The year 2025 was not an easy year. Between one war and the next, there was barely time to breathe and recover, let alone stretch out on the couch and watch television. But 2025 was also an exceptionally fertile year for television worldwide. So just before the year ends, here are the best series you did not watch — and now is the time to catch up, before you also have to fill in the gaps of next year.
The Pitt
Where: HBO Max
When "The Pitt" premiered in January, it was accompanied by virtually zero publicity from HBO. If the new hospital drama was written about at all, it was mainly in the context of a lawsuit. The family of Michael Crichton, the late creator of the series "ER," claimed that the series was an unauthorized spinoff made by "ER" executive producer John Wells. It was a petty lawsuit that did little honor to Crichton’s legacy and after, two episodes, it became clear that the only things "ER" and "The Pitt" share are an emergency room setting and the presence of Noah Wyle — once the young, eager Dr. John Carter, now Dr. Robinavitch, an exhausted, sad and wonderful Jewish physician.
"The Pitt" — a wordplay between “the pit,” American slang for an ER, and Pitt, the common shorthand for Pittsburgh — is closer in spirit to the television series "24." Either way, it is a series whose success should inspire hope for the future of television. "The Pitt" follows a single shift in the emergency room of a public hospital. Each episode lasts an hour, together forming a 15-hour shift — 15 episodes in a season, a number rarely seen anymore in the streaming era. Over that time, it presents the ER of an average American hospital with a level of realism never before seen on television.
"The Pitt" reached its Emmy win the old-fashioned way, one that seems almost extinct today: a television drama without effects, without green screens, with a modest budget largely spent on red liquids that convincingly resemble blood. It trusted that a strong story, compelling characters, smart casting and a beloved lead would bring in viewers even in an age of infinite content. And it was right. The second season of "The Pitt" will premiere in the U.S. in January, now with expectations attached. One hopes it lives up to them, because television needs shows like this the way a patient needs an urgent blood transfusion.
Tzippy Shmilovitz, New York
Long Story Short
Where: Netflix
This series is the emotional equivalent of hugging yourself, while also yelling at yourself for putting a glass on the table without a coaster. It comes from Raphael Bob-Waksberg, creator of another animated series you may have heard of, "BoJack Horseman." "Long Story Short" deals with perhaps the most Jewish subject imaginable: slightly dysfunctional families. At its center are three siblings — Avi, Shira and Yoshi — each of whom manages to disappoint their parents, especially their mother, in their own distinctive way.
The series allows us to get closer to Diaspora Jewry, which in this turbulent period is grappling with antisemitic incidents, and to understand that we are, in fact, the same family with the same problems. We all carry the burden known as Jewish heritage and try to handle it as best we can — and it is hard, it gives you back problems. At a time when “Nobody Wants This” headlines feature a handsome rabbi, "Long Story Short" is undoubtedly giving Jews some of their best public relations.
Hadas Levav
MobLand
Where: yes, HOT, Cellcom TV and NEXT TV
Yes, there was some buzz around "MobLand." And yes, many people watched it, drawn by the talent involved — Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren and Tom Hardy on screen, Guy Ritchie behind it. But others gave up, perhaps after one episode, perhaps because of the entirely unoriginal story, perhaps because of the exaggerated performances by Brosnan and Mirren, who turned their supposedly chilling characters into near-ridiculous caricatures.
Even those who quit should give it another chance, because a few episodes in, one thing becomes perfectly clear: you cannot take your eyes off Tom Hardy. He plays a senior figure in a London crime organization led by a pair of deranged, elderly but lethal Irish gangsters (Mirren and Brosnan, who, ironically given his origins, sports a truly dreadful Irish accent). Hardy is the organization’s fixer, a quiet, deadly enforcer who speaks and acts sparingly, because every word and every action he chooses carries fateful consequences for everyone involved.
At the same time, he has a semi-normal life — a wife, a child and yuppie existence in the big city — which gives his dangerous profession and high status an added sense of risk. And somehow, despite all the minuses already mentioned, and a few more besides, it works remarkably well.
Hardy is the key. He is magnetic, as always, and slowly you find yourself sharing the fate of the murderous criminal he portrays, if only because he often seems like the only sane person in a world full of unhinged psychopaths. At worst, just hit mute whenever Brosnan appears on screen.
Yoni Beinart
I Love LA
Where: HBO Max
What has not been said about "I Love LA"? Online, it has been crowned the new "Girls," declared the voice of Gen Z and, most excitingly, described as a series about influencers that is not cringe. And seriously, HBO’s new comedy is indeed a treat you probably missed, mainly because it does not air locally. If you do manage to get your hands on the episodes, you will discover that the lives of young people in Los Angeles are not as glamorous as you might think — but they are certainly entertaining.
The plot is led by Maya (Rachel Sennott, the internet it-girl who created the series), an employee at a talent agency with a single client: Tallulah, a former friend-turned-enemy who oscillates between walking chaos and a PR nightmare. The group also includes Charlie, the gay stylist; Alani, the nepo baby; and Dylan (Josh Hutcherson), Maya’s boyfriend — probably the only sweet and sane voice in the group. Together, they navigate the attempt to build some kind of career amid poverty and humiliation, rubbing shoulders with real celebrities and watching all illusions shatter. Highly recommended. Did we mention that already?
Omer Tessel
The Studio
Where: Apple TV+
Seth Rogen brought all his friends to "The Studio" to make a Seth Rogen movie in series form, and it works almost too well. Even as Hollywood collapses and Warner Bros. teeters under debt, the series makes the job of studio head look like the most important and influential position in the world, as if it were still 1950.
Rogen, forever playing some version of the same role, explores how he would behave as a studio executive who wants to make quality films. The result is very funny, but also sad. Will there even be parodies of Hollywood in another decade? Is it dying? Suddenly, the series feels less like a celebration and more like a farewell song. At least there were some laughs.
Guy Leiba
The Mighty Nein
Where: Amazon Prime Video
It is easy to understand why many people never made it to the wonderful "The Mighty Nein" on Amazon Prime Video. The animated series, from the creators of "Critical Role" — the group of voice actors who turned their addictive Dungeons & Dragons live-streamed games into a content empire — suffers greatly from its odd title, and even more from its truly unfortunate Hebrew translation. But anyone who can get past that will find one of the most joyful and satisfying things to appear on screen this past year.
"The Mighty Nein" is somewhat more dramatic and serious than its excellent predecessor, "The Legend of Vox Machina," but that is only because the characters receive extra development and a depth unusual for the genre. The episodes are also longer, running 40 to 50 minutes, yet the sharp humor and delightful chaos characteristic of "Critical Role" are very much present, and every second is put to use. The result is a dense, action-packed fantasy series — extremely violent, for fans of the genre — that also strikes emotional chords with remarkable effectiveness. Just wait until you meet Nott, a rough-edged alcoholic goblin with a huge heart, who finds a kindred spirit in the tortured wizard Caleb. You will want to be her best friend too, guaranteed.
Yoni Beinart
Overcompensating
Where: Amazon Prime Video
Charli XCX is the executive producer of this series (and also makes a guest appearance), and you are saying you still have not watched it? Comedian Benito Skinner, who rose to fame through online impression videos, created an autobiographical series about his college experience as a closeted gay man.
"Overcompensating" tells the story of Benny, a former football player who befriends Carmen, a social outcast, in college. The two try to survive this period with as little trauma as possible, until Benny falls in love with a fellow student. It is a series full of sexual tension that does not always pay off, but ultimately it is a sweet comedy about friendship, featuring actors like Adam DiMarco ("The White Lotus") and Kaia Gerber ("Bottoms").
While we did not spend our formative years on a green American college campus, but rather on a military base somewhere closer or farther from civilization, the series makes us feel like we are really there. "Overcompensating" takes the stereotypes we know from "American Pie" about student life in the U.S. and updates them for today, while mocking both progressivism and conservatism in equal measure.
Hadas Levav
Task
Where: HBO Max
Every few years, HBO releases a series that recalls the days when the network fundamentally changed television and rightly used the arrogant slogan, “It’s not TV. It’s HBO.” Not blockbuster-budget series like "Game of Thrones" or "The Last of Us," but grounded American stories with excellent writing and courage.
In 2021, that series was "Mare of Easttown." Kate Winslet scorched the screen, but it was the work of writer-director Brad Ingelsby that turned the show into both a ratings hit and a critics’ darling. Ingelsby is from Philadelphia, but he is especially fascinated by the rural, remote and deeply depressing parts of Pennsylvania. As with "Mare of Easttown," he returned there this year with Task. The result is once again a superb, old-school HBO series.
Kate Winslet is replaced here by Mark Ruffalo, but this time it is more of an ensemble piece. It follows the pursuit by a grieving FBI agent who lost his wife under horrific circumstances, of a kind-hearted garbage worker whose life has fallen apart and who has become the leader of a gang of robbers committed to avoiding violence. Until one time they do not. Ruffalo is excellent as always, but this is really the series of the talented Tom Pelphrey, memorably Laura Linney’s brother in "Ozark." Ingelsby weaves a tapestry that goes far beyond the basic plot and, without engaging in politics at all, offers a glimpse into the part of America where Trumpism took root without anyone quite noticing. Task will also return for a second season, just before HBO is ground down by Netflix’s binge machine. Hold it close, because there may not be many more like it.
Tzippy Shmilovitz, New York
Murderbot
Where: Apple TV+
Apple TV+’s satirical sci-fi gem did generate buzz when it premiered last May, but it seems to have since been swallowed by the flood of content that surrounds us — and it least deserves to disappear this way. Why? Let us examine the premise. It follows a misanthropic android tasked with protecting a group of ultra-progressive settlers arriving on a dangerous new planet.
They come from a liberal, advanced and egalitarian society. He belongs to an oppressive galactic corporation, and only a specific technical glitch allows him to develop genuine human emotions, such as a deep hatred of people. He despises the settlers with every fiber of his being and prefers to spend his time endlessly looping his favorite TV series, a soapy version of "Star Trek." But their lives depend on him, and gradually the grumpy android (the versatile and excellent Alexander Skarsgård) feels his cold heart warming ever so slightly.
Yes, beyond genre conventions and impressive visuals — Apple’s deep pockets are evident in every lavish frame — this is simply a terrific comedy, firing sharp, venomous arrows at the heart of the woke ideal, doing so with charming malice and addictive wit. A second season has already been approved, and the joy is great.
Yoni Beinart