Sunday Special: The Best TV of 2025
Episode of The Daily · December 21, 2025 · 1 h 1 min
Gilbert Cruz, James Poniewozik and Alexis Soloski review 2025's television, from conspiracy dramas and revived rom-coms to Andor, Pluribus and The Lowdown, then play a TV quiz.
Summary
In this Sunday Special episode of The Daily, New York Times culture editor Gilbert Cruz looked back on 2025 television with chief TV critic James Poniewozik and culture reporter Alexis Soloski. Poniewozik called it a year of mild improvement over 2024, while Soloski described it as "fine." Poniewozik identified a trend of conspiracy-driven shows, including Severance, Common Side Effects, The Lowdown and Pluribus. Soloski noted a wave of attempts to revive the romantic comedy on TV, citing Too Much and Nobody Wants This, and argued that prestige television often forgets to be fun, championing The Hunting Wives and Dr. Odyssey as enjoyable if not good.
The panel discussed favorites. Poniewozik named Long Story Short, Raphael Bob-Waksberg's animated Jewish family dramedy, as his absolute favorite and praised Dying for Sex for using humor to address death. Soloski championed HBO's Heated Rivalry for its non-gratuitous treatment of sex. Cruz called Andor season two his favorite show of the year and a rare grown-up IP story, a view Poniewozik shared while calling IP reliance the curse of television. All three praised Sterlin Harjo's The Lowdown, and Poniewozik described Pluribus as a fascinating meditation on collectivism and happiness.
A lightning round covered The Pitt, which Soloski said improves on ER, and Adolescence, which Poniewozik described as a technical achievement with an after-school-special vibe. The episode ended with a three-round quiz on theme songs, TV fan theories and Andor trivia, which Poniewozik won.
Chapters
- 0:35
2025 in a word
Cruz introduces the guests, who characterize the TV year as one of mild improvement and as "fine."
- 3:03
Conspiracy shows: Severance and Common Side Effects
Poniewozik discusses the year's conspiracy trend, with debate over Severance's mystery-box elements and praise for Common Side Effects.
- 10:39
Romantic comedy revival
Soloski discusses Too Much and Nobody Wants This as attempts to revive TV rom-coms.
- 16:14
Dying for Sex
Poniewozik praises the limited series for its frank and funny depiction of dying.
- 18:57
Fun TV: The Hunting Wives, White Lotus, Dr. Odyssey
Soloski argues for entertaining television and discusses rich-people-with-secrets shows.
- 26:38
Favorites: Long Story Short and Heated Rivalry
Poniewozik champions Long Story Short and Soloski praises Heated Rivalry's treatment of sex.
- 33:50
Andor and The Lowdown
Cruz names Andor his favorite show, and the panel praises The Lowdown's Tulsa specificity.
- 41:02
Hangout shows and Platonic
Soloski discusses I Love L.A., Adults and Platonic, with praise for Rose Byrne.
- 44:19
Pluribus
Poniewozik explains Pluribus's premise and its ideas about collectivism and happiness.
- 48:03
Lightning round: The Pitt and Adolescence
The panel briefly assesses The Pitt and Adolescence.
- 51:35
Quiz game
Cruz quizzes the guests on theme songs, fan theories and Andor trivia; Poniewozik wins.
Key points
What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.
- James Poniewozik
Poniewozik said 2025 was a better TV year than 2024, with more competition for spots on his top-ten list.
“but it was a much more normal distribution of going down to the wire and cutting things off the list”
- James Poniewozik
Poniewozik judged Severance's second season less stellar than the first but a welcome payoff worthy of his top ten.
“I would say not as stellar as season one, but like a welcome payoff that made me want more, hopefully in fewer than three years”
- Alexis Soloski
Soloski found Severance's mystery-box element its least compelling aspect in season two, preferring its relationships and comedy.
“I tend to find the mystery box element, at least in the second season, the least compelling thing about it”
- James Poniewozik
Poniewozik said Common Side Effects offered timely ideas about society's sickness appealing across ideological lines.
“sort of had a little bit for Luigi Mangione and a little bit for RFK Jr”
- Alexis Soloski
Soloski argued romantic comedy is hard to do on TV because the genre depends on an end point like marriage.
“But romantic comedies have been filmic because there's an end point. And that end point is typically marriage, right?”
- Alexis Soloski
Soloski said Nobody Wants This's second season lacked narrative progress despite its appealing characters.
“I love the people in this show. I really like the vision of Los Angeles, where I am from. It makes me wonder why I left. But I wish that there had been some narrative progress”
- James Poniewozik
Poniewozik praised Dying for Sex for using humor in service of serious ideas about death.
“the idea that Uh, funny is not the opposite of serious”
- Alexis Soloski
Soloski argued much prestige television forgets to be fun, citing The Hunting Wives as fun though not good.
“maybe entertainment should be entertaining rather than dour”
- Alexis Soloski
Soloski called the Thailand-set third season of The White Lotus the worst of the series but still enjoyable.
“It was the worst of the series, but it's still enjoyable”
- James Poniewozik
Poniewozik named Long Story Short his favorite show of the year and recommended it to everyone.
“a beautiful, moving, often just absurdly funny way of just telling the story of how a group of people came to be who they are”
- Alexis Soloski
Soloski argued Heated Rivalry's sex scenes are not gratuitous because the show is fundamentally about desire.
“the sex does not feel gratuitous because the sex is text. It is about sex”
- Gilbert Cruz
Cruz called Andor the pinnacle of franchise storytelling and a rare grown-up Star Wars story.
“It was the pinnacle of something that has dominated the culture for, I don't know, two plus decades at this point, which is IP storytelling”
- James Poniewozik
Poniewozik called reliance on IP the curse of television, with Andor a rare exception.
“I consider just, you know, the reliance on IP to be the curse of television”
Linked moment · 40:41Skip to 40:41 using a listen link in the info box.
James PoniewozikPoniewozik praised The Lowdown's lived-in depiction of Tulsa.
“it doesn't feel like, you know, somebody in New York's idea of Tulsa. It feels lived in”
- James Poniewozik
Poniewozik said Pluribus explores collectivism versus individualism and whether bliss without free will beats discontented individuality.
“whether it is better to be blissful and have no free will or to be discontented but an intact individual”
- Alexis Soloski
Soloski called The Pitt impeccable television that improves on ER.
“I think that it, if anything, improves on ER in its speed, in its economy”
- James Poniewozik
Poniewozik called Adolescence a critical achievement with single-take episodes but noted an after-school-special vibe.
“I will say, critically, as a whole, it's quite an achievement”
People
In the conversation
- Gilbert CruzCanon editor at The New York Times
- James PoniewozikChief television critic at The New York Times
- Alexis SoloskiCulture reporter at The New York Times
Discussed
- Ethan HawkeAmerican actor starring in The Lowdown
- Rhea SeehornAmerican actress starring in Pluribus
- Michelle WilliamsAmerican actress Colbert found distractingly attractive as a guest
- Sterlin HarjoCreator of The Lowdown and Reservation Dogs
- Seth RogenActor who voiced the alien in the film Paul, referenced in an anecdote about healing
- Rose ByrneAustralian actress starring in Platonic
- Ryan MurphyTelevision producer behind Dr. Odyssey
- Megan StalterComedian starring in Too Much
- Tony GilroyDirector Will Arnett worked with on a recent project
- Diego LunaMexican actor who plays Cassian Andor
- Malin ÅkermanActress in The Hunting Wives
Topics
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From the publisher
In these final weeks of 2025, The Sunday Special is looking back at the year in culture. Today, we’re talking about the TV we watched this year — the best shows, the most popular ones and the ones that allowed us to just enjoyably veg out. Gilbert Cruz talks with the TV critic James Poniewozik and the culture reporter Alexis Soloski about the year in television. TV shows discussed in this episode: “Severance” “Common Side Effects” “Too Much” “Nobody Wants This” “Dying for Sex” “The Hunting Wives” “The White Lotus” “Dr. Odyssey” “Long Story Short” “Heated Rivalry” “Andor” “The Lowdown” “Platonic” “Pluribus” “The Pitt” “Adolescence”
Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on October 4, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.