We've said it before, and we'll say it again: We live in the age of too much TV. Each week, dozens of TV shows are released across streaming and broadcast, fighting for the public's attention. In 2023, 481 scripted series were released in the U.S.; although that year experienced a significant dip, that's still so many shows to get through before reality shows and international TV like K-dramas are even included. Take it from a culture writer: Even if watching TV is your literal job, many series can slip through the cracks.
2025's TV slate may have been dominated by hits like Severance, Adolescence, The White Lotus, and The Pitt, but that's just a handful of the excellent shows that have debuted this year. Many hidden gems have been released that you may have yet to hear about, from hilarious comedies and searing satires to emotional dramas about life's complications. Below, read on for recommendations of the best underrated TV shows of 2025.
The Underrated New Shows of 2025
'Adults'
2025 has been a big year for new coming-of-age shows (see Forever, Overcompensating, and, to a certain extent, I Love L.A.). The FX comedy Adults, which premiered in May, is centered on a 20-something friend group who cohabitate in a Queens home owned by one of their parents. While the plot includes send-ups of issues like career anxiety and health-insurance woes, the show’s undeniable appeal lies in its talented core cast: Malik Elassal as slacker Samir, Lucy Freyer as anxious Billie, Amita Rao as hyper-confident Issa, Owen Thiele as people-pleaser Anton, and Jack Innanen as everyone’s favorite himbo, Paul Baker. As with the best friendship shows, by the end of the first season, I was bummed that I couldn’t call up the gang to hang out some more.
'Clean Slate'
Best known as the last completed project of iconic sitcom writer/producer Norman Lear before his death, this heartwarming comedy is the first gone-too-soon show of the year, unceremoniously canceled just weeks after its premiere. Comedy legend George Wallace plays Harry Slate, a Mobile, Alabama, car-wash owner who's about to reunite with his estranged child after 23 years. When the father finds out that said child is now a trans woman called Desiree (Laverne Cox), Harry is more offended that she's a vegetarian. As father and daughter reconnect, and Desiree grapples with what's next after a career failure, Clean Slate is most progressive because it tells a mundane yet sweet story that doesn't focus on trauma. And in the year of our lord 2025, we need more sweetness in the world.
'Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy'
Of the buzzy true-crime docs and dramas that dropped in October, the one I wish more people had watched was Peacock’s Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy. Whether you’re burnt out on horrifying retellings or already have expert knowledge of the notorious serial killer, this eight-episode series is well worth watching because of how it treats victims’s stories. Rather than fictionalizing real people’s histories to build up the titular character’s mythos, Devil in Disguise centers on the lives these people lived before they encountered Gacy, and the families left to grieve and seek justice. The series isn’t perfect—some death scenes lean toward gratuitous—but it’s another example of how a true crime series can transcend its genre’s flaws.
'Dying for Sex'
Michelle Williams leads this FX on Hulu miniseries as Molly Kochan, a fictionalized version of a real-life woman who had a sexual awakening after receiving a terminal breast cancer diagnosis at age 42. The show follows Molly as she leaves her marriage and embarks on a journey of genuinely steamy hookups, with her best friend-turned-caregiver Nikki (Jenny Slate) cheering her on. Take a realistic portrayal of female friendship, sprinkle in some intro-level kink scenes, top off with intense emotions about life and death, and you have a truly can't-miss show.
'Heated Rivalry'
Yes, one could argue that Heated Rivalry is not a show that TV fans have missed. Even if they’ve never heard the words “hockey romance” in their lives, anyone who has an HBO Max (or TikTok or Twitter) account has come across the Canadian romance about two star athletes (played by Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie) whose years of secret hookups lead to real feelings. But if you look beyond the zealous fandom, queer representation discourse, and prudish stigma, there’s a reason that the critics’s praise is just as sky high as we’ve heard from the target audience. At its core, creator Jacob Tierney has crafted a character-driven romance that employs sex scenes as storytelling, led by two previously unknown actors who give thoroughly impressive performances. American media may be devoid of yearning, but Heated Rivalry has shown what happens when that demand is met.
'The Lowdown'
In a time where the crime dramas that land on streaming tend to bleed together, The Lowdown deserves to stand out. Reservation Dogs creator Sterlin Harjo's new series has the feel of a dog-eared paperback, brought to life and updated to reflect the current evils plaguing our world. Ethan Hawke—operating on a Good Lord Bird level of crazed determination—plays Lee Raybon, a freelance reporter and "truthstorian" whose mission to reveal corruption in Tulsa, Oklahoma, pits him against both the town's elite (played by Jeanne Tripplehorn and Kyle MacLachlan, among others) and its white-supremacist underbelly. But perhaps more important is the strain it puts on his already shaky relationship with his 13-year-old daughter (Ryan Kiera Armstrong).
'Long Story Short'
Five years after Netflix's best original series ever came to an end, BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg debuted a new animated series that immediately became my comfort watch. Long Story Short tells the Schwooper siblings's (voiced by Ben Feldman, Abbi Jacobson, and Max Greenfield) life stories via time-jumps, tracing how events from childhood affect their growth into adulthood. The show gracefully balances family dramedy and zany cartoon humor, with puns that rival BoJack's best. And at its core, it breaks and mends your heart, telling universal stories of grief, career anxiety, parenthood, and even the pandemic through the lens of a slightly dysfunctional Jewish family.
'North of North'
Netflix's first-ever Canadian original series, released on the same day as Black Mirror's latest season, is the perfect antidote to TV's current tendency towards bleakness. North of North introduces us to the fictional community of Ice Cove, Nunavut, which is based on (and filmed in) the real-life Arctic town where many of the cast and crew grew up. The cultural specificity is half the draw in this delightful small-town comedy, as 26-year-old Inuk mother Siaja (Anna Lambe) challenges norms and builds a new life for herself after leaving her narcissistic, golden-boy husband. The other half is the ensemble comedy's charming subplots, including a reunion between Siaja's long-lost dad, Alistar (Jay Ryan), and her mother, Neevee (Maika Harper).
'Study Group'
If you're reading this, odds are you've watched Squid Game, All of Us Are Dead, or at least one Korean show on Netflix that crossed over from the K-drama world to mainstream fame in recent years. And if you consider yourself a fan of edge-of-your-seat thriller K-dramas, Study Group should be your next watch. The webtoon adaptation is like a comic book come to life, following kind-hearted student Yoon Ga-min (Hwang Min-hyun) as he battles a league of bullies to protect his new study group. Think Weak Hero Class 2, but funnier and co-ed.
'Toxic Town'
Sometimes the best fictional depictions of true crime are those that put a human face on an absolute travesty, so that the institutional failures that led to it are never forgotten. The British miniseries Toxic Town accomplishes this thanks to its phenomenal cast, led by Jodie Whittaker and Aimee Lou Wood as the moms affected by the Corby toxic waste case. Nothing about this series is easy to watch, but the excellent performances and character writing make it impossible to look away.
'When Life Gives You Tangerines'
Netflix's multi-generational drama When Life Gives You Tangerines covers 70 years of a woman's life, as Oh Ae-sun (played by IU in her youth and Moon So-ri later in life) experiences every range of human emotion, alongside her lifelong husband, Yang Gwan-sik (played by Park Bo-gum and Park Hae-joon). This epic story, told in non-chronological order and unfurling like a novel, will make you laugh out loud, cry harder than you have in months, and truly appreciate every person who has helped you through the ordeal of living.
The Underrated Returning Shows of 2025
'Mo' season 2
A lot has happened since 2022, when comedians Mohammed Amer and Ramy Youssef co-created this grounded comedy about a Palestinian refugee living in Texas as his family's 20-year asylum case finally moves forward in court. In the long-awaited second season, only six months have passed, and Mo Najjar is still stuck in Mexico, trying to get back into the U.S. for his asylum hearing. Once Mo makes it back to Houston—which isn't a spoiler, since Mo without Houston would be like Sex and the City without N.Y.C.—the series balances a very dark story with sardonic humor and moments of joy that wouldn't work if Mo and his family weren't given the space to be their full, proudly-Palestinian selves.
'Survival of the Thickest' season 2
If you missed Michelle Buteau's feel-good comedy the first time, it may be because the debut episodes dropped amid 2023's WGA strike (and the day before the SAG-AFTRA strike began). This year, Survival of the Thickest returned for its second season and is still an underrated gem in the subgenre of breezy sitcoms about a woman rebuilding her career and hitting the streets again after facing major heartbreak. Add in how gorgeous, Black, and queer the show is—and its much-needed discussions about size inclusivity in fashion—and we couldn't binge this uproarious, joyful story fast enough.
