Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am counting down my Top 10 TV Shows of the Year to finish off my Year in Review and also taking a look back at Hawaii Five-0.
The blog will be on a break until January 12 so I will see you then!
YEAR IN REVIEW
TOP 10 TV SHOWS OF THE YEAR
Honorable Mentions:
The Diplomat, Only Murders in the Building, Adolescence, The Studio, The Four Seasons
It can always be hard to decide how to rank a broadcast show that makes so many more episodes than streaming or premium channel shows. So if Abbott Elementary had a few clunkers among over 20 episodes, is that a reason to ding it? Because it has had a few clunkers this fall. But it made my list because of a very strong end to the fourth season back in the spring. There were a couple really compelling arcs going on and Janelle James in particular had a great season that gave her a lot more dimension. Abbott is becoming a comedy elder statesman now but any show that can still be hitting its marks as often as it does more than 100 episodes in is worthy of a spot.
9. THE LAST OF US (HBO)
I understand the criticisms of the second season of The Last of Us. It wasn't as tightly focused as the first season and there were some inherent problems with the second game that were bound to plague the second season. But this was a show I couldn't wait to watch on a weekly basis and the highs were awfully high, punctuated by the episode of the year "Through the Valley" (as I discussed last week). Any show that does something as brilliant as that episode and still has some other really interesting episodes and performances (Kaitlyn Dever was masterful even if people hate her character) deserves to be on my Top 10.
8. ENGLISH TEACHER (FX)
I fully understand the seriousness of the allegations against Brian Jordan Alvarez and do not fault anyone who couldn't watch the second season of English Teacher because of that. I feel a little weird putting it on my list but I felt like it would be disingenuous not to because it was the funniest show on TV in 2025 in my eyes. I thought it actually took a big step up from the first season in consistency. Honestly, Alvarez was my least favorite part of the show. The rest of the ensemble was firing on all cylinders and much more assured in their characters (shout out to Carmen Christopher, who made much more of an impression in the second season). Everything about the behind the scenes situation is unfortunate including the fact that it overshadowed a really promising show.
Death by Lightning was a show I was looking forward to for a long time and it did not disappoint aside from maybe needing to be six episodes instead of four. I knew so little about James Garfield and his assassination so it was very fun to see a TV show dramatize a part of American history that has not been done to death over the years. With expert performances from Michael Shannon, Matthew Mcfadyen, Nick Offerman and others, the show also managed to not feel stuffy like some many period pieces do. It felt alive and thrilling. I'd rather have a limited series be too short than too long but the finale really should have been at least two episodes for this one.
6. HACKS (HBO Max)
The fourth season of Hacks could not reach the highs of the third season but even a slightly down year of Hacks is an easy member of a Top 10 Shows of the Year. While I could do with no more Ava and Deborah blow-ups for awhile, the best part of this season was easily Hannah Einbinder's leveling up as a true equal to Jean Smart. I thought the late night talk show was a storyline that only worked some of the time but was a worthy attempt for a season long arc. I know the upcoming season is likely to be the last one and it's probably the right call but this is a show that I will really miss when it's gone.
The theme of the year might be "great shows that could not top their own greatness but were pretty strong still." Many Top 10 lists will not include The White Lotus, Hacks or The Last of Us because they're being compared to their own brilliant past. And yes, the third season of The White Lotus was not as good as the first or second season. But taken by itself and without that comparison, it was pretty dang good. Set in beautiful Thailand, this season made up for some questionable storylines with the fascinating performances of Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Aimee Lou Wood, and of course Parker Posey among many others. There were very few shows I was more enthralled with on a week to week basis in 2025.
4. PLURIBUS (Apple TV)
I have not seen the season finale to Pluribus yet but I felt very comfortable putting it at #4 on my list. Yes, the pacing has been slow at times but this is a show where I trust the creator and his team completely. No expense has been spared and the show is so big in size when it comes to set pieces and the like. But it it also practically a solo show for Rhea Seehorn, who is absolutely crushing it. This is the show I want Severance to be and its so refreshing to see a show that is so wholly original. Yes, there are some apocalyptic overtones but it is nothing like any other show. I don't think it's going to get to a convoluted point where I don't enjoy it anymore because this creator knows what he's doing.
Because I wasn't into movies until recently, I wasn't that familiar with Ethan Hawke until I loved him in The Good Lord Bird a few years ago. This year, he came back to TV in brilliant fashion with The Lowdown. The Tulsa love letter have an overarching mystery but it felt as much about watching Hawke just mess around with people on a weekly basis, whether it was Keith David, Peter Dinklage in a great guest appearance, Jeanne Tripplehorn or his on-screen daughter (the impressive Ryan Keira Armstrong). I felt like I was the only person who couldn't get into Sterlin Harjoe's Reservation Dogs but that was not the case with his second TV effort. I worry this didn't break through enough to get a second season, but I sure hope it does.
2. TASK (HBO)
I wasn't sure that I would be into Task even though I loved Brad Inglesby's last Eastern Pennsylvania-set show (Mare of Easttown). This one felt like it was going to be unrelentingly glum and when I heard "Philly-set crime drama," I was picturing another gritty and dark HBO drama. But it was so refreshing to have the show set in the rural area outside Philadelphia with Mark Ruffalo and Tom Pelphrey on a captivating collision course. The show kept building momentum and the choices it made on to show key moments kept surprising me as it went along. I feel sort of mixed about this being an on-going series because I thought it really worked great as a limited series. But I trust Inglesby has a good idea to keep it going.
Could there be any other choice? If you've been reading the blog this year, this should not surprise you at all. This was the most refreshing, most interesting show of the year and it was done in a genre that has been a part of TV for decades. Medical shows are a dime a dozen and yet this one was special. From its real-time approach (which never felt gimmicky, only aided the story) to a spectacular cast led by deserving Emmy winners Noah Wyle and Katherine LaNasa, I couldn't wait to watch The Pitt every Thursday last winter. It was everything TV should be and in an era of heavily serialized streaming shows or aimless broadcast procedurals, this was the best of both worlds. And now we get it back on January 8 for another run of 15 episodes. I can't wait to spend Thursdays with The Pitt again!
PILOT RE-REVIEW
This season, I am traveling back in time to the 2010-11 season, the first season I did this blog. I will be re-reviewing the pilots from that season, at least as many as I can find!
Original Review: Click Here!
What I Think Now: My first thought watching this pilot was "dang, broadcast TV used to really pour money into their pilots." In the era of streaming, it's interesting to see such a big budget show wrapped up in all the procedural trappings that broadcast loves to do. The sheer amount of scenes and explosions made this a really good-looking pilot. I know this probably wasn't the norm for the show in later episodes, but you wouldn't see this production level on any broadcast pilot nowadays. However, this pilot was a perfect example of all style and no substance. Beneath the explosions and gorgeous Hawaii scenery, it was a pretty dull procedural pilot. It felt like so many other CBS crime dramas over the years. Sure, there was some fun dynamics between Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan, but there was nothing that made this pilot stand apart besides its looks. And if you knew the looks weren't going to last, then you knew it wasn't going to be a show worth sticking with. I was also pretty surprised at how dated so much of the technology, especially the cell phones, already seemed. On the plus side, it did have that great theme song - one of TV's all-time bests that was updated nicely and the great Jean Smart showed up and showed authority in her brief appearance.
What Happened to the Show: Hawaii Five-0 was the big ticket item for CBS in Fall 2010. It got the coveted Monday night timeslot that had been occupied by CSI: Miami for many years. It got an insane amount of promotion over the summer. It debuted to solid but not gangbusters numbers. It developed a reputation as a bit of an underperformer during its three years on Mondays. It wasn't a flop but it wasn't a giant hit either. Then it was sent to Fridays and the pressure came off. It suddenly became a perfect fit with Blue Bloods and found seven blissful years on Fridays. While it had been an underperformer on a higher profile night, it proved to be a really solid and steady performer for a long time on a lower profile night. That added up to ten seasons and 240 episodes before it ended its run on April 3, 2020. It managed to wrap up its run just before the COVID shutdowns of production. It doesn't seem to be a show that has had a lot of continued love after its run like Blue Bloods but a ten year run is definitely nothing to scoff at. During its run, it had crossovers with NCIS: Los Angeles, MacGyver and Magnum P.I. I remember watching a few episodes in its first season and maybe a couple after that but it was never anything I stuck with.
COMING UP
By the time the blog returns from its Winter Break, there will be plenty of new and returning shows hitting the air, mostly in the first week of January. Before that is the thriller The Copenhagen Test on Peacock which seems like it will be mostly ignored. Then in January, we have the 13th season of When Calls the Heart on Hallmark on January 4. That night also has a sneak peek of FOX dramedy Best Medicine starring Josh Charles. The show has its regular timeslot debut on Tuesday, January 13. Premiering on Tuesday, January 6 are the new seasons of Will Trent and The Rookie on ABC. On Wednesday, BET has the return of Sistas for a tenth season, just after Season 9 ended. Then on Thursday is the return of The Pitt on HBO Max. Obviously, this is one of my most anticipated returns as the reigning Emmy winner for Drama Series begins its second season with a lot of anticipation. Also premiering Thursday is the Netflix limited series thriller His & Hers starring Jon Bernthal and Tessa Thompson as well as the second season of The Hunting Party on NBC.
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