These are the 10 best shows of 2025 so far. Did your favorite make our list?
These are the 10 best shows of 2025 so far. Did your favorite make our list?
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Watch Noah Wyle in 'The Pitt': Doctor gives advice for dying patient
In new TV series "The Pitt," Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch (Noah Wyle) counsels the dying using words from a mentor.
So far, 2025 has been one heck of a year, in real life and on TV.
Current events are churning out endless eye-popping headlines, and networks and streaming services are going from Thailand to the Arctic to a galaxy far, far away to try to capture your attention and time with new and returning TV series. Already this year we've seen long-running series like "The Handmaid's Tale" come to an end, HBO devastate Pedro Pascal fans for a second time and Parker Posey's fake Southern accent take over TikTok. Plus there were some really good shows that we all watched, or maybe you missed.
From ratings juggernauts like HBO's "The White Lotus" to tiny comedies like Netflix's "North of North" to a CBS procedural ("Matlock") with way more bite than you'd expect, these are the 10 best shows of 2025 so far. You've got the rest of the year to catch up on them.
10. 'The White Lotus' (HBO)
Though not quite as transcendent as its first and second seasons, HBO's anthology wealth satire, set at a different luxury resort each year, remains one of the best shows on television, even when it isn't perfect. This year's trip to Thailand was an exercise in incivility and taboo-breaking, a cacophonous symphony of troubled souls colliding amid Mai Tais and monkeys. With a cast of great actors including Walton Goggins, Carrie Coon, Posey and bright new stars like Patrick Schwarzenegger (yes, the son of Arnold), writer Mike White kept "Lotus" on the edge of mayhem with every tense, stressful episode. If some fans were disappointed by its Shakespearean ending, we need only wait for the show to check into a new Lotus resort in Season 4 to get a new taste of White's pleasurably agonizing storytelling style.
9. 'Severance' (Apple TV+)
The long-awaited second season of Apple's mind-boggling workplace drama brought just as much mystic strangeness and corporate jargon as fans were expecting. If frustratingly convoluted and esoteric in its science fiction plotting, "Severance" always gets its emotions right, in no small part thanks to its talented cast, including Adam Scott, Britt Lower and the magnetic and magnificent Tramell Tillman. Stunning to watch and dizzying to think about, "Severance" Season 2 got it right in all the moments that mattered. Now once more, we wait to see what Lumon Industries will offer us next.
8. 'North of North' (Netflix)
This coming-of-age comedy set in a tiny Arctic village that's, well, north of what you think of as North probably flew below your radar this spring. But gleeful and bubbling with energy, "North" is well worth a watch. It stars the instantly magnetic Anna Lambe as Siaja, a young woman living a seemingly perfect life as a wife and mother, married her remote village's favorite son. But Siaja walked down the aisle and had a child when she was so young that she never had time to find her own identity and goals. In the opening episode of the comedy she finally takes control of her destiny, in the most awkward and humorous way possible. Full of cutesy (but not in a bad way) sitcom high jinks and set in a deeply unique but strangely familiar locale, "North" will charm its way into your heart, no matter how cold.
7. 'Apple Cider Vinegar' (Netflix)
Kaitlyn Dever won more attention for her role as a violent killer Abby in HBO's "The Last of Us," but the actress showed off considerable skill as an equally unlikable character in this ripped-from-the-headlines scammer story. As Australian "wellness" influencer Belle Gibson, who faked cancer so she could claim she cured it with the special recipes she was hawking, Dever excelled at being odious and hateful while looking pretty and perfect. The series captures the lure of "alternative medicine" for young women and the sexism in health care that often drives them to look for fantastical (and completely unproven) miracle cures.
6. 'Overcompensating' (Amazon Prime)
Underpinning every thigh-slapping comedy bit in Amazon's raucous and irreverent college comedy "Overcompensating" is a deeply real understanding of the messy and imperfect way that human beings transition from flailing young teens into flailing young adults. Set in our TikTok times, "Overcompensating" could represent anyone's college experience, even if they're not as a timid gay jock trapped in the closet like protagonist Benny (Benito Skinner, also the series' creator). Benny and pal Carmen's (Wally Baram) hilarious and relatable journey through their freshman year is a cringeworthy pleasure, funny and feeling and backed by great beats from Charli XCX (also a producer and guest star). Just look away during all the vomit and defecation gags.
5. 'Matlock' (CBS)
Who knew that what seemed like a generic broadcast reboot (of the 1980s Andy Griffith legal drama) could be so darn inventive and creatively ambitious? Led by "Jane the Virgin" creator Jennie Snyder Urman, the new "Matlock" is everything you hope for from a CBS procedural, and so much more: Surprising, heartfelt, witty, thrilling and deeply thoughtful. Its compelling case-of-the-week legal stories and adorable cast of characters would be enough to make it good, but it's the chemistry between leads Kathy Bates (a shoo-in for an Emmy nomination) and Skye P. Marshall that makes the series soar. In the second half of the first season, "Matlock" only became smarter, more self-assured and more driven in its storytelling as Matty's (Bates) personal investigation collided with her new professional life and family.
4. 'Sirens' (Netflix)
Netflix's limited series from "Maid" creator Molly Smith Metzler, based on her 2011 play "Elemeno Pea," is a delight for the senses, a chewy melodrama about the haves and the have-nots unwillingly clumped together. Featuring stunning performances from Meghann Fahy ("The White Lotus"), Milly Alcock ("House of the Dragon") and Julianne Moore, "Sirens" is deliciously campy with a bright beautiful setting and bold costume design that is worth a thousand words. The story and symbolism might occasionally get hazy, but the series has a song that will grab you instantly and keep you until its bitter end.
3. 'Adolescence' (Netflix)
A quiet British crime drama about the dangers of online male toxicity to young boys ballooned through the sheer power of its storytelling to become Netflix's second-most-watched English language series of all time, outperforming "Stranger Things" and "Bridgerton." The moment you set your eyes on the four-part limited series (each episode is filmed in one tantalizingly long single shot), you can't look away from the everyday horror of the story of middle schooler Jamie Miller's (Owen Cooper) brutal murder of a female classmate. In addition to setting viewership records, the series sparked deep conversations about the online "manosphere" and the dangers of social media on kids' malleable young minds.
2. 'Andor' (Disney)+
As impeccable and devastating as its sublime first installment in 2022, Disney+'s mature 'Star Wars' series is the best thing the franchise has turned out since the original trilogy, and the heart-rending second and final season only affirms that. The first season of the "Rogue One" prequel dealt with how Diego Luna's Cassian Andor was used and abused by the evil Empire and radicalized to join the Rebel Alliance that will one day name Luke Skywalker and Han Solo among its members. Season 2 asks a bigger, thornier question than just "Will you take a stand against tyranny": How will you do it? And what is worth giving up for it? Luna's haunting performance as the title character grounds the grim series, and "Andor" becomes a sadly relevant, morally gray and deeply compelling portrait of resistance amid love, friendship, trauma and everything between.
1. 'The Pitt' (Max)
In this tumultuous and uncertain year, no series has captured our national mood better than Max's 'The Pitt,' a medical drama built for the interesting times in which we live. The chaos of our real world is mirrored in the overcrowded mess of a Pittsburgh emergency room manned by exhausted health care workers who get punched in the face for all their heroic efforts. Producer John Wells and star Noah Wyle did not simply recreate their 1990s broadcast megahit 'ER'(no matter what a lawsuit by 'ER' creator Michael Crichton's estate claims). What they did was reinvent the medical drama for 2025 so that it feels both familiar and completely new. The 'real-time' structure, in which each of the 15 episodes represents one hour in a seemingly never-ending shift, adds a maximally frenetic pace to a series that's already in a genre that moves faster than the rest. And beyond the comfort of seeing Wyle back in scrubs, "The Pitt" actors are impeccably cast and infinitely likable, the makings of an ensemble that can charm an audience for years. Season 2 needs to premiere, stat.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
WWE vs. AEW: Who's winning 2025's wrestling war?
If there's one thing that titillates wrestling obsessives, it's when one of the major promotions — WWE or AEW — makes an explicit reference to the other. These days the digs and attacks tend to be much rarer than in the past, but that doesn't stop them from being thrilling when they happen. Witness the social-media flutter this past May when an enterprising journalist used AEW's Double or Nothing press huddle to ask Tony Khan his opinions on WWE's none-too-subtle tactic of booking NXT premium live events against AEW's most important pay-per-view shows — one of the most aggressive competitive moves WWE has made against Khan's company. Advertisement That the AEW founder delivered an impeccably diplomatic answer did little to quell the excitement of those who spend their hours musing on the state of competition between WWE and AEW. Of course, here at Uncrowned, we have much less reason to mince our words on these things. So here's an analysis of the status of the battle between the two big promotions. The valuation gap Before making any kind of comparison between the two promotions, you need to acknowledge the 10-ton elephant that squats over this topic. Whatever you make of the rival products, WWE is objectively a much larger company than AEW in terms of money in the bank (no pun intended). Advertisement Even the most flattering estimates value AEW at around $2 billion, which is still less than a quarter of what TKO paid for WWE two years ago. And that latter number was before WWE finalized its massive Netflix deal, which has helped add some billions to TKO's overall market cap in the past year. None of this means there aren't specific areas where the numbers are closer (television viewing figures, for example), but it would be silly to pretend WWE doesn't have a massive edge due to its size and history. Media rights and viewing figures For all the focus on live shows, the modern pro-wrestling game is a television business: Both WWE and AEW make most of their money by selling their product to television and streaming networks. Advertisement For a rough comparison, WWE's various deals (Netflix, Peacock, NBCUniversal, etc.) bring in somewhere in the region of $1 billion per year. By contrast, AEW's recent media deal with Warner Bros. Discovery is valued at around $185 million per year — so less than a fifth of what WWE brings in. The big prize here is the Netflix deal, which was rightly hailed as a bit of a game-changer for wrestling when it was confirmed last year. The slight wrinkle on that front is WWE's Netflix viewing figures haven't been as huge as some expected, prompting some whispers about whether the streaming giant paid too much. As for viewership, AEW's U.S. television audience is around half of WWE's. 'AEW Collision' typically draws around 600,000 viewers in the U.S., compared to 1.2 million for 'WWE SmackDown.' That said, AEW's numbers have dipped over the past year or so, but now appear to be stabilizing. (Hat tip to the excellent Wrestlenomics, who publish detailed numbers on this.) The verdict: Advantage WWE John Cena and CM Punk face off during "WWE Raw." (Craig Ambrosio/WWE via Getty Images) (WWE via Getty Images) Live shows and ticket gates As much as we get tired of TKO's obsession with announcing all these record gates at every PLE, there's no denying WWE's audience revenue is seriously impressive at the moment. It just did $3 million for 'WWE Raw' in London, for example. Advertisement On top of that, TKO's current focus is persuading cities to pay hefty 'site fees' for the right to host bigger events — like New Jersey paying $7 million to host this year's WWE SummerSlam double-header. That's almost certainly a big factor in why WrestleMania is heading back to Las Vegas in 2026. On the other hand, AEW's gate revenue is much lower. Double or Nothing made $600,000 last month, for example. That said, their overseas events are still big league: All In at London's Wembley Stadium made $9 million and $6 million in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Gate revenues are one thing, but what about the crowds? On average, AEW's weekly shows draw around one quarter of the WWE audience (around 3,000 compared to 11,000 fans) — a ratio that has gotten steeper in WWE's favor over the past two years. AEW's bigger shows are still drawing decent crowds (in the 10,000 range) that are on par with the smaller WWE PLEs. At the end of the day, though, there's one wrestling promotion that can fill giant American stadiums like Allegiant in Las Vegas or MetLife in New Jersey — and it isn't Khan's. Advertisement The verdict: Advantage WWE The talent Defining a great wrestler is always going to involve subjective judgments. But on a business level, I'd argue that it usually boils down to one particular metric: the strength of the personal brand in terms of drawing viewers. If we're taking stock of the two promotions, there's no question both have some massive talents. But does AEW really have anyone who matches the Hollywood-level star power of The Rock, John Cena and Rhea Ripley? I'd venture not. It's that kind of clout that allows WWE to poach talent from its rival when it wants to. Just look at Mariah May and Jade Cargill, for example. Both had plenty of momentum in AEW and were likely making decent wages, but when the bigger brand came knocking, they were happy to make the jump. Advertisement That said, we shouldn't fully discount AEW's tagline of being 'where the best wrestle.' It's a good insight into how Khan sees his brand — and plenty of wrestling aficionados would agree that he's doing a great job on that front. Just look at the rave reaction to 2025's Double or Nothing show, for example. The verdict: Advantage WWE Kenny Omega's return has bolstered AEW's roster. () (Etsuo Hara via Getty Images) The product In many ways, this is the big question: Is the product any good? Television deals, gate revenue and site fees might bring in the bacon, but, at the end of the day, they're all downstream from the quality of the product. So how do the promotions compare right now? Let's start with WWE. Going into 2025, the company was widely regarded to be on fire — particularly with the Netflix deal incoming and the anticipation of John Cena's retirement tour. But there's a growing sense the product has been losing steam over the past few months. Advertisement Perhaps the success of the Bloodline/Cody Rhodes era gave us unrealistic expectations, or maybe we're all overreacting to the anticlimactic payoff to this year's WrestleMania. But it doesn't change the fact there's been a significant vibe shift from the fan base. And what of AEW? It's had some rough moments, for sure, but the most recent shows have begun to turn a corner. Double or Nothing was an absolute slam dunk and seems to be setting things up nicely for their biggest show of the year with July's All In. On a long-term view, though, the fundamentals haven't changed: WWE is still the granddaddy of pro wrestling. But if we're talking strictly about momentum — i.e. where things are moving right now — then AEW's lines are pointing in the right direction, while WWE's are floundering slightly. The verdict: (Slight) advantage AEW
San Francisco Chronicle
23 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
TikTok star Khaby Lame plays soccer in Brazil after US detention
SAO PAULO (AP) — Khaby Lame, the world's most-followed TikTok personality who left the U.S. after being detained by immigration agents, went to Brazil where he's been spending some time with friends, local authorities said Thursday. Lame is staying with AC Milan player Emerson Royal, and has been enjoying time with local fans, Paulo Eduardo Dias Junior, a city councilman from Americana, about 78 miles (125 kilometers) northwest of Sao Paulo, told The Associated Press. On Wednesday night, they played a friendly soccer match with locals. Lame left the United States after being detained on June 6 by immigration agents at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas for allegedly overstaying his visa. The Senegalese-Italian influencer, whose legal name is Seringe Khabane Lame, was allowed to leave the country without a deportation order, according to a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Junior organized Wednesday's match on behalf of the nonprofit he leads, Instituto Jr Dias. He said that Lame and Royal's participation helped collect 150 food baskets for vulnerable families. 'Emerson Royal is a role model for the children in our community, and so is Khaby, who is globally known through social media. He's a sensation among kids today,' Junior said. 'He had a lot of fun with the kids and played a lot.' The councilman said that the team that Lame and Royal were on won 3-1. Everything went smoothly, he added, except for the post-match celebration. As is tradition in Brazil, players gathered for a barbecue. But Lame preferred a parmegiana, so they took him to a local restaurant, Junior said. This is not Lame's first time in Brazil. Last year, he traveled to the country to attend Royal's wedding. Met Gala and then detention Lame arrived in the U.S. on April 30 and 'overstayed the terms of his visa,' an ICE spokesperson told the AP, which sent a message seeking comment Tuesday to the email address listed on Lame's Instagram account. He hasn't publicly commented on his detention. His detention and voluntary departure from the United States comes amid U.S. President Donald Trump's escalating crackdown on immigration, including raids in Los Angeles that sparked days of protests against ICE, as the president tests the bounds of his executive authority. A voluntary departure — which was granted to Lame — allows those facing removal from the U.S. to avoid a deportation order on their immigration record, which could prevent them from being allowed back into the U.S. for up to a decade. The 25-year-old Lame rose to international fame during the pandemic without ever saying a word in his videos, which would show him reacting to absurdly complicated 'life hacks.' He has more than 162 million followers on TikTok alone. The Senegal-born influencer moved to Italy when he was an infant with his working class parents and also has Italian citizenship. His internet fame quickly evolved. He signed a multiyear partnership with designer brand Hugo Boss in 2022. In January, he was appointed as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador.
Cosmopolitan
33 minutes ago
- Cosmopolitan
What Are Nara Smith and Lucky Blue Smith's Net Worths
If you've ever wondered how much you could potentially make if you quit your job and started making Cinnamon Toast Crunch from scratch while dressed in couture, the answer is a lot. At least based on Nara Smith, who—despite being labeled as a "tradwife"—is undeniably the breadwinner (and breadmaker, obviously) in her marriage to Lucky Blue Smith. Though, to be clear, they're both insanely rich. Time to dig in. Much like I want to dig into Nara's homemade boba recipe. At least according to Celebrity Net Worth, who accurately notes that Lucky's been modeling for literal years—and has worked on some major brand campaigns. Celebrity Net Worth reports that Nara has $6 million in the bank—largely amassed from her TikTok earnings and influencing career. In other words, her net worth is six times Lucky's. So, how does Nara make her money? Per Yahoo, TikTok pays $0.50-$1.00 per 1,000 views on videos over 1 minute through their Creator Rewards program. Which definitely adds up when you have millions of followers and your videos are near-constantly going viral. The outlet estimates that Nara makes around $200,000 a month from TikTok based on her following and the popularity of her videos (which is 11.8 million as of now). This intel also falls in line with a deep dive that a fellow TikToker did into her earnings last March (though they note that $200k a month is conservative and it's possible Nara is making double that): Either way, TikTok isn't Nara's only revenue stream. She also works with multiple high end brands at the moment—including Chanel and Burberry. But her most creative ad to-date has to be for Marc Jacobs—where she "made" a handbag in her signature recipe style. Vogue did a deep dive on the ad's impact, noting that it "generated $966,000 in media impact value (MIV) on TikTok, and $285,000 on Instagram" in just the first 48 hours of publishing. Apparently this is a "MIV 149 times that of an average Marc Jacobs influencer TikTok post; and 44 times the Instagram average." In other words, the ad was hugely impactful—and it's fair to say Nara got paid accordingly. FYI, Nara (who's currently pregnant with her fourth child) spoke to Who What Wear about her career and why she's pushing back about the "tradwife" label—especially as she and Lucky split responsibilities around their home. "I'm a working mom. I take care of kids," she said. "I split the responsibility with Lucky. Our household is very 50/50. We try to figure out the kids while both of us work. It's very much this jigsaw puzzle that we're trying to work through every single day. Being labeled as [a tradwife], that just didn't fit. I didn't want this narrative out there that I'm just at home slaving away. I'm not a tradwife. I'm a working mom, and I love cooking, and I have a passion for cooking for my husband, for my kids. Cooking is my love language. I love taking care of people in that way."
