fair, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.