The Must-Watch TV Shows in September
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by Josh Rosenberg
September is a massive month for TV—and not just because Chad Powers returns to the screen. The 2026 Emmy Awards take place this month on September 14, with The Pitt, Pluribus, Widow’s Bay, and even more excellent TV shows competing for the top awards. Fun fact: The annual awards show will take place on a Monday night this year. I’ll take it!
Outside of the awards, we’ll still carry on our coverage of Lanterns, Lanterns, Lioness, and Ted Lasso throughout the month as well. Elsewhere, September is full of several popular British crime dramas making their return, including Slow Horses, MobLand, and Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen. There are also a few bizarre new concepts for TV ahead, such as a Willy Wonka-themed competition series on Netflix and a meta-comedy starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson playing themselves on Apple TV. (And did we mention Chad Powers is back?!)
For everything else we’re planning on watching this month, follow along below.
Chad Powers (Season 2)
Glen Powell’s bumbling and awkward Chad Powers returns for season 2 this month, as the disgraced football player doubles down on his fake persona in pursuit of a collegiate national championship title. Assistant coach Ricky knows his identity now, and it’s on her to help keep his secret. But as the ruse continues, it’s only going to become more difficult for Powell’s Russ Holliday to survive what Ricky calls “the worst scandal in sports history.”
Release date: September 3 (Hulu/Disney+)
The Gentlemen (Season 2)
The Gentlemen stars Theo James as Duke Eddie Horniman, who operates a massive UK marijuana empire complete with all the Guy Ritchie-isms fans have come to expect from the gritty filmmaker. “This chapter sees a deliberate expansion, both geographically and thematically, as we journey from the English countryside to the Italian lakes,” Ritchie told Netflix. “Eddie and Susie find themselves navigating an increasingly volatile empire as they’re besieged on all fronts by an influx of enigmatic new players.”
Release date: September 3 (Netflix)
The Paper (Season 2)
The Toledo Truth-Teller won a journalism award at the end of The Office spinoff’s first season, so I expect that notoriety to go to everyone’s heads in season 2. Domhnall Gleeson’s Ned Sampson is also now in a secret relationship with Chelsea Frei’s Mare Pritti, which is sure to drive the staff—including Sabrina Impacciatore’s hilarious Esmeralda Grand—up the walls of the Ohio paper company.
Release date: September 9 (Peacock)
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Tom Hardy in MobLand season 2 / photo by: Paramount+ |
Neagley
Fresh off the heels of Reacher’s fourth season on Prime Video, his friend Frances Neagley begins her official spinoff series this month, aptly titled Neagley. The side story follows Frances as she investigates the death of a friend who was involved in a suspicious car accident. Plus, I wouldn’t rule out a guest appearance from Reacher himself.
Release date: September 16 (Prime Video)
Slow Horses (Season 6)
The latest round of episodes for Apple TV’s British spy thriller starring Gary Oldman will serve as the show’s first season with showrunner Gaby Chiappe (The Beast Must Die). Creator Will Smith left the series following season 5, but that doesn’t mean that the series is anywhere near finished. Slow Horses is already renewed for season 7, with season 6 set to explore the return of Olivia Cooke’s (House of the Dragon) character, Sid Baker.
Release date: September 16 (Apple TV)
South Park (Season 29)
South Park is looking to hit the season 30 milestone as fast as they can—so much so that Seasons 27 and 28 were split into five-episode arcs last year as creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone renegotiated their contract with Paramount. But Parker and Stone hit at Donald Trump with AI nudity and a sexual relationship with Satan so heartily in season 28 that the series reached heights not seen since South Park’s heyday. Expect Season 29 to drive the knife in even deeper.
Release date: September 16 (Paramount)
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story
Some very dedicated performances aside, it’s often tough to find meaning in these types of gruesome and exploitative serial killer shows. The same goes for Lizzie Borden, who was tried and acquitted of murdering her father and stepmother with an axe in 1860. Netflix, curiously, describes Borden as “an icon who refuses to live imprisoned in a cage, choosing instead to forge her own legend.” Still, every Ryan Murphy show generates a good amount of buzz. The latest stars Ella Beatty as Borden, with Charlie Hunnam and Rebecca Hall playing Lizzie’s parents.
Release date: September 17 (Netflix)
MobLand (Season 2)
MobLand has one of the best casts on TV. Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, and Helen Mirren star in this London gangster thriller as a family trying to take over London’s criminal empire. Reports initially suggested that Hardy ruffled a few feathers off-screen while filming the new season, but the Venom star is officially back for more chaos this go-around.
Release date: September 18 (Paramount)
Brothers
Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson star as fictional versions of themselves in an upcoming comedy series where their characters find out that they’re actually brothers. The meta-comedy plays on the long-standing joke, with Brothers set to portray an alternative reality where it’s true. We’ll see what in the hell that even means when Brothers debuts at the end of the month.
Release date: September 23 (Apple TV)
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Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey joke that they're related on Apple TV's Brothers / photo by: Getty Images |
The Continuing Adventures of the Esquire Entertainment Desk |
Friday Night Lights and American Evil director Peter Berg gave Esquire an exclusive first look at his new World War II drama, The Mosquito Bowl. The story follows a football game that was held on Guadalcanal, in the South Pacific, where Allied forces established a base of operations that helped turn the tide of the war. The film stars Nicholas Galitzine, Bill Skarsgård, Ray Nicholson, and Tom Francis, who all spoke about their characters in our first-look here.
Rockstar Games unveiled its first major preview of Grand Theft Auto VI on Thursday. Bryn Gelbart wrote what he thought of the showcase, which aired exclusively on Netflix, and what it means for the biggest video game release of the decade. Read about his thoughts here.
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An exclusive first look at Peter Berg's The Mosquito Bowl. / photo by: Kane Skennar/Netflix |
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The Cliff-Hanger's Winners and Losers of the Week |
Winner: Anyone Alive to See 2046
Dolly Parton recorded a secret song on a CD before her death. She placed it in a time capsule (along with a CD player) located in Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. It will be opened on what would have been her 100th birthday on January 19, 2046. In her 2020 visual memoir, Parton joked, “Hopefully, it will play and the whole thing ain’t rotted."
Loser: The Dog Stars
There isn't much love for Ridley Scott's new post-apocalyptic film starring Jacob Elordi. The $80 million film opened to just $8 million domestically following poor reviews, and it landed incredibly low on our ranking of Scott's filmography. Read here to find out which film took the top spot.
Winner: Carlos Alcaraz's New Look
The former US Open champ will hit the tennis courts debuting a new look this year: long hair. Fans much prefer the new style to last year, when Alcaraz shaved his head. Fellow tennis player Frances Tiafoe put it best when he said, simply: "The long hair is fire."
Loser: John Stewart's Dad
Not the Daily Show host. We're talking about Aaron Pierre's character on Lanterns. The Green Lantern in-training suffered through a ridiculous childhood in the third episode of HBO's superhero drama thanks to his hell-bent father, and for what? He still doesn't have the ring.
Winner: Henry Winkler
The Happy Days and Barry actor is 80 years old, yet he's showing no signs of slowing down. He told reporters the other day that he wants to star in a Taylor Sheridan series next. “I would leave here right now and go and get on that horse," Winkler said. Sheridan, the Fonz is just waiting for your call!
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