The 6 Best Shows of July, Hands-Down
Don’t even get me started on ‘Elle’…
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When it comes to July’s streaming options, I’ve been impressed. There have been really solid new and returning TV shows, like Silo season three.
Among the top standouts though? Jennifer Garner’s buzzy new hit, The Five Star Weekend, which obviously made this list. (Gemma Chan, who you should certainly recognize, gives a fabulous performance, as does Garner.) Ride or Die is also a July favorite, featuring the incredible duo-I-never-knew-I-needed, Hannah Waddingham and Octa
From Project Runway season 22 to the Legally Blonde prequel Elle to Survivalof the Thickest, here are the six best shows of July 2026, hands-down.
This pink-centric Legally Blonde prequel series takes us back to 1995, complete with Mariah Carey tunes and Days of Our Lives references (the demon-possessed Marlena clip is particularly inspired). Nostalgia aside, the Lexi Minetree-led show is just really fun to watch. Minetree is a stellar, lovable Elle Woods, and, thankfully, she doesn’t just deliver a flat impression of Reese Witherspoon’s iconic performance. The show was renewed for a second season, an unsurprising fact considering viewers gave it a respectable 74 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
This show is a must-watch thanks to its five leading ladies: Jennifer Garner, Gemma Chan, Regina Hall, Chloë Sevigny and D’Arcy Carden. The drama is real as these women spend a weekend together trying to celebrate life and heal. In the process, they reveal shocking secrets and cope with the major difficulties in their lives. Despite its gorgeous Nantucket setting, the show features none of the murder or over-the-top-ness of other beautifully-set series like Revenge or The Perfect Couple. It’s just good old-fashioned conflict, tears and emotional growth. With a side of Timothy Olyphant.
This is the buddy action-comedy I’ve always dreamed of. Ride or Die is incredibly funny and so fun to watch. Oh, and whoever cast this show deserves a medal. Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham play BFFs, only one of them has a secret: She’s a world-class assassin. The fast-paced series puts the duo in a plethora of enjoyable situations and predicaments, from having to escape a hitman on a speeding train to going incognito at a nightclub to track down a target. There are lots of twists, lots of laughs and lots of Waddingham kicking ass.
I know, I know. The show has had 22 seasons, but it still seems as fresh as ever (even if the addition of judge Tyra Banks is a little suss). The first episode gives us a whopping 22 contestants vying for the crown, including several familiar faces from last season and other reality shows (like RuPaul’s Drag Race). Shockingly, six of them get the chop
auf wiedersehen after only one challenge. Like the best seasons of this show, the personalities are big and the cattiness among the designers is strong. And right off the bat, I’m living for many of these looks—and for Law Roach’s eyerolls.
Anya Taylor-Joy plays Lucky, a con artist with a big problem: She was involved in the theft of ten million dollars that some very bad people want back. One of those very bad people? Her mother-in-law, a terrifying Annette Bening. Another great member of the cast? The aforementioned Timothy Olyphant (who has clearly been working overtime) as Lucky’s imprisoned father. This action-thriller is super enjoyable from the get-go, throwing us right into the drama as Lucky is pursued by both the bad guys and the FBI. This role is a huge (and fun) departure for Taylor-Joy, who many know from The Queen’s Gambit and The Menu.
The third and final season of this Michelle Buteau dramedy just arrived on Netflix, and it is really great. The writing is fast-paced and funny, with the jokes flying at you a mile a minute. Buteau is fabulous as our lead, Mavis, as she tries to juggle IVF and starting a career as a plus-size fashion designer. Though I’d recommend starting from season one, this is a show where you could just as easily dive in with the start of the latest season. The episodes are short and breezy, but a lot happens in each one. Will Mavis (and her career and her love life) land on top? I’ll be binging the rest of the latest season to find out.
And Don’t Forget the Best Shows of June…
…or May
And if all of these shows don’t do it for you (or you’ve seen them all already), here are recs from even earlier this year. Happy streaming!
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