🤖 AI Summary
Overview
This episode dives into the best and most notable TV shows of 2025, exploring trends, standout series, and the cultural impact of television this year. Critics James Poniewozik and Alexis Soloski join host Gilbert Cruz to discuss everything from conspiracy-driven dramas to romantic comedies, animated gems, and groundbreaking storytelling.
Notable Quotes
- Conspiracy is a great engine for drama. There's somebody doing something, something is amiss.
– James Poniewozik, on the prevalence of conspiracy-themed shows.
- Maybe entertainment should be entertaining rather than dour.
– Alexis Soloski, on the importance of fun in TV.
- Funny is not the opposite of serious.
– James Poniewozik, on the balance of humor and depth in storytelling.
📺 Conspiracy and Mystery in TV
- Severance returned with its long-awaited second season, continuing its exploration of corporate conspiracies and existential questions. James Poniewozik praised its character relationships, while Alexis Soloski critiqued its drawn-out mystery elements.
- Common Side Effects, an animated series, tackled pharmaceutical conspiracies with humor and hallucinatory visuals, centering on a miraculous mushroom and corporate greed.
- The Lowdown, a noir thriller starring Ethan Hawke, blended political intrigue with a caper-like charm, set against a richly textured Tulsa backdrop.
💖 The Revival of Romantic Comedies
- Shows like Too Much and Nobody Wants This reimagined the romantic comedy genre for TV. Too Much featured Megan Stalter in a quirky love story set in England, while Nobody Wants This explored interfaith relationships with humor and heart.
- Alexis Soloski highlighted the challenge of adapting romantic comedies for TV, noting their traditional happily ever after
arc is harder to sustain episodically.
🎭 Emotional Depth and Humor
- Dying for Sex, a limited series, combined humor and poignancy in its story of a terminally ill woman seeking fulfillment. James Poniewozik lauded its candid exploration of death and intimacy.
- Long Story Short, an animated dramedy from the creator of BoJack Horseman, stood out for its deeply Jewish storytelling and its ability to balance absurd humor with heartfelt family dynamics.
🌌 Sci-Fi and Speculative Storytelling
- Andor season 2 was celebrated as a mature, politically charged Star Wars series, exploring rebellion and sacrifice. Gilbert Cruz called it a rare example of franchise storytelling that felt grown-up.
- Pluribus introduced a wild premise of an alien virus uniting humanity into a collective mind, with Rhea Seehorn delivering a standout performance as a misanthropic protagonist navigating this new reality.
🎉 Fun and Escapism in TV
- The Hunting Wives offered a guilty pleasure with its mix of suburban drama, guns, and scandalous affairs. Alexis Soloski emphasized its sheer entertainment value.
- Dr. Odyssey, a Ryan Murphy creation, was described as a grotesque yet mindlessly enjoyable medical drama set on a cruise ship.
- Friendship comedies like Platonic and Adults provided lighthearted, relatable narratives, with Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen shining in Platonic.
AI-generated content may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon as a sole source of truth.
📋 Episode Description
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”
On Today’s Episode:
James Poniewozik is the chief TV critic for The New York Times.
Alexis Soloski is a culture reporter for The Times.
Background Reading:
Photo Credit: Apple TV+; Netflix; Lucasfilm/Disney+; HBO
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