It's finally time to rank the best shows of 2025. The end of the year is mere days away, and there's no time left to try and watch one last show. While there are a few ongoing series I'm still watching, my top 10 is officially set, and I don't see one of them cracking the list.
To be fair, I've now established a pretty, pretty good sample size of what was on TV this year. I had only watched 24 shows by March 2025, 43 shows by this August and 55 shows as of last month. But as of this writing, I've managed to watch 60 seasons of television this year from a host of new and returning shows.
Malcolm has been covering the latest in streaming shows and movies for Tom's Guide since 2023. He watches dozens of shows each year, so you know what to watch.
My 10 favorite shows of 2025
10. 'The Bear' season 4 (Hulu)
"The Bear" took the world by storm with its debut season, following Carmy's (Jeremy Allen White) personal journey as a chef and as a person at his late brother's restaurant, The Original Beef of Chicagoland. Season 2 continued the hot streak, but then a lackluster season 3 threw cold water on everything.
In season 4, though, The Beef is now The Bear, and Carmy and the team are hunting down a Michelin star to keep their dreams alive. The result is a far more compelling season than the last, and it brings Carmy's journey to a satisfying close in a gripping season finale, "Goodbye." I also particularly enjoyed the episode "Worms," which has Sydney (Ayo Edibiri) at a crossroads and using her cousin's (Danelle Deadwyler) 11-year-old daughter, T.J. (Arion King) as a sounding board to decide her future as a chef. It was written by Edibiri and castmate Lionel Boyce, and was my favorite episode of the season.
Stream "The Bear" season 4 on Hulu now
9. 'South Park' season 27 (Paramount Plus)
"South Park," like so many great animated series, felt to me like it had overstayed its welcome. Like "The Simpsons," "Futurama," and many others, it had cemented itself in my mind as a show that was once elite but is now washed up. But then I saw a clip from the season 27 premiere, "Sermon on the Mount," and I knew I had to start watching immediately.
I'm so glad that I did because this five-episode season was brief, but incredible. Each of the five episodes was crafted by Trey Parker and Matt Stone on the fly, which led to an incredible prescience and insightful satirical critiques of current events. The premiere, which is one of the best episodes of any show this year, takes several shots at U.S. President Donald Trump and then never lets up throughout the rest of the season, which sees the president impregnate Satan.
That's followed by a takedown of the podcaster Charlie Kirk, who proclaimed he loved the episode days before he was shockingly assassinated in an act of political violence, which led to Paramount pulling reruns of the episode from Comedy Central. It then caps off with a season finale that sees the FCC commissioner, Brendan Carr, losing his freedom of speech in a moment of comedic brilliance. In terms of a show capturing a moment in history as it's happening, perhaps only a few have done it better than "South Park" season 27 did this year.
Stream "South Park" season 27 on Paramount Plus now
8. 'The Studio' season 1 (Apple TV Plus)
It turned out to be a great year for comedy shows. "South Park" was great, "The Rehearsal" was a masterpiece (more on that later) and I loved "The Studio." In our Emmy nominations coverage, I declared it my top comedy series of the year, a title it held for most of the year.
The show's two-episode premiere was excellent. The first episode does a great job of establishing this version of Hollywood in which Matt Remick's (Seth Rogen) fictional Continental Studios exists. Then, the second episode, "The Oner," is a technical masterpiece and remains one of the best episodes of television I've watched all year.
"The Studio" never really dips in quality from there. Whether it's a slew of well-crafted celebrity cameos, homages to classic films like "Chinatown" or coining the phrase "Old-school Hollywood buffet," this season of television is one people will call back to years from now, whether season 2 lives up to the high standard of season 1 or not.
Stream "The Studio" season 1 on Apple TV Plus now
7. 'Paradise' season 1 (Hulu)
"Paradise" was briefly my show of the year so far when it ended its first season back in March. It stars Sterling K. Brown as a Secret Service agent to an assassinated president (James Marsden), but even he can't anticipate the layered conspiracy he's about to be thrust into.
While Hulu's political drama has since been pushed down to seventh in my best show of 2025 rankings, don't let that fool you. "Paradise" is an excellent show that expertly executes twist after twist, paying off most by the season's end, while still propelling us into season 2, which will come out on Feb. 23, 2026.
But the real reason "Paradise" remains so high in my esteem is episode 7, "The Day." This episode is mostly told as a flashback, and it will hit you like a nuclear bomb, leaving you genuinely unsettled. I'm still shook by it.
Stream "Paradise" season 1 on Hulu now
6. 'Slow Horses' season 5 (Apple TV)
Surprise! "Slow Horses" made it onto my best shows of the year list. I promise you, though, that this isn't a running bit. This British spy thriller, year in and year out, remains a perfect example of what British television gets right. The formula of six episodes per season with a trailer for the next season at the end of the finale never fails, there's never any fat, and it never feels like a slog.
In season 5, the Slow Horses of Slough House are still reeling from the events of season 4, but they don't have much time to process their feelings. A group of rogue Libyan terrorists has struck London with a series of attacks, and one of the Horses is revealed to be an integral part of their plan to bring down the British government.
This season was probably the show's best season since season 2, maybe even the incredible debut season. Through four episodes, it was in contention for my show of the year, and episode three features a Gary Oldman monologue that could ultimately win him an Emmy. Even though it couldn't rise further than sixth in my rankings, rest assured that this is a great season of television.
Stream "Slow Horses" season 5 on Apple TV now
5. 'The Rehearsal' season 2 (HBO Max)
"The Rehearsal" season 2 is unlike any other show on this list. Honestly, I'm not sure there's a show out there quite like this one. I can't tell you exactly where the second season of this hybrid reality show/documentary/comedy series goes without spoiling it, but the show starts with Fielder crafting a role-play simulation to examine why pilot communication failures lead to fatal airplane crashes. This leads him to create a flight simulator, recreate a terminal of George Bush Intercontinental Airport and even stage a fake reality music competition within the show. The episodes "Pilot's Code" and "My Controls" are two of the five best episodes of TV I've watched all year
This is also probably the best show you're not watching. Of any show on the list, it's the one you're most likely not to know about, and I'm saying that from experience. I never watched the first season, and I only started watching season 2 once its run on HBO was almost complete. But I'm glad I watched this show because it's brilliant. You can't tell what's an act, what's real, and honestly, it doesn't even matter if it's all an act — because it's just so compelling. Trust me when I say this show is a must-watch.
Stream "The Rehearsal" season 2 on HBO Max now
4. 'Task' season 1 (HBO Max)
"Task" stars Mark Ruffalo as Tom Brandis, an FBI agent reeling from a family trauma, which is revealed early in the show to be the death of his wife. It's left the former priest turned law enforcement officer a shell of his former self. But at the start of the series, we see him called back into service to form a task force aimed at hunting down a criminal who's robbing stash houses.
That criminal is Robbie (Tom Pelphrey), and he's a more complex character than the simple robber he's made out to be. Yes, it scores points for me for its Delco accents and Wawa coffee, but "Task" is truly an incredible show and a more than satisfactory follow-up to creator Brad Ingelsby's "Mare of Easttown." You become deeply invested in the characters as the show progresses, which pays off immaculately in the show's final two episodes. The penultimate episode, in particular, "Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a river," will have you needing to remember to breathe.
Stream "Task" season 1 on HBO Max now
3. 'Andor' season 2 (Disney Plus)
If "Andor" season 2 had started with episode 4, it might be the No. 1 show on my list. The final nine episodes of this series were among the best of any show I've seen. Period. But it didn't do that. Instead, it kicked off with an underwhelming three-episode premiere driven by an odd three-episode partial binge drop release schedule. That was enough for me to knock it below the top two shows in my rankings, which lack a similarly weak patch.
As I just mentioned, "Andor" season 2 does things a bit differently than season 1, but it's not just the weird release schedule. This season covers four years in the Star Wars timeline, and each three-episode drop covers what is essentially a weekend within one of those four years. The show hits its high point at episode 8, "Who Are You?", which is the best episode of TV this year. It brings the legendary Ghorman Massacre to life, which proves to be a pivotal moment in "Star Wars" history and a stunning moment in television history.
Stream "Andor" season 2 on Disney Plus now
2. 'Adolescence' (Netflix)
"Adolescence" revolves around the arrest of Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper), a 13-year-old boy who is suspected of murdering his classmate Katie Leonard (Emilia Holliday). Over four one-hour episodes, we watch this event tear apart his family, learn what may have contributed to the alleged killing and examine the toxic online environment known as the manosphere.
This show is not for the faint of heart. It presents more like a play over four acts than a standard scripted drama, but each act of this play delivers an emotional gut-punch. "Adolescence" is also a technical marvel, with each episode taking place over an hour of real time and filmed using a single continuous shot. This forces the show to take us away from certain characters and moments when other dramas would cut back and forth, and it's a choice that pays off.
But despite its technical bona fides, this show holds the No. 2 spot on my list because of two specific performances. One of these is Stephen Graham's emotional climax to close out the show, which left me in tears. The other is the entirety of "Episode 3," which is almost entirely a dialogue between Jamie and forensic psychologist Briony Ariston (Erin Doherty). It earned both of them Emmy Award wins and won "Adolescence" the Tom's Guide Award for Best Streaming Original Show.
Stream "Adolescence" on Netflix now
1. 'The Pitt' (HBO Max)
'The Pitt' is incredible. It has remained my show of the year since its season 1 finale, and it has never let go. I wasn't alone in praising the show either. "The Pitt" won Outstanding Drama Series at this year's Emmy Awards, one of five Emmy Awards it would go on to win.
For those who haven't seen it yet, this medical drama is a combination of "ER" and "24." It stars "E.R." vet Noah Wyle as Dr. "Robby" Robinavitch and follows him and his colleagues at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital throughout a 15-hour shift. Like "Adolescence," each episode takes place in real time, though not in one shot like in the aforementioned limited series.
Despite condensing the first season into just mere hours in the lives of the characters, though, "The Pitt" still accomplishes incredible world-building and character development. It excels at being realistic and navigating ongoing storylines, which can run throughout episodes, even taking an episode off only to come back and make you cry, as episode 8, "2:00 P.M.," does to me every time. But just when you think you've figured out "The Pitt," at the end of episode 11, suddenly everything compresses into a single storyline, and it's executed perfectly. This show is what television should be.
Stream "The Pitt" season 1 on HBO Max now
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