Yahoo Lifestyle It’s Comeback Season: 11 Shows That Are Finally Returning After Leaving Us For Way Too Long
SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t caught up on any shows listed and don’t want us to ruin it, do not keep reading.
If you’re anything like me, then you’re easily sucked into a good show when you see one, whether you want to be or not. But the shows that hooked viewers nationwide between the years of 2019 and 2023 took a production hit due to a global shutdown followed by a months-long writers’ strike.
When things opened up, actors’ schedules were quickly booked — take Zendaya, for example — and hit shows were put on hold even longer than usual. And to be honest, some still are: I’m sorry to say Euphoria and The Boys won’t be back until 2026. Thankfully, other shows that had us in a holding pattern —like a holiday flight schedule— are guaranteed to drop before the year ends.
Check out the list of shows that ghosted us for way too long below, and get ready to pour the wine and lay out a few appetizers because your evenings are about to get busy (again).
🚨 Warning, some spoilers ahead!🚨
1.Suits: L.A. (Suits Spin-Off)
2.The Recruit
Noah Centineo was a teen heartthrob on Freeform’s The Fosters, and until two years ago, he was still making hearts throb as Owen Hendricks on Netflix’s The Recruit. He’s a CIA legal recruit, who unintentionally ends up taking on a field agent role, handling some of the bureau’s dirtiest jobs. And because he has a hero complex, he always has to be the one to save the day, or die trying. Viewers enjoyed watching his hero complex take over and help him escape the impossible, but then the show paused. However, Season 2 premieres on January 30.
3.The White Lotus
The last time fans lingered in the land of The White Lotus, they witnessed two Italian prostitutes seduce a father and then his son; what it takes to make a power couple crumble; and how to survive and tell the story of having a fling with a man that has a late-night arrangement with his uncle (that you definitely didn’t know about). Then, fans watched as Jennifer Coolidge’s character, Tanya McQuoid, mistakenly fell to her death, and were subsequently put on ice as they waited for Season 3 to come. Thankfully, that time is here. Natasha Rothwell is returning to the show as Belinda Lindsey, and she’ll be joined by a host of Hollywood’s finest, including Patrick Schwarzenegger, Walton Goggins, Leslie Bibb, and Michelle Lynn Monaghan for Season 3 on Sunday, February 16.
4.Wednesday
Jenna Ortega used all her training to channel Wednesday Addams in Netflix’s reimagined Addams Family series, Wednesday, and after taking a two-year hiatus show creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar are finally bringing back one of TV’s most grim and beloved characters. Wednesday’s twisted and bleak sense of reality often lands her in trouble, but that doesn’t slow her down. Things left off with Wednesday and her legion of misfits on a mission to find out who was attacking and killing students around Nevermore. They rule the school after conquering the town, but then school ends — just like the show (but in this case, the show’s been on hiatus for more than two years). The Season 3 premiere date hasn’t been released, but it’s guaranteed to drop this year.
5.The Summer I Turned Pretty
Belly is back! And all I can say is it’s about time. It’s been a year since Amazon announced The Summer I Turned Pretty’s return for Season 3, but good work takes time. Things left off with Belly forcing herself to decide between two brothers: Conrad and Jeremiah, and of course, Jeremiah won. Conrad didn’t take things well and seemingly ostracized himself from the family. As a result, the boys’ father opted to put the Cousins house up for sale because the family was feuding, and their connection to the beach house wasn’t the same after Sussanah died. But leave it to Belly to come up with a way to save the day, and now it’s time to find out who’s still together, who’s not, and who’s coming to stir things up. Season 3 is set to release later this year.
6.Stranger Things
After nearly three years away from your TV screens and streaming devices, Stranger Things finished filming its fifth season last month. So all you super fans can rejoice as Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Winona Ryder, Finn Wolfhard, and the rest of the Stranger Things cast prepare to return to Netflix. Season 4 wrapped with a human sacrifice —from Eddie— for the greater good, and Vecna opening the gate between Earth and their Upside Down alternate universe. I’m not quite sure what happens next, but answers will literally crawl to the surface during the first episode of the show’s fifth saga. No official release date has been announced, but the show will premiere later this year.
7.The Handmaid's Tale
Fans didn’t know what to think when the credits rolled on Bruce Miller’s The Handmaid’s Tale in the fall of 2022. The show is dystopic, unparalleled, and uncomfortably similar to certain realities we’re seeing take place today. For five seasons, viewers have watched June (Elisabeth Moss) and Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) collide because one woman wants what the other has. For Serena, it’s June’s ability to bear children, and give her husband something she can’t. For June, it’s freedom. They both represent polarizing views of oppression, gender discrimination, and power; but, June sets them apart by becoming the face of the resistance against the state of Gilead. Then you remember, everyone loves a good plot twist. Cue Season 6, which will drop later this year.
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9.The Night Agent
Season 1 of Netflix’s The Night Agent ended during the spring of 2023, and fans were left wondering whether or not the thrill-seeking series would return. Thankfully, that question was answered when the streaming platform announced that they weren’t just renewing the show for a second season, but for a third season as well. The series follows Peter Sutherland, a low-ranking FBI agent that’s tasked with manning the phone lines for agents in the organization’s top-secret Night Action program. It was an easy job. Agent Sutherland worked from a White House basement sitting next to a phone that never rang, but the night it finally did changed everything. He ultimately receives new orders, and gets on a plane headed out the country. The catch: he can’t read his orders until he’s out of American air space. You can find out where he went beginning Thursday, January 23, of course, on Netflix.
10.Andor
To all you Star Wars fans out there, this news “is what a reckoning sounds like” (only true fans will get it). After a two-plus year hiatus, you can brush your disappointment to the side and rejoice in the fact that Andor is coming back for Season 2! The series’ premise is perfectly in line with the galactic franchise, and follows the journey of Cassian Andor, an intelligence officer part of the Rebel Alliance. We were introduced to him in the 2017 saga, Rogue One. He ultimately dies in the movie, but the Disney+ show chronicles his life over the five-year period leading up to his death, which occurred in the name of the rebellion. The Season 1 finale reached 3.3 million unique viewers, so I can only imagine the number for the Season 2 premiere. You can catch it on Disney+ on Tuesday, April 22.
11.Severance
The last time viewers watched Severance was in 2022. That’s a long time to go without something as small as a tease to hold us over. But we’re here now, and hearts should be soothed knowing Season 2 just returned to Apple+ in January 2025. The streaming service only releases one episode per week, so please don’t act surprised when you can’t marathon watch the show over the weekend. For those unfamiliar, this psychological thriller features an all-star cast, including Christopher Walken, John Turturro, Adam Scott, and Michael Chernus. It tells the story of a world that allows you to sever your thoughts, and only think about work while you’re at work and only home when you’re home. The moment you cross a particular location, your memory of the other is wiped until you return to that place.
