Our Favorite TV of 2025

Maybe you're like us, and you grew up in the golden era of TV - catch jingles in commercials, TV special events, and full blocks of entertainment for the whole family. Or maybe you're a streamer - you're not the only one. You're locked in commercial free and bingeing a whole season in a few days. It's a feat, and you're good at it.

Either way, a lot of us love television, and we're entering a new golden era, where shows are lickably gorgeous, have amazing stories, and return to the zeitgeist the term "must-see-TV."

Yeah, we're late getting you this list, but that just means you've got more time to argue it and suggest your own favorites, and that you're probably done watching your faves and have room for one more thing to watch, especially ahead of wicked winter weather.

So...just push play.

Andor

It's hard to believe that a prequel to a prequel could become the best told story in a franchise, but Andor was just that. We all know what's coming, but the series unfolded in a way that not only fleshed out so many intricate little details and pieces of a larger story, but kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. 

Whereas a lot of shows and movies in the Star Wars universe tend to lean on epic dogfights in space and lightsaber duels, Andor leans much more towards intrigue and emotion. The action is there and fantastic when it happens (the massacre in Palmo Plaza might be one of the best and most heartbreaking action sequences in the SW universe), but Andor is so much more than blaster fights between stormtroopers and rebels. 

In season 1, Cassian (Diego Luna) is thrown into a revolution as an unwilling victim of circumstance. By season 2, he's accepted his role as an integral part of that revolution, though he still struggles with the overwhelming urge to leave it all behind for a simpler and happier life. Cassian is far from alone in this struggle and far from the only person pivotal in it, and Tony Gilroy and company brilliantly give every character time to breathe and shine.

Every member of the fantastic ensemble cast is, in fact, struggling with trying to make a better, happier life in a fascistic universe with a revolution boiling over the frog pot, which is something that makes the show so hauntingly relatable and realistic. No one in the show is spared from sacrifice, and indeed so many sacrifice literally everything. Andor is a tragic story where no one is spared from tragedy, but that's part of what makes such a hopeful and inspiring tale.   - Aaron

Peacemaker 

Screenshot: John Cena. Peacemaker.

It’s a different world now, and at least for us, it felt like we were staring down the barrel of the end of the massive popularity of comic book movies and shows. And while, at least in this author’s opinion, Marvel hasn’t really returned to form, DC is showing up in big ways in the cinema and at home.

Peacemaker is a show I never envisioned caring about, and by the time the final credits rolled on Season 2 I couldn’t stop caring about every single character in it.

James Gunn marries gravity, humor and a sincere appreciation for the source material with an understanding of his audience that reaches deep. On the surface, Cena’s crude, nude semi-super seems unrelatable - until he’s confronted with the mirror and a realization maybe he’s not the hero. Harcourt wears her toughness as a badge of honor, but it’s a crutch - a scar, even. Adebayo wants to be someone different from who she is desperately but can’t get away from it. Vigilante, well - he’s…him.

Peacemaker is as much about found family, facing your own demons, and the process of deconstructing as it is a hilarious yet comic accurate romp through a lesser told story in the DC universe, and this was one of two shows we couldn’t stop telling everyone to go stream in 2025. It’s now 2026, but we don’t plan on changing our tune - so go stream it now, and rediscover or ignite a new passion for hair metal while you’re at it.  - Marielle

Pluribus 

Rhea Seehorn in "Pluribus," now streaming on Apple TV.

Vince Gilligan is known for Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul—both fantastic shows. But before that, he worked on a little sci-fi show called The X-Files. So sci-fi has always been in his blood. I think out of all of my friends, I might have been the only one that knew the show was coming out, let alone psyched as hell for it. And it didn’t disappoint.

Pluribus takes the hive mind concept that was popularized on television by Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Borg—but instead of a menacing, zombie-like threat, The Others (as the hive is referred to in this show) are only too happy to please. While the end of the world doesn’t really seem like that bad of a thing to what’s left of humanity and the assimilated majority, the show follows Carol as she wrestles with this new reality.

Known for her work as Kim Wexler in Better Call Saul, Rhea Seehorn brings a frantic, grounded humanity to Carol that is absolutely essential amidst the surreal kindness of the hive. She manages to make the resistance to "paradise" feel not just logical, but necessary. Pluribus proves that Gilligan hasn’t lost his touch for character study, even when the character is one of the last ones left. It skirts the line between existential dread and absurdity, and the first season is nearly perfect. -Antal

The Pitt

Noah Wyle. The Pitt

 I’m not one to miss a medical drama. Ok, maybe that’s not 100 percent true since there’s some rather large holes in my history with them. But I did watch all the way through ER, and while I wouldn’t call House a straight up medical drama, it definitely involves strange diseases and people collapsing dramatically. One time, a doctor even made fun of me for watching ER while I was in the ER. 

When you ask most doctors which medical show was the most accurate, most of the time, the answer is Scrubs - a show I’ve yet to finish watching in its entirety. Or at least that had been the answer before Noah Wiley put the coat back on for The Pitt. 

I loved 24 for its unconventional “real-time” conceit, but I think it’s even better suited to the world of an emergency room in an underserved community. The entire first season of this medical drama happens in one solitary ER shift. Looking back on everything that went on, I’d have told you it was almost hard to believe that much could happen in just one 15 hour shift but having just spent 6 hours in a trauma one ER, I can absolutely believe it. 

The Pitt doesn’t turn away from the actuality of medicine, the disparity of care, lack of resources, or grueling nature of a 15 hour shift to begin with. It looks at the mental health of the doctors and doesn’t hesitate to question them and their ability to ethically provide care. Each person on the medical team is a fully realized character with depth and nuance, and while several stories are simultaneously told each is compelling, important and urgent. Punches aren’t pulled as far as outcomes- not everyone just needs a bandaid and discharge papers. The presence of medical students serves to help us understand what’s happening in a way that doesn’t dumb it down for people who are actually in the profession and helps keep The Pitt as medically accurate as possible - something that’s been celebrated by many an ER doctor I’ve since randomly surveyed on it. 

The Pitt has it all - great storytelling, compelling medical content, fully fleshed out characters, and enough excitement to keep you on the edge of your seat and hotly anticipating the next shift, which is due to start January 19th.  - Marielle

Ken Burns' The American Revolution

Ken Burns, The American Revolution. Behind the Scenes.

I grew up watching Ken Burns’ documentaries, especially The Civil War. I was hyped when I learned Burns was finally tackling the founding of our country, and the result is extraordinary. In The American Revolution, he strips away the mythologized, 'marble-statue' version of figures like Washington and Franklin, presenting them instead as desperate, flawed humans fighting a war they were losing for most of the runtime. This isn’t the glorified account of battles we learned in elementary school. Using primary sources, Burns gives us a ground-level look at a messy insurgency, led by flawed men terrified of the noose. It’s a side of history I’d never examined before, laid bare by Burns’ masterful filmmaking. - Antal

Honorable Mention: SNL this year

Marcelo Hernandez and Ariana Grande in 'Dance 101' on SNL. SNL Universal Media Village.

2025 saw Saturday Night Live reach a truly notable milestone - its 50th anniversary. Kicking it off loud, the 50th season began with a star-studded special that reminded us why this show continues to be an institution and a high watermark of excellent comedy. 

After all this time, and after so much time spent celebrating this momentous occasion, Season 51, occupying the latter half of the year, could’ve perhaps rested on its laurels, but instead, created some of the funniest things we’ve seen on the show in years, finishing up the year strong with a Christmas episode full of absolute insanity, great celebrity appearances, and a teary-eyed exit to the immensely talented Bowen Yang that’ll make you laugh and cry the way only SNL can. 

For us though, it was all about SNL tapping into some truly funny and talented guest hosts who have the comedic chops to not only keep up with a cast as talented as SNL’s current lineup, but also to absolutely lead them into even higher heights of hilarity. In the hands of the likes of Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande you get amazing skits. Bad Bunny turns out to be multi-talented and extremely funny, with his Pete Hegseth cold open being the most viewed of the season, and his K-Pop Demon Hunter skit not falling far behind. He’s charming and earnest and absolutely able to deliver the comedic payout. Inventing Spanish was another favorite from his run.

Sabrina Carpenter’s appearance as host and musical artist was a massive success, too, with another insanely memorable cold open featuring the ongoing insanity of the Domingo sketch, her absolutely nailing the energy of a 12 year old boy on a podcast on Boys Podcast,  a completely unhinged performance that literally inspired me to include SNL with Girlboss Seminar, and Shop TV: Pillow that had me giggling into my much less suggestive pillows. 

Finally, Ariana Grande’s return for Christmas reminded us why we loved her on SNL in the first place - an insane vocal range coupled with a courageous comic flair that makes her down for just about anything, from the very weird and somehow so Ariana Elf on the Shelf Support Group skit to Dancing 101, which recalls, at least to me, some of SNL’s finest weird dance moments, to the incredibly touching yet also incredibly silly Delta One Lounge, where she and Bowen Yang are once again a perfect pairing, even as he leaves the show for other horizons, and where we get one of the most ridiculous and touching moments ever: Cher telling Yang that people think he’s a “little too gay” but that he’s “perfect to her.”

And, if you were already up in the SNL Youtube, you’d have found the gold that is Espresso Martini Safe Room. It was cut for time in the actual aired SNL Christmas episode, but it’s worth searching their YouTube for, as again, Yang and Grande make the perfect foils for each other, and Ariana nearly breaks the entire cast of the skit when she refers to Season 51 newb Ben Marshall as ‘lookin’ like Phineas AND Ferb”

There’s nothing like a good laugh to cure what’s ailing you, and there was plenty to ail you in 2025, so SNL returning to its finest funny form gets a nod from us for bringing the fun.