These were the 10 new streaming shows that owned 2025
These were the 10 new streaming shows that owned 2025
No returning favorites here, just the brand-new series that made 2025 such a strong year for streaming.
When you love TV as much as I do, it’s really hard to nail down just 10 of the best streaming shows of 2025, because this year was stacked. The rules helped, though. This list is only new shows that premiered their first season in 2025, so you won’t see the usual suspects like “Severance” or “Only Murders in the Building.” This is about celebrating the brand-new stories that showed up this year and immediately felt like they could be around for a while. It wasn’t easy, but I landed the plane. Obviously, your mileage may vary, but here are my picks for the 10 best streaming shows of 2025.
Top 10 streaming TV shows of 2025:
No. 10: ‘Stick’ (2025) | Apple TV
“Stick” looks like it might be a “Ted Lasso” clone at first glance, but once you spend a little time with it, you realize it’s doing its own thing. Owen Wilson plays a washed-up former golf pro who gets a second chance at life by coaching a teenage phenom, and the show leans way more into quiet grief and second chances than punchlines. It’s warm, gentle, and way more heartfelt than I expected. You don’t need to know anything about golf to enjoy it, though if you do love golf as I do, it’s an extra bonus. This is comfort TV in the best sense and a show my wife and I looked forward to each week.
Stick
Pryce Cahill was headed for golf greatness when an on-course meltdown derailed his career. Now struggling to stay afloat, he goes all in to mentor Santi—a teenage phenom with immense potential—and maybe save himself.
No. 9: ‘Pluribus’ (2025) | Apple TV
“Pluribus” is one of the weirdest shows of the year, and I mean that as a huge compliment. Vince Gilligan imagines a world where nearly everyone on Earth has joined a blissful hive mind, and the few people left behind are the most miserable ones alive. Rhea Seehorn is incredible as one of the holdouts, and the show constantly asks uncomfortable questions about happiness, freedom, and individuality. It’s colorful, eerie, and quietly unsettling… with a massive cliffhanger setting up what’s bound to be an epic Season 2.
No. 8: ‘Heated Rivalry’ (2025) | HBO Max
I went into “Heated Rivalry” not totally sure what to expect, and it completely won me over. On the surface, it’s about two rival professional hockey players. Underneath, it’s a slow-burn love story that spans years and never rushes its emotional beats. The chemistry between the leads is the whole show, and it’s legit great. The hockey feels real (and I’m a hockey player, so my opinion counts!), the romance feels earned, and the whole thing is surprisingly tender. This ended up being one of the biggest TV surprises of the year.
Heated Rivalry
Two of the biggest stars in Major League Hockey are bound by ambition, rivalry, and a magnetic pull neither of them fully understands. What begins as a secret fling between two fresh faced rookies evolves into a years-long journey of love, denial, and self-discovery. Over the next eight years, as they chase glory on the ice, they struggle to navigate their feelings for each other. Torn between the sport they live for and the love they can’t ignore, they must decide if there’s room in their fiercely competitive world for something as fragile – and powerful – as real love.
No. 7: ‘All Her Fault’ (2025) | Peacock
“All Her Fault” wastes absolutely no time pulling you in… it had me in the first 10 seconds. A mom shows up to pick up her son from a playdate, and the woman inside claims she’s never heard of him. That’s the hook, and it never lets go. The show thrives on paranoia and shifting perspectives, and Sarah Snook gives a performance that feels raw and real instead of flashy. And that ending is the kind that people won’t stop arguing about, in a good way.
All Her Fault
In Chicago, Marissa Irvine arrives at 14 Arthur Avenue, expecting to pick up her young son Milo from his first playdate with a boy at his new school. But the woman who answers the door isn’t a mother she recognizes. She isn’t the nanny. She doesn’t have Milo. And so begins every parent’s worst nightmare.
No. 6: ‘Your Friends and Neighbors’ (2025) | Apple TV
“Your Friends and Neighbors” took a couple of episodes to click for me, but once it did, I was fully locked in. Jon Hamm plays a disgraced finance guy who starts robbing his wealthy neighbors to keep up appearances, and the show has a lot of fun poking at status, entitlement, and suburban boredom. Hamm is clearly having a blast, and the ensemble around him makes the whole thing sing. No surprise this one’s already coming back for a Season 2.
Your Friends & Neighbors
When a financial titan suddenly finds himself divorced and jobless, he starts robbing his wealthy neighbors to stay afloat. Stealing from his own social circle strangely exhilarates him—but he gradually gets tangled in a deadly web.
No. 5: ‘The Girlfriend’ (2025) | Prime Video
My wife and I blew through “The Girlfriend” in no time. Robin Wright plays a mother who becomes obsessed with her son’s new girlfriend, and the tension is deliciously uncomfortable from the jump. Every smile feels loaded. Every conversation feels like a power play. Olivia Cooke is unpredictable in the best way, and Wright is commanding throughout. This is glossy, twisty, high-end soap, and it knows exactly what it is. Also, that ending? Insane in the best way.
The Girlfriend
Laura has it all: a glittering career, a loving husband, and her precious son, Daniel. But her perfect life unravels when Daniel brings home Cherry, a girlfriend who changes everything. After a tense introduction, Laura becomes convinced Cherry is hiding something. Is she a manipulative social climber, or is Laura just paranoid? The truth is a matter of perspective.
No. 4: ‘The Pitt’ (2025) | HBO Max
“The Pitt” is one of the most stressful watches of the year, and I mean that as praise. Each episode covers one hour of a brutal ER shift, and the real-time structure gives everything this relentless momentum. Noah Wyle is great as a doctor barely holding it together, but the whole ensemble carries the show. It’s grounded, intense, and emotionally exhausting in a way that feels honest. This is a medical drama that doesn’t romanticize the job at all, and that’s why it works.
The Pitt
The staff of Pittsburgh’s Trauma Medical Center work around the clock to save lives in an overcrowded and underfunded emergency department.
No. 3: ‘The Studio’ (2025) | Apple TV
“The Studio” felt like an instant classic to me. My wife and I watched the first two episodes back-to-back, and from then on it was a weekly staple. Seth Rogen plays a movie studio head who genuinely loves film and keeps accidentally destroying it, and that sincerity makes all the difference. The cast is stacked, the cameos are hilarious, and the jokes come fast. For me, the best part was knowing this came from two people (Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg) who love movies and all the people who make them… and it shows. This one’s a winner.
The Studio
Desperate for celebrity approval, the newly appointed head of a movie studio and his executive team at Continental Studios must juggle corporate demands with creative ambitions as they try to keep movies alive and relevant.
No. 2: ‘Adolescence’ (2025) | Netflix
Next to “Heated Rivalry,” “Adolescence” is the show that completely came out of nowhere this year. There was very little ramp-up, no massive hype campaign, and then suddenly everyone was talking about it. It’s a four-episode gut punch about a 13-year-old boy accused of murder, told in real time with each episode unfolding in a single continuous shot. That choice locks you in with the characters as everything falls apart. My wife and I watched it over two days, and we were floored. It’s intense, unsettling, and deeply sad, but also incredibly well done. This one stays with you.
Adolescence
When a 13-year-old is accused of the murder of a classmate, his family, the psychological expert and the detective in charge are all left asking: what really happened?
No. 1: ‘Dying for Sex’ (2025) | Hulu
“Dying for Sex” made me laugh one minute and then absolutely wrecked me the next. I’ll be honest… it was almost too sad for me. Michelle Williams stars as a woman diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer who decides she’s done settling and wants to fully live while she still can. Yes, that includes sex, lots of it, but the heart of the show is really about friendship, agency, and taking your life back. It’s sad, funny, fearless, and surprisingly life-affirming. This one almost broke me, and that’s why it earns the top spot as the best streaming show of 2025.
Dying for Sex
After Molly Kochan receives a diagnosis of Stage IV metastatic breast cancer, she leaves her husband and explores the full breadth and complexity of her sexual desires for the first time in her life.