Check out the must-stream original titles on Hulu this month
Check out the must-stream original titles on Hulu this month
From sports comedies to horror anthologies to somber remembrances, Hulu has a little bit of everything this month.
With all due respect to its streaming brethren, there is likely no streaming service that I have watched more during my cord-cutting days than Hulu. At first, it was to be able to stream shows I missed live the day after they aired on network television, but as Disney has invested more and more in the platform, it has increasingly become one of the most well-rounded homes for high-quality streaming originals.
As such, September is shaping up to be an especially varied month for Hulu, with the streamer offering everything from sports-focused comedies and prestige crime dramas to live music, a major 9/11 anniversary special, and a new installment on one of FX’s signature franchises.
The month’s biggest new arrivals include the second season of Glen Powell’s “Chad Powers,” the long-awaited “Snowfall” spinoff “The Drop,” and an “American Horror Story” season designed as something of a greatest-hits reunion for the franchise.
Hulu will also stream the iHeartRadio Music Festival live from Las Vegas, while three very different FX and Hulu favorites continue their current seasons throughout September. Here are my picks for the best new and original titles to stream on Hulu this September.
Best original titles on Hulu in September
‘Chad Powers’ Season 2 | Thursday, Sept. 3
As a diehard college football fan, I am ecstatic that September means football season, and apparently, so is Hulu. The ridiculous Eli Manning sketch turned heartfelt comedy starring Glen Powell, “Chad Powers” returns for its second season on Thursday, Sept. 3. In the show, Powell plays disgraced former quarterback Russ Holliday looking to revive his career by donning an over-the-top wig and facial prosthetics.
The series began with Russ attempting to resurrect the football career that he destroyed years earlier by transforming himself into the awkward but exceptionally talented Chad Powers and walking on to a struggling South Georgia team. Season 1 turned what could have been a one-joke premise into a surprisingly effective combination of sports comedy and redemption story, especially as Russ became increasingly invested in the teammates and coaches he was deceiving.
Season 2 picks up with that deception becoming considerably more complicated. Ricky Hudson (Perry Mattfeld) now knows who Chad actually is, meaning Russ’ secret is no longer entirely his own, while Danny (Frankie A. Rodriguez) remains involved in helping keep the charade alive. At the same time, the Catfish have become legitimate contenders, raising the stakes considerably if Russ’ identity is exposed.
Powell co-created the series with “Loki” creator Michael Waldron after Eli Manning introduced the Chad Powers character in a viral 2022 ESPN segment. The second season consists of six episodes, and unlike Season 1’s weekly rollout, Hulu will make the entire season available to binge on Sept. 3. So, it is a perfect way to get yourself ready for football season.
Chad Powers
Eight years after an unforgivable mistake nukes his promising college football career, hotshot quarterback Russ Holliday tries to resurrect his dreams by disguising himself as Chad Powers - a talented oddball who walks on to the struggling South Georgia Catfish.
‘The Drop: A Snowfall Saga’ | Tuesday, Sept. 8
Three years after “Snowfall” ended its acclaimed six-season run, FX is heading back to the streets of Los Angeles with “The Drop: A Snowfall Saga,” moving its characters and the city itself into a different era.
Gail Bean and Isaiah John reprise their roles as Wanda Bell and Leon Simmons, respectively, as the pair attempts to rebuild their lives in 1990s Los Angeles. The crack epidemic that drove much of “Snowfall” has left deep scars across the city, but a new cultural and economic force is beginning to emerge in its wake: West Coast hip-hop.
Wanda believes that the growing music scene can change American culture and begins assembling artists in hopes of turning that belief into a career. That brings her into the orbit of former drug dealer and aspiring label owner Darryl “DG” Grant (Brandon Mychal Smith), along with cousins Lamar and James Kinsey, played by Asante Blackk and Peyton Alex Smith. Meanwhile, Leon is attempting to leave his former life behind by operating a free legal clinic.
“Snowfall” was never really about the drug trade; it was about how an entire generation and community were reshaped by its ramifications. Similarly, it appears that “The Drop” will explore what came next, using the burgeoning music scene as a way to continue telling powerful stories about complex and complicated characters.
The eight-episode first season premieres on Tuesday, Sept. 8, with new episodes continuing throughout the month.
The Drop: A Snowfall Saga: Season 1
In 1990s Los Angeles, Wanda and Leon fight to take West Coast rap mainstream while gang wars erupt and record labels move to exploit hip hop culture for their own gain.
‘9/11 Tribute in Light: Live from Lower Manhattan’ | Friday, Sept. 11
On the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Hulu will join ABC, Disney+, National Geographic, ABC News Live, and other Disney-owned outlets for a special live broadcast from Lower Manhattan.
“9/11 Tribute in Light: Live from Lower Manhattan” will be hosted by ABC News anchors David Muir, Robin Roberts, and Diane Sawyer and will honor the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks while reflecting on the experiences of survivors, families, first responders, and communities that have carried their impact for the past quarter-century.
The broadcast culminates with the annual Tribute in Light, in which two beams of light rise into the Manhattan skyline near the former site of the Twin Towers. The installation has become one of the country’s most recognizable Sept. 11 memorial traditions.
The one-hour special will stream live beginning at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 11.
| DIRECTV | Fubo | Hulu | Sling TV | YouTube TV | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Trial | Free Trial | Free 3-Day Trial | Save with Sling | Free Trial | |||||
| $20.99 | $9.99 | $28.99 | $19.99 | $29.99 | $45.99 | $45.99 | $64.99 | ||
| ABC | + $24 | + $59 | + $61 | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
iHeartRadio Music Festival | Friday, Sept. 18-Saturday, Sept. 19
Hulu subscribers don’t need a ticket to Las Vegas to see one of September’s biggest music events. The 2026 iHeartRadio Music Festival will stream live on Hulu and Disney+ on Friday, Sept. 18 and Saturday, Sept. 19, bringing a remarkably eclectic lineup to T-Mobile Arena.
Variety has always been the festival’s biggest selling point; unlike events built around one particular genre, iHeart uses its massive collection of radio brands to create what is essentially a two-night shuffle playlist perfect for music fans with highly eclectic tastes. This year’s performers include BTS, Cardi B, Benson Boone, Snoop Dogg, Kenny Chesney, Lainey Wilson, Muse, Weezer, Goo Goo Dolls, Major Lazer, Zara Larsson, and LE SSERAFIM. Since the initial lineup announcement, iHeart has added Ciara and The Smashing Pumpkins, along with a special appearance from rising singer-songwriter Stella Lefty. Ryan Seacrest will once again host the two-night event.
Perhaps more importantly for Hulu subscribers, this isn’t simply a condensed television special arriving weeks later. Hulu and Disney+ will livestream all of the performances across both nights, giving viewers access to the actual festival as it happens.
Now in its 16th year, the iHeartRadio Music Festival has built its identity around putting artists who would almost never share a traditional festival bill onto the same stage. With K-pop, hip-hop, country, alternative rock, dance, and pop all represented this year, the 2026 edition might be one of the clearest examples yet.
Hulu
Hulu is a video streaming service that gives access to thousands of full seasons of exclusive series, hit movies, kids shows, and Hulu Originals like “Only Murders in the Building,” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
‘American Horror Story: 13’ | Thursday, Sept. 24
There have been good seasons of “American Horror Story,” bad seasons of “American Horror Story,” and seasons that I am still not entirely sure I understood. But there is no denying the importance that Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s anthology series has had on horror on television, and the medium as a whole. The groundbreaking series’ ominously numbered 13th installment appears determined to celebrate that history and to push even more boundaries.
Rather than starting completely fresh, “American Horror Story: 13” is bringing back an extraordinary collection of franchise veterans. Jessica Lange returns to the series alongside Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, Gabourey Sidibe, and Leslie Grossman.
More importantly for longtime fans, the new season is expected to reconnect with elements of “Coven” and “Apocalypse,” making this considerably more than the anthology’s normal annual reset. FX has been deliberately coy about exactly which characters are returning and how the different corners of the franchise will connect, but the season is clearly leaning into the show’s history.
That makes Season 13 particularly interesting after 15 years of wildly different haunted houses, witches, freak shows, hotels, cults, apocalypses, and assorted Ryan Murphy nightmare fuel. For a franchise that has spent its entire existence reinventing itself, revisiting some of its most popular characters could be exactly the kind of event that longtime viewers have been waiting for.
Hulu will make the first three episodes available on Thursday, Sept. 24, beginning at 6 p.m. PT, before the season continues into October, perfect for Spooky Season.
American Horror Story
An anthology horror drama series centering on different characters and locations, including a house with a murderous past, an asylum, a witch coven, a freak show, a hotel, a farmhouse in Roanoke, a cult, the apocalypse and a summer camp.
Series continuing in September
‘The Shards’ | New episodes on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET, Season Finale on Sept. 9
If you haven’t been watching “The Shards,” you don’t have a ton of time to get caught up before what promises to be an explosive season finale. The adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ novel is heading into its final stretch, the finale episode arriving on Hulu on Wednesday, Sept. 9.
Set in 1980s Los Angeles, the series stars Igby Rigney as a fictionalized teenage version of Ellis, whose privileged prep-school existence becomes increasingly unsettling following the arrival of mysterious new student Robert Mallory (Homer Gere) and amid a serial killer’s reign of terror. Kaia Gerber, Graham Campbell, and Wes Bentley are also among the ensemble.
Part glossy ’80s teen drama and part psychological murder mystery, “The Shards” has gradually gotten stranger as Bret’s suspicions and obsessions have intensified. With only the finale remaining after this week’s episode, September is also a convenient time to catch up on the full nine-episode season.
The Shards
17-year-old Bret Easton Ellis is in his final year at the elite Buckley prep school. Upending his world is the arrival of a mysterious new student, Robert Mallory, whose unsettling presence coincides with the activities of a serial killer known as The Trawler.
‘Futurama’ Season 14| New episodes on Monday at 12:01 a.m. ET, Season Finale on Sept. 28
“Futurama” has survived cancellation, revival, cancellation again, and yet another revival, so at this point, it seems foolish to ever assume Fry, Leela, Bender, and the Planet Express crew are actually going anywhere.
Season 14 continues throughout September with new episodes arriving every Monday for the rest of the month. This year’s adventures include space pirates, lab-grown meat, scams, and the return of Dr. Zoidberg’s long-lost love, because apparently even Zoidberg gets another shot at romance.
The show’s Hulu era has continued its familiar mixture of ridiculous science fiction and topical satire, making this one of the easiest ongoing shows on the service to drop into. So, whether you are watching each episode as soon as it drops, or waiting to binge them all at once, September is going to be chock-full of shenanigans on and off Old Bessie. The Season 14 finale arrives Monday, Sept. 28.
Futurama
The adventures of a late-20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J. Fry, who, after being unwittingly cryogenically frozen for one thousand years, finds employment at Planet Express, an interplanetary delivery company in the retro-futuristic 31st century.
‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ Season 18 | New episodes on Mondays at 9 p.m. ET
After more than two decades, the remarkable thing about “It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia” is not simply that the show is still on television, but that Charlie, Mac, Dennis, Dee, and Frank are still finding new ways to be horrible.
Season 18 expands back to 10 episodes and has been billed as a return to the show’s roots, with the Gang confronting everything from inheritances and workplace automation to conspiracy theories, Little League sponsorships, Renaissance Faires, and society’s changing attitude toward drinking.
New episodes continue Mondays throughout September and into October. Given how frequently long-running sitcoms soften their characters over time, there remains something almost admirable about “Sunny’s” complete refusal to allow anyone at Paddy’s Pub to become a better person.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Four egocentric friends run a neighborhood Irish pub in Philadelphia and try to find their way through the adult world of work and relationships. Unfortunately, their warped views and precarious judgments often lead them to trouble, creating a myriad of uncomfortable situations that usually only get worse before they get better.