The 10 Best TV Shows to Stream This Month (May 2026) | WIRED

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While streaming may be the future of television, the medium itself—much like its big-screen counterpart—often leans on familiar properties, prequels, and reboots to keep things moving along. (Which explains why Yellowstone has morphed into a full-on franchise, with four current spinoffs and more on the way.)

Why does this matter to you? Because May’s best shows to stream are full of familiar titles, from Battlestar Galactica to the Duffer Brothers’ newest project … which sounds a bit like their most famous project.

Here are our picks for the 10 best shows to watch this month.

Battlestar Galactica

More than a year before Russell T. Davies rebooted Doctor Who for a whole new generation, Ronald D. Moore breathed new life into Battlestar Galactica—Glen A. Larson’s highly anticipated but ultimately short-lived sci-fi show from 1978. The revived series, in which what remains of humanity attempts to stave off extinction at the hands of a race of sentient AI beings known as Cylons, has since become one of the most critically acclaimed and influential sci-fi franchises of all time.

Now, after a year of being MIA, Paramount+ is bringing the entire franchise—which was profoundly ahead of its time with its exploration of AI, politics, identity, and what it means to be human—to its streaming platform. In addition to the three-hour miniseries that served as the de facto pilot, all four official seasons of the series, starring Oscar nominees Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell, plus Katee Sackhoff in her breakout role, are now streaming. As are the Olmos-directed feature film, The Plan, and the 2010 prequel series, Caprica. It’s all here for the bingeing.

Watch on Paramount+

Worst Ex Ever

Think your former partner was the worst person that ever lived? Give Netflix’s true crime docuseries a watch, then maybe reassess. Using a mix of standard talking head interviews with authorities and survivors, plus animated re-creations of the violent actions and crimes being described, the show—which dropped its second season on May 6—explores the many ways romantic relationships can turn toxic, sometimes with fatal results.

At the same time, and without calling it out specifically, each four-episode season highlights the ways in which technology has made it easier for perpetrators to terrorize their significant others, from using dating apps to target their would-be victims to using social media to track and harass them.

Watch on Netflix

Rivals

Over-the-top wealth, toxic masculinity, ruthless ambition, and the particularities of the British class system are on full display in this soapy, 1980s-set British dramedy. Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell), a notorious womanizer and Conservative politician, finds himself regularly butting heads—both personally and professionally—with cutthroat television executive Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant).

The two battle it out for control of the popular Corinium Television network at a time when the (very real) independent television boom was enveloping much of America, England, and Western Europe. Their feud pulls friends, lovers, spouses, and colleagues into an increasingly chaotic web of betrayals and power plays that turns the upper crust of Margaret Thatcher’s England into a gloriously messy affair. Rivals, which is based on the second book in author Jilly Cooper’s long-running Rutshire Chronicles series, just returned for a second season on May 15.

Watch on Hulu

The Punisher: One Last Kill

OK, so technically this is not a series. It’s a 50-minute stand-alone “special presentation” intended to serve as a bridge between Disney+’s Daredevil: Born Again and Frank Castle’s upcoming appearance in July’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day. But we say it counts!

Jon Bernthal reprises his role as Castle, a US Marine turned vigilante known as the Punisher, who is suffering the psychological effects of years spent exacting revenge on the gangsters who killed his wife and children. But when a bounty is placed on his head, Castle finds himself dragged back into the criminal world he so desperately wants to escape, but which also gives him a purpose. For those who abide by canon, One Last Kill is officially part of the MCU’s Phase Six, which kicked off last year with The Fantastic Four: First Steps and will conclude with 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars.

Watch on Disney+

Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed

Tatiana Maslany won a well-deserved Emmy for playing con artist Sarah Manning—and her 16 clones, each one with its very own distinct personality—in the cult-favorite Orphan Black. Now the one-time She-Hulk is bringing her distinct talent for balancing emotional vulnerability with manic unpredictability to Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed.

The new Apple TV series, which will release its first two of 10 episodes on May 20, features Maslany as Paula, a suburban mom and recent divorcée who copes with her status by entering