Top shows of 2025 posted on SA

10. Cobra Kai (Season 6)

I wouldn’t have put seasons 2-5 here by a long shot, but wrapping up this silly show in a pretty satisfying way which made my old face crack a smile has gotta be worth sometime. The build up to finally hearing “You’re the Best” got me.

9. Peacemaker (Season 2)

I watched season 2 immediately after season 1 so I probably didn’t feel as let down as some people were. Fun ensemble cast here for another romp, which unfortunately has a shitty ending because of what I assume is corporate mandate.

8. Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man

I started keeping the list of shows I watched specifically because I watched this one in January and didn’t want to forget it. I love Spider-Man so I’m a little biased, but it was an extremely solid comic-book adaptation and in my opinion the best Spider-Man show (yes, better than Spectacular). The animation took a bit of getting used to, though they seem to have saved their budget for specific action scenes which look incredible. It doesn’t feel like a show for “babies” or a show just to promote Marvel brand synergy which is surprising from Disney.

7. Game Changer (Season 7)

The only Dropout making it to my list this year. After seven seasons it still manages to be wildly creative, even though it sometimes relies too much on parasocial relationships (or simply being familiar with the performers). Looking at the list of episodes it’s hard for me to choose which are the best ones (though the best ONE was certainly Rulette, which I’ve already rewatched). A couple of (relative) stinkers (“Outvoted”, “Fool’s Gold”) and a couple that were just fanservice (“Who Wants to Be..”, “Samalamadingdong”) but that’s still an amazing hit-rate.

6. The Pitt

This show really gets my heart-rate up. It’s not high arts and often has EXTREMELY contrived plotlines (all of this shit happening in one day? It’s a good thing every character encountered something that forces them to face their various trauma that day). It sometimes has “ripped from the headlines” scenes and “we’re talking to you, the audience” scenes but on the whole it’s a very satisfying show. It’s nice to see people being good at their jobs (I hope “competency porn” gets more common) and I loved many of the characters (Dr. King, the patron saint of goons).

5. Platonic (Season 2)

Fun but also very real comedy. Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen are great, and the show really feels comfortable in its own skin now. I especially like that all the characters are over challenging/doubting the main characters’ relationship.

4. Murderbot

Fun, short comedy-scifi series. I heard a lot of people saying the episodes are too short but in my opinion they were just right (maybe I’m too used to anime). I enjoyed the characters, the silliness and that the titular Murderbot didn’t go through quite the character change you’d expect them to.

3. Adolescence

I watched this in one sitting, shushing my friend when they attempted to talk over it. In a word-- captivating. Obviously the oners help, but also the cinematography and the (mostly) great acting. Let down mostly by dipping into what I call “Fox News reporting on Rainbow Parties / NBD / 4chan”, and the ending scene which I found to be hackneyed.

2. The Studio

It took me a couple of episodes to figure this show out. Just from aesthetics I thought this was going to be a prestige show with a film studio background, exploring its very flawed characters in a similar manner to Bojack. In fact, it’s an out-and-out comedy. A silly, adventurous and very well-filmed one with plenty of references and meta-humour for those who like that sort of thing.

1. The Rehearsal

This was hard to compare to the rest because it is so different from a regular TV show. It is very much a singular experience, even compared to the first season. Uniqueness alone is not enough to be a good show, but it used its uniqueness to keep surprising me. I was the edge of my seat in a way that even a thriller-type show with constant cliffhangers can't make me. The reactions I had from this, be it cringe, horror, nervous giggles or incredulity were so much more visceral than any other show I had to put it at number one. Has to be seen to be believed.



There was a lot of good TV this year and honestly my numbers 4-10 could be in any order (I should start writing these blurbs immediately after finishing a show).

These are some other shows that I watched (vaguely best to worst, though I generally don’t finish shows I dislike).

English Teacher (Season 2) – Still funny and relevant, shame about the show runner.

Severance (Season 2) - A huge let down after the first season, and I can’t help but feel that they’re “Lost”ing me. The performative weirdness is very offputting and a bunch of very slow and seemingly wasted episodes/plotlines towards the end didn’t help. I still like the characters and the way it’s shot, but being so skeptical of the “mystery” really ruined it for me.

Long Story Short – more family drama from the creator of Bojack Horseman. Maybe a little bit too similar to Bojack? Not sure it broke new ground (and I’m kinda sick of family trauma-based shows)

The White Lotus (Season 3) – I haven’t seen the other season. I enjoyed this one a lot though it didn’t make me want to watch more of the same.

Rick & Morty (Season 8) – some gold nuggets in this season, mostly Jerry episodes.

Daredevil: Born Again – happy to see it back, but very uneven (for obvious reasons). When it’s good it’s pretty damn good.

King of the Hill revival – I didn’t see all (or even most) of the episodes of the original so I can’t be offended by any tarnishing of its legacy but I genuinely enjoyed it.

Invincible (Season 3) – Okay adaptation of a pretty good comic continues to have great voice actors somehow doing an awful job (direction issues?). Needle drops are not a replacement for pith.

Gen V (Season 2) – What a dumbass show with dumbass characters. I could say they did their best with the loss of one of the main actors but it probably would’ve been shit regardless.