True Crime TV Next Week (Sept. 14–20, 2026): No Confirmed New Case on Any of the Three
Short version — the week of Sept. 14–20 is the last quiet one before the fall true-crime season starts.
- Monday through Thursday: none of the three newsmagazines is scheduled.
- Friday, Sept. 18: NBC's own Friday listing includes a Dateline hour, but no episode title has been released. ABC has no 20/20.
- Saturday, Sept. 19: CBS is in college football again, so there is no 48 Hours.
What is on Monday through Thursday?
Nothing from Dateline, 20/20 or 48 Hours. All three are Friday-and-Saturday shows, and none of the networks has slotted a midweek special.
NBC's Monday is the 78th Emmy Awards, 8–11 p.m. ET. Tuesday and Wednesday belong to America's Got Talent semifinals, and Thursday brings new Traitors episodes plus a Voice anniversary hour. Useful to know if you are hunting for the remote, less useful if you came for a case.
| Night (ET) | Dateline | 20/20 | 48 Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon., Sept. 14 | — | — | — |
| Tue., Sept. 15 | — | — | — |
| Wed., Sept. 16 | — | — | — |
| Thu., Sept. 17 | — | — | — |
| Fri., Sept. 18 | Listed on NBC's Friday schedule; no title announced | Not scheduled | — |
| Sat., Sept. 19 | — | — | Not scheduled — CBS has football |
| Sun., Sept. 20 | — | — | — |
Is Dateline new on Friday, Sept. 18?
This is the one genuinely unsettled question of the week, and it is worth being straight about it.
NBC's primetime schedule for the period lists Dateline NBC on Friday, Sept. 18, after two hours of Traitors repeats. But NBC's own season-35 page says the new season starts the following Friday, Sept. 25, and no title, correspondent or case has been attached to the Sept. 18 hour.
Both things can be true. Dateline has been running episodes outside its numbered season all summer — the Sept. 11 hour, Facing Ground Zero, was one of them, and it was not part of season 35 either. So an hour on Sept. 18 would sit in the same category: a Dateline broadcast, not a season-35 episode.
Until NBC posts a title, we are not going to tell you it is a new case. We will add the title to this page as soon as NBC releases it, and no later than Thursday, Sept. 17.
Is 20/20 on Friday, Sept. 18?
No. ABC's fall announcement puts the 20/20 season 49 premiere on Friday, Sept. 25 at 9/8c, and the network has not published a Friday, Sept. 18 primetime lineup that includes the show.
That is a two-week gap for ABC viewers. The last new hour was the Lindsay Clancy special on Sept. 4, which ABC moved into the schedule late and which ended with a mistrial the same day it aired.
Why is 48 Hours missing again on Saturday?
Same reason as this Saturday: CBS is carrying college football. The network's 2026 schedule has a doubleheader on Sept. 19, USC at Rutgers at 3:30 p.m. ET and BYU at Colorado State at 7:30 p.m. ET, and a 7:30 kickoff runs straight through the 10 p.m. hour.
There is a second, simpler reason. 48 Hours is between seasons. CBS's own schedule page says season 39 premieres Saturday, Oct. 10, so there is no new episode to preempt. The most recent Saturday with anything on it was the Sept. 5 encore double feature.
When does each show actually come back?
| Show | Returns | Time (ET) | Network | Streaming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dateline NBC (season 35) | Fri., Sept. 25 | 9 p.m. | NBC | Peacock, next day |
| 20/20 (season 49) | Fri., Sept. 25 | 9 p.m. | ABC | Hulu, next day |
| 48 Hours (season 39) | Sat., Oct. 10 | 10 p.m. | CBS | Paramount+, next day |
Two of the three land on the same Friday night at the same hour, which has not happened since spring. If you watch both, one of them is a next-day stream.
What time is each one in my time zone?
| Time zone | Dateline / 20/20 (Sept. 25) | 48 Hours (Oct. 10) |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern | 9:00 p.m. | 10:00 p.m. |
| Central | 8:00 p.m. | 9:00 p.m. |
| Pacific | 9:00 p.m. | 10:00 p.m. |
Mountain-time stations usually carry the Central feed an hour earlier, at 8 p.m. MT for the Friday shows. That one varies by affiliate, so it is the single line on this page worth double-checking against your own listings.
Our longer breakdown of channels, feeds and apps is in the how-to-watch guide, which we keep current through the season.
What can I watch in the meantime?
Cases move whether or not the cameras are rolling, and three of them have court dates close to this week.
- Richard Allen's appeal in the Delphi murders is argued Monday, Sept. 21 in Indianapolis.
- Barry Morphew is out on a $10 million bond and under house arrest after a Sept. 8 hearing.
- The Menendez brothers had their parole review pulled forward to March 2027.
The full run is in our case files, and last week's grid, with the 9/11 special that led into this quiet stretch, is here.
👉 If you only remember one date from this page, make it Friday, Sept. 25 — two premieres, one hour, two networks.
FAQ
Is Dateline new next week? NBC lists a Dateline hour on Friday, Sept. 18, but has not released a title or a case, so we cannot call it new yet. The season 35 premiere is Sept. 25.
What happened to 48 Hours? It is between seasons. Season 39 starts Saturday, Oct. 10, and CBS has football in the Saturday primetime slot until then.
Where can I stream the three shows right now? Past Dateline episodes are on Peacock, 20/20 on Hulu, and 48 Hours on Paramount+ and its free channel on Pluto TV.
Sources
- NBC primetime schedule listings for Sept. 9–29, 2026 (from NBC's press listings)
- NBC Insider — Everything to Know About Dateline Season 35
- ABC — Fall 2026 premiere dates and primetime schedule
- CBS News — "48 Hours" show schedule, updated Sept. 10, 2026
- CBS Sports 2026 college football television schedule
Listings data via TVmaze.