We have left behind the New Golden Age Of TV and Peak TV. Instead, what we now hear about now is ‘Mid TV’ and the ‘enshittification’ of streaming platforms.
But, just as there was always good TV before the New Golden Age so there is after. It’s just that you have to work harder for it. Finding a good TV show requires homework. A lot of homework. Which platform has which show? What platforms do I need to budget for this month? How long a subscription do I need to watch everything on that streamer? Did I remember to end my subscription? Where did the show I was watching move to?
Keeping track of your favourite TV shows now requires a cork board and red wool. But it can be done. The shows are out there. Here’s what was found and loved in 2025.
It was a good year for Apple, Carol.
Pluribus (Apple) – While the streamers aren’t as transparent with their viewing figures as free-to-air networks they do occasionally like to make a vague boast about their successes. Recently we learnt from Apple that Pluribus has become the platform’s most watched show – that’s right, it’s bigger than Ted Lasso big. There were no figures to back that up so let’s just take their word on that. It is easy to believe, it does seem to be the show that every TV nerd is talking/posting-on-Reddit about. And, quite rightly, Pluribus is the most refreshingly original show of the year.
Created by Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul show runner Vince Gilligan, Pluribus is a twist on the old last-person-on-earth trope (in fact, the best of its kind since Will Forte’s The Last Man On Earth ended in 2018). To say much more would spoil it for anyone who has not yet dabbled in the delights of this nine-part suburban sci-fi drama.
Gilligan, who wrote and directed the first two episodes, allows the show to unfold in a leisurely manner. Viewers aren’t spoonfed — we get to unpack pieces of puzzle, shuffle those pieces around and slowly start to see the bigger picture. Mostly we witness the show’s central character, fantasy romance writer Carol Stark (Rhea Seehorn), spending time alone, trying to figure out what has happened to the world around her. In another story arc we watch Manousos Oviedo (Carlos-Manuel Vesga) make a lengthy solo journey through Latin America as he teaches himself English. For multiple episodes we hear the same piece of dialogue repeated over and over. Somehow this is the most riveting viewing of the year.
Each frame is exquisitely composed and not a word of the minimal dialogue is wasted. The impressive cast even boasts an unnerving cameo from Somebody Somewhere’s Jeff Hiller. The precise choreography of the synchronised extras is astounding. And, each needle drop is better than the last: there’s a Turkish version of “People Are Strange”, a Portuguese take on “Aquarius” and a show-stopping use of Peruvian psych-rockers Traffic Sound.
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Seehorn fans were noisy in their disappointment that she never won an Emmy for her work in Better Call Saul. If she doesn’t get recognised for her star turn as Carol here we can expect riots next Emmy night.
Severance (Apple) – Was Ben Stiller’s Severance just Apple’s way of priming us for auteur TV — a gateway to Pluribus? Having debuted with a perfectly mysterious opening season in 2022, it set itself a challenge of having to deliver a second season with some answers while continuing to wrap itself in enigmatic storytelling. So, what next for the return of the conspiracy-laden sci-fi drama about biotech that splits employees’ minds into separate work and home selves? Well, in season two there was office goat herding, blue balloons, the world’s scariest work retreat and a quick trip to a seaside town riddled with ether addicts. It also delivered heartbreakingly complex relationship stories.
The season one cast boasted career-best performances from Adam Scott and Patricia Arquette and made a star of scene-stealing Trammel Tillman. Season two introduced a dazzling array of quality new cast members in Merritt Weaver, former 70s it boy Robby Benson, Gwendoline Christie, Sandra Bernhard and Alia Shawcat. We even got treated to the voice acting talent of SNL comedian Sarah Sherman in a Lumon Industries marketing film.
But most importantly the Severance season two finale delivered two key scenes that launched a billion memes. First was THAT marching band scene. Second was the ‘70s-inspired grainy, freeze-framed final run through the Lumen corridors soundtracked with Mel Torme’s ‘The Windmills Of Your Mind’. 100%.
The Studio (Apple) – The third piece in Apple’s world-conquering 2025 triptych was The Studio. Look beyond the headline-grabbing A-list cameos, the talk of who in Hollywood was this ‘really about’ and the onanistic film nerd references and The Studio was just plain funny. Created by the team of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, The Studio could have just been another in the duo’s long run of over-looked TV shows that started with 2016’s The Preacher (their Future Man and Black Monday projects are also worth a revisit). But this one clicked.
Satirising the Hollywood studio system, The Studio plays with genres and styles. There’s neo noir (‘The Missing Reel’), frenetic Safdiesque stylings (‘The War’) and the much-lauded one take episode (‘Oner’). At its core is brilliant cast chemistry — Seth Rogen, Ike Barinholtz and Chase Sui Wonders bounce off each other as if they have been working together as comedy sketch team for years. And with a supporting cast that includes veterans Catherine O’Hara, Kathryn Hahn and Bryan Cranston, the laughs come easy.
We were left at the end of 2025 not arguing over what the funniest show of the year was but instead we have been left arguing over what the funniest episode of The Studio was.
Crazy shit still happens
The Rehearsal (HBO Max) – After 12 years of creating cult underground TV shows (Nathan For You, How To With John Wilson and The Curse), the Canadian prince of awkward comedy Nathan Fielder went way overground with the second season of his docu-comedy The Rehearsal. In 2022, Fielder set up season one of The Rehearsal as an extravagant role-playing experiment that attempted to solve every day problems such as admitting to lying or pondering starting a family. Well, let’s just say it spiralled from there.
This year’s season two went bigger, much bigger — Boeing 737 bigger. Fielder had a theory that cockpit communication (or lack of) was a major cause of fatal airline crashes. He sets out to fix it. There is more role-playing but this time in intricately recreated airport lounge sets (last season’s full scale replica of a Brooklyn dive bar also returns) and also includes hordes of extras, giant puppets, a singing competition, cloned dogs, a congressional hearing, flight simulators and a plot twist to end all plot twists (hint: it involves that aforementioned Boeing). Indeed, it looks like HBO gave Fielder the kind of budget normally assigned to CGI dragons and European castle-location shoots.
But, once again, Fielder pushed the viewer to the edge where we are left questioning not just the ethics of the show (these are real life people he experiments on) but the ethics of even watching the show (participants have complained about how they were portrayed).
The Chair Company (HBO Max) – Tim Robinson’s latest dark comedy did not elicit as many LOLs as his I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson sketch series. In fact, there were times during The Chair Company’s eight-episode run where it was seeming like it would just end up as one of the year’s better shows. Then the completely bonkers, unexplainable finale happened. It was mayhem, the best kind of mayhem. The kind of mayhem that makes you realise that there just isn’t enough mayhem on TV. Like the finale of last year’s The Curse, you will be left pondering what it’s all about for many a sleepless night.
Before the mayhem we find Robinson portraying a likeable family man who is doing okay overseeing the development of a new shopping mall. But then during a presentation he sits on a chair that collapses beneath him. At breakneck speed, Robinson is soon down a rabbit hole of a chair-manufacturing conspiracy that leads to marriage problems, a job loss, threats, guns, seedy bars, questionable friendships and many, many whacko theories.
Robinson revels in cringe comedy and he piles it on here. The cushions you are hiding behind while watching these excruciatingly cringe scenes are probably what muted the laughs.
Those unexpected joys
The Lowdown (Disney+) – There was very little chatter about this US crime comedy when it dropped in September. But two months latter it’s all over the place in end-of-year lists. Having partnered with Taika Waititi for the wonderful Reservation Dogs, writer-director Sterlin Harjo’s The Lowdown deserved a noisier arrival.
At the centre of the Tulsa-set story is Ethan Hawke as a grizzled and hard-to-like “truthstorian” and bookshop owner. Whip-smart dialogue and unexpected story-telling lead us into an intriguing tale of a fractured families, Native American land rights and far right conspiracies.
Peter Dinklage appears mid-series for a wild one-episode story arc that is as hilarious as it is moving. Can we get a spin-off please? Also, Ryan Kiera Armstrong as Hawke’s daughter displays acting chops worthy of her more experienced cast mates that include Jeanne Tripplethorne, Tim Blake Nelson and Graham Greene. One to watch.
Sunny Nights (Stan/TVNZ) – Just as the year was about to close, this gem appeared out of nowhere. Sunny Nights is a spray tan comedic crime caper set in Sydney fronted by US sit-com greats Will Forte (MacGruber, 30 Rock) and D’Arcy Carden (The Good Place). But what keeps this show ticking is Australian director Trent O’Donnell (re-uniting with Forte after their stint together on No Activity) and a local team of writers that includes Marieke Hardy (Laid) and Lally Katz (Squinters). The show moves at a rapid-fire pace, the cast crackles with chemistry and we discover that footballer Willie Mason has comedy acting chops. However, it is New Zealand actor Rachel House (currently also on He Had It Coming directorial duties) who dominates as scary crime boss Mony – whatever you do, don’t fuck up her tattoos.
The Celebrity Traitors (Ten, TV3) – Usually the announcement of a celebrity competition show cast has you scrambling to google a roll call of unrecognisable names. But when this UK twist on the popular murder-in-the castle format dropped its line-up gobs were smacked. A-list Brits Stephen Fry and Ted Lasso’s Nick Mohammed had signed on to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with proper pop stars, sporting legends and comedians as they tried to figure out which of the three amongst them were the traitors.
As with other celeb reality-type formats we watch in amazement as unlikely friendships formed (footballer Joe Marler and the dry-witted Joe Wilkinson), real-life friendships were betrayed (Alan Carr “killed” off-screen bestie Paloma Faith) and stars let their guard down (cue montage of revered actor Celia Imrie farting while chained in a shed or screaming like a maniac down a well). The show in its non-celeb form had already become a camp favourite but add in the bitchy asides of former Chatty Man host Carr and you have more camp humour than a Golden Girls rewatch.
Asura (Netflix) – This year saw Netflix launch a never-ending slew of lookalike English-language crime-based mystery action thrillers while also attracting some of North America’s biggest show runners to the party (we got content from Tim Burton, Mindy Kaling and Tina Fey amongst many many more). They also delivered some big budget non-English disappointments as South Korea’s formerly buzz-worthy Squid Game ended mostly as ‘Damp Squib Game’ and Argentine post-apocalyptic sci-fi The Eternaut was a stunning looking exercise in style over substance.
So, who was expecting this quiet delight from Japan? A simple family melodrama set in the ‘70s from director Hirokazu Kore-eda (Shoplifters, Broker, Monster), it told the story of four sisters coming to terms to with the revelation that their father had a secret second family. Asura is masterful story-telling with unbelievably detailed set designs and cinematography that draws you directly into the most intimate aspects of these sisters’ homes. It also presented opening and closing credits that were colourful and fun and far from the greige cookie-cutter credit sequences we’ve come to expect in these post-peak TV times.
Where the Ruffalo roams
Hal & Harper (Stan, MUBI) – Having achieved ‘critical darling’ status with his films Shithouse and Cha Cha Real Smooth, Cooper Raiff turned his indie film maker hands to TV dramedy. A meditative contemplation of the effect grief can have on children, this was the first of two vehicles this year that showcased Mark Ruffalo. As a father who has tried to move on for the traumatic loss of his children’s mother, his portrayal is so real it makes for difficult viewing at times. But the show must also be commended for its risky casting move that finds the adult actors who play Ruffalo’s offspring (Raiff and Riverdale’s Lili Reinhart) also play their child selves in flashback sequences. What could have been a dumb gimmick is endearing and believable.
Task (HBO Max) – Another slow burner, Task seemed to be created to fill the True Detective-sized hole in this year’s HBO schedule. Hoping to recapture some of 2021’s Mare Of Easttown magic, HBO roped in that show’s writer for a new small town crime drama. Here’s Ruffalo expertly underplaying Task’s priest-turned-copper with a drinking problem called upon to create a task force to tackle a string of violent stash house robberies. There’s problems at home and problems at work. It also delivered the year’s most intense shoot out, the kind of edge-of-your-seat ‘we’re surely gonna lose a beloved character’ scene that HBO always delivers on.
Good old fashioned fun
Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont Spelling Bee (ABC/Three) – While the original New Zealand version of this show was rested in 2025 (fear not, season three is filmed and set to screen in 2026), the Australian version dropped ten new episodes and a Christmas special. The comedians-spell-words format was adapted from Montgomery’s very successful live shows and now attracts over a million viewers in two countries. Ably assisted by Aaron Chen in the Australian series, this year saw Hannah Gadsby, Abby Howells, Lizzy Hoo, Kitty Flanagan and Briggs amongst those prepared to sacrifice their dignity in the pursuit of spelling. Montgomery’s droll humour and word play are at home here and the show’s short runs means it never out stays its welcome.
Taskmaster New Zealand (Binge, TVNZ2) – New Zealand’s take on the Taskmaster format has fast become the leading franchise holder outside of the original Taskmaster’s UK home. Casting and task creating are key here. This year Alice Snedden, Bree Tomasel, Jackie van Beek, Pax Assadi and newcomer Jack Ansett brought the laughs as they stumbled through tasks at the TM house and were then set upon by the always-intimidating Jeremy Wells in the studio. But is the secret sauce of the NZ franchise’s success actually Paul Williams? Every year he not only brings his A-game to co-hosting duties but is also part of the task-creation team behind-the-scenes.
Simply the best
Adolescence (Netflix) – TV in 2025 cannot be discussed without mention of Adolescence. It was a culture-shifting moment. The four-part British drama — each episode famously filmed in a single unedited shot – brought discussion of toxic male online culture into the mainstream. Having honed their one-shot skills on the restaurant kitchen movie Boiling Point (The Bear but more intense), director Phillip Barantini and actor-producers Stephen Graham and Hannah Walters joined forces with This Is England/Skins writer Jack Thorne to create what is now the second most watched English language series in Netflix’s history. The show’s success also catapulted the cast into the international spotlight. Lead actor Graham has since been hailed as Britain’s greatest living actor, Owen Cooper was showered with awards, Erin Doherty rejoined Graham in Disney’s A Thousand Blows and Ashley Walters (ex So Solid Crew) has reportedly ditched his plan to retiring from acting. And with all of us marvelling at the technical prowess that went into creating the show’s one-shot episodes, even behind-the-scenes clips have garnered millions of views.
Procedurals reborn
Once tired procedural formats were revived thanks to this year’s crop of hold-your-breath-and-hope-your-favourite-cast-member-doesn’t-die dramas. From Northern Ireland there was the third season of police procedural Blue Lights — by throwing in generational political trauma it’s made neighbourhood policing a white knuckle ride. While in the US The Pitt amped up medical procedurals with a frantic real-time pace — its 15 one-hour-eps take place over a 15-hour period – and its very detailed medical procedures require a bucket to be kept on hand at all times.
Hard truths
In an era of carefully curated celebrity documentaries, Pee-Wee As Himself was a standout that pushed against the standard fare. Pee-Wee Herman creator Paul Reubens knew he was dying during filming, the crew did not. So director Matt Wolf captures Reubens as he pushes back, trying to take control of a narrative that was taken away from twice in his lifetime as his career was blown apart by false criminal allegations. In Australia, The People Vs Robodebt was a no-nonsense dig into one of country’s biggest ever political tragedies. It was a devastating gut-punch for the most part as the human cost of this failed welfare scheme was revealed. Hopefully a planned dramatic-adaptation of this story can have the same affect as last year’s Mr Bates Vs The Post Office had on British politics.
Adapting to the times
Invisible Boys was adapted from the hit queer YA book of the same name by Australian author Holden Sheppard. A remote West Australian city made a unique setting for series tackling issues of sexual orientation and masculinity, giving these topics a fresh narrative angle. Set in 2017 at the time of Australia’s same-sex marriage plebiscite it also made for a confronting reminder of recent history. Adapted from a popular podcast, US series Dying For Sex is the real-life story of a terminal cancer patient in search of an orgasm. Michelle Williams has been quite rightly lauded for her matter-of-fact journey through a sexual awakening but please take time to appreciate Jenny Slate who elevates the best friend role with an impressively nuanced performance.
Universe building
If Star Wars fatigue was looming, season two of Andor definitely put it at bay for the time being. Diego Luna brought the Star Wars spin-off to a close with another charismatic spin as the titular reluctant rebel. The 12-part finale was rolled out three-episodes a week with each cluster of episodes easily consumed as weekly movie-length releases. The show’s politicking plot lines seemed to reflect the real-world political climate they were released into, meaning Andor’s final bow resonated more strongly with audiences than its previous season.
And then along came the Alien TV spin-off we didn’t know we needed. Having already given the Fargo movie legs as a multi-season TV anthology, it was a no-brainer hading the Alien IP keys to showrunner Noah Hawley. Alien:Earth’s unlikely cast featured Timothy Oliphant and Adrian Edmondson (yep, Vyvyan Basterd himself) and the year’s most terrifying villain — a killer sheep. Throw in some cyborgs, an evil rich tech bro, a massive budget, lush locations and this was never going wrong.
After a finale considered the worst ever at the time (ah, 2013 was so many despised finales ago), a failed prequel last year and a tepidly received reboot in 2021, the Dexter franchise had no right to come back this strong. But Dexter: Resurrection recalled the show’s early seasons of dark humour and found a convincing way to reunite original stars Michael C Hall (Dexter) and David Zayas (Angel) while building a wider universe of serial killers and allowing a-listers Peter Dinklage (scene-stealing again) and Uma Thurman to make us believe their outrageous side plot.
Well drawn in 2025
Common Side Effects is the latest [adult swim] show to break out and for good reason. It seems timely that it’s about Big Pharma and a healing mushroom conspiracy and it features the always nonchalant sounding Martha Kelly (Baskets, Euphoria) voicing DEA Agent Harrington. Long Story Short is an unexpectedly sweet family comedy from BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg with voice talent including Abbi Jacobson. South Park came back with a vengeance in not one but two headline-grabbing seasons that took direct aim at the Trump administration – no targets were missed. And, Bob’s Burgers served a sixteenth season without any signs of a drop in quality for such a long-running animated series.
Continued excellence
While end of year lists tend to zero in on the new shiny shows we often see one-time critical darlings fall to the wayside beyond their second season. So let’s not forget Abbott Elementary’s fifth season proved that US networks can still make quality sit-coms and this one from Quinta Brunson has been the best of its kind since its debut. We are now so familiar with her kooky cast of teachers that this one is now officially Comfort Viewing. Having finished its fourth season in fine form, Hacks bounced back with a storyline about US late show politics seemingly predicting all real-life late show politicking that took place just weeks after the season finale aired. But also season four gave us Dance Mom – the year’s funniest TV character involved in one of the year’s funniest scenes now simply known as “the boofing scene”. Enough said. In its third season it was inevitable that The White Lotus would experience an internet backlash. But despite lots of moaning about it not being as good as it was, the show quickly went viral for a variety of reasons: Sam Rockwell’s monologue, every line Parker Posey spoke and the ‘are Aimee Lou Wood and Walton Goggins friends IRL’ debate.
Brit-coms
Spinning off from the under-viewed Motherland, Amandaland arrived from the UK as a star vehicle for Lucy Punch but it also brought Joanna Lumley back to where she belongs (not a travel show). After three seasons, gay coming-of-age comedy Big Boys bowed out leaving us ugly sobbing as the show, which was also about grief and mental health, came to its inevitable conclusion (it was based on a true story). Kat Sadler’s Such Brave Girls continued to give us TV’s hardest-to-like dysfunctional family while also pursuing the darkest of dark laughs of 2025.
Where have all the locals gone?
It was another big year for Australian and New Zealand talent making names for themselves in international productions. British spy drama Slow Horses didn’t just continue with the best written dialogue on TV, its fifth season gave Melbourne actor Christopher Chung a major storyline. Chung has imbued his performatively toxic character Roddy Ho with so much charm that he somehow came out of this season as the least dislikeable character. One of the few US network sit-coms eliciting laughs this year was CBS’ DMV — another mocumentary style show but this time set around a will they/won’t they relationship between Australian and New Zealand actors Harriet Dyer (Colin From Accounts) and Alex Tarrant (Shortland Street). Future Supergirl star Millie Allcock stole the show in Sirens dark take on family secrets. And Nick Cave’s novel The Death Of Bunny Munro was finally brought to TV by Swedish director Isabella Ekloff (Holiday) with the man himself making an ominous cameo in the show’s finale.
