It’s no secret that we’re living in a golden age of television. The days of flipping between one or two prestige dramas are long gone—now, every week brings another show worth obsessing over. But even in a sea of great TV, some years stand out. And just a few months into 2025, it’s already clear we’re in one of those years.
Thanks to a slate of standout premieres and long-awaited returns, 2025 has delivered some of the most compelling television of the decade. New series like The Pitt, Paradise, The Studio, Your Friends and Neighbors and Government Cheese have immediately cemented themselves as must-watch. And the return of Severance and 1923 has only added fuel to a cultural moment that feels like TV at its absolute peak.
These shows—distinct in genre, tone and scope—aren’t just good. They’re a collective flex, a reminder of what television can do when creators aren’t trying to make content but actual stories.
Start with The Pitt, a bold real-time medical drama that plays out over the course of a single hospital shift, one hour at a time. It’s tense, intimate and entirely unflashy—relying on strong performances and quiet stakes to create some of the most gripping television in recent memory. While other shows try to manufacture chaos, The Pitt sits with it. That patience pays off.
Then there’s Paradise, Dan Fogelman’s political slow-burn that centers on the personal unraveling of public figures. With a cast led by Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson and James Marsden, it’s a psychological drama that favors character over plot and ambiguity over resolution. In other words, it’s prestige TV in the classic sense—dialogue-heavy, morally murky and absolutely impossible to stop thinking about.
The Studio brings something totally different to the table. Seth Rogen plays the newly appointed head of Continental Studios, a struggling legacy film company in an industry that’s changing faster than anyone can control. It could have been a broad workplace comedy—but instead, it threads a needle between sharp satire and real existential dread. It’s a show about creativity, failure and what it means to lead when no one—including you—is sure of the future.
Premiering today, Your Friends and Neighbors wastes no time making a statement. Jon Hamm stars as a hedge fund manager turned burglar after losing everything, breaking into the homes of his wealthy friends to keep up appearances—until he makes a fateful mistake. It’s part thriller, part social commentary and completely gripping. With its slow burn tension and moral decay, the show instantly joins the ranks of this year’s most addictive dramas.
And next week, Government Cheese debuts on Apple TV+ with what might be the year’s boldest premise. Led by David Oyelowo, the historical dramedy follows a convicted burglar in the 1960s who returns home to reinvent himself, blending surreal visuals with grounded emotional storytelling. It’s ambitious, funny and achingly human—a perfect example of the kind of high-risk, high-reward storytelling that defines 2025 so far.
And if what premiered at SXSW is any indication, the hits aren’t slowing down anytime soon. Bulldozer, about an under-medicated, chronically impassioned young woman lurching from crisis to crisis of her own making, is already generating serious buzz for its chaotic energy and razor-sharp lead performance. Meanwhile, The Better Sister, starring Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks in a stylish crime drama, is being hailed as one of the most watchable thrillers of the year before it’s even landed on a streamer. The early word? These two might be next in line to dominate the conversation.
But it’s not just brand-new series that are dropping must-see TV. Returning series are stepping up their game, too.
Severance, back for its long-awaited second season, is as haunting and singular as ever. If the first season explored the eerie consequences of splitting your work and personal selves, season two goes deeper—into memory, identity and control. The show’s strange pacing and surreal tone continue to be its secret weapons, demanding your full attention in an era of passive watching.
Meanwhile, 1923 proves that the Yellowstone universe still has creative legs. The second season doubles down on the grit and grandeur that made its first outing a hit while deepening the emotional complexity of its central characters. Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford give performances that are grounded, raw and somehow still larger than life—perfectly matching the show’s themes of legacy and power on the American frontier.
Each of these shows could stand on its own as a highlight in any year. But together, they’re shaping 2025 into something more—a year where the bar for television has been raised again. A year where creators are swinging big and audiences are actually showing up for it.
Whether it’s real-time tension, political intrigue, industry satire, existential sci-fi, surreal dramedy or frontier drama, these seven shows prove that television in 2025 isn’t just thriving—it’s evolving. The medium is being pushed forward by stories that are thoughtful, inventive and unafraid to slow down.
There’s still plenty of year left but if the first few months are any indication, this won’t just be one of TV’s strongest years—it might be the one we look back on as a turning point. Not the start of something new but the moment great TV fully found its footing again.
