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Hulu’s TV brand is adult-skewing, buzzy television that sits comfortably between prestige TV and mainstream entertainment. The Handmaid’s Tale established Hulu as a prestige TV player, but the streamer has also proven with Only Murders in the Building that critical acclaim doesn’t have to mean inaccessible television.
FX on Hulu is also a huge part of the streamer’s identity, giving Hulu auteur-driven programming that feels effectively native to the service. The Bear has become inseparable from Hulu’s modern streaming identity, while Shōgun‘s incredible first season demonstrated just how formidable the FX partnership could be in the prestige space.
TV shows in 2026 have been strong overall, with the 2026 Emmy nominations remarkably distributed across platforms rather than dominated by one network. However, it’s been an especially strong year for Hulu. There isn’t necessarily one gigantic monoculture phenomenon like The Handmaid’s Tale at its zenith, but there is an unusually deep bench of quality shows.
Hulu’s 2026 slate covers virtually every version of its brand, from prestige TV to auteur comedy to body horror. From strong series finales of flagship shows to new surprising hits currently airing, these are the 10 best scripted Hulu TV shows released so far in 2026.
King Of The Hill
Season 15
Hulu’s King of the Hill revival has quietly become a reliable comedy. King of the Hill season 15, the second season since Hulu revived Fox’s beloved animated sitcom after its original run ended in 2010, arrived as a binge drop in July 2026 and currently holds a perfect 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The revival succeeds largely because it understands what made King of the Hill work in the first place. Rather than drastically reinventing Arlen or chasing the faster, more outrageous style of many modern animated comedies, the series retains its understated humor and affection for its characters while allowing them to evolve.
Mike Judge and Greg Daniels’ show may not have the buzz or prestige positioning of Hulu’s marquee original series, but that makes its continued quality even more impressive. For longtime fans, the revival feels remarkably comfortable without being stuck in the past, while anyone who loves animated sitcoms should have it on their Hulu watchlist.
The Beauty
Season 1
Ryan Murphy shows almost always have a buzzy, vibe-forward quality, even when anyone looking for a completely coherent story may be left wanting. The Beauty fits comfortably into that tradition, although its comic-book source material at least gives the story some structure.
The Beauty was much better at being wild, stylish, and grotesque than offering profound social commentary, but that still made it one of Hulu’s more interesting watches of 2026. Its satire of beauty standards rarely goes deeper than the surface, but the premise feels like an evolution of ideas Murphy has been exploring since Nip/Tuck.
Fans of body horror, Murphy’s maximalist sensibilities, or Evan Peters should absolutely check it out. Unfortunately, The Beauty may also be a one-season experiment. FX has not officially renewed or canceled the series, but its prospects look poor after the network released the cast from their contractual options.
Love Story: John F. Kennedy & Carolyn Bessette
Season 1
Ryan Murphy has long been fascinated by celebrity, and after the success of American Crime Story, Love Story turns his attention to tragic relationships. The anthology begins with American royalty: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy.
The series walks a difficult line between examining the suffocating nature of celebrity and indulging the same fascination, without ultimately offering much new to say about its central couple or the Kennedys as an institution. Scenes depicting the couple aboard the plane before their deaths feel particularly questionable.
Still, Sarah Pidgeon is haunting as Carolyn, portraying a woman who increasingly experiences celebrity as a prison. Paul Anthony Kelly’s JFK Jr. is less successful, due to a combination of writing and performance. Regardless, Love Story became Hulu’s most-watched limited series midway through its run and earned seven Emmy nominations, placing it among Hulu’s most notable 2026 releases.
Tell Me Lies
Season 3
Tell Me Lies season 3 successfully concluded one of Hulu’s signature addictive dramas by fully embracing everything that had made the series so compelling. Lucy and Stephen’s relationship had always been toxic, but the final season pushed their psychological warfare to new extremes without losing sight of why viewers remained invested in these deeply flawed characters.
Grace Van Patten and Jackson White continued to anchor the series, finding new shades in their twisted dynamic. Rather than trying to redeem Lucy and Stephen or soften the damage they inflicted on each other and everyone around them, Tell Me Lies leaned into just how dark and destructive their connection had become.
Critics responded enthusiastically, with season 3 earning a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. It was a fittingly messy, uncomfortable, and compulsively watchable conclusion to a drama that understood toxic relationships often make irresistible television.
Deli Boys
Season 2
Deli Boys successfully avoided the sophomore slump, becoming even sharper and funnier in its second season. Season 2 maintained the chemistry of its central trio while becoming more focused, proving the show’s distinctive blend of crime comedy, family dysfunction, and cultural specificity had plenty of life beyond its initial premise.
If anything, the second season was hampered by having too little room to work. Hulu reduced Deli Boys from 10 episodes in season 1 to just six in season 2, resulting in a faster pace but leaving some characters and storylines without much space to develop.
Critics nevertheless remained enthusiastic, with Deli Boys season 2 earning a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes after season 1’s impressive 96%. Unfortunately, the future remains uncertain. Hulu has yet to renew or cancel Deli Boys for season 3, leaving the acclaimed comedy in limbo after Deli Boys season 2’s cliffhanger ending.
Malcolm In The Middle: Life’s Still Unfair
Season 1
Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair is how you do a sitcom revival. Rather than relying entirely on nostalgia, the four-part Hulu event recaptured the chaotic, working-class energy that made the original series distinctive while finding a compelling reason to revisit the family nearly two decades later.
Bryan Cranston and Jane Kaczmarek slipped effortlessly back into Hal and Lois, but making Malcolm a father himself was the revival’s smartest choice. Seeing him confront his parents from a completely different stage of life allowed Life’s Still Unfair to revisit familiar family dynamics without simply repeating them.
The four episodes ultimately felt more like a movie divided into parts than a full television season. The story could be uneven, and some characters and ideas would have benefited from more room to breathe. Still, Life’s Still Unfair proved this dysfunctional family remains just as funny, frustrating, and recognizable as ever in 2026.
The Bear
Season 5
After two more divisive seasons, The Bear returned to form in season 5 and ended its acclaimed run on a sweet note. The final season tightened the storytelling, returned the focus to the restaurant and its core ensemble, and rediscovered much of the intensity and momentum that made the first two seasons such extraordinary television.
The Bear season 5 concentrated on the characters and relationships viewers had spent years investing in. That approach paid off particularly well in a character-driven finale that offered emotional resolution without suddenly sanding down the show’s rough edges.
Seasons 3 and 4 may have tested viewers’ appetites, but the final season demonstrated that the series could still operate at the level that made it a phenomenon in the first place. The Bear series finale was a heartfelt and intense farewell to one of Hulu’s flagship shows.
Furious
Season 1
Elizabeth Meriwether, best known for creating New Girl, delivered one of Hulu’s biggest surprises of the year with Furious, loosely inspired by the 1987 film Black Widow. The crime drama follows an FBI agent and a female serial killer whose lives become increasingly intertwined as both pursue their own very different ideas of justice.
It’s a dark premise, but Furious continually finds ways to subvert expectations, particularly in its refusal to divide its characters neatly into heroes and villains. Everyone, from the central duo to the supporting players around them, is flawed, compromised, and operating somewhere in the moral gray area.
That ambiguity makes it difficult to predict exactly where the story is headed or even whom audiences should be rooting for. Even more impressively, Furious has become one of 2026’s most talked-about new shows in critical circles while still airing. With only five episodes released so far, its ultimate destination remains uncertain, but the journey is already riveting.
The Testaments
Season 1
The Testaments proved to be a strong continuation of The Handmaid’s Tale, finding new life in Gilead through its younger perspective, slow-burn world-building, and compelling new cast. Chase Infiniti is particularly impressive as Agnes, whose sheltered upbringing inside Gilead provides a fundamentally different perspective from June’s experience fighting against the regime.
Ann Dowd’s return as Aunt Lydia is another highlight, adding greater complexity to a character she has inhabited for nearly a decade. The coming-of-age approach successfully refreshed the franchise, although some questioned why Hulu was extending a world The Handmaid’s Tale had already explored extensively.
Nevertheless, Infiniti’s performance has earned her an Emmy nomination, just a year after her breakout role in One Battle After Another, cementing her as one of Hollywood’s most exciting rising stars. Hulu was smart to turn its longtime flagship series into a larger franchise, extending the world while giving audiences a new generation of characters to invest in.
Paradise
Season 2
Season 1 benefited enormously from its claustrophobic bunker setting and central murder mystery, but Paradise season 2 proved the show could survive beyond that initial hook. The sophomore season opened up its post-apocalyptic world, following Xavier outside Paradise and introducing new survivors, most notably Shailene Woodley’s mysterious Annie.
The expanded scope could occasionally make the story feel more unwieldy, but the deeper world-building largely paid off. Sterling K. Brown remained the show’s emotional anchor, while Woodley proved a compelling addition to an already strong ensemble.
Seeing the same apocalyptic events unfold from an entirely different perspective was a brilliant storytelling device that created a genuinely fresh television experience. Hulu has already renewed Paradise for season 3, which is exactly what this kind of mystery-box drama needs. The Paradise season 2 finale provided enough answers to feel satisfying while simultaneously introducing bigger questions that make another season feel necessary.
