MW Here's what's worth streaming in February 2026 on Netflix, Hulu, Peacock and more
By Mike Murphy
With a few notable exceptions, the Winter Olympics is putting a chill on new streaming releases
American skier Lindsey Vonn's comeback will be one of the big storylines for the upcoming Winter Olympics.
Can anything compete with the Winter Olympics this February?
Not really. Peacock's Winter Games from Milano Cortina, Italy, will be the biggest streaming spectacle of the month, and many rival services are essentially throwing in the towel, figuring any new shows will get lost in the shuffle of skiing, snowboarding and figure skating.
That's not to say there aren't viewing options besides the Olympics - HBO Max still has "The Pitt," "Industry" and "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," Netflix has more "Bridgerton," while Hulu has a new season of "Paradise" and a resuscitated "Scrubs" - but there's less noise overall, and budget-conscious consumers can capitalize by perhaps dropping a service or two during the lull without missing much.
With a bit of strategic churning - that is, adding and dropping services month to month - you can watch the best of the best while keeping your monthly streaming budget just under $50. Keep in mind that a billing cycle starts when you sign up, not necessarily at the beginning of the month. And it's always worth watching out for time-sensitive deals and money-saving bundles.
Each month, this column offers tips on how to maximize your streaming and your budget - rating the major services as "play," "pause" or "stop," similar to investment analysts' traditional ratings of buy, hold and sell - and picks the best shows to help you make your monthly decisions.
Here's a look at what's coming to the various streaming services in February 2026, and what's really worth the monthly subscription fee:
Peacock ($10.99 a month with ads, or $16.99 with no ads)
The Olympics are always a treat, and NBCUniversal is pulling out all the stops for the Winter Games from Milano Cortina (Feb. 6-22). Peacock's Summer Olympics coverage in 2024 highlighted the streamer's ability to show, well, everything, and viewers should expect even more options this time around. That'll include a Multiview feature, to watch up to four events on one screen simultaneously; a dynamic Rinkside Live feature with multiple camera angles for hockey and figure skating; and the return of the Gold Zone, an "NFL Red Zone"-like feature providing live "whip around" coverage of all the biggest moments, as it's happening (it's addictive and will absolutely smash your attention span). Peacock will offer live coverage of every event (they'll be six hours ahead of Eastern time), along with on-demand highlights, studio analysis and featurettes. And while the Opening Ceremony will kick things off on Feb. 6, Peacock will start coverage Feb. 4 with preliminary rounds of curling, skiing and snowboarding. Click here for a full schedule of events. This will be the must-watch event of February for good reason: For spontaneous, gripping drama, it really can't be beat.
Peacock's also got "The 'Burbs" (Feb. 9), starring Keke Palmer in a series remake of the cult-classic 1989 comedy/horror movie about a quiet suburban neighborhood hiding dark secrets; "The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins" (Feb. 24), a rapid-fire joke machine about a disgraced former NFL star seeking to rehabilitate his image, from the executive producers of "30 Rock" and "Kimmy Schmidt" and starring Tracy Morgan and Daniel Radcliffe; the season finale of "The Traitors" (Feb. 26); and Season 3 of the reality all-star competition "House of Villains" (Feb. 26). There's also the usual crop of weekly NBC and cable shows, such as "Law & Order," "Chicago Fire," "Saturday Night Live," "Real Housewives," "Vanderpump Rules" and "The Voice." Or you could binge "Ponies," the light but watchable Cold War spy thriller that dropped in January.
And in non-Olympic sports, there's Super Bowl LX (kickoff at 6:30 Eastern, Feb. 8); a full slate of NBA games, including the All-Star Saturday festivities (Feb. 14) and the NBA All-Star Game (Feb. 15); college basketball; Premier League soccer; and Six Nations Rugby.
Play, pause or stop? Play. For the Winter Olympics alone. Keep in mind, if you have Comcast $(CMCSA)$ internet or cable, you probably qualify for Peacock's ad-supported tier for free. But if you sign up for the ad-free tier just for the Olympics, be advised that not all live coverage will be ad-free, because that's just how the live-sports business model works.
HBO Max ($10.99 a month with ads, $18.49 with no ads, or $22.99 'Ultimate' with no ads)
HBO Max has a killer ongoing lineup, with new weekly episodes of "The Pitt," still outstanding in its second season; the wonderfully entertaining "Game of Thrones" prequel "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" (season finale Feb. 22); and the deliciously scheming "Industry" (season finale March 1), but isn't doing much to bolster its schedule in February. Then again, with arguably the three best shows currently on TV, does it need to?
The biggest addition is a new season of "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" (Feb. 15), the Emmy-winning news satire/explanatory journalism show that remains a vital watch. There's also a new late-night series, "Neighbors" (Feb. 13), chronicling outrageous real-life residential disputes; Season 2 of the Mexican romantic drama "Like Water for Chocolate" (Feb. 15); "Portobello" (Feb. 20), HBO's first Italian original series, a dramatization of the true story of a TV variety-show host who was arrested and falsely accused of being part of the mafia; "Murder in Glitterball City" (Feb. 19), a two-part documentary about a mysterious killing in Louisville, Ky.; "Boys Go to Jupiter" (Feb. 6) a surreal animated coming-of-age movie; and "Dead of Winter" (Feb. 20), a psychological thriller set in a Minnesota blizzard starring Emma Thompson and Judy Greer.
There's also a full slate of live sports, including NHL games, college basketball, Unrivaled women's basketball, and AEW wrestling.
Toon time: Warner Bros' $(WBD)$ library of classic Looney Tunes cartoons, which have been inexplicably inaccessible to viewers for years, will have a new home at Turner Classic Movies, starting Feb. 2. So far, it appears to be a cable-only deal, but there's at least renewed hope they eventually will return to a streaming platform (perhaps even Netflix if that merger deal goes through).
Play, pause or stop? Play. Add "Last Week Tonight" into the must-see rotation. Everything else is just frosting on the cake.
Hulu ($11.99 a month with ads, or $18.99 with no ads)
Last year's surprise hit "Paradise" (Feb. 23) is back for its second season, with the first three episodes dropping all at once before going to a weekly release. Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson, Sarah Shahi and James Marsden star in this soapy but ridiculously addictive conspiracy thriller from Dan Fogelman ("This Is Us") that can veer from cheesy to gripping at the drop of a hat. It'll be worth a watch as the series expands its scope beyond the bunker and into the mysterious outside world.
The beloved hospital sitcom "Scrubs" (Feb. 27) is getting revived, 15 years after its original run ended. Much of the original cast, including Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke, Judy Reyes and John C. McGinley, are reprising their roles, a little older but probably not much wiser. But not all of the old gang is back: Dr. Kelso (Ken Jenkins) and The Janitor (Neil Flynn) won't appear this season, but may if there are future seasons, while Sam Lloyd, who played sad-sack Ted, died in 2020. "Scrubs" was one of the best comedies of the 2000s (ignoring the revamped and forgettable ninth season), leaving viewers laughing out loud one minute and in tears the next. In recent years, creator Bill Lawrence has struck chords with emotional, warm-hearted hits like "Ted Lasso" and "Shrinking," but this is where his blend of heart and hilarity really came together. Revivals can be tough to successfully pull off ("King of the Hill" was a rarity last year), but here's hoping the magic can be recaptured.
Hulu's also got Season 5 of the deeply funny and emotionally satisfying hockey comedy (and "Letterkenny" spinoff) "Shoresy" (Feb. 21); the second season of the "Oliver Twist" spinoff drama "The Artful Dodger" (Feb. 10); Ryan Murphy's latest anthology series, "Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette" (Feb. 12), starring Paul Anthony Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon; the Australian voyeur-thriller series "Watching You" (Feb. 20); all four seasons of NBC's 2016-'20 afterlife comedy "The Good Place" (Feb. 9), which is moving over from Netflix; and an assortment of cable pickups like "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," "Say Yes to the Dress," "House Hunters International" and "Naked and Afraid."
Play, pause or stop? Play. "Paradise" will get you hooked, "Scrubs" should be comforting, and you can always catch up on recent releases like Season 2 of the 19th-century boxing drama "A Thousand Blows," new episodes of Ryan Murphy's body-horror series "The Beauty" and fresh episodes of Fox and ABC shows.
Apple TV ($12.99 a month)
Apple's $(AAPL)$ got new seasons of two shows viewers last saw way back in 2023.
The domestic thriller "The Last Thing He Told Me" (Feb. 20), based on the best-selling novels by Laura Dave, returns for its second season as the action moves to Paris. Jennifer Garner stars as a mother whose missing husband (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) reappears after five years on the run from a crime syndicate that wants him dead, putting the whole family at risk.
Also back for a second season is "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" (Feb. 27), a spinoff series about a secret organization tracking giant monsters that ties together recent Godzilla and King Kong movies. Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell (playing the same character in different time periods) return, along with Emmy winner Anna Sawai ("Shogun"), Ren Watabe and Anders Holm. While the individual Monsterverse movies have been mostly forgettable, Season 1 of "Monarch" was surprisingly good.
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January 30, 2026 11:00 ET (16:00 GMT)
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