We are approaching the end of the year, and you may be gearing up for time off from work or school. There will be a lot of downtime, which means a lot of streaming, which means finding things to watch without scrolling through six streaming services for hours at a time.
Well, if you trust the critics, there are a number of shows that aired in 2025 that are universally liked. 100% Rotten Tomatoes scores across the board, meaning every critic liked the show overall. They don’t always match the audience scores, but effectively all of these are going to be worth watching. Here they are:
1) The Chair Company (HBO Max, 100% critic score, 69% audience score) – A man uncovers a vast conspiracy involving an office supply company in this absurdist comedy.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Amazon Prime Video
2) The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Amazon Prime, 100% critic score, 74% audience score) – The story of a prisoner of war in WWII spanning his past and present.
3) Ballard (Amazon Prime, 100% critic score, 76% audience score) – A Bosch spin-off that has Ballard hunting down a serial killer, amongst other criminals.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Disney
4) Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2 (Disney+, 100% critic score, 90% audience score) – The follow-up season to the YA classic, this time focused on new adventures and new gods.
5) Common Side Effects (HBO Max, 100% critic score, 91% audience score) – A compelling animated series that’s beyond bizarre, but unlike anything else you’ll see on TV this year.
The Righteous Gemstones
HBO
6) The Righteous Gemstones season 4 (HBO Max, 100% critic score, 75% audience score) – The grand finale of one of TV’s greatest comedies following the Gemstone religious dynasty.
7) Toxic Town (Netflix, 100% critic score, 84% audience score) – The true story of women seeking justice after a company poisons their town, resulting in birth defects.
8) Long Story Short (Netflix, 100% critic score, 80% audience score) – A hilarious animated comedy about a family told through a number of winding timelines.
9) North of North (Netflix, 100% critic score, 77% audience score) – An indigenous comedy set in the Canadian Arctic that’s extremely funny and unique in the space.
10) Asura (Netflix, 100% critic score, 94% audience score) – A story about a father’s infidelity and how it affects his family.
There are more than these, but these are the ten that stood out to me the most. I will also throw in a bonus vote for Pluribus on Apple TV at a 98%, just making that mark, but it’s truly one of the best shows of the year. Obviously, there are other great shows a few points lower than that, The Pitt with 95%, for example.
Of these, my favorites are The Chair Company, Common Side Effects and The Righteous Gemstones, but for that one, you’re going to want to watch all three previous seasons, which are also fantastic.
The Chair Company, Ballard, Percy Jackson, Common Side Effects, Long Story Short and North of North have all been renewed for follow-up seasons. The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Toxic Town were both one-off miniseries. I’m not sure about Asura, which isn’t presented as a miniseries, but hasn’t been renewed. All of these are worth watching, and now you have dozens of episodes to fill your December with. Enjoy.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
