Best Moments on TV of 2025

Seth Rogen seems to be the prince of television. His Apple TV series The Studio (2025) won Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy at the 83rd Golden Globes. This was after winning 13 prizes at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series. His show is basically a spoof or parody of Hollywood, as it satirizes the industry by following the head of a film production company. I've never seen the program, given that I am not a subscriber of Apple TV. Even if I were a subscriber, I have increasingly been turned off at stories or narratives about Hollywood. Yet, there are various other programs on Apple TV that have been critically acclaimed, such as Severance (2022), Slow Horses (2025) and Pluribus (2025), that I've also missed that I might have been interested in seeing.

In terms of the other side of the coin, HBO Max's The Pitt (2025) won Best Television Series - Drama at this year's Golden Globes. This was after it won 5 prizes at this past Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series. It's a medical show with a gimmick. It's a similar gimmick to that of FOX's 24 (2001), which was a show where each 1-hour long episode represented an actual 1-hour of real-time. Each season of 24 depicted one day and one day only. It's the same for The Pitt. Each season depicts one day and only one day or specifically one 15-hour work shift. The show stars Noah Wyle who returns to TV prominence from his Emmy-nominated stint on the medical show ER (1994). Wyle took home his first acting Emmy in his 30-year career. If Rogen is the prince, Wyle might be the king of television.

Jean Smart might therefore be the queen, as she took home her fourth Emmy in a row for her role in HBO Max's Hacks (2021). However, when it comes to TV, there's one notable name that if people didn't know before, hopefully, they'll get to know. That name is Stephen Graham. He's a British actor who also has a 30-year career. He's been in big-budget films like Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011). He's most outstanding TV role was on HBO's Boardwalk Empire (2010). Yet, this past year, he wrote, produced and starred in Netflix's Adolescence (2025). The series swept both the Emmy Awards and the Golden Globes. The show was about how Internet culture affects the youth of today, particularly teens and pre-teens.

There's a lot of great television out there. There's probably too much for me to watch and absorb. This year, I didn't really spotlight all the reality competition shows that I've enjoyed like Survivor, The Amazing Race, The Devil's Plan, and The Traitors. However, each show or program here really touched me and hopefully, they will continue to touch me whenever I see them again.

 

Best TV Movie or Individual Episode

SLY LIVES! AKA THE BURDEN OF BLACK GENIUS (Hulu)
BLACK MIRROR: SEASON 7 - "USS Callister: Into Infinity" (Netflix)
FRANKLIN (VIM Media)
THE TRUTH ABOUT JUSSIE SMOLLETT (Netflix)
BULLET TRAIN EXPLOSION (Netflix)
HEADS OF STATE (Prime Video)
SPARK by Nicholas Giuricich (VOD)

Best Returning Series

STRANGER THINGS 5 (Netflix)
THE DIPLOMAT: SEASON 3 (Netflix)
MO: SEASON 2 (Netflix)
THE GILDED AGE: SEASON 3 (HBO)
THE LAST OF US: SEASON 2 (HBO)
THE BEAR: SEASON 4 (FX)
REASONABLE DOUBT: SEASON 3 (Hulu)
HARLEM: SEASON 3 (Amazon Prime)
THE RECRUIT: SEASON 2 (Netflix)
THE NIGHT AGENT: SEASON 2 (Netflix)
COBRA KAI: SEASON 6 (Netflix)
ABBOTT ELEMENTARY: SEASON 5 (ABC)

Best New Series

FOREVER (2025) (Netflix)
PARADISE (2025) (Hulu)
TASK (2025 (HBO) 
A THOUSAND BLOWS (Hulu)
MR LOVERMAN (BritBox)
DEMASCUS (Tubi)
THE COPENHAGEN TEST (Peacock)