What to Watch in August
Lisa Tipton
July 29, 2026
There's a huge amount of worthwhile TV out there nowadays, so it can be hard to choose what to watch. But who better to recommend shows than the person who programs them? Lisa Tipton, WTTW’s Head of Programming and Pledge, constructs the WTTW schedule by searching through offerings from many different sources which include the national PBS network, the BBC, and independent filmmakers to put together a varied and engaging broadcast schedule. Each month, she recommends a few shows that she thinks you should watch.
Find all the ways to watch WTTW here. Many of the below shows are available to stream via the PBS app or will be once they premiere, especially by WTTW Passport members.
Grantchester Wraps Up, and Other Dramas and Mysteries
After three vicars and eleven seasons, the bucolic mystery Grantchester ends its run with a climactic finale at 8:00 pm on Sunday, August 2, with the season two finale of Patience preceding it at 7:00 pm. But don't worry: there's a new season of the 1960s-set Inspector George Gently Thursdays at 7:00 pm beginning August 6. And we're also revisiting the most recent season of All Creatures Great and Small with a behind-the-scenes look called All Creatures Great and Small: Chapter Six Sunday, August 9 at 7:00 pm. It's preceded by a marathon of that most recent season starting at 10:00 am.
Concerts (and a Musician)
Enjoy some live music without going out into the hot summer nights, with legends like John Fogerty, Sheryl Crow, Mavis Staples, and Bruce Springsteen performing in Rock Classics on Sunday, August 9 at 10:00 pm. Also legendary is the Concert for George held a year after George Harrison's death with his surviving Beatles bandmates, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Billy Preston, and more, Sunday, August 16 at 10:00 pm. And for something a bit different, Great Performances brings you the Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2026 from the grounds of the Schönbrunn Palace Friday, August 28 at 8:00 pm. Finally, take a look at Dolly Parton's life in Dolly Parton: Here I Am on Friday, August 14 at 8:00 pm.
Diana's Decades
Mondays at 9:00 pm beginning August 17
Princess Diana was only 36 when she died, yet she was a powerful influence and expression of the decades in which she lived, as this three-part series explores.
Resolve to Solve with Miles O'Brien
Wednesdays at 9:00 pm beginning August 19
American Masters — Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World
"Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it." Those were Mary Oliver's "instructions for living a life," listed in her poem "Sometimes." The Putlitzer Prize-winning poet followed in an American literary tradition of close natural observation that traces at least back to Henry David Thoreau, and found just as many admirers.
