Trying Season 5 will bring one of Apple TV’s warmest comedies back into the summer schedule, with Rafe Spall and Esther Smith returning as Jason and Nikki for another chapter of family life that rarely stays settled for long. Apple unveiled the first look at the new season and confirmed that the eight-episode run will premiere globally on Wednesday, July 8, with one new episode arriving weekly through August 26.
The new season picks up after Princess and Tyler’s biological mother, Kat, played by Charlotte Riley, turns up at Nikki and Jason’s doorstep. Apple says her arrival brings a “whirlwind of chaos” into the family’s life, giving the series a direct emotional conflict after years of following the couple through adoption, parenthood, and the everyday pressure of trying to build a home with patience and humor.
That premise fits the show’s identity. Trying has never depended on exaggerated set pieces or loud comedy to make its point. Since its 2020 debut, the series has built its following around smaller human moments: awkward conversations, family pressure, insecurity, love, compromise, and the kind of emotional messiness that appears when people are doing their best and still getting things wrong. Rotten Tomatoes lists the series as a comedy-drama about Nikki and Jason’s adoption journey, with Andy Wolton as creator and Apple TV as the network.
A New Season Built Around Family Disruption
Season five changes the family dynamic by bringing Kat directly into Nikki and Jason’s settled life. That is a strong narrative move because Trying has spent years earning the emotional weight of this household. Nikki and Jason are not new parents searching for purpose anymore. They have already fought through uncertainty, process, waiting, judgment, and the challenge of becoming the family they wanted so badly to be.
Kat’s arrival complicates that stability without needing the show to abandon its tone. Princess, played by Scarlett Rayner, and Tyler, played by Cooper Turner, are no longer only part of Nikki and Jason’s parenting arc. Their biological connection arrives in person, and that presence naturally raises questions about belonging, boundaries, loyalty, and what family means after adoption. Apple’s description keeps the conflict simple, but the implications are wide enough to carry the season.
The first-look images also show the ensemble returning around the family, which matters for a show that has always used its supporting characters as part of its emotional texture. Apple’s release highlights Spall, Smith, Rayner, Turner, Riley, Colin Morgan, Celia Imrie, Phil Davis, Branka Katić, Oliver Chris, Roderick Smith, and Marian McLoughlin in new season imagery. The wider cast includes Darren Boyd, Siân Brooke, Gbemisola Ikumelo, and others, giving the season the familiar community shape that has helped Trying stay light without becoming thin.
Rafe Spall and Esther Smith remain the center of the series. Their chemistry has always carried the show because Nikki and Jason work as a couple viewers can believe in without treating them as idealized parents. They argue, panic, misread situations, try too hard, and recover from mistakes. That ordinary rhythm is part of the appeal. Trying has always understood that parenthood is not only built out of big emotional breakthroughs. It is built out of repeated attempts to show up well, even when the day refuses to cooperate.
The new season’s conflict gives Smith and Spall another version of that same challenge. Nikki and Jason now have to protect the life they built while making room for a truth that cannot simply be shut out. That is exactly the kind of tension the series handles best: a major emotional question delivered through domestic chaos, comedy, and scenes where everyone seems to be trying to be decent and difficult at the same time.
Why Trying Still Works for Apple TV
Trying occupies a specific place in Apple TV’s catalog. The platform has invested heavily in prestige drama, science fiction, thrillers, documentaries, and high-profile comedies, but Trying gives the service a gentler kind of returning series. It is not built around spectacle or shock. It works because it feels human, repeatable, and emotionally familiar.
Apple’s own release notes that the series has been described as feel-good, poignant, addictive, and one of Apple TV’s sweetest treats. It also cites a 96% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, with praise for the performers, details, and heartwarming tone. That reception helps explain why the show continues to matter after multiple seasons. A comedy that can stay warm without becoming weightless is useful for a streaming platform trying to build a balanced library.
The show’s creative continuity also matters. Trying is created, written, and executive produced by Andy Wolton, with Josh Cole, Sam Pinnell, Chris Sussman, Esther Smith, and Rafe Spall also serving as executive producers. BBC Studios produces the series. That consistency behind the camera helps preserve the tone that made the show work in the first place.
For Apple TV, a fifth season also shows the value of letting smaller, character-driven series mature. Not every streaming success has to dominate social media for a weekend. Some titles build loyalty because viewers return to the same characters over time. Trying fits that model neatly. The stakes are personal rather than apocalyptic, but they are not small to the people inside the story.
The release model supports that connection. Apple will premiere the first episode on July 8, then release one episode weekly through August 26. That weekly schedule gives the family conflict time to unfold, which suits a comedy-drama built around relationships rather than plot twists alone. A full-season drop might make the show easier to binge, but Trying benefits from a slower rhythm. Its best scenes often come from the accumulation of everyday pressure.
A Summer Return for One of Apple TV’s Warmest Series
Season five arrives at a useful moment for Apple TV. The platform has a busy 2026 lineup across drama, comedy, science fiction, and factual programming, but Trying gives it a returning title with a softer identity. It is the kind of series that can sit beside heavier releases because it offers something different: domestic comedy with emotional consequences.
The new season’s setup also gives Apple a clear promotional path. Nikki and Jason’s family has finally found a version of stability, and Kat’s arrival threatens that balance. Viewers who have followed the couple from the beginning understand why that disruption matters. New viewers still have an easy point of entry because the conflict is clear even without knowing every detail of the adoption journey.
The first-look release suggests Apple wants to emphasize the show’s ensemble and family-centered tone rather than reinvent the series for season five. That is the right choice. Trying’s strength has always been the way it turns deeply personal family questions into comedy without making the feelings cheap. A biological parent arriving at the door could easily become melodrama in another show. Trying is more likely to let the situation become funny, painful, awkward, and tender in the same episode.
That balance is why the series has lasted. Nikki and Jason’s story is not about perfect parenting. It is about effort. The title still fits because the characters are always trying — trying to be good parents, trying to be fair, trying to keep their home intact, trying not to let fear make their choices for them. Season five simply gives that effort a new test.
With eight episodes beginning July 8, Trying returns as one of Apple TV’s most reliable character comedies, carrying the same warmth that has defined the series while adding a new family complication that could reshape Nikki and Jason’s home in ways they cannot fully control.