Summer TV Preview 2025: Inside Must-Watch New and Returning Shows From ‘The Bear’ to ‘Love Island USA’

Sure, everyone likes to get outside in the summer. But the great outdoors won’t seem so great once you realize what’s waiting for you on the small screen this season.

For starters, you’ll get answers to some big cliffhangers, like: What exactly did that restaurant review say on Hulu’s fan favorite The Bear — and is the end of the line for Carmy’s restaurant? And then there’s Netflix’s ultra-bingeable Squid Game, where Player 456 in the deadly cash-grab just saw his best friend executed as they tried to storm those off-limits areas and stop the game once and for all.

Whether Wednesday Addams would return to Nevermore Academy wasn’t exactly a cliffhanger, but questions were definitely raised at the end of the Jenna Ortega series’ smash first season: Who was her stalker? What secrets are still “lurking in the dark corners of Jericho,” as Wednesday mused in the finale? The Netflix horror show ups the stakes in round two: “The ambition of the show is limitless,” co-showrunner and executive producer Miles Millar has said. “We let our imaginations fly.”

Among new shows, we’ll see a new take on the thoroughly creepy Alien franchise, highly anticipated book adaptations like We Were Liars and The Rainmaker, and newly minted reality shows about A-listers in the worlds of music, podcasting, fashion and more.

Keep scrolling to see the 27 series that are bringing the heat!

‘Adults’ (FX)

The twentysomething friends in this NYC comedy level up the antics (or is that level down?): There’s a subway masturbator instead of Ugly Naked Guy and a local “light stabbing” instead of a robbery. (Wednesdays, 9 and 9:30 p.m. ET)

‘Tudum’ (Netflix)

Live from L.A., the streamer’s starry fan party Tudum previews all your future binges, such as Emily in Paris, Love Is Blind, Stranger Things and lots of the summer shows here. Oh, and Lady Gaga performs! (May 31, 8 p.m. ET)

‘Love Island USA’ (Peacock)

Fans really felt the amor last summer — the dating show doubled its viewership — so yeah, we’re ready to go back to Fiji! Ariana Madix hosts. (June 3, 9 p.m. ET)

‘Honestly Cavallari: The Headline Tour’ (E!, Peacock)

Kristin Cavallari, an Us fave since Laguna Beach, takes her “Let’s Be Honest” podcast out on the road with fun guests. (June 4, 10 p.m. ET)

‘Stick’ (Apple TV+)

Hyped as the new Ted Lasso, this feel-good comedy stars Owen Wilson as a former golf pro who whiffed his career. He gets excited about a teen (Peter Dager) with a killer drive (“Now that’s how you pepper a steak!”) and plots a comeback as a coach. (June 4)

‘Art Detectives’ (Acorn TV)

In this British import, True Blood’s Stephen Moyer heads up the Metropolitan Police’s smallest department, the Heritage Crime Unit, where art-related crimes can turn surprisingly lethal. (June 9)

‘Call Her Alex’ (Hulu)

In this two-
part doc, podcaster Alex Cooper of Call Her Daddy fame reveals “the raw, the messy, the personal stuff I’ve never felt comfortable sharing.” (June 10)

‘The Buccaneers’ (Apple TV+)

“Nice hat.” That first line feels fitting for Leighton Meester as she joins the period drama’s wealthy Americans invad­ing the U.K. (June 18)

‘America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders’ (Netflix)

The team of short-shorted athletes audition candidates for a new season. Can they handle the jump splits? (June 18)

‘We Were Liars’ (Prime Video)

With a stunner of an ending, this drama of American royalty, one eventful summer and a case of amnesia has obsession written all over it (in gold leaf). What exactly happened to charmed Cadence Sinclair Eastman (Emily Alyn Lind)? No one’s talking. From E. Lockhart’s YA bestseller. (June 18)

‘The Waterfront’ (Netflix)

Drinking. Cheating. Dirty dealings. Get caught up in family dysfunction à la Yellowstone with Havenport, N.C.’s Buckleys. They’re the, uh, big fish in the local fishing industry, but business is very bad. Maria Bello and Melissa Benoist are in the cast. (June 19)

‘The Gilded Age’ (HBO and Max)

We always love the late 1800s historical figures who show up in New York society! In the drama’s season 3, J.P. Morgan (Bill Camp) and portraitist John Singer Sargent (Bobby Steggert) arrive. (June 22, 9 p.m. ET)

‘The Bear’ (Hulu)

Cliffhanger resolution! A pivotal Chicago Tribune review at the end of season 3 hangs over chef Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) and The Bear resto. Fans fear a closing… yet the creative team has promised joy, which is quite the appetizer. (June 25, 8 p.m. ET)

‘Squid Game’ (Netflix)

The Korean import ends its record-breaking run: After his failed uprising, the grieving Player 456 (Lee Jung-jae) still aims to take down the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) and end his lethal games. (June 27)

‘Smoke’ (Apple TV+)

The terrifyingly real blazes in this twisty drama (inspired by the podcast Firebug) will send you scurrying to check your smoke detector batteries. Taron Egerton plays a territorial Pacific Northwest arson investigator to Jurnee Smollett’s haunted police detective. Their target: two pyromaniacs. (June 27)

‘Nelly & Ashanti: We Belong Together’ (Peacock)

Grammy winners in love! The married parents of a 10-month-old — who first dated in their 20s — let Us into their lives. (June TBD)

‘Too Much’ (Netflix)

After newly single NYC producer Jessica (Megan Stalter, Hacks) packs herself off to London, it’s no meet-cute when Felix (The White Lotus’ Will Sharpe) asks her for “bog paper” in a truly foul pub bathroom. Still, something clicks in this verbal, entertaining rom-com cocreated by Lena
 Dunham. (July 10)

‘Back to the Frontier’ (Magnolia Network and Max)

There was a time when immerse-yourself-in-the-past shows were all the rage. Manor House, Colonial House and the like showed Us that brushing your teeth, doing laundry and even getting dressed in the past were hard. Now Chip and Joanna Gaines produce this new take, turning three American families into 1880s homesteaders. Goodbye, electricity and running water! (July 10, 8 p.m. ET)

‘Dexter: Resurrection’ (Paramount+ With Showtime and Showtime)

In this Dexter: New Blood follow-up, serial killer Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) hits NYC seeking the son (Jack Alcott) who shot him. Lots of cool casting, including Neil Patrick Harris, Uma Thurman and John Lithgow back as the Trinity Killer. (streaming July 11;
 broadcast July 13, 8 p.m. ET)

‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ (Prime Video)

The heart-rending drama makes its farewell appearance. Now a college junior, Belly (Lola Tung) is again embroiled in a torn-between-two-brothers (Gavin Casalegno, Christopher Briney) triangle. (July 16)

‘Project Runway’ (Freeform, Hulu and Disney+)

The beloved fashion design competition makes it work again with Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia and so-called image architect Law Roach as judges. Plus, Christian Siriano is back in the fold to mentor. (July 31, 9 p.m. ET)

‘Wednesday’ (Netflix)

Nevermore Academy opens its gates to a new Addams when Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) joins his sis (Ortega). And look for Lady Gaga, Steve Buscemi as the new principal and AbFab’s Joanna Lumley as Grandmama Hester Frump. (Aug. 6)

‘Outlander: Blood of My Blood’ (Starz)

We’re expecting dizzying passion in this prequel about the parents of Outlander’s Jamie (Harriet Slater and Jamie Roy) and Claire (Hermione Corfield and Jeremy Irvine). (Aug. 8, 8 p.m. ET)

‘Alien: Earth’ (FX and Hulu)

The Alien franchise’s Xenomorph (remember — acid for blood? two sets of teeth?) is one of five lethal species aboard a vessel that crash-lands on 2120 Earth in this big-budget prequel. Call in the soldiers (led by Sydney Chandler)! (Aug. 12, 8 p.m. ET)

‘The Rainmaker’ (USA)

The John Grisham David and Goliath story gets an update with Milo Callaghan (adorable in Rivals) stepping into lead role. (Matt Damon played the character in the 1997 film adaptation). The Charleston, S.C., newbie lawyer takes on a silky, snaky courtroom titan (John Slattery) — who had previously fired him! (August TBD)

‘Building the Band’ (Netflix)

This will be bittersweet: The late Liam Payne helps Nicole Scherzinger and Michelle Williams form a group of hitmakers. (summer TBD)

‘Love Thy Nader’ (Freeform and Hulu)

Inside the NYC model life with Brooks Nader and her three sisters! “The reality TV gods were on our side,” she tells Us of the “chaos” caught on camera. (summer TBD)