Look, I’m not naïve, I get how the internet works. After all, I just spent a week ranking 97 different TV shows. Sure, maybe you’re interested in where a particular series landed on my exhaustive list, but do you really want to read the 13,000 words I spent analyzing the year in television? I didn’t think so. But you’re in luck: This page contains our complete 2025 TV rankings, with no pesky writing to bother you. Scroll and skim away! (If you are in fact interested in the analysis, you can click on the header link above each group to access the original post.) Read More
Maybe TV isn’t so mediocre after all. When I embarked on this annual exercise at the beginning of the week, I lamented how much modern television falls under the uninspiring umbrella of “content.” In terms of percentages, I still think that’s true, but the most recent subsets of these rankings reminded me just how many TV shows I genuinely enjoy watching, even if they’re far from perfect. Maybe the medium is in existential peril, but if it’s flaming out, at least it’s providing some quality entertainment while it burns.
Here are MovieManifesto’s top 10 TV shows of 2025:
10. Poker Face (Peacock, Season 2; 2023 rank: 6 of 94). The most significant discussion I heard surrounding this season of Poker Face occurred after it ended, when Rian Johnson revealed that Natasha Lyonne wouldn’t be returning and that he was contemplating replacing her with none other than Peter Dinklage. That could be amazing, but let’s be sure to celebrate what Johnson and Lyonne have already given us. Season 2 may lack the “Wow!” freshness of the inaugural outing, but it remains supremely enjoyable, embroidering its irresistible premise with punchy writing, sturdy execution, and a bevy of talented character actors. Despite a cute reveal in the finale, I don’t really care about the series’ long-form story, but Johnson doesn’t seem to worry about it either; he’s more focused on delivering tidy, absorbing episodes that leverage the show’s central conceit in canny and versatile ways. So maybe that planned Dinklage gambit will somehow pay off. To paraphrase a pop-culture hero from a different Johnson-related universe, never tell this show the odds. Read More
Nearly there now. Throughout the week, we’ve been counting down every TV show we watched in 2025. Today we unveil the honorable mentions which, depending on your perspective, either all should have been in the top 10 or are all ranked 50 spots too high. If you missed prior installments, check out the following links:
20. Black Rabbit (Netflix, Season 1). In the abstract, the mere existence of Black Rabbit feels flawed: great, another overextended miniseries about two whiny white dudes, starring actors who should be headlining movies instead. But sometimes, the Netflix slot machine pays out, because this series about a family-owned restaurant is a barn-burner. It’s become clichéd to compare new works of art to Uncut Gems, but Black Rabbit evokes that kind of sweaty intensity, yanking you down with its characters as their lives spiral helplessly out of control. Jude Law is ideally cast as the hero—fast-talking and quick-witted, but afflicted with helpless ambition and a tragic dose of fraternal loyalty—while Jason Bateman gives possibly the best performance of his career as an impulsive older brother whose indomitable pride compels him to make one disastrous decision after the next. The binge model has rarely been better served: This show keeps feeding you heaps of sharply flavored anxiety, and the only way out is to keep ordering more. Read More
To paraphrase Bob Uecker in Major League: In case you haven’t noticed, and judging from our traffic numbers, you haven’t, we’re ranking every TV show of 2025. You can find previous episodes of this series at the links below:
30. Death by Lightning (Netflix, Season 1). Should this have just been a movie? It only runs four episodes, and while it’s nice to see a Netflix series that isn’t pointlessly padded, it makes you wonder if Death by Lightning might have been truly electrifying (sorry) as a feature. Regardless, it’s effortlessly watchable, recreating a sordid episode of American history with cheerful absurdity, even if it’s rimmed with sincere melancholy. It also affords the pleasure of watching a phenomenal cast dig into their impersonations with vigor: Michael Shannon is all stoic dignity as the ill-fated James Garfield, Matthew Macfadyen is vivaciously deranged as the President’s assassin, and a who’s-who of character actors—Bradley Whitford, Shea Whigham, Nick Offerman, the ubiquitous Betty Gilpin—round things out with splendid color. Politics sure were crazy those days, huh? Glad that’s over with.
29. Win or Lose (Disney, Season 1). The dogmatist in me resents Pixar getting into the television business, since they’re one of our last great movie studios. But what’s notable about Win or Lose is that it’s very much a TV show, with a conceptual hook—replaying the same series of events from different characters’ perspectives—that’s distinctly suited for the medium. Naturally, some episodes are more engaging than others, and the finale doesn’t lock everything into place as crisply as it might have. But the execution here is very strong—not just the typically vivid visuals, but also the rich dialogue and the empathetic tone. (As for the reported erasure of a trans storyline, it’s both reprehensible and also less terrible than you might have heard.) Winning may not be important, but trying to make meaningful art will always matter. Read More
40. Common Side Effects (HBO Max, Season 1). Strange one, this. It’s a quirky animated production that’s full of odd characters and absurd scenarios. It is also an impassioned indictment of the pharmaceutical injury, meaning it functions as a complex conspiracy thriller as well as a workplace satire. The fit can be ungainly, but Common Side Effects—much like Scavengers Reign, which co-showrunner Joseph Bennett also created—is distinctive and unique, firing off provocative ideas with confidence and ambition. It provides a rush, even if it won’t get you addicted.
39. Stranger Things (Netflix, Season 5; 2022 rank: 34 of 110). 38. Heated Rivalry (HBO Max, Season 1). The zeitgeist doesn’t discriminate. It will come for you at random, whether or not you’re ready for it. These shows have nothing in common, save for how they swarmed popular discourse. In its bloated final season, Stranger Things is a far cry from the taut, heady adventure series (first released in 2016!) that mingled elements of Stephen King and Steven Spielberg. It’s an obvious victim of its own success, compelled to create a sprawling mythology that overwhelms its more intricate pleasures. And yet, the show still knows how to deliver a knockout set piece or three; if it’s often paralyzed by its own bigness, its sheer size also allows it to take some enormous, satisfying swings. Read More
