It can be difficult to identify what area of pop culture was the "best" in my tastes in a given year. Often, there's a year where, for example, there was one standout book that captured my heart above everything else, but movies as whole were better than my reading year. On the other hand, there can absolutely be years where one media type dominates. In 2022, the year's video games were so outstanding that I don't know if it'll ever be matched again. Well, it looks like we're in another of those years where one kind of entertainment dominates.
This has been a wonderful year for television. I was able to watch a lot of shows this year, and that usually means a pretty standard bell curve of quality. In 2025, though, an unprecedented ten shows earned a grade in the A-range, the most of any year since I've been measuring. So, great year for TV. That must mean that picking an overall favorite must have been agonizing, right? Nope. Choosing the best show of the year was simplicity itself, because how could anything even come close to matching Long Story Short?
This show was incredible. I shouldn't be surprised, since it comes from the minds that wrote and animated terrific shows like Bojack Horseman and Tuca & Bertie, but at the same time, those shows had a lot of fantastical elements. This show is just about a family and their interpersonal relationships, telling their stories while jumping back and forth in time. And it's amazing. It's laugh out loud funny, but can be heartfelt at the same time. It tackles issues as small as what to write in a congratulatory speech to ones as massive as how to handle the religious upbringing of your child. It's the most Jewish show I've ever seen, and that's saying something - at times it felt like it was spying on my own family's conversations. It's so good that editing this list of favorites has me wanting to watch the whole season for the third time.
But, like I said, while it was easily my favorite of the year, the year itself was no slouch. Let's get to the full list!
Long Story Short (Season 1) (2025) (A)
Pee-Wee as Himself (documentary) (2025) (A)
Overcompensating (Season 1) (2025) (A)
The Studio (Season 1) (2025) (A-)
The Residence (Season 1) (2025) (A-)
Pluribus (Season 1) (2025) (A-)
Adolescence (Season 1) (2025) (A-)
Win or Lose (Season 1) (2025) (A-)
A Man on the Inside (Season 1) (2024) (A-)
Ghosts (America) (Season 1-2) (2021, 2022) (A-)
Somebody Somewhere (Season 2) (2023) (B+)
The Devil's Plan (Seasons 1-2) (2023, 2025) (B+)
Black Mirror (Season 7) (2025) (B+)
Dark Matter (Season 1) (2024) (B+)
A Man on the Inside (Season 2) (2025) (B+)
Poker Face (Season 2) (2025) (B)
Great British Baking Show (Season 16) (B)
King of the Hill (Season 14) (2025) (B)
Bob's Burgers (Season 15-16) (2024, 2025) (B)
Fright Krewe (Season 2) (2024) (B)
Nobody Wants This (Season 1) (2024) (B)
Grimm (Season 1-2) (2011, 2013) (B)
Haunted Hotel (Season 1) (2025) (B)
St. Denis Medical (Season 1-2) (2024, 2025) (B)
Harley Quinn (Season 5) (2025) (B)
Mythic Quest (Season 1) (2020) (B-)
Joey (Season 1) (2004) (B-)
Mid-Century Modern (Season 1) (2025) (C+)
The Four Seasons (Season 1) (2025) (C+)
Running Point (Season 1) (2025) (C)
Secret Level (Season 1) (2024) (C)
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