There’s no earthly way of knowing which direction theseWonka’s Golden Ticketchallenges are going.
In E! News’ exclusive look atthe upcomingNetflixcompetition series,based in parton the 1971 movieWilly Wonka & the Chocolate FactorystarringGene Wilder,the show’s contestants find themselvesabruptlyawoken from their marshmallow bedsover a candy emergency.
“Sorting machine malfunctioning,” awarning blaresfrom the loudspeakers. “Candy levels critical.”
Needless to say, the surprise left a sour taste in some contestants’ mouths. AschoreographerGabrielleexclaimed, “What kind of emergency could you have in a chocolate factory?”
Fellow contestantJacksonalso wasn’t sugarcoating his feelings,with the bartenderquipping, “This factory doesn’t just produce chocolate and candy, itproduces stress as well.”
And once contestants were led into thesorting room by the show’s resident Oompa-Loompas,they quickly realizedthere’s so much time and so little to do—wait a minute, strike that, reverse it—as they stood in front ofconveyor belt and a wall of giant tubes that, hopefully, does not leadto the fudge room.
read
Unwrap These 25 Scrumdidilyumptious Secrets About Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
The whole situation felt reminiscent of another sugar-filled moment, with contestantEverettnoting the sorting room looked like the set from the famous candy episode ofI Love Lucy.
As for how the group dealtwith the candy sorting emergency? All will be revealed whenWonka’s The Golden Ticketofficially premieres on Sept. 23, with a two-part finale airing Sept. 30.
The competition features12 lucky Golden Ticket winners—each with a partner of their choosing—steppingthrough the gates of Wonka’s famous factory into a world of pure imagination, with the series synopsis promising “a series of Wonka’s games, tests, and temptations designed to challenge them physically, mentally and morally.”
“In this high-stakes social experiment, players will journey through the factory’s wondrous and unpredictable landscape, adapting, strategizing, and withstanding the unknown while proving they have the instincts, resilience, and character to thrive in chaos,” “In the end, only one contestant will have what it takes to earn Wonka’s life-changing prize.”
For a look at more shows headed to the small screen, keep reading.
Warner Bros. Television GroupThe Jennifer Hudson Show (Check Local Listings) – Sept. 14Jennifer Hudson kicks off season five of her daytime talk show with guests including Tom Cruise, Doja Cat, Jamie Foxx and more.Disney/Eric McCandlessDancing With the Stars (ABC) – Sept. 15Ciara Miller, Maura Higgins and more famous faces will compete for the Mirrorball Trophy when season 35 debuts.DisneyR.J. Decker (ABC) – Sept. 15The ABC drama starring Scott Speedman returns to investigate more mysterious cases in season two.Investigation Discovery/Warner Bros. DiscoveryToxic (Investigation Discovery) – Sept. 15Toxic will continue to follow Elizabeth Chambers as she speaks with survivors of toxic relationships, domestic abuse, and intimate partner violence and explores cases from all over the country. Featuring powerful, first-hand accounts from the survivors, as well as their family members and loved ones, Toxic offers a holistic look at the many faces of domestic abuse and intimate partner violence, offering a deeper understanding of how toxic love can devolve into something far more dangerous – and sometimes deadly.BritBoxAgatha Christie’s Tommy & Tuppence (BritBox) – Sept. 15In the first contemporary English language television adaptation of Agatha Christie’s stories, Tommy and Tuppence are a detective duo for the ages. They fall in love, fall out of it, and tumble back in, all while solving some thrilling, entertaining mysteries along the way.Koury Angelo/BravoThe Real Housewives of Salt Lake City (Bravo) – Sept. 16This season the ladies of SLC celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in San Francisco and get some much-needed sunshine in Hawaii. Though they agree to set aside their differences and come together, nothing in Salt Lake City lasts forever as enduring bonds are tested and surprising new relationships are formed.
Returning for season seven are housewives Lisa Barlow, Mary Cosby, Heather Gay, Angie Katsanevas, Meredith Marks, Bronwyn Newport, Whitney Rose and friend Britani Bateman. Friend Ashley Quai also enters the mix. Apple TVSlow Horses (Apple TV) – Sept. 16Slow Horses is a darkly humorous espionage drama that follows a dysfunctional team of British intelligence agents who serve in a dumping ground department of MI5 known un-affectionately as Slough House. Gary Oldman stars as Jackson Lamb, the brilliant but cantankerous leader of the spies who end up in Slough House due to their career-ending mistakes and who frequently find themselves blundering around the smoke and mirrors of the espionage world.
Season six sees the Slow Horses on the run as Diana Taverner embroils them all in a fatally high-stakes game of retaliation and revenge.Shane Mahood/Prime VideoNeagley (Prime Video) – Sept. 16Featuring Maria Sten as the fan-favorite title character, Neagley invites fans of the Reacher series and Lee Child’s best-selling novels deeper into the world they love—delivering a gripping new mystery packed with unexpected twists.
Frances Neagley is a private investigator in Chicago and former military protege of Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) in the Army’s 110th Special Investigations Unit. When she learns that a beloved friend from her past has been killed in a suspicious accident, she becomes hell-bent on justice. Using everything she’s learned from Jack Reacher and her time as a member of the 110 Special Investigators, Neagley puts herself on a dangerous path to uncover a menacing evil.Paramount+Golden Axe (Paramount+) – Sept. 16In a hilarious homage to Sega’s iconic 1989 video game, Golden Axe follows legendary warriors Ax Battler, Tyris Flare, and Gilius Thunderhead as they reunite to save Yuria from the evil giant Death Adder, who just won’t seem to stay dead. Their quest is complicated by Hampton Squib, an inexperienced and wildly underprepared adventurer whose dream of heroism far exceeds his abilities.
As they journey through a dangerous fantasy world, the group faces formidable enemies, unexpected allies, and mounting chaos driven by their clashing personalities. Forced to work together despite their flaws, they must find a way to stop Death Adder once and for all.NBCUniversalThe Traitors: New Blood (NBC/Peacock) – Sept. 17No celebrities. No socialites. Emmy-winning host Alan Cumming is opening the doors to his now-infamous castle in the Scottish Highlands to 22 everyday Americans, hand-selected from a nationwide search resulting in over 80,000 hopeful applicants.NetflixMonster: The Lizzie Borden Story (Netflix) – Sept. 17When the repressed daughter of a wealthy New England family and her rebellious maid find themselves trapped in a house built on humiliation and cruelty, they escape into a fantasy of sex, power, and revenge. The gruesome unsolved murders that follow don’t just shock the world—they give birth to an icon who refuses to live imprisoned in a cage, choosing instead to forge her own legend: shocking, monstrous, and gloriously free.Crave/AMC NetworksYaga (AMC+) – Sept. 17Yaga follows Rapp (Noah Reid, Schitt’s Creek, The Vampire Lestat), a private investigator who arrives in the small coastal town of Whittock, to investigate the disappearance of a young heir to a powerful fishery, Henry Park (Hudson Williams, Heated Rivalry). He finds himself at odds with an apprehensive local detective, Carson (Clark Backo, Venom: The Last Dance, Letterkenny), a charismatic university professor with a taste for younger men, Katherine (Carrie-Anne Moss, Matrix Films, Memento), and a labyrinth of enigmatic suspects, secret lives, and ancient magic.StarzOutlander: Blood of My Blood (Starz) – Sept. 18After an unexpected journey back in time left Henry (Jeremy Irvine) and Julia (Hermione Corfield) Beauchamp lost and separated in the sweeping highlands of 18th century Scotland, season one culminated with the two finally reuniting at the standing stones of Craigh na Dun, hoping to return to their own time and their young daughter, Claire. The first glimpse at Season Two picks up at that moment and reveals a distraught Julia alone with their baby. Separated from his love and hope, Henry must grapple with his mental health, as he fights to find his way back to her.
Meanwhile, the forbidden relationship between Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy) and Ellen MacKenzie (Harriet Slater) seemed to conquer all odds, but their romantic escape was cut short as fiery crosses were lit and the 1715 Jacobite Rising began, thrusting the clans into war. In season one, they chose each other over their families, but now they must prioritize their clan loyalties, as Brian fulfills his obligation to fight and Ellen seeks to make things right with her family.HBOJay-Z in 8 (HBO) – Sept. 1830 years after his landmark debut album Reasonable Doubt, artist, icon, philanthropist, entrepreneur JAŸ-Z sits down with longtime friend, producer, and director Rick Rubin for an intimate reflection on his storied career, revisiting the music together and unpacking his work and life through a shared listening and illuminating conversation. Featuring many of JAŸ-Z’s iconic tracks and album cuts, including “99 Problems,” “Brooklyn’s Finest,” and “4:44,” the eight-episode series offers a deeply revealing portrait of the artist and his work, exploring the influences and inspiration that shaped both the man and his music.Jason Bell/Paramount+MobLand (Paramount+) – Sept. 18In season two, “the Harrigans struggle to show a unified front as rising rivals threaten their fractured criminal empire and Harry Da Souza, their street-smart and formidable ‘fixer,’ must walk a dangerous tightrope when tensions within the family intensify,” reads the network logline. “As violence spills into every corner of their lives, loyalties snap, safety proves temporary, and the battle for power leaves no room for mercy.”HGTV/Warner Bros. DiscoveryScariest House in America (HGTV) – Sept. 18Retta continues her search for the country’s most spine-tingling properties in a new season of the popular spinoff Scariest House in America. The actress, comedian and home design enthusiast will brave 20 tours of petrifyingly paranormal or horrifically hideous houses whose owners say are haunted by scary stories and hair-raising sights.Steven Ackerman/MGM+/Sony Pictures TelevisionAmerican Hostage (MGM+) – Sept. 20Based on the acclaimed first season of the scripted podcast of the same name, American Hostage is a psychological thriller set in the 1970’s that tells the harrowing true story of Fred Heckman, a beloved Indianapolis radio reporter who is thrust into the middle of a life-or- death crisis when hostage-taker Tony Kiritsis demands to be interviewed on his popular radio news program.NetflixKevin Hart’s Cold as Balls (Netflix) – Sept. 20Cold As Balls is the sports comedy franchise hosted by Kevin Hart, bringing together world-class athletes and faces for unforgettable conversations in ice tubs filled with humor, heart, and unexpected moments. The series has become a fan favorite by redefining the sports interview format and has become one of the most recognizable sports interview series to date.(Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC via Getty Images)The Voice (NBC) – Sept. 21Veteran coaches Adam Levine and Kelly Clarkson will be joined by newcomers Riley Green and Queen Latifah for the singing competition series’ milestone 30th season.Scott Gries/NBCLine of Fire (NBC) – Sept. 21Peter Krause returns to TV in NBC’s new drama.
“When a U.S. Marshal falls in the line of duty,” reads the show’s description, “a seemingly cut-and-dry case turns into a deadly conspiracy as a family of law enforcement agents become the target of a mysterious assassin.”Heidi Gutman/CBSJudge Judy: Unfiltered, Unforgettable (CBS) – Sept. 22Judge Judy Sheindlin tells her remarkable story in her own words, tracing her journey from a spirited childhood in Brooklyn to the New York City Family Court, where she earned a reputation as one of the toughest judges in the country, before redefining daytime television with the most successful courtroom series in syndicated history.CBSSurvivor (CBS) – Sept. 23Host Jeff Probst welcomes 21 first-time castaways to Fiji for the show’s new “open era” filled with more twists and turns than ever before.Apple TVBrothers (Apple TV) – Sept. 23The new comedy follows Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, who play fictionalized versions of themselves, and whose friendship is thrown into chaos when they uncover a decades-old secret: they might actually be brothers. After Woody’s daughter’s wedding falls apart, he loads up the family and heads to Austin for an extended stay at Matthew’s ranch. But what begins as a healing getaway quickly spirals when Matthew’s mother, Ma Mac (played by Holland Taylor), accidentally lets slip a long-buried secret that the two friends might actually be brothers. As Woody turns the ranch upside down in pursuit of the truth, Matthew finds himself juggling an entirely different identity crisis: a potential run for Governor of Texas. The result is a heartfelt, chaotic, and wildly funny story about friendship, family, fame, and the messy line between myth and reality.Prime Video/Amazon MGM StudiosThe Love Hypothesis (Prime Video) – Sept. 23Based on the New York Times best-selling novel by Ali Hazelwood, The Love Hypothesis follows Olive (Lili Reinhart), a brilliant Ph.D. candidate focused on her future in academia. But when she realizes her best friend Ahn (Rachel Marsh) has fallen for her crush Jeremy (Nicholas Duvernay), Olive impulsively kisses intimidating professor Adam Carlsen (Tom Bateman) to prove she’s moved on. What begins as a desperate act of friendship spirals into a fake relationship with rules, boundaries, and a mutually beneficial agreement. When their arrangement begins to blur the lines between performance and reality, Olive is forced to test her most daunting hypothesis yet: that love might actually be worth the risk.Pete Dadds/FoxSpecial Forces: World’s Toughest Test (Fox) – Sept. 24A new batch of celebrities, including Candace Cameron Bure, Mauricio Umansky, Brandi Glanville, Oliver Hudson and more, will compete in gruelling challenges in the jungles of Malaysia when season five premieres.FX/DisneyAmerican Horror Story: 13 (FX) – Sept. 24Season 13 of Ryan Murphy’s chilling anthology series reunites franchise stars Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, Gabourey Sidibe, Jessica Lange and many more.Cassidy Araiza/Paramount+Team Moms: Baseball (Paramount+) – Sept. 24The competition on the field is fierce, but it’s nothing compared to the drama in the stands.
Team Moms: Baseball follows a group of parents whose sons attend Legendary Prep Academy: a premier baseball training school in Scottsdale, Arizona, dedicated to molding the next generation of star athletes. While the kids compete on the field, the drama unfolds in the stands, where the parents are their children’s biggest champions and each other’s fiercest critics. Friendships are tested, and rivalries emerge; proving that baseball is more than a game, it’s a lifestyle.StarzS.W.A.T. Exiles (Starz) – Sept. 25In the new spinoff series, Shemar Moore reprises his role as Sergeant Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Special Weapons and Tactics (S.W.A.T.) Division. After stepping away from leading the 20-David Squad, Hondo is pulled back into action to lead a last-chance experimental S.W.A.T. unit made up of untested and unpredictable young recruits. Bridging a generational divide, Hondo must navigate clashing personalities and turn a squad of outsiders into a team capable of protecting the city and saving the program that made him who he is.NetflixThe Great British Baking Show (Netflix) – Sept. 25The Great British Baking Show is back with a brand new season — a brand new judge, and a brand new batch of talented amateur bakers from across the UK. In the iconic white tent, they’ll take on the ultimate baking challenges — from showstopping celebration cakes to perfect pastries — all under the watchful eyes of judges Paul Hollywood and Nigella Lawson. Each week, the bakers face Signature, Technical, and Showstopper challenges designed to test their creativity, skill, and nerves. One baker will be sent home, and one will rise to become this season’s winner.National Geographic/DisneyChilean Mine Rescue: Race Against Time (National Geographic) – Sept. 25The series tells the story of endurance, ingenuity and improbable unity behind one of history’s most challenging rescues ever attempted. It features never-before-seen cell phone footage filmed in the mine and includes powerful interviews with survivors, families and rescuers—some speaking publicly outside of local Chilean press for the first time—to tell the definitive story of the 69 days rescuers raced to save the trapped miners while the men underground fought to survive. Among those featured is Jeff Kofman, then ABC’s International Correspondent and the first international journalist on the scene, who reported from Chile as the rescue unfolded.photos
View More Photos From 2026 TV Premiere Dates
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App
