By George & Josh Bate
From revivals of beloved franchises to timely sci-fi political thrillers and more, 2025 featured an array of amazing television shows. Here are the Top 5 Best TV Shows of 2025, as chosen by the editors of The HoloFiles.
5. Pluribus
Leave it to Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan to drop one of the most compelling and innovative television pilots of the century. Backed by a truly original sci-fi premise, Pluribus proves to be a mesmerizing watch, both in its tantalizing and calculated pacing and its fixating meditation on loneliness and human connection. Gilligan refuses to spoon-feed details to the audience, nor does he indulge in immediately giving viewers the pay off they so desperately desire. Instead, the series is one that rewards patience, a keen eye for detail, and a willingness to engage with the material on a deeper, more contemplative level. Rhea Seehorn follows her performance in Better Call Saul with a wildly refreshing, commanding turn that allows the actress to tap into her comedic and dramatic sensibilites in equal measure.
4. Adolescence
Masterfully directed with four episodes, each unfolding as a continuous take, this Netflix mini-series took the world by storm (and rightfully so). Although the series’ technical achievements supersede its narrative ones, the show’s examination of Red Pill, Andrew Tate-inspired manosphere subculture is as timely as it is disturbing. Owen Cooper produces a scene-stealing turn as the adolescent at the heart of the story, delivering a raw, confident, and unflinching performance that lends a palpable authenticity to the show. Stephen Graham, meanwhile, is similarly phenomenal with a gut-wrenching and, again, deeply authentic turn as Cooper’s character’s father, who undergoes a parent’s worst nightmare over the course of four episodes. From a filmmaking standpoint alone, Adolescence is worthy of inclusion on this list, but the strength of its performances and bravery in confronting difficult subject matter head-on ensure it cracks our top 5.
3. The Studio
Apple TV+’s The Studio is the best new comedy show in over a decade. Using a seemingly sizable budget to recreate the modern film industry and absurd humor to ridicule it, the series from Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and company is filled to the brim with celebrity cameos and jokes about what happens when love for cinema clashes with a desire for profit. An incredible scene-to-scene unpredictability, frenzied camerawork, and an energetic score contributes to a sense of chaos, delightfully for the audience and disastrously for our lead Matt (played by Seth Rogen) as he makes bad decision after bad decision. Even when the writing’s on the wall for how things will resolve, the endings of each episode still come as such pleasant and hilarious surprises, demonstrating the strength of storytelling and scripting in the series. Seth Rogen, Kathryn Hahn, and Ike Barinholtz all play wonderfully off one another and poke fun at facets of the movie industry in unique ways. Hollywood making fun of Hollywood has never been more humorous or clever. Get ready for your next TV obsession.
2. Dexter: Resurrection
Dexter: Resurrection breathes new life into television’s favorite serial killer with a polished, suspenseful, emotional, and (mostly) successful revival. Although not packing the punch or narrative weight that New Blood did, nor reinventing the wheel that is Dexter in any significant way, Resurrection serves as a worthy continuation of Dexter’s story that refines the tone and deepens the character arcs, while getting back to the roots of some of the series’ earlier seasons. The twists and turns work superbly, as does the handling of a myriad of high-profile guest-stars for Dexter to pick off one-by-one. Michael C. Hall has never been better as the titular character, while Jack Alcott brilliantly evolves the character of Harrison Morgan as a young man struggling in his emerging adulthood amidst a violent family history. While the ultimate resolution of the plot involving Angel Batista’s pursuit of Dexter leaves a bit to be desired and concludes far too prematurely, Resurrection caps off a successful revival and shows the world once again why Dexter continues to be one of television and film’s most iconic characters of all time.
1. Andor
In 2025, Andor established itself, not only as the best Star Wars series of all time, but one of the best television shows in history. Masterminded by Tony Gilroy, the series transcended a galaxy far, far away to tell a tale with disturbing relevance to current and historical events. Andor is equal parts exhilarating political thriller, blistering call-to-action, and resounding proof that the quality of Star Wars storytelling knows no limits. The fact that the series serves as a prequel to a prequel, with characters whose destinies are largely known prior to the very first episode, makes Andor’s effectiveness all the more astonishing. Most shows could only dream of having a moment as impactful as Mon Mothma’s speech, and yet Andor Season 2 features tons of them. Brasso’s death, Bix’s goodbye, the retrieval of the listening device, the Ghorman Massacre, “Who Are You?”, K-2SO’s introduction, Luthen and Dedra’s confrontation, Kleya’s infiltration of the hospital, and Cassian’s slow-motion walk toward the events of Rogue One are just some of the seemingly countless moments in Andor Season 2 that take our breath away and will be watched on repeat for the rest of our lives. Nearly 50 years after George Lucas introduced Star Wars to the world, Tony Gilroy and company forever reshaped how the franchise will be viewed by the world, approaching it with a maturity and intelligence never seen before. Here’s hoping this is not the last we’ve seen of Gilroy in a galaxy far, far away.