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

Lifetime’s Castle day turns a season over at 8pm ET

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

Lifetime has handed the whole evening to Castle, and the interesting part is where the season changes. Ten episodes run in a row from 2pm to midnight ET, and the second season ends at 7pm with “A Deadly Game” (S02E24). At 8pm ET (7pm Central) the third begins with “A Deadly Affair” (S03E01), so primetime opens on a season premiere of sorts.

The pick is the 9pm episode, “He’s Dead, She’s Dead” (S03E02), the longest slot of the night at 63 minutes. Castle is an American police procedural comedy-drama that ran on ABC from 2009 to 2016, eight series and 173 episodes, with Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic in the cast. It is a comfortable binge, and the three episodes after the premiere (S03E02, E03 and E04) make a sensible evening if you start at 8pm. Three stars, in line with how reliable it is rather than how special any one hour might be.

Against it, NCIS: New York on CBS and Beetlejuice on Freeform start at 9pm, and Dancing with the Stars owns 8pm on ABC. Castle does not need to win those hours; it only has to be there in order for anyone catching up.

Earlier, The Rookie runs three episodes from 11am ET, opening with “Consequences” (S03E01). Nathan Fillion leads that series too, so this is a double Fillion day, whichever hour you choose. Three stars.


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 Lifetime tonight?

On Tuesday, October 27, 2026, Lifetime shows Castle at 8pm ET, Castle at 9pm ET and Castle at 10:03pm ET.

Is there a movie on Lifetime tonight?

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

What’s on Lifetime late tonight?

After 11pm ET, Lifetime has Castle at 11:03pm ET.

What time does Lifetime’s evening start?

The evening schedule starts with Castle at 6pm ET.

Procedurals all week, TV movies all weekend

Lifetime showed no films at all on weekdays in the two weeks we tracked, and gave almost half of its weekend airtime to them. Monday to Friday it is a repeat channel for police procedurals: NCIS aired 108 times in the two weeks we tracked, alongside Castle, The Rookie and Rizzoli & Isles. On Saturday and Sunday it becomes a movie channel, one of the sharpest weekday-to-weekend swings of any channel we follow.

The weekend films are a very particular kind. They are thrillers, nearly all from the last few years, with titles that tell you the mood before the opening credits: Sins of My Husband, Gaslit by My Husband: The Morgan Metzer Story, A Husband to Die For: The Lisa Aguilar Story, The Monster She Married. Around 14 or 15 of them aired each week in our window, and many carry a real person’s name in the “The … Story” form.

What its day looks like

A Lifetime day runs to about 28 programmes, and the early morning is the most regular part of it. Religious and inspirational programs hold fixed slots on most days: Joseph Prince around 5am ET, Dr. David Jeremiah at 5:30am, Changing Your World at 6am, Life Today with Randy Robison and Blynda Lane at 6:30am and Joyce Meyer: Enjoying Everyday Life at 7am. Paid programming fills the gaps before them.

On weekdays, the procedurals take everything from 8am onward. NCIS usually starts the block around 8am and aired on twelve of fifteen days. The Rookie tends to land around 11am, Castle around 2pm, and Rizzoli & Isles around 5pm. Evenings carry on in the same vein: NCIS, Castle or Rizzoli & Isles typically starts at 7pm ET and runs as a marathon through primetime. Scripted crime accounted for well over half of primetime airtime.

At weekends the movies arrive and stay. Daytime runs back-to-back TV movies from late morning, roughly every two hours (10am, noon, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm in a typical run), and primetime carries the weekend’s headline films at 8pm and just after 10pm ET. The 8pm film is often the newest one, and it often repeats later in the weekend or the following one.

In the window we measured, a cluster of Amish-themed films ran together: Sins of an Amish Husband, Seduced by an Amish Stranger, Amish Stud: The Eli Weaver Story, A Kidnapping in Amish Country and An Amish Murder. That looks like a themed run rather than a permanent fixture, but the wider pattern, a new thriller at 8pm on weekend nights, held throughout.

Popular shows on Lifetime

NCIS is Lifetime’s weekday mainstay: a police procedural and military drama that began on CBS in 2003, with a cast that has included Mark Harmon, Michael Weatherly, Pauley Perrette, David McCallum and Sean Murray. With at least 24 seasons and more than 500 episodes, it gives Lifetime a near-bottomless supply of repeats.

Castle is a police procedural with comedy-drama leanings that ran on ABC from 2009 for eight seasons and 173 episodes, starring Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic. Lifetime commonly airs it in the afternoon.

The Rookie is a police procedural that began on ABC in 2018, also starring Nathan Fillion, with Alyssa Diaz, Richard T. Jones and Melissa O’Neil. It has run to at least eight seasons and usually fills the late morning.

Rizzoli & Isles is a police drama first aired on TNT in 2010, starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander, with Lorraine Bracco. It ran for seven seasons and 105 episodes and tends to take the late afternoon.

Sins of an Amish Husband was the most-aired film in our window, five times, usually at 8pm ET, and a fair sample of the weekend output.

How to watch Lifetime

Lifetime is a cable channel and is not available free over the air with an antenna. Without cable, it is carried by several live TV streaming services, but not every major one, so check before subscribing. Lifetime’s shows and films are also available on demand through the Lifetime app and its website, with more for anyone who signs in with a TV provider. Lifetime Movie Club is a separate subscription that offers its films on demand.

Channels like Lifetime

  • ION is the nearest weekday match, with NCIS and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in long procedural blocks.
  • Hallmark Mystery pairs crime repeats such as Murder, She Wrote with films, in a gentler register.
  • USA Network runs crime drama through most of its day and evening.
  • Hallmark Channel gives much of its schedule to films as well, in a far lighter register.

Who it’s for

On weekdays, Lifetime is for someone who wants a familiar procedural on and doesn’t mind which episode. At weekends, it is for viewers who like their TV movies tense and domestic, the kind where the title gives away the genre. It is not where to look for new prestige drama, news or sport.

Does Lifetime show movies?

Yes, mainly at weekends, when films took almost half the airtime in the two weeks we tracked. On weekdays it showed none.

What’s on Lifetime on weekday evenings?

Usually a procedural marathon from 7pm ET, most often NCIS, Castle or Rizzoli & Isles.

What time are the new Lifetime movies on?

The weekend’s headline films typically air at 8pm ET, with a second film just after 10pm.

How can I watch Lifetime without cable?

Through a live TV streaming service that carries it (not all do), or on demand through the Lifetime app, its website or the separate Lifetime Movie Club subscription.