NOW ENTERTAINMENT
Dec. 28,2025 2026 Month 00 --Jan. 00, 3, 2023
Your Weekly TV Entertainment Brought To You By Olean Times Herald & The Bradford Era
From “Adolescence” to “The Pitt,” don’t miss the best shows of 2025, which are all currently available to stream via their respective platforms. Noah Wyle stars in “The Pitt”
Cover Story Catching up after Christmas: A 2025 television post-mortem By Dana Simpson Life moves fast. One day you’re packing for a relaxing summer vacation and the next you’re sitting down to Christmas dinner with your extended family discussing the effectiveness of New Year’s resolutions. Knowing this, it only makes sense for a few things to have fallen through the cracks along the way. Luckily, if one of this year’s missed items is an overlooked television series, streaming makes it a breeze to catch up, from “Adolescence” to “Zero Day.” But which 2025 TV series is the most bingeable? Several titles jump out as contenders, so here are a few you may have missed. In addition to hit returning shows such as HBO’s “Hacks,” Showtime’s Dexter franchise, FX’s “The Bear” and the Netflix phenomenon “Stranger Things,” one of the most-discussed series of 2025 is R. Scott Gemmill’s (“ER”) HBO medical drama “The Pitt.” Lauded for its true-to-life depictions of hospital emergency room work, “The Pitt” took home five Primetime Emmys after having been nominated in
13 categories at this year’s ceremony. Led by Noah Wyle, who also starred in “ER” as Dr. John Carter throughout the show’s 15-year run, “The Pitt” follows frontline workers in a Pittsburgh hospital as they are forced to leave their personal struggles at the door and instead battle a myriad of difficult medical cases and emotional situations amid shifting workplace politics. Season 1 of “The Pitt” is available to stream in its entirety on HBO Max before Season 2 premieres Thursday, Jan. 8. Over on Netflix, meanwhile, viewers of all ages have been captivated by “Adolescence.” Starring relative newcomer Owen Cooper (“Film Club”) as 13-year-old murder suspect Jamie Miller, “Adolescence” is a four-part legal drama miniseries exploring the effects of toxic masculinity, insular online communities and bullying — among other social factors — on boys and young men. Hailed for its single-shot style, social relevance and commendable performances, “Adolescence” won eight of the 13 Primetime
Emmys it was nominated for, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. The British miniseries co-stars Stephen Graham (“Snatch,” 2000), Christine Tremarco (“Wolfe”), Ashley Walters (“Top Boy”), Faye Marsay (“Game of Thrones”) and new talent Amelie Pease. While the Netflix app is open, check out critically acclaimed Canadian comedy “North of North,” which premiered on its home network of CBC, as well as CBC Gem and APTN, Jan. 4, 2025. Already greenlit for a second season, the series follows Siaja (Anna Lambe, “True Detective”), a 26-year-old Inuk woman and mother who has grown weary of small-town life in Ice Cove, Nunavut. Desperate to create an exciting life full of opportunity for her and her daughter Bun (new talent Keira Belle Cooper), Siaja soon learns how difficult it is to start over in a town where everyone knows her most intimate business. Likened to “Reservation Dogs” and “Parks & Recreation,” RogerEbert.com reviewer Nandini Balial writes that “the series is a mostly
winning exploration of Inuit culture, the stressful limitations of life in a small town and the heartbreaking intersection between who you are and who you want to be.” “North of North” Season 1 is available to stream now on Netflix, while Season 2 awaits its official release date. Other series of note this year include the Prime Video dramedy “Overcompensating,” about a football player who comes to accept his sexuality in college; the Hulu/Disney+ original “Paradise,” which stars Sterling K. Brown (“This Is Us”) as a secret service agent investigating a presidential murder; the Robert De Niro-led (“Taxi Driver,” 1976) Netflix miniseries “Zero Day,” chronicling a former president’s investigation into a massive case of cyber terrorism; and NBC/Peacock’s “The Hunting Party,” which sees a team of specialized agents track down killers who have escaped from a top-secret prison that is “not supposed to exist” (per IMDb). Catch up on 2025’s best series now — another year of hit TV is right around the corner.
In Focus
In Focus “Beast Games” - Season 2 (Prime Video — Jan. 7, Season Premiere) Bigger, bolder and more intense than ever, Season 2 of this competition series finds MrBeast with 100 more of the planet’s strongest competitors and 100 of the world’s smartest minds. “Strong vs. Smart” will battle for an eye-watering $5,000,000 prize.
“His & Hers” - Season 1 (Netflix — Jan. 8, Series Premiere) Set in the sweltering heat of Atlanta, this new series follows Anna (Tessa Thompson), who lives in haunting reclusivity, fading away from her friends and career as a news anchor. But when she overhears about a murder in Dahlonega — the sleepy town where she grew up — Anna is snapped back to life, pouncing on the case and searching for answers.