The Best TV Show of 2025

What's IGN's prime for the champion TV amusement of 2025?

Just astir each TV bid connected our database this twelvemonth feels socially and politically relevant, successful some large and tiny ways. And since creation is simply a reflection of the epoch and its people, past it makes consciousness for our existent anxiousness and turmoil to amusement up successful our amusement - whether it's a aboriginal tally by 5 greedy tech corporations, a wide shooting lawsuit astatine a euphony festival, a nightmarish workplace that splits your individuality and keeps fractional of you successful prison, an full satellite becoming void of escaped will, oregon the literal beingness and decease conflict against tyranny.

In 2025, we saw Breaking Bad's Vince Gilligan instrumentality to TV successful a triumphant way, bringing Better Call Saul's concealed weapon, Rhea Seehorn, on for the ride. We besides saw the debut of a fantastic caller aesculapian bid from ER's R. Scott Gemmill and John Wells, and witnessed the Alien franchise power gears and soar to caller heights connected TV (bringing Xenomorphs to our satellite successful a mode the movies person promised since 1991 erstwhile teasers told america Alien 3 would beryllium connected Earth). We besides got stunning 2nd seasons from some Severance and Andor. So which was the best? What bid volition instrumentality location Best successful Show? Let's find out...

Honorable Mentions

There was nary shortage of large TV successful 2025. So overmuch truthful that awesome oner-fueled projects similar The Studio and miniseries Adolescence didn't adjacent marque our nominations list. Of course, those 2 shows are connected polar other ends of the feelings spectrum -- 1 being the eventual successful Hollywood-skewering cringe drama and the different a dire, melodramatic look astatine unsafe online teenage manosphere indoctrination.

It's besides worthy mentioning Netflix's excellent, insightful Death By Lightning, astir the assassination of President James A. Garfield, arsenic it was 1 of the year's champion series. Gen V offered up a continuation of The Boys universe. And portion the archetypal batch of Stranger Things episodes has already been released, we've yet to spot the remainder of the play truthful truly couldn't see it connected this list.

Runner-Up: Pluribus

Vince Gilligan cleverly calls upon his X-Files past for a delightfully disturbing twist connected Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The superb Rhea Seehorn stars arsenic a curmudgeonly romance author, Carol, who becomes 1 of the fewer radical near connected Earth aft the remainder of humanity joins unneurotic successful a blessed hippie hive mind. Pluribus is simply a witty, probing dramedy that simultaneously acts arsenic a expansive sci-fi thought experiment, with a benignant that scratches galore a Breaking Bad itch. It needed nary clip to hook viewers and it's continued to mesmerize connected a play ground arsenic Carol finds herself simultaneously surrounded by everyone connected the satellite portion besides becoming the astir lonely idiosyncratic successful existence.

Read IGN's reappraisal of the Pluribus premiere. (Note: IGN unit person seen the full play of Pluribus, making it eligible for information successful this category.)

Runner-Up: Severance

Severance's 2nd play was 1 of the astir anticipated follow-ups successful caller TV history, and aft 3 agelong years (and a WGA/SAG strike) it yet arrived, delivering successful large big ways connected its committedness of stylish, twisty, and emotionally devastating sci-fi. Season 2 talented america with immoderate answers to halfway mysteries portion besides honing successful connected the struggle betwixt each character’s Innie and Outie self, arsenic Lumon scion Helena (Britt Lower) worked to manipulate some versions of Adam Scott's Mark, who we learned is the company's astir important severed worker. Severance continues to beryllium a scathing commentary connected firm civilization done the lens of liminal abstraction dystopia.

Read IGN's reappraisal of Severance: Season 2.

Runner-Up: The Rehearsal

The Rehearsal, comedian/madman Nathan Fielder's fascinating experimentation astir controlling your beingness narrative, returned for an acclaimed 2nd play this past spring, providing courageous viewers with much more cringey scenarios and audacious laughs. Stirring up much real-world controversy, conscionable similar helium did successful Season 1, Fielder ramped up The Rehearsal's jarring meta-aspects successful 2025 by exploring (or ignoring) his ain idiosyncratic difficulties with quality connection. The jaw-dropping play finale is not to beryllium missed.

Runner-Up: The Pitt

Combine the champion of ER and 24 and you get the ridiculously riveting caller bid The Pitt, wherever we travel some tenured doctors and first-day postgrad residents implicit the people of 15 hours (many of which are harrowing) successful a Pittsburgh trauma halfway exigency room. The Pitt is simply a premium aesculapian play that harkens backmost to the heyday of assignment television, starring 1 of must-see TV's astir beloved stars, Noah Wyle. It's kooky 1 infinitesimal and soul-crushing the adjacent arsenic Wyle's Dr. Robbie and his squad woody with crises large and small, each portion helium tries to negociate his ain achy memories of moving during the COVID-19 pandemic. It's smart, spectacular ensemble television.

Read IGN's reappraisal of The Pitt.

Runner-Up: Alien: Earth

Noah Hawley, the huffy genius down FX's Fargo anthology bid (and the beloved batshit X-Men-adjacent bid Legion), was the cleanable propulsion to marque the first-ever Alien franchise TV series, filling our location screens with not conscionable ferocious Xenomorphs and precocious Synthetics, but besides throwing successful cyborgs, hybrids, life-sucking abstraction flies, blood-draining abstraction ticks, and a crowd-pleasing, body-snatching abstraction eyeball that stares into your soul. Add immoderate '90s stone and a recurring Peter Pan taxable and you've got the impressive, oddball Alien: Earth. Does Alien: Earth acceptable seamlessly into the Alien Timeline? Not entirely, but successful what satellite would Hawley ever 100% play ball? And it what satellite would we privation him to?

Read IGN's reappraisal of Alien: Earth and cheque retired our afloat Alien franchise Guide/Wiki too!

Winner: Andor

Given however fantastic the archetypal play of Andor was, fans were assured astir the second, and final, play being an lawsuit to behold. And it was. It was unparalleled storytelling. But also, nestled wrong it, was the communicative occurrence of converting 3 seasons into one. Andor was primitively envisioned arsenic a five-season series, with each play covering a twelvemonth successful the rebellion done the lives of its ensemble. The situation past became to screen the 4 years that remained, starring up to Rogue One, successful 12 episodes.

Creating three-episode blocks for each rebel twelvemonth -- mini movies, successful a way, gathering the afloat play -- Andor was capable to soar successful scope, triumph successful theme, and show wherefore it towers arsenic superior sci-fi. From Mon Mothma's creation spiral to the uncover of Luthen and Kleya's backstory to the full Ghorman travesty and tragedy, Andor was exceptional connected each levels. Should each Star Wars beryllium similar Andor? No, not really. But we needed Andor to beryllium Andor to archer this story. To punctual america that Star Wars, adjacent arsenic abstraction fantasy, is astir toppling fascism. It's genuinely the archetypal clip that these characters from a agelong clip ago, successful this postulation far, acold away, felt similar us.

Read IGN's reappraisal of Andor: Season 2.

What bash you think? Was Andor the champion TV amusement of the year? Should the triumph person gone to thing else? Let’s speech successful the comments, and don’t hide to ballot successful the canvass above. And marque definite to cheque retired each our IGN Awards for 2025 crossed film, TV, gaming, anime, and comics!