David Bianculli

And what Noah Hawley did by reinventing the Alien movie franchise for the FX TV series Alien Earth was thrilling and, at times, truly scary.

And still churning out weekly episodes, brilliant ones, is Pluribus, the new indescribably original Apple TV sci-fi series from Vince Gilligan.

The comedies I like best this year?

Some were set behind the scenes of showbiz, like the new Apple TV series The Studio, starring Seth Rogen as a bumbling but well-meaning studio head, and the returning HBO Max series Hacks, starring Jean Smart as a female comic landing a job as a TV talk show host.

The other comedies were lighthearted mysteries benefiting greatly from their veteran cast members.

Hulu's Only Murders in the Building and Netflix's A Man on the Inside.

Both of those shows made me feel good, which is a lot to ask of any TV show these days.

Nonfiction TV also offered many excellent options this year.

Artistic profiles to seek out from 2025 include Apple TV's Mr. Scorsese about film director Martin Scorsese and HBO's Pee Wee Is Himself about actor Paul Rubens.

Most recently, there's the short but powerful Netflix documentary All the Empty Rooms about a TV feature reporter and photographer who visit the families of children killed during school shootings to memorialize the children's empty but still intact bedrooms.

It's as tough to watch as adolescence, and oddly, touches on a similar subject.

TV reporter Steve Hartman talks about the power of visiting these bedroom shrines, trapped in time and saying so much with their silence.

The whole point of this is to not have to say much.

Other great documentaries this year included Sunday Best, a new Netflix program about Ed Sullivan's contributions to popularizing black entertainers, PBS's The American Revolution, the latest and perhaps greatest epic history lesson from Ken Burns and Company, and the new installment of The Beatles Anthology, presented by Disney+.

On talk shows, I loved the feisty, topical spirit invoked by Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Stewart, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver, and especially the well-aimed irreverence of the current season of Comedy Central's South Park.

Wow.

Many of these shows were attacked or censored by their corporate owners in well-publicized clashes that exposed and fought against the interference.

The CBS Late Show franchise is being retired from the schedule, but most of the time this year, the comics and their programs persevered.

Finally, my favorite TV moment of 2025 came courtesy of CNN.

Not for a news bulletin, but for televising, live from Broadway, a production of Good Night and Good Luck, starring George Clooney as veteran CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow.