The 25 Best TV Shows of 2025

Chris and Paul Weitz brought a lot of care and faithfulness to their adaptation of Martha Wells' award-winning novels, ensuring that there was never any question about the titular character's pronouns (it/its) and preserving the original text's semi-comic tone. Also key to that tone was the perfect deadpan performance from Alexander Skarsgård, who brought just the right level of frustrated boredom to Murderbot's task of keeping a group of colonists from getting themselves dead. Murderbot's defining characteristic, famously, is a love for trashy space soaps — making it one of 2025's most relatable characters. Would Murderbot enjoy Murderbot? Maybe not (not enough twists). However, we sure did. — L.S. Miller

At this point, it's pretty obvious that Abbott Elementary is aiming to be considered one of the best sitcoms of all time, at least within the mockumentary genre. Season 5 is the show's latest swing at bat, and it's just as delightfully heartwarming as day one. The characters, led by creator Quinta Brunson's Janine Teagues, are still expanding and accessing new levels of depth, and the plots are just as wacky as ever, perhaps capped off with the wild It's Always Sunny crossover. Teagues and co. may stumble in their quest to be the best educators they can be, but they continue to shine bright, and they encourage their precious students to do the same. — K. Fitzgerald

Smiling Friends just keeps getting better and better. For the third season of the Adult Swim series, the animation is even more impressive, the jokes are as solid as ever, and creators Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel continue to keep things fresh and unexpected. From the classic Pim and Charlie adventures of episodes like “Silly Samuel” and “Tim and Charlie Save Mother Nature” to the bananas Halloween special to the brilliant anti-comedy of “Le Voyage Incroyable de Monsieur Grenouille,” Season 3 once again cements Smiling Friends as one of the most creative, consistent shows on the air. — Jonah Krueger

The Chair Company is one of the most absurd television series to ever exist. It's Tim Robinson doing Tim Robinson things as lead character Ron Trosper, who dives deep into a bizarre investigative rabbit hole after suffering a seemingly innocuous yet embarrassing incident at work. The show manages to find a weird balance of being outright disturbing and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time, attaching a Lynchian quality to Robinson's comedic sensibilities. A wacky collection of supporting characters adds to the show's appeal, though if you're committed to watching every episode, get ready for one of the most perplexing season finales you'll ever see. — Spencer Kaufman

There's something truly special about a show that simply doesn't feel like any other series — the kind of show that can only come from a creator as original and distinctive as the guy behind Reservation Dogs. Sterlin Harjo's The Lowdown features a cast full of your favorite character actors, including the irrepressible Keith David, Kyle freakin' MacLachlan, future Buffy the Vampire Slayer protégé Ryan Kiera Armstrong, and Mike "Killer Mike" Render (whose character always wears an eyepatch that matches his shirt). Ethan Hawke really carries the series, though, as a "truthstorian" who gets caught up in a mystery that wouldn't feel out of place amongst the dime store novels that inspired it. — L.S. Miller

The future is looking mighty uncertain for this HBO Max animated series, as there's been no word on a Season 6 renewal since Season 5 ended in March 2025. However, the fifth season continued the show's gleefully madcap skewering of the DC Universe in ways we'll be appreciating for years to come. Transplanting its core characters from Gotham to the shinier streets of Metropolis gave the action a new freshness, and the show's writers also took the opportunity to explore more of Ivy's backstory and have some fun with Braniac (voiced by Stephen Fry!). Most importantly, the show always made a point of respecting the love story at its center. Harlivy forever! — L.S. Miller

Creator/star Danny McBride was the one who decided that it was time for them Gemstones to bring their story to a close, but only after a rollicking season filled with surprises. Kicking off with a Civil War-set flashback guest-starring actual Bradley Cooper, the remaining episodes brought us BJ taking pole dancing lessons, Megan Mullally singing her heart out, more full-frontal nudity from Walton Goggins than anyone arguably asked for, and the glory that is Teenjus. Most importantly, it all wrapped up with a genuinely romantic conclusion — one that leaves room for future stories, but gives these characters the happy endings they (mostly) deserve. — L.S. Miller

It's hard to say what was most exciting about the return of Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock: him getting to swear, have a girlfriend, or actually practice the law. Okay, it was the whole package, with the added bonus of him once again beating the crap out of New York's worst in some fantastic action sequences. Daredevil: Born Again resuscitated a corner of the MCU we long thought dead, and did so by spotlighting some of its best characters, including Vincent D'onofrio's Wilson Fisk and Jon Bernthal's Punisher. Season 2, coming in 2026, will also feature the return of Jessica Jones, hinting at a very exciting future. — L.S. Miller

Fargo creator Noah Hawley took on the job of adapting this iconic franchise to TV (and planet Earth) with a deep reverence for his source material. He also had another goal: creating some deeply fucked up alien monsters to haunt us in our sleep. At both tasks, he was pretty successful, leaning hard on a Peter Pan homage for an existential tale involving dying children, synthetic humans, corporate espionage, and dope-as-hell cyborg arms. From the creature design to those hard rock needle drops, Alien: Earth managed the difficult task of somehow feeling both familiar and fresh. — L.S. Miller

When the King of the Hill revival was announced, it was easy to groan, grumble, and assume that the show would be ham-fisted in its attempt to catch up to the 2020s. That presumptive attitude dissipated when Season 14 officially premiered, as Hank Hill, alongside his idiosyncratic family and his back-alley, beer-drinking buddies, is finally ready to adapt to changing times. The new season delicately balances the edgy charm that we've come to know and love with a keen awareness that illustrates the care that the show pours into Arlen and its inhabitants. — K. Fitzgerald

The third season of Netflix's twisty political thriller included a very special treat for The West Wing fans: Not only did Allison Janney's character get a big promotion to Commander-in-Chief during the Season 2 finale, but Bradley Whitford joined the cast in Season 3 as "the First Lady," Grace's husband Todd. Beyond that delightful casting choice, the show continued to weave its complicated web of geopolitical drama, anchored in the complicated relationship between Kate (Keri Russell) and her (seemingly?) supportive husband Hal (Rufus Sewell). On The Diplomat, negotiations between spouses are just as important as negotiations between heads of state. Because on this show, they have equal ability to change the world. — L.S. Miller

Michelle Williams delivered one of the year's best performances in this limited series about a woman facing a terminal cancer diagnosis — and deciding that with her remaining time, she's finally going to have the sex life she deserves. Molly's attempts to achieve an orgasm with another person, though, are filled with awkward yet hilarious setbacks, despite the best efforts of her loyal best friend Nikki (Jenny Slate). Based on a true story, creators Liz Meriwether and Kim Rosenstock manage to make Molly's journey both specific and universal, sad when it needs to be but ultimately life-affirming. It doesn't matter how much time we get on this planet; what matters is what we do with it. — L.S. Miller

Dexter: Resurrection definitely earned its title. Ostensibly referring to the latest miraculous recovery of hero/serial killer Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), Resurrection pulled off the magic trick of once again making Dexter fun, cool, and surprising. A fresh location — the mean streets of New York City — certainly helped, but the new season proved that Dexter's at his best when he's contending with opponents at his level. In this case, stumbling across a secret club of other serial killers (played by a starry selection of fame-os including Neil Patrick Harris, Krysten Ritter, Eric Stonestreet, and David Dastmalchian) really did the trick. Especially considering that said secret club was organized by an evil billionaire played by Peter Dinklage, with Uma Thurman as his henchperson? Come on now. Dexter may never die, but thanks to this season, we're excited to see him continue living. — L.S. Miller

More late night shows should take note of the chaotic, genuinely absurd strategy employed in Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney. Like the best of live TV, there's an exhilarating promise each episode that anything could happen, and Everybody’s Live consistently delivers. Mulaney fights three teenagers on air. He does a whole entire episode blindfolded. He makes a robot do an Evel Knievel-style stunt jump over a car (the robot fails miserably). The guests, ranging from everyday Los Angeles folks to celebrities like Pete Davidson, Quinta Brunson, Conan O'Brien, and Ben Stiller, are also presented with the tense tightrope of being cool and normal while on live TV with the charming-but-slightly-anarchic Mulaney. How Mulaney and co. will manage to top the insane first season is a mystery, but it'll be worth watching them try. — Paolo Ragusa

Severance took three years to return for its second season, giving the show's creative team the time necessarily to figure out how to make things stranger (the goats!), more emotional (Dichen Lachman's flashback episode!), and more romantic (that season finale!). Buoyed by its remarkable cast, made all the richer by additions Sandra Bernhard, Merritt Wever, Darri Ólafsson, and Gwendoline Christie, Severance pushed its theme of corporate worship even further, capturing the deranged levels of loyalty big companies seem to demand from their employees. As breathtaking as the final scene of the season was, the enduring image of may remain Mr. Milchick (the extraordinary Tramell Tillman) and his paper clips. Whatever was going on with the goats might remain a mystery, but the most important messages are quite clear. — L.S. Miller

The dream of network television is alive on HBO Max, at least in the case of the platform's standout medical drama. This spring, The Pitt reminded audiences what it was like to watch new episodes of a TV show on a weekly basis. A lot of episodes, too, as the show's real-time drama took place over 15 hours of a very busy shift for Dr. Michael "Robby" Rabinavitch (Noah Wyle). Wyle delivered a backboard-shattering performance as Dr. Robby faced the turmoil of an understaffed and overloaded emergency room — something he admittedly had a little past experience with, after 25 episodes of ER. The show's supporting cast also included standouts like Katherine LaNasa, Fiona Dourif, Patrick Ball, and Isa Briones — some as inexperienced as their characters, but all rising to the challenge. As addictive as it was intense, The Pitt will be back in early January for its second season. That waiting room will never be empty. — L.S. Miller

South Park could have landed on this list for the opening episode of Season 27 alone, as “Sermon on the ’Mount” immediately established itself as one of the most scathing, fittingly low-brow satires of the Trump administration to come out of either of his terms. Luckily, Trey Parker and Matt Stone were able to keep up the topical tomfoolery, both politically and culturally, as the season charged on, turning the Labubu craze into a satanic ritual, having FCC Chair Brendan Carr lose his freedom of speech, and reminding viewers that the President has a tiny pecker as often as possible. Out of all the television we watched this year, South Park was the most unabashedly 2025, offering viewers some much, much, much-needed juvenile catharsis. — J. Krueger

Dan Fogelman has succeeded in mystery box narratives before, but This Is Us was a family drama — it's quite a leap to post-apocalyptic political thriller. Thankfully, the writer/creator's deftness with character-driven intrigue and slow-burn suspense translates well to the high-stakes world of Paradise. More than a gasp-inducing hall of mirrors, the nested-reality conceit allows for dizzying twists along with meditations on grief and trust in equal measure. True, it'd risk falling apart if stellar performances from Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson, and James Marsden weren't holding it together, but the creative storytelling and strong leads have us fully invested. — Ben Kaye

Following up Bojack Horseman after its conclusion in 2020 was a tall order for animated dramedy savant Raphael Bob-Waksberg, but Long Story Short succeeds it admirably. Led by an outstanding cast of voice actors — including Abbi Jacobson, Nicole Byer, and the always-funny Max Greenfield — Long Story Short has a more grounded, personal tone than Bob-Waksberg's prior work as it explores a Jewish family across several distinct eras. Even with a deeper emphasis on tradition, death, and our shared humanity, the clever wit and poignant detours are there in droves. Long Story Short may not have as many laugh-out-loud moments as you'd expect, but it's rare to find an animated TV show so effective at balancing the universal with the personal and specific. — P. Ragusa

You can either laugh or cry at how ridiculous Hollywood can be sometimes. The Studio invited us to do the former with its blistering, celebrity-cameo-packed satire of the way a major studio operates today. The series begins with new studio head Matt Remick (Seth Rogen) inheriting the job from his one-time mentor Patty Leigh (Catherine O'Hara), followed by Matt finding out just how impossible it is to make art and also sell movie tickets. From killing Martin Scorsese's dream project to trying to give Ron Howard notes, Matt is hilariously in over his head, but in his struggle to do the best work possible, a lot of laughs are found. Plus, Rogen & Evan Goldberg's brilliant direction was beautiful to witness, as the two borrowed various film styles to match the tone of certain episodes, with a love of one-rs that included an entire episode devoted to the style. — L.S. Miller

The second season of Andor lost a little momentum towards the end, as creator Tony Gilroy focused on the careful work of making sure that this prequel series to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story actually felt like a prequel. Beyond that one minor complaint, it was a brilliant and powerful season of television, rich with world-building on a new level for Star Wars (including the complete invention of a new fictional language). More importantly, it made good on the warnings of Season 1 by diving harder into what life under fascism looks like, using a series of time jumps to show how easily propaganda and brute force can combine to crush rebellion. Fortunately, we have friends everywhere. — L.S. Miller

If you ask any parent, the scariest show of the year didn't involve aliens or dystopias — it was this four-episode limited series about the murder of a young girl and the aftermath. The technical achievement was impressive on its own, with each episode being filmed as a single take (no secret splices involved, according to the creative team). However, all that filmmaking magic really faded to the background when the drama began cooking, and stars Stephen Graham, Erin Doherty, Ashley Walters, and newcomer Owen Cooper dove into the darkest moments of this story. The end result was an emotionally devastating reminder that the kids might not be all right. Not at the moment, anyway. — L.S. Miller

Assimilation can be a necessary thing or a scary thing; Vince Gilligan's Pluribus expertly explores the live wire of tension between those realities. Teeming with suspenseful moments that fray the nerves, the show is equals parts frustrating and fascinating, thanks to a masterclass of a performance by the show's star, Rhea Seehorn. Her character, the irate Carol Sturka, is an author in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she one day faces a jarring new reality. You see, Sturka is one of only 13 people in the world who... That's all I'll tell you. It's truly worth the watch for the plot alone, but Seehorn's evocative performance won't leave you any time soon. — K. Fitzgerald

After finishing the insane second season of The Rehearsal, one persistent thought kept crossing our minds: Nathan Fielder could be in the air flying a big freaking airplane right now. Look up — that plane passing by might just be piloted by the same man who pulled off the great Miracle Over the Mojave. What a world.

When HBO initially renewed Fielder’s bizarre (complimentary), philanthropic (?) reality series for another batch of episodes, the comedian learning to fly a 747 was certainly not the direction any of us expected the madman to go. We’d hazard a guess that even HBO had no clue where Fielder’s interest would take him. But, somehow, it turns out that a season-long exploration of aviation safety through the lens of pilot communication and mental health done by the Dumb Starbucks/poop-flavored frozen yogurt guy is not only incredibly compelling, it’s actually quite emotional. It being a Fielder production, there were of course boundary-pushing detours — from sucking milk from oversized plaster teats to taking on Paramount+ to reading a certain publication (it’s us, we’re in the show) — but complex themes of human nature, the reality and unreality of narratives, perceived identities, and perseverance make for a thoroughly layered, thoughtful, and, yes, hilarious viewing experience. We haven’t stopped thinking about it since it dropped. We may very well never stop thinking about it. — J. Krueger