Month-to-Month: Episodic Medium's Winter 2026 Schedule

Next month, Episodic Medium will celebrate its fourth anniversary, and that means that I’ve published a lot of schedule updates. It’s a part of the job I never imagined doing when this was just me creating a space for my own criticism: I’m not just telling you what I’m writing about, but instead letting you know about an entire spectrum of coverage from our contributors.

Over time, I’ve had to use this as a chance to address various shifts and realities of the newsletter game, but I’m relieved to say that there’s nothing to really address this time around. We’re just keeping on with our ongoing trajectory, doing what we can to expand our coverage and our roster of contributors within the means available from your subscriptions. I want to be clear that I never take that reality for granted: while I don’t take someone cancelling their subscriptions personally, especially in hard economic times, each one still makes me think about what we could be doing differently. I know we can’t cover more than we do. I know that sometimes people subscribe to read about one show—looking at you, Heated Rivalry—and nothing else. And I know that there is a decent chance that we’re just not covering the shows you’re watching. But I also know the immense amount of work our contributors put into what we do, and hope you’ll consider supporting that as we head into 2026.

Since we last met to discuss the schedule, there were actually a number of bonus additions: subscribers got coverage of I Love LA, Stranger Things, and Heated Rivalry in late 2025, and Les Chappell started his coverage of Fallout which will carry into the new year. It’s part of a lineup predominantly driven by returning series, but let’s focus on the new entries first and foremost.

New Coverage

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (Paramount+, January 15)

I want to be very clear that Zack Handlen still has right of first refusal on Star Trek shows around these parts, but after talking it over, we mutually decided that the franchise’s direct appeal to Gen Z might benefit from a different perspective. After journeying to the Upside Down, Lily Osler remains in the science fiction young adult space this winter.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (HBO, January 18)

As Game of Thrones wound down, HBO held a bake-off of potential spinoffs, and Tales of Dunk and Egg was high on people’s lists. It wasn’t high on HBO’s initially (I would still love to know Bryan Cogman’s take), but they’ve eventually circled back for a half-hour, less serious journey into Westeros, and I’ll be tackling it once I finally sit down and read the novellas over the next couple of weeks.

Wonder Man (Disney+, January 27)

To be honest, I’ve never actually sat down to learn exactly what Marvel’s latest TV series is about, but the various parodies of promotional content formats that have crossed my feed have suggested that the show’s meta-take on Hollywood is up my alley, and while it’s hard to even say what Marvel wants their TV shows to contribute to the larger whole Caroline Siede will be back on the beat (schedule to be determined since they're doing an 8-episode binge release like idiots).

Scrubs (ABC, February 25)

Referring to this as new coverage feels wrong: almost fifteen years ago, I started the project of reviewing the show’s initial run for The A.V. Club’s TV Club Classic, and a few years before that I was covering its three different probable series finales on my blog Cultural Learnings. So regardless of what exactly the show’s broadcast revival looks like, I couldn’t not return to the show.

Returning Coverage

The Pitt (HBO Max, January 8)

Later tonight, after we did reaction coverage last season, Emma Fraser returns with full reviews of the Emmy-winning series’ second season.

The Traitors (Peacock, January 9)

After subbing in for me on Survivor in the fall, it’s only fitting that Ben Rosenstock keeps up the reality competition beat by subbing in for me on The Traitors as it heads into its fourth season of reality stars and an increasingly chaotic assortment of celebrity and celebrity-adjacent individuals.

Industry (HBO, January 11)

What was once a forgotten co-production is currently HBO’s only scheduled drama for the spring, and William Goodman returns to evaluate what sounds like a pretty significant reboot of sorts for the series.

Shrinking (Apple TV, January 28)

With Bill Lawrence adding not one but two new shows to his stable this spring—Scrubs and Steve Carell college comedy Rooster, which I’ll be sampling for potential coverage closer to its ambiguous March release—I’m handing off coverage of this one to Erik Adams, who’ll tackle the third season.

Survivor 50 (CBS, February 25)

Look, this is continuing coverage, but for better or for worse, Survivor is celebrating a massive milestone and by all accounts delivering a season that will create plenty of conversation over the show’s legacy. I feel privileged to have had this space to confront the show over the past four years, and it’s a great way to celebrate our anniversary by discussing Season 50 with y’all.

Ongoing Coverage

Abbott Elementary (Caroline Siede)

Fallout (Les Chappell)

ElsLock (Josh Spiegel)

As always, this coverage only exists for your support, and the best way to support is to invest in a yearly subscription—we pay less fees, you get better value, it’s a win-win for everyone. I’m carrying over our 10% off deal from the holidays until January 16. If you click this button—and only if you click this button—you’ll access the deal.

Here’s the Calendar view of the above coverage, which has a real Wednesday pileup that’s making things extra wonky. As ever, if there are shows you’re interested in that we’re not covering, Loyal Viewers in our Discord channel can chat about them with fellow subscribers. I’ll definitely be offering a deal for the Loyal Viewer tier closer to our fourth anniversary, but if you just can’t wait you can always upgrade your membership.

Calendars