21 of the best TV shows to put you in the fall mood
Gabbi Shaw
- Fall is on its way: It's time to bring out the sweaters, boots, PSLs, and "Gilmore Girls."
- That's not the only fall show to watch. There are many cozy or spooky shows to stream.
Labor Day is approaching, which can only mean one thing: Fall is almost here.
After weeks of humidity, oppressive heat, and flash thunderstorms, it's time for crunchy leaves, sweaters, boots, hot coffee, and crisp air.
These shows, some of which have existed for decades and are still well-known properties to this day, are all you need to switch from the summer vibes to autumn cozies — or, as the kids are saying, move over "Brat Summer," it's time for "Demure Fall."
Here's what you should stream to get into the fall mood.
In "Gilmore Girls," the town of Stars Hollow seems to be perpetually in fall.
Is any show more appropriate for a fall-themed binge than "Gilmore Girls"? The two titular "girls," Lorelai and her daughter, Rory, seem to spend all their time sipping coffee in sweaters while walking around their Connecticut small town, Stars Hollow.
Even when it's not autumn in "Gilmore Girls" ... it's always autumn. The leaves are always changing colors, there's always a crisp breeze, and pumpkins abound.
The show, which ended in 2007, remains a favorite. Netflix acquired it in 2014 and in January, Nielsen reported that "Gilmore Girls" was the 7th most-watched show across streaming platforms in 2023.
"Gilmore Girls" is streaming on Netflix.
Fans of "Gilmore Girls" should also check out "Ginny and Georgia," which is the story of another mother-daughter duo living in a quaint New England town.
"Ginny and Georgia" takes place in the fictional town of Wellsbury, Massachusetts. While it's not as whimsical as Stars Hollow, the atmosphere is similar.
Plus, the first season takes place entirely in the lead-up to Election Day in November. There's even an iconic Halloween episode. Season two ends with a winter wonderland, so it can take you all the way through the new year.
And like "Gilmore Girls," "Ginny and Georgia" has been a hit with viewers — it was the third-most-watched original show on streaming platforms in 2023, Nielsen reported.
"Ginny and Georgia" is streaming on Netflix.
How could a show called "October Road" be about anything other than fall?
In "October Road," a successful author and screenwriter Nick Garrett returns to his charming New England hometown of Knights Ridge, Massachusetts, after 10 years away.
With the leads of Bryan Greenberg and Laura Prepon, this show easily could've lasted longer than its two seasons. Alas, we only have two.
"October Road" is rentable online.
One of the spookier shows on Netflix, "The Haunting of Hill House" will put you in the Halloween mood.
The horror series, which immediately captivated viewers upon its release in 2018, will definitely get you in a spooky mood.
It's loosely based on the 1959 Shirley Jackson novel of the same name and is focused on the Crane family, both in the present day and in the '80s when they moved into Hill House, which was (and is) haunted by ghosts. The estranged siblings have to come together to finally free their family from the demons of their past.
The sequel series, "The Haunting of Bly Manor," was released in October 2020 and is based on the Henry James novella "The Turning of the Screw."
"The Haunting of Hill House" and "The Haunting of Bly Manor" are streaming on Netflix.
Even though "Twin Peaks" takes place in the dregs of winter, the show has an autumnal aesthetic.
The town of Twin Peaks is located in Washington state, and throughout the entire show, there's a hazy, rainy glow over all 30 (original) episodes.
Originally, the plot focused on FBI Agent Dale Cooper, who is sent to Twin Peaks to investigate the murder of high school student Laura Palmer, but it quickly becomes about way more than one dead homecoming queen, as Cooper drinks coffee and spends copious amounts of time in a cozy diner.
The original two seasons of "Twin Peaks" and the 2017 sequel series "Twin Peaks: The Return" are streaming on Paramount+. The 1992 movie, "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me," is available on Max.
"This Is Us" is basically an ode to Thanksgiving.
"This Is Us," the story of the extended Pearson family throughout their lives, starts with the Pearson triplets on their birthday, August 31: the last day of summer before September rolls around and brings fall weather and pumpkin spice lattes.
Another key part of "This Is Us" lore is Thanksgiving, which the Pearsons love and have more traditions for than any other family in America.
All six seasons of "This Is Us" are streaming on Hulu, Disney+, Netflix, and the NBC website — and if that's not enough, stars Sterling K. Brown, Mandy Moore, and Chris Sullivan host a rewatch podcast called "That Was Us."
"Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" takes a wholesome show and turns it into something far more creepy.
Costume designer Angus Strathie told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018 that the show's director, Lee Toland Krieger, wanted the town of Greendale and the show to feel like "an eternal autumn."
This updated, downright creepy version of "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" turns everyone into devil-worshiping and powerful witches, with Sabrina's birthday on — you guessed it — Halloween.
All four seasons of "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" are streaming on Netflix.
"Bates Motel" is a spooky show filled with cozy sweaters.
"Bates Motel" is a prequel to the iconic horror film "Psycho," and focuses on a young Norman Bates with his mom, Norma, as they live their very complicated lives in the Pacific Northwest.
The show is filled with a sense of dread, as we all know where Norman's path leads, which makes it the perfect spooky season viewing.
You can buy all five seasons of "Bates Motel" on Prime Video.
The first two seasons of "Stranger Things" take place in the fall. It remains to be seen if the fifth season takes the action back to the time of year that started it all.
Season one starts in November and takes place over a week, while season two begins a year later, with Halloween. The town of Hawkins, Indiana, is a perfect Midwestern example of fall '80s nostalgia, when kids could just wander around on their bikes or go trick-or-treating without any supervision. Plus, it's another spooky show to get you ready for Halloween.
The third season takes place over summer vacation, and season four begins with spring break, so the fifth season, which is expected to be released in 2025, could easily take us back to the fall vibes that made us fall in love with the show in the first place.
The show — one of Netflix's most popular — follows a group of middle schoolers (Lucas, Dustin, and Mike) as they work together to find their missing friend, Will, with the help of a mysterious girl with no name, the sheriff, their older siblings, and their mom — all of whom are convinced that something larger is at work.
"Stranger Things" is streaming on Netflix.
"Friday Night Lights" takes place during high school football season: the fall.
"Friday Night Lights" focuses on the small town of Dillon, Texas, which treats its high school football players and their coach, Eric Taylor, like royalty.
As the show takes place during football season, much of the drama goes down between September and December and always has a back-to-school feel. Even if you don't like football, "Friday Night Lights" will suck you in with its lovable characters and realistic portrayal of small-town life.
"Friday Night Lights" is streaming on Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, and Disney+.
Almost all of "My So-Called Life's" single season takes place during the fall — only a few episodes are in the winter.
Frequently cited as one of the best one-season wonders of all time, "My So-Called Life" starts at the beginning of Angela Chase's sophomore year of high school, as she navigates her first relationship, her contentious relationship with her parents and the unrequited love of one of her good friends. Watching it will take you right back to the first day of school.
"My So-Called Life" is streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
"Charmed" is just one of a few witchy shows that'll cast the fall spell on you.
"Charmed," the WB series about the three (later, four) Halliwell sisters who happen to be the most powerful witches in the world, took place in San Francisco, which always seems to have a fall climate in the show — there are lots of long-sleeved shirts and no jackets.
Plus with witches, you know there's always going to be candles, supernatural occurrences, and lots of spells.
The original "Charmed" is streaming on Peacock, Prime Video, and Pluto TV. The 2018 CW reboot is streaming on Netflix.
All of "American Horror Story" is Halloween-appropriate, but some seasons are more autumnal than others.
As "American Horror Story" is an anthology show, every season tells a contained story — to really get in the fall mood, we'd recommend "Murder House," which takes place around Halloween, "Coven," which is heavy on witch vibes and voodoo, "Asylum" and "Roanoke" which both feel like a horror film, "Cult," which takes place right after the presidential election," and "Apocalypse," which contains characters from the different seasons.
That means you can (if you want) skip "Freak Show," "Hotel," "1984," "Double Feature," "NYC," and "Delicate."
"American Horror Story" is streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
If you're looking for a more vintage vibe, "The Twilight Zone" is the ultimate Halloween show.
Every episode of "The Twilight Zone," narrated by Rod Serling, contains its own little creepy sci-fi story — think "Black Mirror" but the '50s and '60s — and contains episodes written by some of the most iconic sci-fi writers ever, like Lucille Fletcher, Ray Bradbury, and Jerome Bixby, among others.
Plus, it'll take years before you run out of the content: The original series aired five seasons, there's the 1983 movie, the three-season '80s revival, a 2002 revival narrated by Forest Whitaker, and a 2019 revival narrated by Jordan Peele.
Still not convinced? In 2013, TV Guide named "The Twilight Zone" the fifth-best show of all time.
The original five seasons are streaming on Paramount+, Freevee, and Pluto TV, while the 2019 revival is on Freevee.
... or perhaps you prefer "The Outer Limits."
"The Outer Limits" was ABC's response to "The Twilight Zone," though its episodes relied more heavily on sci-fi than the supernatural elements of some "Twilight Zone" episodes.
Both the original "Outer Limits" and the '90s revival are available to stream on Roku or MGM+.
The lone reality show on this list, "Halloween Wars" is the perfect Food Network show to watch this month.
"Halloween Wars" is one of the only fall-themed cooking competitions on TV. It takes the basic premise of "Cupcake Wars" and adds a Halloween twist — each episode sees the teams compete in the realms of pumpkin carving, sugar glass making, and cake sculpting to make the perfect creepy confections.
Plus, it's hosted by Mr. "It's October 3rd" himself, Jonathan Bennett.
"Halloween Wars" is available to watch on Max and Discovery+.
The creator of "The Haunting of Hill House," Mike Flanagan, released a horror series in 2021 called "Midnight Mass."
"Midnight Mass" was released in September 2021. It follows Riley (Zach Gilford), who has returned home to the tiny Crockett Island after serving a four-year prison sentence for killing someone while driving drunk, and Father Paul (Hamish Linklater), the town's new priest who may or may not be a vampire.
Beware: This series is not for the faint of heart.
"Midnight Mass" is streaming on Netflix.
And he released yet another spooky miniseries in 2022, "The Midnight Club."
Based on the 1994 novel of the same name, and other spooky stories also written by author Christopher Pike, "The Midnight Club" is the story of eight terminally ill teens who live together at the Brightcliffe Home hospice. Every night at midnight, they meet to tell each other scary stories.
But, in true Mike Flanagan fashion, not everything is as it seems at Briarcliffe.
"The Midnight Club" is streaming on Netflix.
The latest Flanagan series, "The Fall of the House of Usher," hit Netflix in October 2023.
"The Fall of the House of Usher" gets its name from the Edgar Allen Poe short story of the same name, but it's more of an "Avengers" meet-up of characters from all across Poe's literary canon.
The series focuses on Roderick Usher, the CEO of a corrupt pharmaceutical company who must reckon with his past after his children mysteriously begin dying.
"The Fall of the House of Usher" is streaming on Netflix.
"Only Murders in the Building" combines cozy fall fashion with a harrowing murder mystery.
Selena Gomez's character, Mabel, rocks some of the best coats we've seen on TV in a long time.
But "Only Murders" is actually the story of three neighbors (and crime podcast junkies) who find themselves thrust into a mystery when another resident of their New York City apartment building is found dead. Using their amateur sleuth skills, these three (Gomez, Martin Short, and Steve Martin) team up to solve the case.
Four seasons (so far) of "Only Murders in the Building" are streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" should be screened at least once every fall.
One of the most iconic "Charlie Brown" specials of all time is easily the tale of the Great Pumpkin, who Linus wholeheartedly believes in and is convinced will come to the town's pumpkin patch if he believes hard enough. The antics of the "Charlie Brown" crew are entertaining at all ages.
You can find "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" on Apple TV+.
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