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Larry's Faves: 2025 Television

Putting this list together, I was knocked out by how good television was in 2025. This list includes stone-cold classics like Andor, Black Mirror, and Hacks, while making room for the mind-bending genre work of Pluribus, The Eternaut, and Severance. Comedies came laughing back and were welcome against the darkness of both reality and fiction.

In 2025, television was balanced between shows that took me by surprise (The Studio) and high-quality comfort food (Abbott Elementary). We don’t know what awaits us, with more corporate consolidation and the storm clouds of AI, so I am savoring (most of) the shows below.

All the scripted shows I watched ranked, with microreviews, or links to Larrys100 reviews

1. Pluribus (Apple TV): Larry's 100 Reviews 2. Andor (Disney+): Two-season masterpiece 3. The Rehearsal (HBO): Rube Goldberg of social experiments 4. The Eternaut (Netflix): Larry's 100 Review 5. The Studio: (Apple TV) Fast-paced & meta AF 6. Shoresy (Hulu): I challenge you to find a show this sweet and filthy 7. Righteous Gemstones (HBO): Goodbye, sweet prince 8. Task (HBO): Existential dread with a water ice sidecar 9. The Lowdown (FX/Hulu):Pulp noir Gen X style 10. Slow Horses (Apple TV): Larry's 100 Review 11. Severance (Apple TV): Goat room for the win 12. Abbott Elementary (ABC): Ava is one of my favorite characters on TV 13. Hacks (HBO): Loved the Larry Sanders call backs 14. Mythic Quest (Apple TV): Poppy is one of my favorite characters on TV 15. Agatha All Along (Disney+): Witchy kitsch and great cast 16. Death By Lightning (Netflix): Who knew? 17. White Lotus (HBO): Ground Zero for the Year of Goggins 18. Gilded Age (HBO): No show has actors having fun like Gilded Age 19 Black Mirror (Netflix): Strong season for this institution 20. Fallout (Amazon): Cheating a bit, will straddle into 2026 21. Silo (Apple TV): Apple is the real SciFi channel 22 North of North (Netflix) A funny, smart, sexy show set near the Arctic. 23. The Paper (Peacock): Better than I expected, strong ensemble 24. American Primeval (Netflix): Gritty westerns are always appreciated 25. The Bear (FX/Hulu): Overhyped mess, Carmy is annoying 26. Stranger Things (Netflix): Larry's 100 Review 27. Last of Us (HBO): The last episode was a horrible hour of TV 28. Murderbot (Apple TV): Stuff to like, but got tedious. 29. The Four Seasons (Netflix): Catnip for almost old people 30. The Witcher (Netflix): I miss Henry Cavill 31. King & Conquer (Amazon): This was conceived in a lab just for me, but it sucked

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All reviews on Larry's 100 are exactly 100 words. Read why →

Pluribus Episode 9: Save the World or Get the Girl (Season 1 Finale)

See 100 Word reviews of previous episodes here

Carol and Manousos meet, negotiate, clash, separate, and ultimately team up. That arc sets up season two.

The cold open is a haunting scene that revisits Kusimayu, one of the twelve free-thinkers. At the survivor dinner in episode two, she declares that she is eager to join the hive-mind. We witness that joining and learn the Others can now flip independent thinkers. We know, before Carol, what will ruin her Best Date Ever.

Pluribus is often a meditation on solo intimacy; this episode expands what intimacy means in the space between self and the intermingling with others' needs.

Watch it.

Pluribus9

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The Baltimorons 2025, Duplass Brothers Productions, Directed by Jay Duplass (4 out of 5 Hot Chocolates)

Pluribus Episode 8: Charm Offensive

See 100 Word reviews of previous episodes here

Responding to Carol's plea in episode seven, Zosia and the Others return to Albuquerque. The episode centers on Carol and Zosia's slow-burning love story. Carol’s urging of Zosia to use “I” statements felt like a clue. The sexual tension edged right up until the collective consciousness deduced Carol needed to get laid.

To me, Pluribus is an allegory of the AI debate. Manousos rejects all utility of the hive-mind, while Diabaté embraces its spoils. Carol shares Manousos’ moral outrage but is developing more nuanced, self-serving rules of engagement. This mirrors the camps lining up for the AI wars.

Watch it

Pluribus7

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Oh. What. Fun. Amazon 2025 (1.75 out of 5 Hot Chocolates)

Starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Dennis Leary, Felicity Jones, Dominic Sessa, Joan Chen, and Jason Schwartzman. Directed by Michael Showalter

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This movie is a holiday party eggnog left out to curdle. I imagine an Amazon exec dumping 1970s gender stereotypes, check-collecting stars, and meanness as 'satire' into the blender and thinking “Yum.” Gross.

Borrowing plot and themes from The Family Stone, Home Alone, and Planes, Trains & Automobiles, writer/director Michael Showalter doesn’t like the genre enough to craft a compelling family dramedy. It's slice-and-bake Christmas cookies sold as “from scratch.”

Every year, streamers throw money and stars at the Christmas TV movie template, attempting to legitimize something that doesn’t need it. A holiday message: More isn’t always better.

Skip it

OhWhatFun

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Pluribus Episode 7: The Gap

See 100 Word reviews of previous episodes here

Following Carol and Manousos on their journeys is both meditative and harrowing. Carol is drowning in abundance and loneliness; Manousos is on a glass-huffing vision quest. Carol’s resolve cracks, Manousos’ resolve almost kills him.

The episode reminded me of a prestige version of The Last Man on Earth (Will Forte), like when Carol copped a Georgia O'Keeffe painting from a museum to replace her poster at home. Both shows asked, “What would you do if?”

This was one of the most soulful and quixotic episodes of television I have seen. Director Adam Bernstein and writer Jenn Flower, wow. Watch it.

Pluribus7

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Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper Hallmark, 2025 (4 out of 5 Hot Chocolates)

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The season’s first banger. Atypical male lead, fresh story beats, and riffing on zany Anchorman-style comedies. The romance is a Christmas Ale buzz. You root for leads Ted and Hope.

Supporting cast matters in holiday movies. From Ted’s high-strung sibling to the Sole Sisters, an a-hole newsman nemesis, and Hope’s straight-talkin' coworker, this movie has a fruitcake of an ensemble.

The plot had a third-act problem with an asinine Three’s Company miscommunication “conflict.” Hope is unnecessarily mean, as she delivers a brutal, undeserved Ted takedown. Justice for Ted! But the hot, handsy, elongated on-camera make-out scene saved Christmas. Watch it.

Ted

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An Alpine Holiday, Hallmark Channel 2025 (2.5/5 Hot Chocolates)

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Two aspects differentiate An Alpine Holiday: authentic French Alps sets (no fake snow!) and a story that focuses more on sibling relationships than romantic entanglements.

A last wish sends two sisters on a quest to retrace their grandparents' alpine love story. Ashley Williams, a Christmas movie regular with quirky comic timing, plays one of the sisters. Their tension drives the plot, each carrying a sleigh full of grievances and regrets to unwrap.

The rest? Weak romance cider. One gets a limp French tour guide, and Williams has a nonsensical marriage epiphany about her dweeb back home.

Only for Hallmark Heads.

An Alpine Holiday

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Pluribus Episode 6: HDP

See 100 Word reviews of previous episodes here

Episode 5 cliffhanger revealed: Carol turned vlogger and documented the frozen, shrink-wrapped body parts that fuel the Others' Human-Derived Protein drink. The cannibalism is explained by the body, mouth, but not the brain, of John Cena.

Diabaté returns in a glorious scene. He informs Carol that she is not in the private chat.

Motivated by Carol’s video, Manousos in Paraguay sets off to find her, but runs into “Mom.”

Gilligan served the obvious while shrugging it off. No narrative-changing reveals, just practical explanations of the Hive’s moral code. He provides plot answers, leaving us with bigger philosophical questions.

Watch it.

pluribus

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The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, the MC5, and My Life of Impossibilities Wayne Kramer 2018, read by author

Note: Part of my ongoing #AudioMemoir series reviewing author-read memoirs. Previous: Neko Case, Cameron Crowe. and Evan Dando. Coming: Larry Charles.

The late Brother Wayne Kramer's narration of his life was a liminal listening experience for me. Hearing his voice made him alive, even though I knew he wasn't. The back-from-the-grave narration started with a Michigan youth and ended in L.A. as a father and Punk icon.

Kramer laid bare addictions, crimes, and failures while celebrating resilience as a guitar gunslinger. The MC5 saga was covered, as was prison time with Jazz musician Red Rodney, and too much junkie business with Johnny Thunders. His reflections on being a roofer and woodworker balanced the Rock 'n' Roll excess.

Listen to it.

wayne kramer

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All reviews on Larry's 100 are exactly 100 words. Read why →