It wasn’t hard coming up with a list of the 25 Best Series of 2025, so far. In a year where movies have struggled to keep up in terms of quality, series television and streaming has pulled away from its other pop culture brethren in terms of variety and quality; so much so that it has been impossible to keep on top of it all. How good have series been in 2025? So good that this list was sliced in half from fifty potential contenders, and a lot of those cuts hurt to make.
There were so many great series this year that there was nary any time to cover everything. So now, with the year officially half over and summer is in full effect, here are plenty of choices to beat the heat, whether you’re playing catch up like we have, or if you want to revisit an old favourite.
This list is in alphabetical order, not ranked. And yes, some of the network offerings in this list started their most recent seasons in 2024, but we’re overlooking that because most of their episodes came out in 2025. Our list, our rules!
Oh, and in the interest of keeping things honest, I somehow still haven’t caught up to The Studio or Your Friends and Neighbors, and I haven’t finished Murderbot, the second seasons of The Last of Us, Poker Face, and The Rehearsal, or the fourth season of The Bear. I hear great things! Only so much time in the day! I swear I will watch them soon. If you’re looking for them on this list, you won’t find them, but not for lack of trying. Maybe if you check back later in the year, they’ll make appearances. For now, I am only counting the series that I have seen from start to finish already.
24 in 24: Last Chef Standing, Season 2 (Food Network/City TV+)
While many Food Network staples have been chugging along dutifully for years now, most of their newer competition cooking show output has stagnated. Not so with the electrifying and purposefully stressful second season of 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing, where two dozen of the world’s best chefs try to complete the same number of challenges in a single day, with minimal breaks. Packed with twists, real human drama, and genuine concern for the mental and physical wellbeing of the chefs involved, this improved upon second season makes the lengthier gauntlet of Top Chef look like just another day at the office. By the end, you will empathize with the exhaustion of these chefs, in a good way.
Abbott Elementary, Season 4 (Global/Disney+/Stack TV/ABC)
The fourth season of Quinta Brunson’s Abbott Elementary reaffirms the show’s status as the best network produced sitcom of the past quarter century, and the competition isn’t even close. A show that has yet to offer up a bad episode across its tenure, Abbott Elementary has the sharpest comedic writing team in the game today. Even though it follows in the footsteps of fellow mockumentary The Office, Brunson’s vision succeeds where so many other imitators have failed.
Adolescence (Netflix)
I caught up to Adolescence late in the game, some time after the initial hype died down. (It was actually one of the last things I watched for this piece before putting it together.) But it’s easy to see how this nail-biting, achingly dramatic, and pleasingly unpadded look at how the seeds of toxic masculinity are planted deserves every bit of praise and recognition it has gotten so far. Stephen Graham continues to be one of the most underrated actors in the game today, and young Owen Cooper’s tremendous performance is the stuff legends are made of.
Andor, Season 2 (Disney+)
Widely praised already for being socially astute and thematically subversive, the second season of creator and showrunner Tony Gilroy’s Andor is something so great that it’s a wonder it got made in the first place. The most uncompromising a Star Wars entry or spin-off has ever felt, Andor elevates the entire franchise through elegant construction, thoughtful storytelling, and a depth of detail that values the viewer’s intelligence. It’s up there with the absolute classics of the series, and if we were speaking to quality and bravery alone, it might be at the top. If nothing else, I certainly appreciate Rogue One a lot more now.
Berlin ER (Apple TV+)
While The Pitt (which, yeah, we’ll get to in a bit) was most people’s top choice for hospital set drama this year, one shouldn’t sleep on the compelling import Berlin ER (a.k.a. Krank Berlin). A great companion piece for those who’ve already seen and loved The Pitt, Berlin ER also follows a traumatized doctor trying to navigate the stresses of working at an overburdened, underfunded hospital that feels on the verge of collapse at any moment. It moves at breakneck speed and never flinches in its depiction of the global health care crisis. If you’re in need of an adrenaline rush and dramatic pummelling at the same time, Berlin ER is the show for you.
Deli Boys (Disney+/Hulu)
We looked at Abdullah Saeed’s hilarious and sometimes quite suspenseful “mobster” comedy Deli Boys when it debuted earlier this year, and it hasn’t left our minds since. This story of a pair of wildly different Pakistani-American brothers who have to unwittingly take over the secret “family business” boasts a stellar cast and smart writing. If you haven’t caught it yet, it goes by quick, and you owe it to yourself to take a chance on it.
Dept. Q (Netflix)
I’m willing to admit that it took me longer than I wanted to get through Dept. Q, a cold case detective thriller starring a never better Matthew Goode as the moody, volatile, disgraced, and traumatized Scottish officer investigating the disappearance of a prosecutor who went missing several years prior. The good stuff was good, but the stuff that didn’t seem to fit left me at arms length. Then I finished this latest effort from top notch writer Scott Frank (The Queen’s Gambit, The Lookout, Out of Sight) and every thing clicked by the end. Tonally confusing at times, but if you stick with this one, your efforts will be well rewarded. Here’s hoping another instalment is on the horizon. (It would be easy since it’s based on a series of novels that’s just passed its tenth entry.)
Dope Thief (Apple TV+)
Produced in part by Ridley Scott (who also directs the pilot episode), Dope Thief is a powder keg thriller about a pair of cons (Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura) who make bank by posing as cops and shaking down drug dealers. Created by Peter Craig (The Town, The Batman) and boasting one of the year’s best performances in any medium from Henry, Dope Thief is consistently smart, riveting, energetic, darkly humorous, and unafraid to take some big swings. As the situation at hand gets worse for the leads, the show just gets better and better.
Étoile (Prime Video)
It’s a bummer that viewers won’t get a chance to see where Daniel and Amy Sherman-Palladino (The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel, Gilmore Girls) were going to be heading with their latest hour long comedy-drama, Étoile, a backstage look at the variety of personalities (and couplings) at two different (but financially linked) ballet companies in Paris and New York. The show has all the classic Palladino hallmarks, blending wackiness and tenderness to near perfection, and it was just hitting its stride before it was announced that a planned second season wasn’t going to be moving forward. It’s a shame that none of this is likely to get wrapped up, but Étoile is still more than worthy of a watch.
Forever (Netflix)
An exceptional modern take on a controversial young adult novel that dared to talk about teenage sexuality and relationships in am emotionally realistic manner, Mara Brock Akil’s take on Judy Blume’s 1975 book Forever moves the action to 2018 and focuses on a pair of young black athletes (Lovie Simone and Michael Cooper Jr.) in love. One of the best romances to come along in years regardless of the age of its characters, Forever is packed to bursting with narrative and emotional authenticity.
The Four Seasons (Netflix)
Writer and star Tina Fey’s reworking of Alan Alda’s 1981 dramedy of the same name – about middle aged friends questioning their longstanding relationships – has some of the most gut busting moments of the year. Backed up by fellow comedic heavyweights Steve Carrell, Will Forte, Colman Domingo (who also gets to direct the best episode of the season), Marco Calvani, and Kerri Kenney-Silver, Fey’s material has never been sharper or more introspective. It’s a remake that respects the original source, while finding room for improvement and enhancement that makes logical sense. A second season is on the way, and I’m looking forward to how these characters continue to move forward and what comes next.
The Gilded Age, Season 3 (Crave/HBO MAX)
I’ve had the chance to see where Julian Fellowes’ take on turn of the 20th century New York City high society is heading as its third stellar season continues onward, and I can safely say that things will only get better from what’s already aired. After a first season that was simply okay, and a second that got more interesting, the third season of The Gilded Age finds the show hitting its stride in both performance and drama. Heck of a year for Carrie Coon, too, between this and something else that’s definitely going to show up later in this list.
LOL: Qui rira le dernier? (Last One Laughing: Quebec) (Prime Video)
There have been many global iterations of Prime Video’s Last One Laughing series (including an English language Canadian version that really should get a second chance), where well known comics sit down in a room and try to make their stone faced colleagues break out into giggles, but none can hold a candle to the Quebec version, which has recently been renewed and with great reason. Hosted by Patrick Huard, who always looks like he’s having the time of his life watching his colleagues squirm, this is improv at its finest.
Mobland (Paramount+)
The brightest spot for Paramount+ these days that isn’t made by Taylor Sheridan or spun off from Star Trek or Cheers, Ronan Bennett’s tightly constructed tale of a London crime family trying to navigate beef with another syndicate makes for some devilishly grimy viewing. Casting top notch pros like Tom Hardy (as one of the best on screen enforcers of the moment), Pierce Brosnan (better than he’s been in ages), Helen Mirren (who’s never delivered a bad performance), and Paddy Considine (one of the most underrated actors working today) only bolsters the appeal of this one. This is a full on reinvigoration of the mobster series ethos and template. Can’t wait for more.
North of North (Netflix/CBC)
Inuk creators Stacey Aglok-MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril’s hilarious and culturally specific comedy about a young woman and mother (Anna Lambe, in another of the year’s best performances) trying to get her life back on track in small town Nunavut. The remote setting (actually shot on location) and indigenous perspective help to set North of North apart from similarly minded sitcoms, making it one of the best Canadian comedies ever crafted. With one season down and another on the way, this could be a show that will endure for a generation.
The Pitt (Crave/USA Network/HBO MAX)
Just give Noah Wyle his Emmy already. What are we waiting for? The second season? Better yet, give this cast all of the ensemble awards that are out there. A ship is only as strong as its crew, and outside of the show’s unwavering intensity, it’s the cast that makes The Pitt worth coming back to hour after stressful hour.
Survival of the Thickest, Season 2 (Netflix)
I completely missed star and co-creator Michelle Buteu’s comedy about a chronically single, plus size fashion designer trying to make a living during its first season. And I am eternally grateful to everyone who told me I had to catch up. I devoured every side splitting episode of this show (both seasons) in a day, and I actually hate binge watching anything. Buteau’s performance as Mavis Beaumont results in one of the best characters on screen at the moment. And the show has just as many heartfelt, complex moments as it does laughs. It’s the only series on this list where I hurt myself from laughing (complementary).
Wear Whatever the F You Want (Prime Video)
It takes a lot to admit when you were wrong, and to learn that it’s not what you’re saying, but rather how you say it. As such, stylists Clinton Kelly and Stacy London have chosen to have a re-do on their iconic, but problematic 2000s makeover show What Not to Wear. This time out, the hosts and mentors of the fashionably challenged decide to meet their guests on their own terms, keeping their identities, goals, and individuality in the front of the mind before introducing them to new looks that could help their self-esteem without damaging their self-worth. In some ways, this is the same show, but it’s that shift in perspective that makes Wear Whatever the F You Want compelling to watch, fostering genuinely warm feelings.
The White Lotus, Season 3 (Crave/HBO MAX)
I saw the first six episodes of the most recent season of The White Lotus about a month before it became the most talked about show of the year. I saw episode seven a few days before it aired, and was told (quite refreshingly) that members of the press would have to wait to watch the finale of Mike White’s booze, sweat, and blood soaked opus alongside everyone else. It was agony waiting (first world/privileged problems, I know), but then again, the show itself was well steeped in that emotion. Also, like everyone else I had theories about what was going to happen, and I was right about two major developments and wrong about everything else. And I was so happy to be wrong.
Win or Lose (Disney+)
One of Pixar’s finest and most unsung achievements to date (alongside the still in wide release Elio) is this Rashomon styled tale of a youth baseball team about to head into the final game of the season. Employing different styles and perspectives, Win or Lose is a brief, but effective look at the pressures people put on themselves everyday, not just to win a game, but to be accepted and seen by others.
