The 10 best TV shows of 2025, and where to stream them now
When it comes to TV, 2025 truly spoiled viewers for choice.
This year offered a feast across all different genres and streaming platforms. Returning dramas like Severance and Andor surpassed our highest expectations, which more than made up for the disappointing returns of some other high-profile series. (Looking at you, The White Lotus and The Last of Us.) Where old favorites failed to wow us, new favorites shone, like medical drama The Pitt, one-take wonder Adolescence, and crime drama Task.
Comedy thrived this year as well. Showbiz satires The Studio and Hacks earned Emmy acclaim. Netflix’s North of North established itself as a new heartwarming small-town sitcom, while The Office spin-off The Paper provided a charming peek at local journalism. The trio of Overcompensating, Adults, and I Love LA ushered in an exciting era of zillennial comedies. And over on HBO, Nathan Fielder and Tim Robinson honed their bizarro brands with The Rehearsal Season 2 and The Chair Company, respectively.
As if that weren’t enough, genre fans had their hands full this year, with historical dramas like Death by Lightning and The Narrow Road to the Deep North; horror series like IT: Welcome to Derry; and a bumper crop of dazzling sci-fi, including Alien: Earth, Pluribus, Severance, and Andor.
All this is to say that putting together a list of only the 10 best shows of the year was challenging, but not impossible. From sci-fi epics to noir mysteries, sex quests to family dramedies, here are the best shows of 2025 and where you can stream them.
10. Dying for Sex
When Molly Kochan (Michelle Williams) is diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer, she embarks on a quest to orgasm with another person for the first time. That means leaving her husband Steve (Jay Duplass), joining hookup apps, experimenting with sex toys, and trying to find what, exactly, gets her off.
Based on a true story, Dying for Sex takes a frank, judgment-free approach to Molly’s sexual encounters, be they awkward, pleasurable, or downright hilarious. (Often, they’re all three.) But it also proves to be a tender love story between Molly and her best friend Nikki (Jenny Slate), who becomes Molly’s primary caretaker. As the two face down Molly’s declining health, Dying for Sex explores the lengths this pair will go to to make each other happy and fulfilled. It’s life-affirming and heart-shattering in equal measure, anchored by phenomenal performances from Williams and Slate. As I wrote in my review, “As a duo, they oscillate between gallows humor and genuine heartbreak at a moment’s notice, a dichotomy that feels so natural you can’t believe you’ve only been watching their takes on Molly and Nikki for a few episodes. You also can’t believe that their friendship will one day come to an end, but Dying for Sex faces that inevitability head on, as honest about death as it is about sex.”
Starring: Michelle Williams, Jenny Slate, Rob Delaney, Jay Duplass, Kelvin Yu, Sissy Spacek, David Rasche, and Esco Jouléy
How to watch: Dying for Sex is now streaming on Hulu.
9. Long Story Short
Long Story Short is exactly what you’d expect from BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg: witty as hell in one moment, downright devastating in the next. The series invites viewers into the lives of the Schwooper siblings (voiced by Ben Feldman, Abbi Jacobson, and Max Greenfield), spanning decades from their chaotic childhoods to their equally tumultuous adulthoods. From disastrous bar mitzvahs to awkward interventions, you’ve got a seat at the family table for it all.
Long Story Short cleverly collapses time in each episode, demonstrating how small incidents in our youth can snowball into major hang-ups in our later years. That nonlinear chronology turns the series into a thought-provoking examination of trauma and ever-shifting family ties. And what a family the Schwooper clan is, bursting with clashing personalities, inside jokes, and grievances that feel equal parts grounded and absurd. Spend just a few minutes with them, and you’ll feel like you’ve known them your whole life, a quality that led me to call them “an instant classic TV family” in my review.
Starring: Ben Feldman, Abbi Jacobson, Max Greenfield, Lisa Edelstein, and Paul Reiser
How to watch: Long Story Short is now streaming on Netflix.
8. Mo, Season 2
Not only is Mo one of the best TV shows of 2025, it’s also essential viewing. Co-created by Mo Amer and Ramy Youssef, this semi-autobiographical series centers on Palestinian refugee Mo (Amer) and his family’s lives in Houston. Season 2 opens with Mo struggling to get back to the U.S. from Mexico. Detention centers and perilous border crossings await, all sobering reflections of the real-life journeys of immigrants trying to make it across the U.S.-Mexico border.
As UK Editor Shannon Connellan wrote in her review, “Mo‘s second season comes at a volatile time for Palestinians and undocumented immigrants alike, with those in power enforcing heartless, brutal decisions from disengaged, lofty offices that impact real people. Somehow, beyond all belief, amid a sense of transience and fear, of stacked odds and starting from scratch, Mo finds levity, surrealism, and personal solidarity in the dark, while being a genuinely funny and moving show.”
Starring: Mo Amer, Farah Bsieso, Teresa Ruiz, Tobe Nwigwe, and Omar Elba
How to watch: Mo Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.
7. Adolescence
Likely to be the most harrowing viewing experience you’ll have this year, Adolescence traps you in a nightmare over the course of its four episodes, each filmed in one take. Co-created by Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne, and directed by Boiling Point‘s Philip Barantini, Netflix’s much buzzed-about miniseries examines the aftermath of a chilling murder committed by 13-year-old Jamie (newcomer Owen Cooper). Each episode focuses on a different perspective around the case, from a detective (Ashley Walters) investigating Jamie’s school to Jamie’s family reckoning with his actions.
These vignettes, coupled with Barantini’s one-take technique, create an unflinching portrait of a crime that feels all too rooted in reality. As UK Deputy Editor Sam Haysom wrote in his review, “Adolescence‘s story isn’t a crime mystery so much as a psychological study — it’s an exploration of the manosphere culture that’s having a real world affect on teenagers, and the societal and familial triggers that might lead to a seemingly ordinary 13-year-old doing something unthinkable. On this level, and on almost all others, the show is chillingly effective.”
Starring: Stephen Graham, Ashley Walters, Erin Doherty, Owen Cooper, Faye Marsay, Christine Tremarco, and Amelie Pease
How to watch: Adolescence is now streaming on Netflix.
6. The Pitt
ER‘s Noah Wyle jumps back into a TV hospital in The Pitt, the real-time medical drama that took the world by storm in early 2025. Wyle plays Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, the chief attending physician in the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center’s emergency department. He’s about to embark on 15-hour shift, where he and his colleagues will train the next generation of doctors, weather personal troubles, and do everything in their power to treat the injuries and illnesses that come through their doors.
The Pitt‘s real-time structure and grounded cinematography turn the series into a veritable pressure cooker, immersing audiences in a world of exhausting, often overwhelming chaos. The series also thoughtfully tackles pressing medical issues, including understaffed hospitals, racial disparity in care, and hot-button topics like abortion. Leading us through it all is Wyle and The Pitt‘s exceptional ensemble cast, tasked with performing some of the most graphic, hyper-realistic TV surgeries in recent memory. Clock into The Pitt in order to see for yourself why I called it “TV’s next great medical drama.”
Starring: Noah Wyle, Tracy Ifeachor, Patrick Ball, Supriya Ganesh, Fiona Dourif, Taylor Dearden, Isa Briones, Gerran Howell, Shabana Azeez, and Katherine LaNasa
How to watch: The Pitt is now streaming on Max.
5. The Studio
Seth Rogen absolutely torches Hollywood in Apple TV’s The Studio, where he plays new studio head Matt Remick. A cinephile tasked with creating a movie based on the Kool-Aid brand, Matt finds himself faced with the eternal question of art versus commerce. Can he make high-grossing movies with artistic merit? Or is he — along with the rest of Hollywood — doomed to make slop?
The Studio approaches this question with razor-sharp satire and a healthy dose of cringe comedy, bludgeoning the egos of everyone from actors and directors to publicists and executives. But despite its Hollywood grievances, The Studio also serves as a love letter to film. On top of tributes to genres like film noir and zombie movies, the series often employs long takes in homage to Robert Altman’s satire The Player. These create a high-energy wave of cinematic mayhem where everyone from Martin Scorsese to Zoë Kravitz could pop up at any given moment. The result is a show that’s current, formally engaging, and, as I wrote in my full review, “full-on comedy gold.”
Starring: Seth Rogen, Catherine O’Hara, Kathryn Hahn, Ike Barinholtz, Chase Sui Wonders, and Bryan Cranston
How to watch: The Studio is now streaming on Apple TV.
4. Pluribus
Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul creator Vince Gilligan continues his streak of damn great TV shows with Pluribus, a sci-fi series that defies convention at every turn. Better Call Saul‘s Rhea Seehorn plays Carol Sturka, the most miserable woman in the world. That title isn’t that hard to hold, seeing as the rest of the world has been infected by a virus that’s left everyone else blissfully happy. Still, Carol’s circumstances have only made her more upset, and she’s determined to save the world.
Seehorn’s towering performance is reason enough to check out Pluribus, but there’s even more to love where that came from. Ethical quandaries! Fake romantasy novels! Some of the most surreal moments put to TV this year! It’s impossible to sum up the sheer scope of Pluribus and its greatness in just one blurb, so I’ll just point to my review, which called the series “a singular experience.”
Starring: Rhea Seehorn, Karolina Wydra, Carlos Manuel Vesga, Samba Schutte, and Miriam Shor
How to watch: Pluribus is now streaming on Apple TV.
3. The Lowdown
Reservation Dogs showrunner Sterlin Harjo and Ethan Hawke made magic when the latter guest-starred in Reservation Dogs‘ penultimate episode, “Elora’s Dad.” It’s no surprise, then, that their collaboration on The Lowdown produces similarly electric results.
Hawke plays Lee Raybon, a citizen journalist and “truthstorian” dedicated to holding Tulsa’s corrupt power players accountable for their wrongdoing. As Lee embarks on an investigation into the prominent Washberg family, Harjo manages to deftly combine elements of noir mystery with the hangout vibe of Reservation Dogs. What follows is truly one of a kind: a textured, lived-in portrait of Tulsa led by a charming, grizzled turn from Hawke. As I wrote in my review, “Hawke’s maniacal laughter after Lee’s escapes or major discoveries is a forever reminder of what I love about the show: its ability to make me laugh my head off, even after watching a man get his head shot clean off.”
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Keith David, Kaniehtiio Horn, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Kyle MacLachlan, Scott Shepherd, Siena East, Michael Hitchcock, Michael “Killer Mike” Render, Cody Lightning, Tim Blake Nelson, and Tracy Letts
How to watch: The Lowdown is now streaming on Hulu.
2. Andor, Season 2
Star Wars‘ best TV show goes out with a brilliant bang in its second (and tragically final) season. Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) is now a full-fledged part of the Rebellion, joining Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) and Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) in their fight against the Empire. But the Empire has plans of its own, setting its sights on the planet Ghorman in the lead-up to one of the most devastating plot lines in all of Star Wars.
In showrunner Tony Gilroy‘s hands, Andor remains equal parts nail-biting spy thriller and astonishing rallying cry against fascism, pulling no punches when it comes to topics like Imperial propaganda or genocide. From its portrayal of revolutionary sacrifice to its chilling take on the machine of empire, Andor is so damn good it’s a shame it’s over. (And that we’ll likely never get a Star Wars show this subversive again.) But on the bright side, as I wrote in my review, “Andor goes out on its own terms, leaving a brilliant, blistering look at fascism and those who fight it in its wake.”
Starring: Diego Luna, Kyle Soller, Adria Arjona, Stellan Skarsgård, Fiona Shaw, Genevieve O’Reilly, Denise Gough, Faye Marsay, Varada Sethu, and Elizabeth Dulau
How to watch: Andor Season 2 is now streaming on Disney+.
1. Severance, Season 2
My expectations for Severance Season 2 were insurmountably high, especially after a three-year hiatus. But somehow, Dan Erickson’s sci-fi workplace drama managed to surpass even my highest hopes, delivering a season that’s deeper, stranger, and even more mysterious and important than Season 1.
Severance Season 2 furthers its examination of identity, with almost all of Lumon’s Severed employees somehow at war with themselves. It also toys with the implications of what the severance procedure could mean for the rest of the world, resulting in the jaw-dropping reveals of the Gemma (Dichen Lachman)-focused “Chikhai Bardo” episode. That’s just one of many standout installments Severance had to offer this season, including the Innies’ bizarre odyssey through “Woe’s Hollow” and a jaw-dropping finale that solved many questions, but left just enough mysteries for fans to puzzle over before Season 3.
But amid all its sci-fi twists and turns, Severance still manages to stay rooted in its characters’ struggles for connection in a cold, corporate world. As I wrote in my review, “The show may throw everything from surreal workplace dance parties to precious baby goats at us, but at the end of the day, we’re watching a man trying to reunite with his wife. We’re watching Irving pining for Burt, and Dylan seeking crumbs of information about the family he may never know. We’re watching workers fight to be recognized as humans instead of free labor. It’s personal, it’s universal, and it’s absolutely astounding.”
Starring: Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus, Dichen Lachman, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, Patricia Arquette, and Sarah Bock
How to watch: Severance Season 2 is now streaming on Apple TV.
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