2025 is a wrap, and much like 2024, it proved to be another great year in television. We saw the return of some beloved, highly anticipated titles, along with more than a couple of new surprises.
Dexter: Resurrection, Season 1, Episode 10; Image credit: Paramount Global
From sci-fi to gritty crime thrillers, high-concept dramas to dark comedies, there was no clear winner as far as genre goes. So, we decided to pose the question to the community.
Vote for Your Favorite 2025 TV Show
Which television show from 2025 is your favorite? Which show captured your heart and kept you on the edge of your seat? Cast your vote in our poll and tell us which 2025 TV show you believe stands above the rest and should be crowned the best of the best!
And just for fun, let’s find out which 2025 TV show is the most despised by viewers. Vote for your least favorite below:
If you’re looking for a quick refresher on what TV in 2025 was all about, here’s a retrospective:
Sci‑Fi Has Become Prestige
Andor, Season 2, Episode 3; Image credit: Lucasfilm
Sci-fi has always been a tricky genre on television, often dismissed as campy or appealing only to niche audiences. In 2025, however, many of the best shows we saw were science fiction, including Andor Season 2. The first season quickly proved to be one of the best Star Wars properties Disney has ever made, and Season 2 confirmed it wasn’t just a fluke. The galaxy far, far away is typically known for its high-action light saber duels and spaceships, but Andor’s second season remained grounded, mature, and politically charged.
Similarly, the second season of Severance was one of the most widely discussed shows of the entire year. The show turned the familiar feeling of workplace dread into a spectacle of existential horror without holding our hands even a little. Plus, it kept us occupied for weeks on end, debating what was going on with all those goats.
Silo and Fallout’s second season were two apocalyptic stories that approached the topic with drastically different tones yet still managed to impress with both strong writing and great, atmospheric worldbuilding.
We also saw the return of Black Mirror, the spiritual successor to The Twilight Zone. While some have long accused it of getting kind of preachy, the newest season still managed to poke at some nerves that feel awfully relevant in our current age.
Many of 2025’s best shows succeeded because they weren’t afraid to take risks and get weird. With Severance, Apple TV proved it’s not afraid to play with high-concept ideas, and in 2025, it gave us Pluribus, too. A show about an alien hivemind trying to assimilate all of Earth could have easily landed in the campy bin, but it ended up being surprisingly terrifying.
While we’ve seen a few prestige fantasy shows here and there (namely, Game of Thrones), it was good to see so much excellent sci-fi last year.
Dramedies
The Bear, Season 4, Episode 2; Image credit: FX Productions
Somewhere around the time streaming services became a thing, the line between laughing and crying on TV started to blur. 2025’s lineup was no exception, and we saw more than one excellent dramedy released.
The Bear’s fourth season had us saying “Yes, Chef!” yet again, with its pressure-cooker intensity as the kitchen staff worked to keep the restaurant afloat. It’s still the most stressful yet enjoyable show about making a sandwich ever committed to film.
Hacks returned as well, focusing on the mentorship-turned-rivalry between two Las Vegas comediennes. The second season received critical acclaim for its sharp writing and dark humor. For a different vibe, The Studio gave us Seth Rogen’s take on Hollywood corporate culture as a beleaguered studio head, and Poker Face continued to give us more Columbo-style detective goodness.
And, of course, one of HBO’s latest sensations, White Lotus, returned with a bang, taking us all the way to Thailand for another tropical vacation that got just as messy as we have come to expect.
Thrillers and Crime Dramas
Zero Day; Image credit: Netflix
Crime and political dramas are basically dime-a-dozen, but 2025 still managed to give us some gems. With Zero Day, we got a tense political thriller about a former president investigating a devastating nationwide cyber-attack. For a grittier crime drama, Task gave us an FBI task force dabbling in some seriously murky waters.
On the lighter side, Shondaland gave us a fun, quirky whodunnit with The Residence, while The Pitt offered a real-time look at a Pittsburgh ER, covering a single 15-hour shift and all the drama that comes with it.
Corruption of Power is a Big Theme
The Residence, Season 1, Episode 1; Image credit: Netflix
Across many of last year’s best TV shows, one theme keeps emerging: the corruption of people in power. The Residence, Zero Day, Task, and even Andor all gave us stories about corrupt government entities. Dept. Q, a crime drama about a cold-case unit, also explored this theme, with its central story initially focused on increasing a police department’s reputation.
However, shows like Severance, The Pitt, and The Bear demonstrated these ideas on a smaller scale, but still to great effect through a workplace environment. Fallout, Silo, and Paradise also featured plotlines about corrupt authority figures, but did so through the lens of sci-fi, particularly in post-apocalyptic settings.
None of these stories offer easy villains or clean fixes. Power is messy, and therefore, so are the people who chase it or survive under it.
If you’ve made it this far and haven’t voted yet, it’s time to scroll back up and let your voice be heard. Cast your vote and let us know which show deserves to win the title of the best TV show in 2025!
And after you’ve made your choice, head over to the rest of the website to dive deeper into the world of popular television, anime, superheroes, and more.
See more:
- Top 10 TV Episodes of All Time, According to IMDb User Ratings
- POLL: Which Live-Action Star Wars TV Show Is the Best?
- Exploring Every Upcoming Star Wars Project
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