Who knows what the future may bring? When it comes to Australian television it’s usually not that hard to guess, especially if your guess is reality shows, game shows and panel shows. But if you dig a little deeper into the various announcements for 2026, there are a few Australian shows outside the box that might be worth keeping an eye out for.
With old formats with a twist, familiar faces trying something different and the long-awaited return of a much-loved hit, will 2026 be the year Australian television delivers something truly special? Here’s hoping… and if not, there’s always the return of Annabel Crabb’s Kitchen Cabinet.
Australian shows coming in 2026 – quick links
Ground Up – release date TBC (ABC)
Can Australia get enough of Sam Pang? Let’s find out! Not satisfied with his own tonight show (Sam Pang Tonight), being a fixture hosting the Logies, and regular slots on multiple panel shows (Have You Been Paying Attention?, The Front Bar), 2026 sees Pang venture out into the world of sitcoms as the lead in Ground Up.
He’ll be playing an AFL rep with the tricky task of selling a billion dollar football stadium to Tasmania. Further details are sketchy, presumably as filming is yet to begin.
It’s not the only new sitcom featuring a familiar face that the ABC has planned for 2026. There’s also Bad Company, starring Anne Edmonds and Kitty Flanagan. But with Pang riding high – and being produced by Gristmill, creators of The Librarians, Upper Middle Bogan and Very Small Business – this one has the edge. Here’s hoping the end result is closer to The Games than a sketch on The Footy Show.
Deadloch Season 2 – 20 March (Prime Video)
When Katering Show creators Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan turned their hand to a parody (of sorts) of small town murder series, the result was a global hit.
Combining memorable characters and a defiant sense of humour wrapped around a quality mystery in a scenic (if chilly) Tasmanian setting, Deadloch managed to pull off the rare feat of being both a quality parody and a solid example of the thing it was sending up. So it wasn’t exactly a shock twist that Amazon gave the thumbs up for a second season in nothing flat.
It’s been three years since we last hung out with the crime-fighting duo of Senior Sergeant Dulcie Collins (Kate Box) and Detective Eddie Redcliffe (Madeleine Sami). This time they’ve left the chilly town of Deadloch for Eddie’s home turf of Barra Creek in the Northern Territory, where her former police partner has turned up dead.
The case seems fairly straightforward, but it doesn’t take long before the investigation throws up a few twists (and crocs). Sounds like hot stuff.
Dalliance – release date TBC (Paramount+)
Who had ‘The Secret Life of Us, only for pensioners’ on their Australian television in 2026 bingo card? If you did, congratulations, Dalliance is the series for you. Billy (Hugo Weaving) is an ex-cameraman who meets Dani (Heather Mitchell) on the Sydney Harbour ferry. It’s a classic rom-com meet-cute – or it would be, if Billy hadn’t been married for the last 40 years to Rose (Georgie Parker).
In bad news for Billy, his cheatin’ heart gives out when he’s with Dani. But his funeral is a good excuse for all his friends to get back together – and before long there’s some big shifts in the group as the romantic stars realign for many of these not-yet-past-it sixty-somethings.
Aside from the age of the cast, this seems like it’s following firmly in the footsteps of any number of series about a group of well-off yet troubled friends (usually featuring Claudia Karvan). It remains to be seen whether this is a chance for some of Australia’s best actors to stretch a little outside the usual, or a sign that the old folks are never giving up their hold on television.
Shakedown – release date TBC (ABC)
In recent years ABC drama series have largely stuck to the safe and predictable. There are at least two small town crime dramas coming up in 2026, and that’s before any of the previous small town crime series (such as Return to Paradise) return. So it’s good to see the ABC trying something at least a little different with Shakedown, a four-part drama series re-telling the Robodebt saga.
Considering SBS already did an excellent job recapping the events with the recent The People vs Robodebt – a documentary which also had a dramatised element to it – it’ll be interesting to see what new elements the ABC version brings to the table.
Read: The People vs Robodebt review: ‘must watch’ is an understatement
It’s hardly likely they’ll be going for a whole new fantasy ending where the government is let off the hook and the blame is shunted back to a horde of dole bludgers rorting the system… but it’d certainly be a bold choice if they did.
Mick Molloy & Glenn Robbins [insert title here] – release date TBC (Seven)
Announced as part of Seven’s line-up for 2026, this’ll be one to watch simply to find out what exactly is going on. The only details currently available are that Mick Molloy is host, Glenn Robbins is his co-host, and it’s not a quiz show, not a reality show, and not a scripted comedy. Oh, and that there’ll be guests.
Realistically, that narrows it down to ‘talk show’, but at this stage who knows? Perhaps Mick and Glenn will be running around doing pranks, or staggering from pub to pub reviewing beer, or doing shoddy home renovations. Maybe Mick will buy a struggling lawn bowls club and the series will follow his attempts to revive the place in a real life version of his film Crackerjack? Fair warning: Robbins was his co-star in his somewhat less successful musical follow-up Boytown, and nobody wants a series where the duo belt out pop songs live.
