{"id":371575,"date":"2025-12-26T17:27:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T17:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/371575\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T17:27:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T17:27:14","slug":"these-were-the-10-hottest-shows-of-the-year-how-many-did-you-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/371575\/","title":{"rendered":"These were the 10 hottest shows of the year \u2014 how many did you watch?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Golden Age of Television might be over, but 2025 was still a great year for the small screen.<\/p>\n

The rise of streaming platforms has given viewers a seemingly endless amount of options, but several shows still managed to have monoculture moments this year.<\/p>\n

From HBO dramas to network reality shows, these were the 10 hottest shows of 2025: <\/p>\n

\u2018The Pitt\u2019\"NoahNoah Wyle as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch on “The Pitt.”HBO Max<\/p>\n

After premiering in January, \u201cThe Pitt\u201d quickly garnered praise for its realism compared to other medical dramas<\/a>. The team behind the HBO Max<\/a> series consulted real doctors, nurses and physician assistants to make the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center\u2019s emergency room cases feel real. <\/p>\n

Unlike \u201cGrey\u2019s Anatomy\u201d <\/a>or \u201cChicago Med,\u201d \u201cThe Pitt\u201d focuses more on medical cases than interpersonal drama. But that didn\u2019t stop the show from creating lovable, fleshed out characters, including Dr. Michael \u201cRobby\u201d Robinavitch, played by \u201cER\u201d alum Noah Wyle, Nurse Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa) and Dr. Melissa Mel King (Taylor Dearden<\/a>).<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Does Dr. Frank Langdon come back to \u2018The Pitt\u2019 after shocking exit?<\/a><\/p>\n

After winning five Emmys in September, \u201cThe Pitt\u201d set a record for the largest post-season viewership growth for any HBO show\u2019s debut season. A hit with critics and viewers alike, \u201cThe Pitt\u201d has fans eagerly awaiting the Jan. 8, 2026, season 2 premiere.<\/p>\n

\u2018Severance\u2019\"Severance\"Adam Scott as Mark S. and Britt Lower as Helly R. in “Severance”Apple TV<\/p>\n

Fans of \u201cSeverance\u201d waited three years for season 2 to debut in January. With a 95 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes<\/a>, the Apple TV<\/a> dystopian thriller has been widely praised for its acting performances, cinematography, production design and unique concept. <\/p>\n

\u201cSeverance\u201d follows Lumon Industries employees who have undergone a procedure that separates their work lives from their personal lives. \u201cInnies\u201d have no knowledge of their lives outside work, while \u201couties\u201d don\u2019t know what they do all day at Lumon. <\/p>\n

In February, \u201cSeverance\u201d became the most-watched show in Apple TV history, surpassing \u201cTed Lasso\u201d (\u201cPluribus\u201d has since claimed that title). With jaw-dropping twists, biting corporate satire and striking visual imagery, there\u2019s nothing else like \u201cSeverance\u201d on television. <\/p>\n

\u2018The White Lotus\u2019\"ThePatrick Schwarzenegger (Saxon Ratliff), Sarah Catherine Hook (Piper Ratliff) and Sam Nivola (Lochlan Ratliff) in “The White Lotus.”HBO<\/p>\n

The \u201cWhite Lotus\u201d fandom continues to grow. 6.2 million viewers tuned in to the HBO <\/a>anthology series\u2019 season 3 finale<\/a> in April, which represented a 51 percent increase from the season 2 conclusion. <\/p>\n

One of the few shows of the year that became true appointment TV, \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d brought millions of people together every Sunday night from February through April. <\/p>\n

READ MORE: \u2018Harry Potter\u2019 star reportedly joining the cast of \u2018The White Lotus\u2019 season 4<\/a><\/p>\n

Viewers took to social media to guess who would die during the finale and dissect the controversial incest story line<\/a>. The discourse didn\u2019t stop when the season ended, either. Fans are now looking ahead to season 4, sharing their dream casts for the next installment. <\/p>\n

\u2018Adolescence\u2019\"OwenOwen Cooper as Jamie Miller in “Adolescence.”Courtesy of Netflix <\/p>\n

The British crime drama won big at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards in September. <\/p>\n

With 13 nominations and eight wins, \u201cAdolescence\u201d took home awards including Outstanding Limited Anthology Series, Outstanding Writing, Outstanding Cinematography and Outstanding Directing. 15-year-old Owen Cooper, who played Jamie Miller, also made Emmys history as the youngest male actor to win the prestigious award. <\/p>\n

\u201cAdolescence\u201d centers on Cooper\u2019s character Jamie, a 13-year-old boy who is arrested after the murder of a girl at his school. In addition to the haunting subject matter and compelling performances, \u201cAdolescence\u201d drew buzz for the fact that each of its four episodes was shot in one continuous take. The show also set a record, with more viewers within a two-week period than any other Netflix<\/a> limited series. <\/p>\n

\u2018The Studio\u2019\"SethSeth Rogen as Matt Remick in “The Studio.”Apple TV<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Studio\u201d was the big winner at the 2025 Emmys, taking home a whopping 13 gold statuettes. The satirical comedy\u2019s accolades included Outstanding Comedy Series and an Outstanding Lead Actor award for Seth Rogen.<\/p>\n

Rogen, who also co-created the Apple TV<\/a> series, stars as Matt Remick, the new head of a film production company. Matt struggles to balance his own aims of producing high-quality films with the company\u2019s corporate interests. <\/p>\n

Parodying Hollywood can be tricky to pull off, but \u201cThe Studio\u201d is \u201csavvy enough to impress even the most studious of film buffs,\u201d according to the Rotten Tomatoes <\/a>critics\u2019 consensus.<\/p>\n

\u2018Andor\u2019\"DiegoDiego Luna as Cassian Andor in “Andor.”Disney+<\/p>\n

Many fans and critics have deemed \u201cAndor\u201d the best \u201cStar Wars\u201d series of all time. With a 96 percent Rotten Tomatoes<\/a> score, the Disney+<\/a> sci-fi drama has been praised for its timely message, realism and strong writing. <\/p>\n

Although \u201cAndor\u201d came to an end in May after just two seasons, \u201cStar Wars\u201d fans will always hold the series in high esteem. It is currently the only show in IMDb history to have five episodes in a row rated over a 9.5\/10 (episodes 8-12 of season 2). <\/p>\n

\u2018Love Island USA\u2019\"Love“Love Island” USA season 7 contestants Clarke Carraway, Jaden Duggar, Gracyn Blackmore, Olandria Carthen, Huda Mustafa, Chelley Bissainthe and Iris Kendall.Ben Symons\/Peacock<\/p>\n

While hardly prestige TV, \u201cLove Island USA\u201d gets people talking like few other shows do these days. The reality dating series airs six nights a week every summer, giving viewers near-constant fodder for lively social media discourse. <\/p>\n

Season 7, which premiered in June, provided the culture with viral moments including Huda Mustafa and Nic Vansteenberghe\u2019s \u201cmamacita\u201d conversation<\/a>, the \u201cMy dream date … cute\u201d<\/a> meme, Nicolandria\u2019s slow burn and essentially everything that came out of Amaya Espinal\u2019s mouth (e.g. \u201cYou\u2019re an extremely odd individual,\u201d \u201cGod forbid I\u2019m a sensitive gangsta\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m just not your cup of tea to be drinking).<\/p>\n

In addition to taking over our social media feeds for two and a half months, season 7 of \u201cLove Island USA\u201d marked the first time a Peacock<\/a> series reached the No. 1 spot in the Nielsen Top 10.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Summer I Turned Pretty\u2019\"TheChristopher Briney as Conrad Fisher and Lola Tung as Belly Conklin in “The Summer I Turned Pretty.”Erika Doss\/Prime<\/p>\n

It was nearly impossible to escape the Jeremiah vs. Conrad Fisher discourse this year. After three seasons, Prime Video<\/a>\u2019s coming-of-age romance \u201cThe Summer I Turned Pretty\u201d came to an end in September, finally revealing which of the Fisher brothers<\/a> Belly Conklin (Lola Tung) ends up with. <\/p>\n

The love triangle incited such passionate debate that the show\u2019s social media accounts issued a statement<\/a> reminding fans to \u201ckeep the conversation kind.\u201d <\/p>\n

Whether you were Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah, all fans were thrilled to learn that a \u201dSummer I Turned Pretty\u201d movie<\/a> is in the works. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s certainly demand for more Belly, Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno). Among women ages 18-34, season 3 of \u201cThe Summer I Turned Pretty\u201d is Prime Video\u2019s most-watched season of television ever. <\/p>\n

\u2018Dancing With the Stars\u2019\"ALFONSO“Dancing With the Stars” cohost Alfonso Ribeiro and season 34 champions Robert Irwin and Witney Carson.Disney<\/p>\n

The ABC reality competition series has been on the air since 2005, but its relevancy is only growing. Chalk it up to the show\u2019s strong presence on TikTok, the casting of influencers and reality stars, or the fact that it\u2019s also available to stream on Disney+ <\/a>as of 2022, but \u201cDancing With the Stars\u201d has successfully reached Gen Z viewers.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Disney Channel alum got \u2018defensive\u2019 about \u2018misinterpreted\u2019 moment on \u2018Dancing with the Stars\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

72 million votes were cast for Dancing With the Stars\u2019 season 34 finale in November, more than double the amount of votes cast during last year\u2019s final episode. 9.24 million people tuned in, making it the show\u2019s most-watched finale since 2015.<\/p>\n

Robert Irwin, the son of beloved late wildlife educator Steve Irwin, won the season <\/a>34 Mirrorball Trophy with his pro partner, Witney Carson. His victory was a heartwarming full-circle moment, as his older sister, Bindi Irwin, won \u201cDancing With the Stars\u201d back in 2015 when Robert was 11. <\/p>\n

\u2018Stranger Things\u2019\"STRANGERMaya Hawke as Robin Buckley, Joe Keery as Steve Harrington, Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler and Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers in “Stranger Things.”COURTESY OF NETFLIX \u00a9 2025 <\/p>\n

The fifth and final season of \u201cStranger Things\u201d was perhaps the most anticipated television release of 2025. Part 1 hit Netflix<\/a> on Nov. 26, racking up a whopping 59.6 million views within five days, the best premiere week an English-language Netflix series has ever had. (It\u2019s the third best Netflix premiere week overall, finishing behind seasons 2 and 3 of the South Korean series \u201cSquid Game.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\u201cStranger Things\u201d fans have watched the show\u2019s young cast grow up before their eyes<\/a>, and they\u2019ll finally get to see the grand conclusion when the season 5 finale premieres on Dec. 31. The highly-anticipated episode will also be in theaters for a limited time<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Golden Age of Television might be over, but 2025 was still a great year for the small…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371576,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[88,92],"class_list":{"0":"post-371575","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}