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As more people turn to streaming from the comfort of their couch-pits, the small screen landscape has ballooned and splintered in a thousand directions. The era of monocultural appointment TV—the kind that made Game of Thrones (at its peak) or Lost before it into national talking points—has faded into the ether, drowned by the ever-expanding ocean of things-to-watch. Now, there’s hyper-specific content for every kind of viewer: whether you’re into MILF-bait reality shows set on tropical islands, dark docuseries interviewing the families of serial killers, or whatever else the algorithm coughed up this week. Meanwhile, the so-called “must-watch” marquee shows have become more niche by comparison. Sure, Stranger Things came back—meh—and it broke the internet for about 72 hours. But suffice it to say, everyone’s mostly just watching their own thing now. So, as you browse my personal favorite shows of the year, know this: I only considered stuff I actually watched.
Some of my absolute favorite things on TV this year didn’t make the cut—not because they weren’t good (or even great), but because I try to keep this list focused on serialized narrative television. So while Australian Survivor Vs. The World was peak entertainment for my beloved franchise (and frankly, among the best things I watched in 2025), it’s reality TV, and therefore disqualified.
Other series I watched, liked, and maybe even obsessed over for a hot minute, but that didn’t ultimately make the list? The Bear—still sharp, still stressful, but starting to feel a bit like emotional homework. The Last of Us, which was technically impressive and had huge upside but felt increasingly like it was dragging a clicker corpse behind it. Black Mirror returned with a couple of strong swings and a few ideas that should’ve stayed in the writer’s room. Severance remains visually immaculate and deeply weird, but the momentum has slowed to a crawl.
Then there were shows like Department Q, Slow Horses, and The Agency, all of which gave me my procedural fix with varying levels of British muttering and moody lighting. Peacemaker had its moments, as did Alien: Earth, Black Rabbit, and Paradise. All flirted with greatness in spots but didn’t quite land the punch. Always Sunny continues to be deranged and delightful in equal measure, offering up one of its best seasons in a long time, while The Righteous Gemstones closed out the saga of the Gemstones in glorious fashion. American Primeval offered something grand about violence in the old west but occasionally got a little lost in the woods. And Families Like Ours, which was ambitious, lyrical, gorgeously shot, ultimately frustrated, despite some really compelling components.
So, yes, I watched a lot. And no, most of it didn’t make the list. So enough preamble and onto the winners…
10. PLURIBUS (Apple TV+)
The enigmatic television series from Vince Gilligan, in his first project outside of the Breaking Bad universe since 2008, Pluribus had an absolutely riveting pilot episode only to settle in for a much more methodical, slow-burn mystery about the singularity and the few humans who – for whatever reason – resist it. Rhea Seehorn stars as Carol, a misanthropic romantasy writer who wants to fight back against the aliens who have made the human race into one collective hive mind. The problem is that they’re all so nice and accommodating. Though the subsequent episodes were decidedly process-oriented and slow to unfold in only a way Gilligan’s obsessive attention to detail can achieve, leaving the audience struggling to identify exactly where all of this is going, the level of craft and detail in Gillian’s series makes it easily one of the year’s bests. Even if we still have no idea where it’s heading.
9. ENGLISH TEACHER (Hulu)
The funniest show on TV was sadly cancelled after this hilarious second season (following some unfortunate accusations against showrunner and star Brian Jordan Alvarez), but we still got some bangers like “Grant’s Dinner Party,” “Recruiter,” and “Graduation” before it was curtain call. Like any great sitcom, the ensemble really grew into their own in this sophomore season, each bringing their own distinctive flavor to the comedic stew, none funnier than Carmen Christopher whose every single line read made me absolutely roar with laughter. The fact that English Teacher ended prematurely is truly tragic.
8. THE WHITE LOTUS (HBO)
The third season of Mike White’s dark luxury vacation drama continues to plumb the depths of privileged ennui, this time on a resplendent Thai island. White cleverly weaves in characters from previous seasons while introducing a new spread of guests at The White Lotus, continuing to explore the hospitality-vs-guest dichotomy. This season is darker than its predecessors, unafraid to delve into self-loathing, spiritual wormholes, and rack up the highest body count yet. Inspired casting continues to be one of the show’s greatest assets, with Parker Posey, Sam Rockwell, Aimee Lou Wood, Carrie Coon, and Walton Goggins stealing most of the spotlight this time around.
7. THE STUDIO (Apple TV+)
The Studio is the breakout pure comedy of the year. Written and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Superbad), this story about a new studio head (played by Rogen) is directed with a kind of cinematic fanfare not often found in TV comedies. The show’s manic, world-class riffing is stuffed with incredible celebrity cameos – Martin Scorsese, Zoë Kravitz, Dave Franco, and more – that complement a cast stacked with Catherine O’Hara, Kathryn Hahn, Ike Barinholtz, and Bryan Cranston. This old-school Hollywood buffet’s formal playfulness is matched only by the sheer volume of zingers.
6. THE CHAIR COMPANY (HBO)
An unhinged black comedy that channels the surreal mysteries of a David Lynch story through the lens of Tom Robinson’s absurdist comedic stylings, The Chair Company is a singularly alienating experience. The whole thesis of modern day suburban insanity is crystallized by something Robinson’s Ron says in the third episode, “That’s the problem with the world today: people make garbage and you can’t talk to anyone; you can’t complain to them; you can’t get an apology. I want to scream at them!” If you’re not dialed into Robinson’s idiosyncratic sensibilities (paging my wife), The Chair Company may prove an enigmatic waste of time. His fans will find it equally enigmatic but filled with enough irresistibly strange dark comedy to more than justify the oddball journey. A second season is already on the way.
5. ADOLESCENCE (Netflix)
This four-episode limited drama series about a 13-year-old accused of murdering his classmate starts as a criminal procedural in episode one, only to reinvent itself with each subsequent installment. The acting is fantastic across the board (Stephen Graham’s performance in the final episode is earthshakingly good and brought me to tears), the writing is sharp and real, and the “one-take” methodology doesn’t feel like a gimmick. Instead, it allows us to become more deeply entrenched in the tension, horror, and humanity baked into every scene. That Adolescence became a surprise breakout hit on Netflix speaks to audiences’ appetite for inventive but grounded adult drama. More Netflix projects like this, please.
4. THE REHEARSAL (HBO)
With season two of The Rehearsal, Nathan Fielder becomes to comedy what Daniel Day-Lewis is to drama. This more focused second season is less overtly comedic, but Fielder’s approach still yields some of the most explosively hilarious, weirdly earnest, and always mind-boggling instances of meta-comedy filmmaking ever to grace a screen. The whole season – at first inexplicably – revolves around aviation safety and how poor communication between pilots and their first officers plays a central role in major disasters. But as we go further down the rabbit hole trying to understand why a deadpan comic genius like Fielder would obsess over this, we start pulling at the threads of his interiority, unraveling the mystery inherent in this alienesque comic man. Add an Evanescence-heavy soundtrack, a Sully Sullenberger cradle-to-cockpit reenactment, and Fielder’s surprisingly honest exploration of his own psyche, and The Rehearsal’s second flyover becomes a towering feat of must-see TV that absolutely lands the plane. Whether it’s really a comedy or not is in the eye of the beholder.
3. THE PITT (HBO)
I’ve never been a big hospital show guy, but The Pitt manages to take the addictive bones of the genre and apply a prestige sheen to deliver something next level. It works well as an episodic ER-style drama, but the serialized nature of this first season, which unfolds in real time over a 15-hour shift under the watchful eye of Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle, outstanding in the lead role), lets it tap into new heights. Dramatic, well-acted, and deeply human, The Pitt is as much a story about human resilience as it is about various injuries and ailments, a theme respectfully complicated by the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic upon the inner and professional lives of its healthcare workers. Even if hospital dramas aren’t your thing, The Pitt earns and deserves your attention.
2. TASK (HBO)
Nothing on TV quite hits like a perfectly dialed in HBO Sunday night prestige drama and the latest from Brad Inglesby (Mare of Easton) is a prime example of why. The story starts with an intriguing premise: sanitary workers robbing a biker gang and the task force assigned to the case, but it’s what the show turns into that makes it truly outstanding. What could have been standard crime procedural fare instead is riddled with rich characters, thematic depth, and unexpected twists and turns each and every episode. Effective as a crime drama, and never coming up short in terms of stakes and thrills, what makes Task sing is its deeper thematic exploration of forgiveness, grace, and consequence. The performances are outstanding, with Mark Ruffalo putting in a career-best turn, Tom Pelphrey making a case that he should be a much bigger star, Fabian Frankel stealing many a scene, and Emilia Jones quietly imbuing the whole thing with a real beating heart, and power this richly thrilling story about the real cost of crime, the quiet grace of humanity, and the weight of a soul. Task is pure TV excellence the whole way through, but the way the season ends is profoundly satisfying and deeply moving. A must watch.
1. ANDOR (Disney+)
Although it only lasted for two seasons, Andor may leave a lasting impact as the best thing to ever come out of the Star Wars universe. Of course, it can’t touch the nostalgia or culture-shifting heights of the original trilogy, but in terms of pure writing, performance, and craft, Andor sees the 47-year-old franchise operating at its absolute pinnacle. Much credit is due to showrunner Tony Gilroy, who reframes this story, traditionally about space wizards and stark good-vs-evil narratives, into a frightfully pertinent vision of how fascism takes root and the plight and cost of rebellion. It’s a singular vision, thematically, character-wise, visually, that somehow just keeps getting better as it goes. It’s almost a shame how good this show is, as the future of Star Wars suddenly seems rather bleak. As if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.
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