The best TV of 2025: The ballots

See the individual voting lists for A.V. Club staffers and contributors.

By A.V. Club Staff  |  December 15, 2025 | 4:00am
Clockwise from bottom left: Death By Lightning (Photo: Larry Horricks/Netflix), Poker Face (Photo: Sarah Shatz/PEACOCK), Severance (Photo: Apple TV), The Righteous Gemstones (Photo: Jake Giles Netter/HBO)
TV Features BEST OF 2025
The best TV of 2025: The ballots

The votes are in for the very best shows of 2025. As we have over the past few years, the formula to come up with this much-anticipated countdown is pretty simple: A.V. Club staffers and regular contributors send in their 15 favorite shows of the year, with each writer’s top pick counting for 15 points, second pick for 14, and so on. Once the points are tallied, the TV team meets, debates, and moves shows up and down the list to come up with a snapshot of the most stellar TV to air over the past 12 months that all parties are satisfied with. We’re pretty happy with how it all turned out. Check out the lists below, which, as always, includes some gems that didn’t quite make the cut—but are certainly worth a watch.  

Tim Lowery

  1. 1. 100 Foot Wave 
  2. 2. Task 
  3. 3. Common Side Effects
  4. 4. Adolescence 
  5. 5. Pluribus 
  6. 6. Pee-wee As Himself 
  7. 7. English Teacher 
  8. 8. Dying For Sex 
  9. 9. The Lowdown  
  10. 10. Families Like Ours 
  11. 11. Mr. Scorsese 
  12. 12. The American Revolution 
  13. 13. Best Interests 
  14. 14. Long Story Short 
  15. 15. Rage 

Saloni Gajjar

  1. 1. Severance 
  2. 2. Mo 
  3. 3. Dark Winds 
  4. 4. The Pitt 
  5. 5. Common Side Effects 
  6. 6. The Lowdown 
  7. 7. Pluribus 
  8. 8. The Studio 
  9. 9. Dying For Sex
  10. 10. Adolescence
  11. 11. Task 
  12. 12. The Rehearsal 
  13. 13. Asura
  14. 14. The Paper 
  15. 15. Long Story Short 

Danette Chavez

  1. 1. Andor
  2. 2. Pluribus
  3. 3. Mussolini: Son Of The Century
  4. 4. The Lowdown
  5. 5. Common Side Effects
  6. 6. Dying For Sex
  7. 7. The Rehearsal
  8. 8. The Chair Company
  9. 9. The Pitt
  10. 10. Mo 
  11. 11. The Righteous Gemstones
  12. 12. North Of North
  13. 13. Hacks
  14. 14. Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Light
  15. 15. Haha, You Clowns

Drew Gillis 

  1. 1. The Studio 
  2. 2. The Chair Company
  3. 3. The Pitt 
  4. 4. Pee-wee As Himself
  5. 5. The Rehearsal 
  6. 6. The Real Housewives Of Salt Lake City 
  7. 7. Pluribus
  8. 8. Hacks
  9. 9. Adolescence
  10. 10. I Love LA
  11. 11. The Gilded Age
  12. 12. Saturday Night Live
  13. 13. Severance 
  14. 14. The White Lotus 
  15. 15. Yellowjackets

Jarrod Jones

  1. 1. Adolescence
  2. 2. Mr. Scorsese
  3. 3. Asura
  4. 4. Pluribus 
  5. 5. Task
  6. 6. Andor
  7. 7. Pee-wee As Himself
  8. 8. Common Side Effects
  9. 9. The Chair Company
  10. 10. The Pitt
  11. 11. The Lowdown
  12. 12. Death By Lightning
  13. 13. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
  14. 14. Peacemaker
  15. 15. South Park

Hunter Ingram

  1. 1. The Pitt
  2. 2. Adolescence
  3. 3. The American Revolution
  4. 4. All Her Fault
  5. 5. Death By Lightning
  6. 6. Alien: Earth
  7. 7. Devil In Disguise: John Wayne Gacy
  8. 8. Elsbeth
  9. 9. Outlander: Blood Of My Blood
  10. 10. A Thousand Blows
  11. 11. One Night In Idaho: The College Murders
  12. 12. The Gilded Age
  13. 13. The Righteous Gemstones 
  14. 14. Overcompensating
  15. 15. Boots

Noel Murray

  1. 1. Andor
  2. 2. Adolescence
  3. 3. Pluribus
  4. 4. The Lowdown
  5. 5. The Pitt
  6. 6. Ludwig
  7. 7. Game Changer
  8. 8. Poker Face
  9. 9. All Creatures Great And Small
  10. 10. St. Dennis Medical
  11. 11. Death By Lightning
  12. 12. Mr. Scorsese
  13. 13. Elsbeth
  14. 14. Good Cop/Bad Cop
  15. 15. Platonic 

Jenna Scherer 

  1. 1. The Lowdown
  2. 2. Hacks
  3. 3. The Bear
  4. 4. The Pitt
  5. 5. The Last Of Us
  6. 6. Severance
  7. 7. Long Story Short
  8. 8. Overcompensating
  9. 9. Black Mirror
  10. 10. Yellowjackets
  11. 11. Wayward
  12. 12. Harley Quinn
  13. 13. Outrageous
  14. 14. Poker Face
  15. 15. Side Quest

Caroline Siede

  1. 1. Étoile
  2. 2. Andor
  3. 3. Hal & Harper
  4. 4. Apple Cider Vinegar
  5. 5. Adolescence
  6. 6. Paradise
  7. 7. The Pitt
  8. 8. St. Denis Medical
  9. 9. The Last of Us
  10. 10. Task
  11. 11. Pluribus
  12. 12. Washington Black
  13. 13. Abbott Elementary
  14. 14. Duster
  15. 15. Carême

Brian Tallerico

  1. 1. Andor
  2. 2. Pee-wee As Himself
  3. 3. The Studio
  4. 4. Pluribus
  5. 5. Adolescence
  6. 6. The Beast In Me
  7. 7. Dying For Sex
  8. 8. The Pitt
  9. 9. Alien: Earth
  10. 10. Long Story Short
  11. 11. The American Revolution
  12. 12. Task
  13. 13. Hacks
  14. 14. The Lowdown
  15. 15. Death By Lightning  

 
Join the discussion...