{"id":324186,"date":"2025-12-04T05:20:33","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T05:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/324186\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T05:20:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T05:20:33","slug":"the-10-best-tv-shows-of-2025-and-5-worst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/324186\/","title":{"rendered":"The 10 best TV shows of 2025 (and 5 worst)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although the year was full of ups and downs, TV remained a bright spot. Returning shows including Severance<\/a> and Abbott Elementary<\/a> shined with stellar seasons, while a passel of new series like The Pitt<\/a> and Task<\/a> got our hearts racing. But that’s not to say there weren’t a few misses in the mix as well. To get a taste of what worked best and what missed the mark, see our list below:\n<\/p>\n

The 10 best shows of 2025
\n Severance (Apple TV) <\/p>\n

Dichen Lachman and Adam Scott in ‘Severance’.<\/p>\n

Apple TV+<\/p>\n

All Kier Egan wanted to do was eliminate pain from the human experience. But if Severance<\/a> has taught us anything, it\u2019s that science can no more separate the us from our hurt than it can stop the moon from controlling the tides. In its long-awaited second season, the darkly funny, exquisitely weird drama served up some key answers about Lumon Industries while pushing its characters to embrace their whole selves \u2014 both in and out of the office. Much like the employees in Lumon\u2019s Macrodata Refinement department, Severance contains multitudes: office comedy, sci-fi thriller, artsy allegory about worker exploitation, star-crossed romance, family drama. Marshmallows are for team players, but Severance is for everyone who\u2019s ever felt the ache of a broken heart. \u2014Kristen Baldwin\n<\/p>\n

Task (HBO) <\/p>\n

Tom Pelphrey and Mark Ruffalo on ‘Task’.<\/p>\n

Peter Kramer\/HBO<\/p>\n

Mare of Easttown creator Brad Ingelsby once again brought us to Philadelphia for seven episodes of suspense (and so many Delco accents). But this time we followed Mark Ruffalo<\/a>‘s priest-turned-FBI-agent as he tried to take down Tom Pelphrey’s big-hearted criminal. Anchored by incredible performances, Task’s greatest strength was its writing, as both men grappled with unbearable grief: Ruffalo’s Tom Brandis lost his wife \u2014 with the added layer of his adopted son having pushed her down the stairs \u2014 and Pelphrey’s Robbie Prendergrast lost his brother. Against all odds, the two fathers find a bond that makes Task far more than your average cop thriller. \u2014Samantha Highfill\n<\/p>\n

Abbott Elementary (ABC) <\/p>\n

William Stanford Davis, Quinta Brunson, Tyler James Williams, Lisa Ann Walter, Chris Perfetti, and Sheryl Lee Ralph in ‘Abbott Elementary’.<\/p>\n

Disney\/Gilles Mingasson<\/p>\n

Four years in, Quinta Brunson<\/a>\u2019s Emmy-winning comedy continues to set the standard. Many sitcoms stumble when it comes time to get their will-they-won\u2019t-they leads together, but Abbott soared, allowing Janine (Brunson) and Gregory (Tyler James Williams) to deepen their relationship without sacrificing its goofy sweetness. Season four saw Abbott taking big swings \u2014 firing Janelle James\u2019 indispensable Principal Ava, executing a highly weird yet somehow perfect crossover with It\u2019s Always Sunny in Philadelphia<\/a> \u2014\u00a0and crushing it every time. Boasting the best comedy ensemble on TV, Abbott uses humor and hope to explore the realities of race and class inequity in public education \u2014 and yet it never feels like school. Maybe that\u2019s because when we love characters this much, their battles become ours. \u2014K.B.\n<\/p>\n

Alien: Earth (FX) <\/p>\n

‘Alien: Earth’.<\/p>\n

FX<\/p>\n

Give Noah Hawley access to every film franchise ever. After reinvigorating the Fargo universe with his acclaimed FX series, the author and showrunner was let loose in the Alien playground, and gave the intellectual property its most invigorating update in years (decades?). The story here portrays a future Earth run by (who else?) corporations fighting for alien tech as they seek to produce the next generation of half-human beings, be they cyborgs, synthetics, or hybrids. When a ship carrying alien specimens crash lands on Earth, the fight \u2014 and not just against the creatures themselves \u2014 begins. Performances from the likes of Sydney Chandler (the lead hybrid Wendy), Timothy Olyphant (synthetic scientist Kirsh) and Babou Ceesay (cyborg security officer Morrow) are all uniformly excellent, but even they could not upstage the true star of the show, and some might say the entire year \u2014 scary eyeball sheep. \u2014Dalton Ross\n<\/p>\n

The Studio (Apple TV) <\/p>\n

Seth Rogen on ‘The Studio’.<\/p>\n

Apple TV+<\/p>\n

We\u2019d like to thank Sal Saperstein for bringing us one of the funniest comedies we\u2019ve seen in years. Seth Rogen<\/a>\u2019s Apple TV series takes viewers behind the scenes of Hollywood from the point of view of Continental Studios executive Matt Remnick (Rogen), a man obsessed with making movies. Well, okay, he doesn\u2019t technically make them, but he greenlights them! The show\u2019s starry parade of actors and directors playing themselves has Rogen\u2019s phone ringing off the hook with more celebs angling for a cameo in season 2 following its impressive run at this year\u2019s Emmy Awards, where it won 13 of the 23 awards it was nominated for, including Outstanding Comedy Series.\u00a0\u2014Ashley Boucher\n<\/p>\n

The Pitt (HBO Max) <\/p>\n

Noah Wyle and Katherine LaNasa in ‘The Pitt’.<\/p>\n

Warrick Page\/Max<\/p>\n

No one wants to spend the day in an ER, but damn if The Pitt didn\u2019t make those 15 hours fly by. The real-time medical drama offers a relentlessly frank exploration of America\u2019s broken healthcare system \u2014 and the dedicated doctors, nurses, and hospital staff who refuse to break under its weight. Anchored by a phenomenal performance by Noah Wyle<\/a> as Dr. \u201cRobby\u201d Rabinovich, The Pitt also features an ensemble packed with standouts, including (but not limited to): Taylor Dearden, beautifully earnest as second-year resident Mel King; Katherine LaNasa<\/a>, a mesmerizing force as the unflappable charge nurse, Dana Evans; and Michael Hyatt, who brings heart to the role of Robby\u2019s budget-conscious boss, Gloria Underwood. Like all great hospital dramas, The Pitt spikes our heart rate with urgent medical crises. But it also leaves us with the hope that when it comes time for our own life and death battle, we won’t be fighting alone. \u2014K.B.<\/p>\n

Andor (Disney+) <\/p>\n

Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) in season 2 of ‘Andor’.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Lucasfilm<\/p>\n

The Rogue One prequel series hit the hyperdrive button in its stellar second season, time-jumping a year every three episodes to bring us right to the precipice of the Star Wars standalone film. Perhaps the clearest indication of creator Tony Gilroy\u2019s epic world-building was the fact that the title character of Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) was often the least interesting person on screen \u2014 and Cassian was plenty damn interesting. The show\u2019s side characters took center stage in a flawless three-installment run (episode 8 through 10) that saw oddball fascist-in-training Syril (Kyle Soller) face the consequences of his actions, undercover idealist Mon Mothma (Genevieve O\u2019Reilly) deliver a fiery Senate speech, and season 2 MVP Kleya (Elizabeth Dulau) undertake a daring mission to save her mentor by ending his life. Rebellions may be built on hope, but this one was also built on an incredible vision and execution. \u2014D.R.\n<\/p>\n

Dept. Q (Netflix) <\/p>\n

Matthew Goode and Alexej Manelov in ‘Dept. Q’.<\/p>\n

Netflix<\/p>\n

As a certified scaredy cat, I wasn\u2019t sure I could handle Dept. Q \u2014 but this harrowing crime drama from Scott Frank (The Queen\u2019s Gambit<\/a>) had me hooked from its premiere-episode twist, so bravery was a must. Adapted from Jussi Adler-Olsen\u2019s book series, Dept. Q follows DCI Morck (Matthew Goode<\/a>), an aggressively unpleasant British detective who returns to his Edinburgh department after being shot on the job. Desperate to avoid the trauma of his near-death experience, Morck takes on a new assignment heading up a new cold-cases department, along with a team of fellow precinct misfits: Akram Salim (Alexej Manvelov), a Syrian refugee and brilliant investigator; Rose (Leah Byrne), an anxious constable grappling with OCD and PTSD; and Detective Sergeant Hardy (Jamie Sives), paralyzed in the same shooting that injured Morck. Blending gallows humor with shoe-leather police work, riveting performances, and a twisted central mystery, Dept. Q manages to find hope and healing in the midst of human-on-human horror. \u2014K.B.\n<\/p>\n

Beyond the Gates (CBS) <\/p>\n

Keith Robinson, Daphn\u00e9e Duplaix and Trisha Mann-Grant in ‘Beyond the Gates’.<\/p>\n

Quantrell Colbert\/CBS<\/p>\n

Soap operas do the impossible. Working with a fraction of the budget primetime series get, soaps crank out 260 episodes of non-stop story a year. For those of us who grew up loving these shows, watching the networks slowly abandon the genre over the past decade has been painful. What a joy, then, to witness the birth of Beyond the Gates<\/a>, the first new daytime drama since 1999. Created by soap legend Michelle Val Jean, Gates centers on the saga of the well-to-do Dupree family, pillars of society in an elite (and drama-filled) Black enclave near Washington, D.C. It\u2019s impossible to summarize everything that\u2019s happened in the 180 episodes (!) since Gates premiered in February, but the soapiest highlights include: a love child revealed in spectacular fashion, and a marriage ruined! A steamy (and top-secret) May-December romance between a former supermodel and a playboy photographer! A promising young politician haunted by a violent incident from his past! To quote the late, great Garry Marshall<\/a> in Soapdish<\/a>: \u201cThis is soap opera!\u201d \u2014K.B.<\/p>\n

Pluribus (Apple TV) <\/p>\n

Rhea Seehorn on ‘Pluribus’.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Apple TV+<\/p>\n

Even with classic franchises like\u00a0Alien: Earth\u00a0and\u00a0It\u00a0churning out quality TV episodes in 2025, the best horror episode of the year came courtesy of this new Vince Gilligan creation in which\u00a0almost\u00a0all of humankind contracts a virus that joins them into one perpetually happy hive mind. Rhea Seehorn\u2019s Carol is one of the few who maintain free will, and the pilot episode in which her friends and neighbors all turned into like-minded zombies was a creepy delight. What followed, however, was something altogether different, as the show\u2019s entire tone shifted by hour two into an equal parts funny and sad examination of the human condition, with Carol\u2019s thirst for individualism pitted against her basic need for connection. As if the terrific story and lead performance were not enough,\u00a0Pluribus\u00a0\u2014\u00a0like Gilligan\u2019s\u00a0Breaking Bad\u00a0and\u00a0Better Call Saul\u00a0before it \u2014\u00a0was also a pure visual feast as the most gorgeously shot show on television. \u2014D.R.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The 5 worst shows of 2025
\n Suits LA (NBC) <\/p>\n

Stephen Amell as Ted Black on ‘Suits LA’.<\/p>\n

David Astorga\/NBC<\/p>\n

From a business standpoint, Suits LA made perfect sense. Suits<\/a> was one of the biggest shows on streaming, so why not dip another toe into that lawyer-laden pool? And yet, from the first episode, it was evident that the spinoff lacked the charm \u2014 and quite frankly, the plot \u2013 of the original series. At its core, Suits worked because of the whole “fake lawyer joins a law firm” thing. That gave every episode an edge. At any moment, it could all come crashing down. Meanwhile, Suits LA thought that Ted Black’s (Stephen Amell) mysterious past \u2014 and dead brother? \u2014 would somehow serve as a story engine. Spoiler: It didn’t. \u2014S.H.\n<\/p>\n

Untamed (Netflix) <\/p>\n

Sam Neill as Paul Souter on ‘Untamed’.<\/p>\n

Ricardo Hubbs\/Netflix<\/p>\n

While Untamed had potential, it didn\u2019t live up to the grandeur of where it takes place, Yosemite National Park. When a woman falls from El Capitan in the first episode, special agent Kyle Turner, played by Eric Bana, is brought in to take the case, leading him down a path of mystery that brings up his own tragic past. However, the (very predictable) twists and turns weren\u2019t quite enough to keep us glued to the screen. With several other top-tier crime dramas this year, it just didn’t deliver.\u00a0\u2014A.B.\n<\/p>\n

My Life With the Walter Boys (Netflix) <\/p>\n

Nikki Rodriguez as Jackie on ‘My Life With the Walter Boys’.<\/p>\n

David Brown\/Netflix\u00a0<\/p>\n

Let’s be clear about one thing: My Life With the Walter Boys was never great television. But in its first season, it presented a fun-enough story about a city girl who falls for two country brothers. What viewers didn’t anticipate is that season 2 would be … exactly the same? Instead of advancing the plot, the second season of the teen drama basically hit “reset” on the love triangle, which resulted in a notably less fun \u2014 and at times, just plain boring \u2014 season. \u2014S.H.\n<\/p>\n

All’s Fair (Hulu) <\/p>\n

Kim Kardashian on ‘All’s Fair’.<\/p>\n

Disney\/Ser Baffo<\/p>\n

“Oh my god I can’t believe that just happened.” Those are the first words uttered in Ryan Murphy’s All’s Fair, and it’s essentially how we feel about the series as a whole. From the first few minutes of the legal drama, it’s clear that this is a show about “powerful women” written mostly by men who think that women sit around talking about breaking down barriers and how hard it is to be taken seriously. As Naomi Watts and Kim Kardashian’s characters set out to open their own firm, Glenn Close tells them, “You both are an idea whose time has come.” Because, you know, women have brains too! The writing is clunky, Kardashian’s acting is worse, and somehow it got a second season, so perhaps, women, our time has come. \u2014S.H.\n<\/p>\n

And Just Like That (HBO Max) <\/p>\n

Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, Sarah Jessica Parker on ‘And Just Like That’.<\/p>\n

Craig Blankenhorn\/HBO Max<\/p>\n

When we heard a Sex and the City<\/a> revival<\/a> was in the works in 2021, we couldn’t wait to see our favorite gal pals (sans Samantha) back together again. A little bit older and wiser (or so we thought), it was a chance to show an honest portrayal of fiftysomething females on TV. But instead of exploring the power of being a woman in her prime, as well as the freedom that comes with aging, And Just Like That <\/a>depicted our beloved Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) as being clueless and out of touch, not to mention making choices that were completely out of character. (The cringe factor was also high.) That’s not to say there weren’t moments in the show that did resonate, but more often than not, our core trio seemed like shells of their former selves. Still, we were sad when creator Michael Patrick King announced the show was ending with season 3\u2026 until we tuned into that turd of a series finale<\/a>, where Miranda’s Thanksgiving dinner ended with her cleaning up an overflowing toilet that had been clogged thanks to a lactose-intolerant Gen Z guest. (Why was so much of the finale dedicated to random people we had never met?!) And though we did kind of love the final scenes of Carrie<\/a> embracing her singledom, we simply could not erase the image of that big ol’ poop. We get it, life is messy, but it was a crappy way to say goodbye to one of the most iconic TV characters of all time. \u2014Rebecca Detken<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Although the year was full of ups and downs, TV remained a bright spot. Returning shows including Severance…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[49,48,75,348],"class_list":["post-324186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}