The 11 best shows this year

From satire to sci-fi, hospitals to hive-minds, these shows prove television can still surprise, unsettle and soar

- Raja Sen

2025 has stumbled on. While the world around us—and the people in charge—may routinely disappoint, as the air becomes less breathable and the news bleaker, we do still have bingeable opiate. TV shows continue to compel, entertain and provoke. Some force us to pay attention and reward us for watching closely.

Here, then, are the shows of the year. Why does this list have 11 entries? I wrote about This Is Spinal Tap here last week, a film where a rockstar famously shows off an amplifier where the volume knobs don't end at 10. Happy new TV year, fellow viewers. May we all go “one louder”.

11. #1 Happy Family USA (Amazon Prime)

Ramy Youssef's animated post-9/11 satire about a Muslim family trying to “fit in” amidst an intensely Islamophobic America is a minor miracle, hilarious and always scathing. Middle-schoolers talk about “code-switching” casually, the boy of the house befriends a sacrificial lamb (Lamby) and every episode is rated H for Haram.

10. Paatal Lok (Amazon Prime)

Sudip Sharma's Paatal Lok is an intense storytelling triumph that has stayed with me. In its second season, the show about a killing in Nagaland is headlined by its seemingly impassive yet clearly empathetic protagonist, Hathiram Chaudhary, a magnificent Jaideep Ahlawat.

9. Hacks (JioHotstar)

The oldest show on this list—now in season 4—