Overview of The Best Shows of the Year (So Far)
In this episode of The Watch, Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald use a mid-year TV check-in to rank their favorite shows of 2025 so far, argue about what counts as “best” versus “favorite,” and dig into why certain series have broken through for them. Their conversation centers on a shared top tier of shows, with especially strong praise for Widow’s Bay, Industry, Star City, The Pit, and Night of the Seven Kingdoms. They also cover a wider top 10, discuss a few promising or polarizing newer series, and end with a lively World Cup recap from their weekend in Philadelphia.
Their Top Shows of the Year So Far
Shared top-tier consensus
The hosts largely agree on the best shows of the year so far, with one notable difference near the top:
- #1: Widow’s Bay — Both place this at the top.
- #2:
- Chris: Industry
- Andy: Beef
- #3: Star City — both agree
- #4: The Pit — both agree
- #5:
- Chris: Night of the Seven Kingdoms
- Andy’s top five differs slightly, but he gives strong praise to the show in the broader discussion
Chris’s full top 10
- Widow’s Bay
- Industry
- Star City
- The Pit
- Night of the Seven Kingdoms
- The Bear
- Dark Wizard
- Shorzy
- The Agency
- Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen
Andy’s full top 10
- Widow’s Bay
- Beef
- Star City
- The Pit
- Night of the Seven Kingdoms
- The Bear
- Dark Wizard
- Shorzy
- The Agency
- Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen
Key Takeaways on the Biggest Shows
Widow’s Bay
- The show is praised as the most exciting mid-year surprise.
- They admire its weekly release model, saying it recreated the joy of a true week-to-week TV event.
- They credit the show’s visual, writerly, and directorial achievement, especially the work of Katie Dippold and Hiro Murai.
- The appeal is partly communal: it felt like a show everyone was discovering together.
Industry
- Chris argues that Industry continues to take the biggest swings and remains one of the best series of the decade.
- He praises its willingness to risk failure, break hearts, and keep escalating without playing safe.
- The show’s energy is compared to a sports team that never parks the bus—it always tries something bold.
Star City
- They both admire the show’s emotional ambition and the way it balances alt-history spectacle with intimate character drama.
- Chris emphasizes that the finale worked both as a season ending and series ending, even though he hopes for more.
- They praise the show’s refusal to bend overly to historical logistics when that would undermine the emotional payoff.
- Andy especially appreciates how it makes the viewer care deeply about a few central characters.
The Pit
- Both see it as one of the year’s best and most consistent shows.
- Chris notes that the second season wisely avoids repeating the first season’s biggest gimmick and instead focuses on a hard day in a hospital.
- The show’s quieter emotional depth and performances, especially from Ebon Moss-Bachrach, are highlighted.
Night of the Seven Kingdoms
- The hosts call it underrated and unusually fresh within the fantasy-TV landscape.
- They like that it feels like its own thing rather than a derivative extension of House of the Dragon.
- The show is praised for its different tone, visual style, and smaller-scale story, which makes it stand out.
Other Shows They Discussed
Worthwhile but lower-ranked or unfinished
- The Bear — admired for its formal evolution and strong final episodes, though they acknowledge the criticism about narrative drift.
- Dark Wizard — a standout documentary series about climber Dean Potter; both are impressed by its footage, editing, and emotional depth.
- Shorzy — continues to impress as a funny, strong sports-comedy entry.
- The Agency — praised for improved pacing and strong supporting characters.
- Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen — admired visually and tonally, but too bleak for one of the hosts to fully continue.
Newer or upcoming projects they’re interested in
- Tony Gilroy’s Behemoth — they react positively to the teaser and note the cast, including Pedro Pascal, Will Arnett, and Olivia Wilde.
- Ryan Murphy’s The Shards adaptation — Chris is cautiously optimistic, especially given Murphy’s success with American Crime Story: OJ Simpson and Versace.
What didn’t work as well
- Sugar Season 2 — they are skeptical of the show’s direction and think it overcomplicates itself.
- Chris’s critique: it becomes a “not serious people” show—too self-conscious and concept-heavy without enough payoff.
World Cup and Weekend Talk
Philadelphia, bars, and the England-Argentina match
- They close with a long discussion of watching the World Cup in Philadelphia, especially at Bad Brother.
- Andy recounts a weekend of soccer-watching, socializing, and seeing old friends perform music.
- Chris and Andy talk through the emotional pain of England’s loss to Argentina and the atmosphere of public viewing.
Andy’s football identity
- Andy reflects on becoming more invested in international football and openly discusses his growing attachment to Spain and to the sport more generally.
- He jokes about now being ready to be held accountable as a real football fan.
- The two talk about how World Cup matches create a unique collective emotional experience that club sports often don’t match.
Overall Perspective
The episode is part TV ranking show, part culture chat, and part sports hangout. The main throughline is that the hosts feel it has been a strong year for television, even if they haven’t seen everything. Their consensus top tier reflects a preference for shows that are:
- ambitious,
- visually distinctive,
- emotionally rich,
- and willing to take real risks.
The second half of the episode broadens out into documentaries, adaptations, and a spirited World Cup debrief that gives the conversation a looser, more personal finish.