10 Network TV Shows We're Most Excited About For The 2025-26 Season

The 2025-2026 network TV season has officially kicked off with the debut of NCIS spinoff series NCIS: Tony & Ziva. Over the next two months, most network TV shows will have their season premieres, both returning favorites and brand-new series.

For a TV fan, this is the most exciting time of year other than season finales in the spring. Cliffhangers are about to be resolved, fan-favorite characters are about to return, and some shows will be readying their swan songs. These network TV shows are the ones we are most excited to see during the 2025-2026 TV season.

10

The Neighborhood (CBS)

Season 8 Will Premiere On October 13, 2025

The main cast of The Neighborhood stand on a lawn in a row

The Neighborhood is a sitcom that is very funny, capitalizing on the chemistry among its main cast very well. Max Greenfield and Beth Behrs play a white Midwestern couple who move to a predominantly Black neighborhood in California in the first season. The show uses the fish-out-of-water approach and a culture class to bring on the hilarity.

Though The Neighborhood has not been a ratings powerhouse in the past, it has a respectable seven seasons under its belt, and a spinoff from the show was considered. When season 8 of The Neighborhood was announced, it was also announced as the show’s last.

Going into this season will be bittersweet, then. The writers, cast, and crew all know that this is their last chance to tell their stories and make the audience laugh. It’s the last chance for any storylines the writers might have been saving up for a rainy day, which is what makes it so exciting.

Season 8 is a chance for the characters and the audience to get closure on any remaining plot threads and celebrate an underrated comedy.

9

Memory Of A Killer (FOX)

Season 1 Does Not Yet Have A Premiere Date

Patrick Dempsey as Derek Shepherd in Grey's Anatomy season 11 episode 21 — Patrick Dempsey as Derek Shepherd in a still from Grey’s Anatomy season 11 episode 21.

Memory of a Killer is one of the most exciting shows in development for the 2025 TV season. Though it does not have a premiere date yet, it’s expected to premiere in the spring of 2026.

The premise for the new series is that the main character lives a double life, but the life he knows is suddenly in trouble. That’s because that double life is that of a family man and an assassin. Putting him in danger is the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease, making his own memory the danger.

This is a very unique premise for a network television show, and it would certainly be something more often seen in a movie or miniseries. Fleshing out the full story for a regular television season will be a feat that will interest seasoned TV fans.

The cast of the series is also set to be an impressive one. Patrick Dempsey is the man leading a double life, with Michael Imperioli as his connection to his life as an assassin. It will be a fun and dramatic time watching these two TV drama vets in scenes together.

8

9-1-1 (ABC)

Season 9 Will Premiere On October 9, 2025

Group salute at Bobby's funeral in 9-1-1 — Group salute at Bobby’s funeral in 9-1-1

9-1-1 is already on its second life. The series was originally on FOX before the network decided to let the series go. Luckily for fans and the franchise as a whole, ABC picked the show up.

In some ways, 9-1-1 is a straightforward procedural. The show does, after all, follow a group of first responders as they head out on calls in every episode. It has a case-of-the-week format, but it also delves into the personal lives of its characters, which is part of what makes it so great.

Fans have been able to get to know the large ensemble of characters over the course of 8 seasons. Season 8 saw the show lose a major character in Bobby Nash (Peter Krause) as he died in the line of duty.

While it’s always tragic for a long-running drama to kill off a beloved character, it also serves to give the writers and the cast emotional storylines, from the fallout of grief to the new chapters started by moving on. Season 9 of 9-1-1 will have to move forward after losing such a big part of the show.

It’s bittersweet, but it’s an exciting step forward for the show as new character dynamics and story arcs will come into play in a big way as a result of that loss.

7

Best Medicine (FOX)

Season 1 Does Not Yet Have A Premiere Date

Commander Wharton (Josh Charles) in The Handmaid's Tale Season 6 Ep 9 — Commander Wharton (Josh Charles) in The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6 Ep 9

Like FOX’s upcoming Memory Of A Killer, Best Medicine still does not have a firm spot on the TV schedule. It will likely end up premiering on the network in 2026.

This is one series that remake and revival skeptics might not initially be interested in since it is a remake of a British series. Best Medicine is a remake of Doc Martin, which ran from 2004 to 2022. American remakes of British series can be hit or miss, but shows like The Office prove that the right writers and cast can pull it off.

Best Medicine will see a doctor move from the big city to a small coastal town to practice medicine. In this case, it’s trading in Boston for a fishing village where the doctor vacationed as a kid.

The show has a stellar cast in place already with Josh Charles, a TV drama actor from the likes of The Good Wife and The Handmaid’s Tale, as the main character. Supporting roles will be filled out by Abigail Spencer (Timeless), Josh Segarra (Abbott Elementary), Annie Potts (Young Sheldon), and Cree (Twinless).

Best Medicine will likely stand out from the crowd of medical procedurals by bringing small-town vibes of shows like Gilmore Girls or Virgin River back to network TV.

6

Matlock (CBS)

Season 2 Will Premiere On October 12, 2025

Matty Kingston, Billy Martinez, Sarah Franklin, and Olympia Lawrence in Matlock

Matlock hit the ground running in the first season, and despite its name, it stood out as a series that is not exactly a remake of its predecessor. It also earned Kathy Bates an Emmy nomination.

The legal drama sees Bates play the titular character as she gets back into the business of law, applying at a corporate law firm in order to dig up dirt on the people she believes are responsible for hiding information that could have prevented her daughter from dying of an overdose.

The biggest mystery in season 1 was who hid the information. The season finale brought that answer to the audience, and it also saw at least one person find out the truth about Matty’s investigation.

Solving the big mystery in the first season means that Matlock season 2 needs a whole new mystery to pursue. The show does not have a completely blank slate, but it means we are looking forward to just what’s next for Matty. What is the next step for her?

A fan favorite character was also revealed as the person who hid the documents Matty was looking for, so just how that reveal will play out for the show is one story we all want to see.

5

NCIS: Tony & Ziva (Paramount+)

Season 1 Premiered On September 4, 2025

Boris is upset while Ziva and Tony look serious in NCIS: Tony & Ziva episode 4

Though NCIS: Tony & Ziva does not currently air on network television, it does provide us with a long-awaited spinoff show from a network juggernaut of a procedural. NCIS: Tony & Ziva spins out of the CBS show NCIS, which was the most-watched show on network television for years.

The new series has a more serialized format than the original NCIS series does. While the original relied on a case-of-the-week format, Tony & Ziva sees the titular characters on the run from Interpol and trying to clear their names.

Not only does Tony & Ziva feel like an adrenaline-fueled spinoff of the flagship show, but it’s also centered around a fan-favorite pairing. Tony (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva (Cote de Pablo) were never paired together in their time on the series, but they did have a daughter together, revealed when Tony left the show a few years after Ziva.

The two of them coparenting their daughter and trying to sort out their complicated relationship provides the story that NCIS fans have been waiting on for over two decades. It’s not a matter of Tony and Ziva being a will-they-won’t-they pairing anymore, but a matter of how they will find their way back to each other.

4

9-1-1: Nashville (ABC)

Season 1 Will Premiere On October 9, 2025

Chris O'Donnell as Don Hart in 9-1-1: Nashville — Chris O’Donnell as Don Hart in 9-1-1: Nashville

9-1-1 and its newest spinoff series will be paired together when they premiere for the 2025 TV season on ABC. This is good news for fans of the franchise as a whole since FOX canceled the other spinoff 9-1-1: Lone Star last season.

9-1-1: Nashville will follow the same premise of the original series – following a group of first responders on the job. What is set to make this chapter of the franchise unique, however, is its setting.

Nashville is a city with a rich history of music, not just country, which it is known for today. There are iconic venues in the city which gave many musicians their start. That music and that history will likely play a role in the more personal storylines of the series.

The cast includes NCIS franchise veteran Chris O’Donnell as well as former Grey’s Anatomy star Jessica Capshaw. It also, however, includes established singers like LeAnn Rimes and Hailey Kilgore.

It will be a refreshing change of pace for a first responder procedural if music is as much a character as the cast is.

3

Abbott Elementary (ABC)

Season 5 Will Premiere On October 1, 2025

Janine (Quinta Brunson) and Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) talking in an empty classroom in Abbott Elementary

Abbott Elementary is the best sitcom currently on network television. So many sitcoms of the past 30 years have relied on friend groups living together, exploring the comedy that comes from their personal lives. The last few years have seen a shift in sitcom subjects, and Abbott Elementary makes the most of that shift.

Set in an underfunded Philadelphia school, the series is a mockumentary, following a handful of the teachers who work for the school. While most of the show is set up as a workplace comedy, relying on the situations the teachers end up in because of a lack of funding or the antics of their students, their personal lives also intersect.

Abbott Elementary has found the perfect balance between work and personal lives. It also has laugh-out-loud humor that keeps the audience tuning in and clamoring for more. While it does not have any cliffhangers at the end of season 4, that does not mean the show’s return is not highly anticipated.

Abbott Elementary has two successful couples, teachers shifting to new jobs, and, according to Quinta Brunson, will film at a live event in season 5. That all just means the audience is ready for new episodes.

2

Law & Order: SVU (NBC)

Season 27 Will Premiere On September 25

Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T stand next to each other in Law and Order SVU

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is the longest-running drama on primetime television now. Mariska Hargitay has also played the same character for longer than any other primetime television actor. The show has staying power, but it can be hard to keep a long-running show exciting for audiences.

The same people who first tuned into the Law & Order spinoff in 1999 might not be the same audience the show has today, but season 27 just might bring those original viewers back to the show.

Part of the excitement heading into season 27 is the return of several classic characters from the early seasons of the show. Christopher Meloni, BD Wong, and Dean Winters are all set to return to the show in season 27.

While Meloni has been steadily guest starring in the show because he also leads the Law & Order: Organized Crime series, the other two have not been on SVU in years. Dann Florek, who starred as Captain Cragen for 15 years, also stopped by the set, fueling rumors that he will also return.

The return of so many familiar faces has fueled SVU fan theories of a looming tragedy in season 27. While a tragedy in a series that is already so dark might be hard for fans who have stuck with the show, seeing so many beloved characters from the past is welcome in a show that has been flooded with new faces in recent years.

The first 12 seasons of Law & Order: SVU are often recognized as the best by fans, so it’s also great to know that Michelle Fazekas will be the new showrunner. Fazekas previously wrote for the series during that era of the show’s run.

It certainly feels like SVU season 27 will have a return to its best years.

1

High Potential (ABC)

Season 2 Will Premiere On September 16, 2025

High Potential achieved a rare feat during its freshman season on ABC: the series actually grew its audience throughout. It also climbed the streaming charts as interest in the show grew – and it continues to do so as TV fans wait for season 2 to premiere.

High Potential is inspired by the French series of the same name, but the first season already made enough changes that it is not simply a carbon copy of the original. It still features a fun dynamic among the ensemble and compelling murder mysteries, though.

It also features a unique protagonist in Morgan (Kaitlin Olson), since she is warm and empathetic, but struggles to maintain relationships thanks to her intellect and hyper observation skills. In other series, leads in that vein tend to be cold and off-putting for the rest of the ensemble.

Season 1 also left the audience with two major cliffhangers to resolve – what happened to the father of Morgan’s first child, and will she catch the Game Maker who has targeted her because of her intellect?

The fun of the mysteries is a big hook for High Potential. It will be interesting to see if it can maintain those crafty mysteries and its huge audience in season 2, making it one of the most anticipated returns for the new network TV season.