Bean's Blogs' Top 10 TV Shows of 2025

As we close in on the end of 2025, I always like to reflect on my favorite movies and shows of the year. I think this year was a much stronger year in both industries -- some genuinely great projects came out this year that I wanted to highlight. So Today, we're giving our Top 10 TV shows of 2025 -- ranked 1-10 with some honorable mentions, as well as where you can watch them yourself. And our Top 10 Movies of 2025 will be coming once I check a few more off my list.

As always, no real spoilers -- nothing below is information you couldn't find on the show prologue, plus my opinions on what makes these shows great! Without further ado,

Not Considered (Because I haven't seen them)

Stranger Things

The Lowdown

Dept. Q

Dying for Sex

I Love LA

The Beast in Me

IT: Welcome to Derry

Slow Horses

The Summer I Turned Pretty

Heated Rivalry

I've never been a Stranger Things guy and definitely have FOMO with the massive discourse around the final season airing -- but after hearing some reactions to the latest episodes, I'm kind of glad I've been out. The Lowdown is one I started but couldn't stick with it -- had too many other shows that had my attention more. The other 7 I've heard good things -- but 5 aren't for me, and 3 I haven't gotten to.

Honorable Mentions

All Her Fault

The Rehearsal

Bad Thoughts

Tires

The White Lotus

The Bear

The Last of Us

Reacher

Paradise

Survivor 49

All Her Fault is a good one on Peacock, but I had too many issues with it for it to crack the Top 10. The Rehearsal and Bad Thoughts are 2 very funny shows for very different reasons, but are on the outside looking in. Tires was the closest cut by far -- and I regret not making it Top 10 just to wax poetic on Shane Gillis and Steve Gerben -- but it's elite.

The White Lotus S3 was a down season for me, as was S4 of The Bear (even though I liked it a lot more than S3). The Last of Us has the single best episode of the entire year in my opinion -- the 2nd episode of it's 2nd season -- but I was greatly disappointed in the season as a whole. Reacher is a super enjoyable watch, Season 3 was no different. And Paradise is similar to TLOU in that it had some extremely successful episodes -- and some extremely disappointing ones.

I'm also throwing Survivor on here for some non-scripted representation. It hasn't been my favorite season, but I think it was entertaining.

The Top 10

#10 Adolescence

If you like a miniseries, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better one from 2025 than Adolescence. It's far and away the best-written miniseries of the year, and features the best performances you'll see. The story follows a family who's 13-year old son is charged with murdering a classmate -- and the show features an all-time child-actor performance from the young Owen Cooper, who won an Emmy for his work. Stephen Graham is a long-time character actor who plays his father, and he gives a heart-wrenching performance (most under-rated actors in the biz).

This show isn't a comfortable watch -- it's can be pretty upsetting, anxiety-inducing, and is downright sad. But the way it's shot is amazing -- utilizes the "oner" style for each of the four episodes: meaning each episode is shot as one continuous take. The dialogue is gripping, the performers' are at their best, and the story is so enthralling. A necessary inclusion for any Top 10 list.

#9 Death By Lightning

The only other miniseries to crack my Top 10 list for 2025 -- and a MUCH different style than #10. Death By Lightning follows the story of James Garfield's unlikely rise to becoming the 20th President of the United States -- and the man who would go on to assassinate him, Charles Guiteau. Michael Shannon plays Garfield and Mathew McFadyen (Tom Wambsgans from Succession) plays Guiteau, and their performances at the center drive this show to higher levels. But it also features a great supporting cast of Nick Offerman, Bradley Whitford, Shea Whigham, and more.

The show tells a very compelling, not well-known story about a Historical figure in Garfield, and an even more unknown man in Guiteau that's equal parts funny, informative, mysterious, and enthralling. I love history -- that's what drew me in initially -- but I stayed for the double-sided plot that converges throughout, leading up to the ultimate climax in the final episode.

#8 Chad Powers

A comedy that's fun, doesn't take itself too seriously, but also can shock you with real themes/narratives is something that should be appreciated -- and that's what Chad Powers is. A show created from an Eli Manning sketch/ad-campaign where he went undercover a la Uncle Drew, and went to a walk-on tryout for Penn State and spun the fucking rock. Chad Powers takes that idea and goes full throttle -- and was a show I had the lowest of expectations for, despite my favorite actor Glen Powell being the star.

Glen Powell breathes life into the role, seamlessly playing both the arrogant, douchebag, burnout former-Star-QB Russ Holliday, and the awkward, goofy, out-of-place Chad Powers. The over-the-top performance is what makes it work, darting back and forth between not taking himself too seriously, to pretty deep themes. I also love Steve Zahn as Chad's Coach -- and the show as a whole had some of the funniest one-liners in any show this year.

#7 Pluribus

The newest show to be included in the Top 10, Pluribus just aired it's finale on Christmas Eve. And whether it's the new show smell that's giving me recency bias, or the fact that it's created by Vince Gilligan -- the man that brought the world Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul -- this show has quickly become one of my personal favorites of the year.

The ultra-intriguing premise is undoubtedly the driving factor for what got me involved. The tagline before it began airing was: "The most miserable person on Earth must save the world from happiness." What we learned was it's about a woman named Carol Sturka -- played by Rhea Seehorn, who was Kim Wexler in Better Call Saul -- who must navigate a new world after a phenomenon takes over nearly all human beings on the planet. The people of the Earth operate under a hive-mind of sorts -- and their goal is to please Carol (and the other "uninfected" people). The show is so good to me because of Gilligan's distinct style -- a master at the "show don't tell" principle of dialogue and framing, and his cinematography always draws me in. Tough show to explain, one that won't be for everyone -- but is madly intriguing and interesting to me.

#6 Severance

I typically don't find myself drawn to Sci-Fi TV shows or movies, but when Ben Stiller comes out with a project starring Adam Scott, John Torturro, and Christoper Walken -- I'm gonna give it a go. And I loved Season 1 -- a mysterious plot and intriguing premise that had me glued to my screen. And through the first 75% of it's 2nd season -- I would've told you this would be an easy top-3 show. But it stumbled toward the finish line, and left me with more questions than answers -- which after Season 1, was okay -- but loses it's luster after a 3-year wait for a 2nd season.

I still enjoyed the 2nd season quite a bit, especially the expanded runway for Tramell Tillman's Mr. Milchick character. I just think it veered too far off the path toward the end of the season -- including a bottle-episode that was my least favorite episode of any show in this Top-10 (the Cobel ep) -- and a rushed finale that didn't tie up as many of the loose ends. But there were some standout episodes in S2 -- "Woe's Hollow" where the team went on the ORTBO trip, "Chikai Bardo" where we get the Mark/Gemma backstory. For all the highs, there were a few too many lows for me to push it into the top-5.

#5 The Chair Company

It's not a Bean's Blog List without a Tim Robinson mention -- and his newest project in 2025 was an absolute banger. Stepping into the HBO Sunday Night spotlight, Robinson brought us a conspiracy-comedy that was the funniest show of the year for me -- all the slapstick cringe-humor you'd see in an I Think You Should Leave sketch, mixed with the high production value and film-making we saw in Friendship.

The Chair Company follows Ron Trosper -- a family man who has an embarrassing incident at work involving a chair, leading him to uncovering a complex web of conspiracy involving the company that made it. Robinson plays Ron with all the outlandish charm we love him for, and is at his funniest throughout. Lake Bell plays his wife, Lou Diamond Phillips plays a fun side role -- but the standout is Joseph Tudisco, who plays the guy who winds up being Ron's right-hand man, and is downright hysterical. This show won't be for everyone -- but if you like cringe-comedy at all, this show is cringe-comedy at it's best.

#4 Task

The show that was running concurrently with The Chair Company for several of the HBO Sundays was Task -- a show that started as a Limited Series has recently been renewed for a 2nd season because of it's rabid success. Set in Delco outside of Philly, the show follows an FBI agent and the Task force he assembles who must follow a crew that has been robbing drug-dealing gangs.

Mark Ruffalo stars as Tom Brandis -- head of the Task Force. Tom Pelphrey stars as Robbie Prendeberg, a trash-man and father who robs the gangs to provide for his family. The two leads are what make this show so compelling -- they're adversaries in the plot, but you find yourself rooting for them both. And the supporting cast is incredible as well -- particularly Fabian Frankel, Emilia Jones, and Allison Oliver's characters. This is a very dark and intense show focused on people who have been through hardship -- but is action-packed and gripping. From the Philly accents to the depth of the story -- this is a show I can't recommend enough.

#3 The Studio

The top spot for a comedy in 2025 is unlike any comedy you've seen in the past -- but is one that blew me away. From the creative team of Seth Rogen and Evan Golberg -- the former starring in the series -- comes an ensemble comedy about a major movie studio in Hollywood, and their newly-appointed studio head Matt Remick, played by Rogen.

The Studio is unique from comedies you've seen in the past: the biggest reason being the insane cast and cameos featured. A-list celebrities making guest spots -- many of whom play themselves as Remick and Continental Studios work with them on films -- and stars like Bryan Cranston and Zoe Kravitz having multi-episode roles. The film-making is top-notch -- they change styles from ep-to-ep from a "oner" ep to noir-style to retro-modern -- tying in the style to the plot of episodes. And just about every ep features one big, outlandish gag -- several of which left me cracking up with my jaw on the floor. If you love stars, big laughs, and film knowledge -- this is for you.

#2 The Pitt

As much as I love the shows on this list -- it was always going to come down to 2 shows fighting for #1.

The Pitt is one of those shows that I saw on HBO's banner for weeks, never giving it a 2nd thought. A procedural hospital show? Not for me. But my girlfriend is in med school, and I started to hear positive buzz from a podcast I listen to -- so I thought what the hell, let's give it a shot. And boy did it blow my expectations out of the water.

Think 24 starring Kiefer Sutherland meets ER -- a return to prestige procedural drama with a twist -- each episode focusing on one hour in the Emergency Department at a Pittsburgh hospital. This show is not only wildly entertaining, and quite frankly harrowing -- it's also accurate, with the creators and writers consulting actual doctors and healthcare workers to ensure it.

Noah Wyle, star of ER, stars as Dr. Robby -- head of the ED. He won an Emmy for his role, and was as deserving as they come -- he portrays the stress, compassion, focus, and strength that doctors must have in an authentic and compelling way. Other standouts from an almost all-unknown cast to me were Patrick Ball, Taylor Dearden, Shawn Hatosy, Katherine LaNessa (Emmy-winner), and Supriya Ganesh.

There's no way to describe what makes this such a binge-worthy, enthralling watch without watching it yourself -- a show I never thought I'd enjoy became one of my favorite shows of the decade -- and has a 2nd season coming out in just a few days. Catch up now!

#1 Andor

It could only be you, Andor. The amount of blogs I've written this year in attempt to get more people to watch this show (of which about a dozen of you read) -- the amount of texts I've sent to my friends who are huge Star Wars fans who still haven't watched. This is my Hail Mary, my last-gasp effort to encourage people to watch not only the best show of the year -- but the best show of the 2020's, and one of the best shows of the 21st century.

To set the stage -- yes, this is a show set in the Star Wars universe. I think that's been a roadblock for many -- whether for Star Wars fans who have little faith in the post-prequels-projects, or people who have never seen Star Wars and write it off because of that.

I'm here to tell non-Star Wars-fans this -- this is the least Star Wars-Star Wars show of all time, and you absolutely do not have to be a fan to enjoy this show.

And I'm here to tell Star Wars fans this -- this is THE BEST Star Wars project ever made to me, and at minimum, the best project since Empire.

This is a show that doesn't feature Lightsabers, or The Force, or loads of aliens: it's a spy-political-thriller that focuses on the people in this universe. It's a show about The Oppressed vs Their Oppressors -- people who feel like they have no power or chance to break the cycle, coming together to make a difference. How ordinary people can make a massive impact against evil forces.

The show follows a character we met in the movie Rogue One -- another absolute banger by the way -- Cassian Andor. This precedes the events of Rogue One and shows how Cassian got involved in The Rebellion -- which is truly the journey of the reluctant hero. Diego Luna is someone who will likely not be nominated for many awards for his performance, but deserves them as much as anyone.

But Tony Gilroy (showrunner/creator) populates this world with incredible side characters, some of which we've seen in other projects, and some of which are brand new. Stellan Skarsgard plays Luthen Rael, a radical Rebellion leader who recruits Cassian. Genevieve O'Reilly is Mon Mothma -- a senator working against the Empire secretly, a character featured in previous films. From unknowns like Denise Gough, Kyle Soller, Elizabeth Dulau giving life to new iconic characters -- to known-actors like Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Ben Mendelsohn returning/creating new characters. The cast and their performances are elite.

And Tony Gilroy is a master of his craft, and is a very different creative leader than others in this Star Wars world. He writes masterful dialogue, is plot-driven not world-building-driven, and he's created a show of ordinary characters with real motivations that have arcs. Some of the monologues he writes for Luthen, Mon Mothma, Andy Serkis' character rival anything I've seen in a TV show.

But the last thing I love so much about this show is the structure Gilroy employs -- telling the story season-by-season in 3 episode segments. In the 2nd season, years pass between these phases, but the story never misses a beat. In particular, the stretch from Episode 7-9 is my favorite 3-episode stretch of any TV show ever.

This show does it all -- and I've blabbed about it for way too long now -- but I genuinely could go on for another 25 paragraphs about how good this show it. Give it a shot -- you will not be disappointed.