There have been fantastic new shows in 2025, like Paradise on Hulu, Your Friends & Neighbors on Apple TV+, and Apple Cider Vinegar and The Residence on Netflix. Popular shows — including The Handmaid’s Tale, Hacks, and Yellowjackets — returned with new seasons.
It has been a competitive year so far in television. The best TV shows of the last several months include a mix of newly launched series and anticipated returning ones that delivered beyond expectations. If you’re looking for something to add to your watchlist, start bookmarking these, the seven best TV shows of 2025 so far, in no particular order.
Need more recommendations? Then check out the best new shows to stream this week, as well as the best shows on Netflix, the best shows on Hulu, the best shows on Amazon Prime Video, the best shows on Max, and best shows on Disney+.
The Last of Us season 2 (2023-)
One of the most anticipated returning shows this year, The Last of Us debuted its first season in January 2023, and fans waited more than two years for season two. When it finally arrived, boy, did it deliver. The story picks up five years later with Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) residing in Tommy’s (Gabriel Luna) community in Jackson. Kaitlyn Dever, Catherine O’Hara, and Jeffrey Wright play a new cast of characters. This season includes more violently infected people and scenes eerily faithful to the game.
Based on the game The Last of Us Part II, The Last of Us season two had fans at the edges of their seats waiting to discover if that scene would happen and change the trajectory of the show going forward. (Spoiler alert: it did). Despite reservations about how different the show will be, the post-apocalyptic drama remains one of the best in its genre. What’s so great about The Last of Us is that you’ll still be glued to the screen even if you have never played the game. In fact, you might have an even better experience since scenes will shock you when you don’t know they’re coming.
Stream The Last of Us on Max.
Black Mirror season 7 (2011-)
Returning for its seventh season, Black Mirror is back to the “OG Black Mirror,” as creator Charlie Brooker described, tackling heart-wrenching, disturbing, thought-provoking stories about the worst-case future scenarios if technology is taken too far. There isn’t a bad episode in the bunch, with six compartmentalized stories, each with its own unique theme, story, look, and feel.
Striking the most conversation are episode one, Common People; episode three, Hotel Reverie; and episode six, Eulogy, arguably the strongest of the bunch. There’s also Plaything, which brings back characters from the interactive movie Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, and the first-ever sequel episode in USS Callister: Into Infinity. Black Mirror isn’t a bingeable show: you’ll want to give yourself time to mentally digest every episode by the end. But each one is brilliantly written, beautifully shot, and cleverly told. Keen-eyed fans will notice tons of Easter eggs that call back to earlier episodes in this new batch.
Stream Black Mirror on Netflix.
The Studio (2025)
Seth Rogen hit it out of the park with this satirical comedy that skewers the very business he works in. In The Studio, he plays Matt Remick, a long-time studio executive who finally gets promoted to studio head. Matt quickly realizes that the job requires balancing many balls in the air while managing conflicting personalities. This is especially tough for Matt, who is desperate to be liked by his staff, directors, and actors. Matt thinks he is well-liked, blissfully unaware that people are only nice because they either want something from him or have to be because he holds the purse strings.
Rogen is joined by a fantastic supporting cast that includes Ike Barinholtz as his friend and now underling Sal, Kathryn Hahn as Maya, the sharp-tongued head of marketing, and Catherine O’Hara as Patty, former studio head and Matt’s mentor. The Studio pokes fun at every Hollywood stereotype, from the entitled actors and the eccentric directors to the unruly studios and budget cutbacks. Most notably, the central theme is the studio’s focus on cheesy money-making blockbusters instead of cinematic masterpieces like Matt so desperately wants to make. The movie business has changed, and The Studio is a scathing yet hilarious commentary on that.
Stream The Studio on Apple TV+.
The Pitt season 1 (2025-)
This isn’t your grandma’s medical drama. The Pitt is raw, emotional, and realistic, lauded by real-life doctors for the accurate way it captures the emergency room of a busy training hospital and the dynamics between doctors and residents, nurses, and patients. Noah Wyle, who portrayed Dr. John Carter through the entire run of ER, puts on scrubs (rather, a hoodie) again as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, a senior attending doctor still wracked with guilt over the death of his mentor during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each episode, which garnered 10 million viewers for its first season, represents one hour of the 15-hour shift. The snail’s pace timeline doesn’t result in a slow-moving story: every minute in an emergency room is tense, with little time for the doctors and nurses to eat, much less even take bathroom breaks.
Creator R. Scott Gemmill, who worked on ER, developed The Pitt, which is racier than your typical network medical drama with profane language and scenes that will make you wince beyond the usual close-up surgery shots. Rife with medical dialogue, you’ll feel exhausted for the characters after every episode. You’ll also be curious to move to the next episode to see more patients and learn who will finally make it out of that jam-packed waiting room. While The Pitt touches on the personal lives of its characters, those stories come secondary to medicine, a refreshing departure from the usual soapy medical dramas.
Stream The Pitt on Max.
Adolescence (2025)
There are no flashy special effects, no crazy action scenes, and no long, drawn-out storyline with cliffhanger endings. Every episode of Adolescence is filmed in a single take with no fancy transitions or camera cuts. It’s as raw as it gets, a window into the harrowing story that will send chills down your spine because of how real it feels. The British crime drama begins when police charge into a family’s home, looking for 13-year-old Jamie (Owen Cooper delivering a brilliant performance). Jamie is accused of murder, leaving his parents completely confused.
The stand-out episode is Jamie’s sit-down with forensic child psychologist Briony Ariston (Erin Doherty), who uncovers the deep-seated misogyny that incel culture, bullying, and online hate have fostered in not just this young man, but so many others. The other episodes, meanwhile, follow Jamie’s parents, Eddie (Stephen Graham) and Manda (Christine Tremarco), as they grapple with the new reality without their son and question what they might have done wrong or failed to do right. Adolescence, which ranks among Netflix’s most popular English-language series, is a wake-up call for anyone with teens and an eye-opening series about the dangers and influence of social media.
Stream Adolescence on Netflix.
The White Lotus season 3 (2021-)
Every season, Mike White’s The White Lotus takes you to a different exotic locale. First, it was Hawaii, then Sicily, and now, with season three, Thailand. As with the previous two seasons, season three features an entirely new cast with the exception of two returning characters who become central to one of the interweaving plots. A murder kicks off the season. Then, the show retells the events that led up to that murder. You’ll have fun trying to guess the murderer and the victim. Given the eclectic mix of wealthy guests (and staff) carrying more baggage than just their luggage, it could be anyone.
This season of The White Lotus goes in so many strange directions, with plenty of sex, fantasies, and situations that go way too far. But the essence of the show remains. Plus, season 3 is a breathtaking window into the beauty of Thailand. While The White Lotus will return for season 4, the location remains a mystery. White, however, has dropped some hints where it might be filmed.
Stream The White Lotus on Max.
Severance season 2 (2022-)
If there’s one show just about everyone was talking about this year so far, it’s Severance. After an almost three-year wait, the series returned to continue the story after that explosive season one finale when Mark (Adam Scott) learned that his wife Gemma (Dichen Lachman) was actually alive. The second season dives deeper into other characters and follows Mark’s journey as an innie and outie. Every episode has something to analyze, pick apart, and theorize. The show is so wonderfully shot as well; it’s arguably one of the most visually beautiful shows on television.
The second season ended with yet another massive cliffhanger that leaves fans excited for season 3. Thankfully, we won’t have to wait as long for season three.
Stream Severance on Apple TV+.
