What’s on History tonight? Here is the full History schedule for Tuesday, October 27, 2026, with times in Eastern Time (ET).

History has handed the whole day to The UnXplained

See also: What's on tonight across all channels | Wednesday's TV guide

From 7am ET until after 11pm ET, every hour on History is an episode of The UnXplained, the William Shatner series. The only things before it are four hours of History’s Greatest Mysteries overnight and two hours of paid programming and two half-hour shows, Amazing Facts and David Jeremiah, before it starts. If you like it, this is your day. If you don’t, there is no second option on the channel.

Primetime is a four-part Special Presentation run: Underwater Mysteries at 8pm ET/PT (7pm Central), Shadow Societies at 9pm ET/PT, Lost Fortunes at 10:03pm ET/PT and Powerful Objects at 11:05pm ET/PT. All four come from season two, so the channel is working through a block rather than picking highlights. Shadow Societies is the pick, mostly because it is the longest of the lot at 63 minutes and sits in the middle of the run, which makes it the easiest place to join without feeling you have missed the start. Three stars: it does the job, and nothing in the title promises more than that.

The competition is heavy at 8pm ET, where Dancing with the Stars, NCIS and The Real Housewives of New York City are all starting. At 9pm ET the field thins out to NCIS: New York, Road Wars and Secret Life of a Vegas Casino, so Shadow Societies has the easiest competition of the three.

One thing to know about the schedule: the Special Presentation airs on four separate days this week and next, and The UnXplained itself on four days as well. This is a channel that fills its calendar from a deep library, and the daytime run shows it, with episodes from seasons one through ten sitting side by side. Evil Places, the first episode of season one, is on at 4pm ET for anyone who wants to start at the beginning.

If you want one hour, take 9pm ET. If you want a run, 8pm ET gives you four hours without changing channel.


Also on TV tonight at 8pm ET

  • ABC: Dancing with the Stars
  • NBC: NBA Basketball
  • CBS: NCIS
  • FOX: 2026 World Series
  • PBS: Finding Your Roots
  • The CW: WWE NXT
  • ION: Chicago Fire
  • TCM: Arsenic and Old Lace
  • AMC: A Nightmare on Elm Street (from 7pm ET)
  • FX: Independence Day (from 6pm ET)

Every channel tonight, side by side · Movies on TV this week · Tomorrow’s TV


Frequently asked questions

What’s on History tonight?

On Tuesday, October 27, 2026, History shows The UnXplained Special Presentation at 8pm ET, The UnXplained Special Presentation at 9pm ET and The UnXplained Special Presentation at 10:03pm ET.

Is there a movie on History tonight?

No. History has no movies in its evening schedule on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.

What’s on History late tonight?

After 11pm ET, History has The UnXplained Special Presentation at 11:05pm ET.

What time does History’s evening start?

The evening schedule starts with The UnXplained at 6pm ET.

History gives each day to one show, from breakfast to the small hours

History does not really have a daily schedule. It has a daily choice. Across the two weeks we tracked, almost every day was handed over to a single series, which ran from 7am ET until about 4am the next morning with barely an interruption: a Pawn Stars day, an UnXplained day, an American Pickers day, a History’s Greatest Mysteries day. Titles that came back on three or more days took 85% of the channel’s airtime, and films barely registered, at about one a week.

The content is factual entertainment. Documentary series took 79% of airtime and reality series the other 21%, and the documentaries in the window leaned hard toward mysteries, the unexplained and the strange. Some of that may be October. The marathon format is not seasonal; it is how History is built.

What its day looks like

The edges of the day are fixed. On weekdays, 4am to 6am ET is paid programming, Amazing Facts airs at 6am and David Jeremiah at 6:30am, both in the same slot every weekday. On weekends, the same early hours go to CSN Mint, another paid block. Then at 7am the day’s show begins and runs.

In the window the weekday pattern was close to regular:

  • Mondays: History’s Greatest Mysteries from 7am right through the night.
  • Tuesdays: The UnXplained all day, handing over to The UnXplained Special Presentation at 8pm ET.
  • Wednesdays: Pawn Stars from 7am to midnight and beyond, with Mountain Men breaking in at 9pm ET.
  • Thursdays: a split day, starting with one series and switching mid-afternoon, for example American Pickers until 4pm, then History’s Greatest Picks with Mike Wolfe.
  • Fridays: The UnBelievable with Dan Aykroyd, with Mysteries from Above at 10:03pm ET.

Weekends tilt even further toward documentary, 96% of airtime against 73% on weekdays. Saturday and Sunday mornings carry the channel’s longer-form series, such as The Cars That Made America, The Mega-Brands That Built America and Modern Marvels. Sunday afternoons and evenings belonged to American Pickers in both weeks, from noon to the early hours, with American Pickers: Best Of at 8pm ET.

Primetime on History is simply the middle of the day’s marathon, which makes the start times slightly odd. Shows commonly begin at 9:02pm, 10:03pm and 11:05pm rather than on the hour, so anything recorded from 9pm onward needs a few minutes of padding. Late night is the same series again, repeated until the 4am break.

The marathon habit

Most cable channels mix shows to keep viewers moving. History does the opposite, and the numbers show it: Pawn Stars aired 38 times on only four days, History’s Greatest Mysteries 38 times on four days, The UnXplained 42 times on four days, and American Pickers 37 times on five. Very little ran on most days. A show is either the whole day or not on at all, which makes History easy to use if the show of the day suits and useless if it does not.

Popular shows on History

Pawn Stars is a reality series that began in 2009 and has run to 19 seasons and 618 episodes, featuring Corey Harrison among its cast. It got at least one full day a week in the window, usually a Wednesday.

American Pickers is a reality series that began in 2010, following pickers of antiques and collectibles, with 190 episodes. History gave it Sunday afternoons and evenings, plus a spin-off strand, History’s Greatest Picks with Mike Wolfe.

The UnXplained is a non-fiction series presented by William Shatner. With its Special Presentation editions it was the most-aired title family on the channel, filling at least one weekday and parts of weekends.

Modern Marvels is a documentary series that began in 1995 and has run to 19 seasons and 690 episodes. On History it turns up on weekend mornings, where the channel puts its more traditional history and technology series.

Mountain Men is a reality series that began in 2012 and ran for five seasons and 55 episodes, featuring Eustace Conway. It was one of only two shows to hold a fixed weekly slot, Wednesdays at 9pm ET, interrupting the day’s marathon.

How to watch History

History is a cable channel, so it is not available free over the air with an antenna. Several live TV streaming services carry it, though not every major one does, so it is worth checking a service’s channel list before signing up. On demand, the History app and history.com have episodes, with more available after signing in with a TV provider login, and History Vault is a separate subscription service for on-demand viewing.

Channels like History

  • A&E is built the same way, on reality and documentary series in long runs, with Storage Wars on almost every day and no films at all.
  • Discovery covers similar ground with Gold Rush, Moonshiners and Expedition Unknown, and like History rarely shows a film.
  • TLC runs reality series in marathon blocks too, though its subject is families and relationships, not the past.
  • Sundance TV carries some of History’s taste for the unexplained, with Archive X: Unexplained Phenomena in its rotation.

Who it’s for

History suits a viewer who likes to put one show on and leave it there for an afternoon, and who enjoys pawn shops, pickers, and mysteries without a firm answer. It is less useful for anyone who wants a wide choice on a given night, because on most days there is only one show to choose. Despite the name, the channel’s weekdays in the window had more to say about the unexplained than about history; weekend mornings are where the traditional documentaries live.

What’s on History most days?

One series, run back to back from 7am ET until about 4am. In the window those were mostly Pawn Stars, American Pickers, The UnXplained, History’s Greatest Mysteries and The UnBelievable with Dan Aykroyd.

Why do History shows start at odd times?

Evening episodes start a few minutes off the hour, so later shows land on start times such as 9:02pm, 10:03pm and 11:05pm ET.

How can I watch History without cable?

On a live TV streaming service that carries it; several do, but check the channel list first. The History app and History Vault cover on-demand viewing.

Does History show movies?

Rarely. Across the two weeks we tracked it averaged about one film a week, and that was a documentary.