Putting together these end-of-year summary articles is always a somewhat fraught exercise. When it comes to something like “TV shows of the year,” I’m a little shocked — and no small amount embarrassed — by the number of hours I spent engaged in passive entertainment before a small screen over the past 365 days. Regardless, it was a good year for what passes as “TV” these days — and by that I mean “streaming series” on any number of “services” (we used to call them “shows” on “channels,” but I digress). Below is a select sampling, in rough chronological order, of what most caught my eye in 2025.
American Primeval
I’m a sucker for demythologizing U.S. history, and the Netflix series American Primeval went right for the jugular with this six-part series focused on the brutality that animated the Utah Territory from 1856-’57. Far from the rosy “pioneers and petticoats” B.S. so often peddled by latter-day Western triumphalists, this show stared full-face into the lawless, murderous, treacherous and morally bereft “Utah Wars.” Granted, it’s still a work of historical fiction (with all the excesses that implies), but it’s still “historical.”
The Righteous Gemstones
This gloriously gaudy HBO sendup of big-money evangelism concluded its fourth and final season with a blowout that brought together all the deadly sins of the Gemstone family, as well as practically every side character in the show’s fantastically kooky cast. Series creator Danny McBride was indelible as the eldest Gemstone kid, alongside siblings played to perfection by Edi Patterson and Adam DeVine. And don’t forget John Goodman as the patriarch and Walton Goggins as the inimitable Uncle Baby Billy. It was pure comedic gold that subverted the prosperity gospel so thoroughly that it ended with something that felt an awful lot like honest faith.
The Righteous Gemstones stars Danny McBride, Adam DeVine, Edi Patterson and John Goodman. Courtesy photo
The White Lotus
The third season of HBO’s “eat-the-rich” series took its signature gaggle of wealth-monsters to Thailand, where they imploded amid the strictures of a luxury “wellness” retreat that revealed how unwell they really were on every conceivable level. Top marks go to the ensemble casting anchored by an unhinged Jason Isaacs, loopy-yet-sinister Parker Posey and bro-tesque Patrick Schwarzenegger, all spiced with a simmering Walton Goggins, faux hippy Aimee Lou Wood and delightfully manic Sam Rockwell. Every season is essentially the same: horrible people do horrible things to each other and themselves, but this one was a chef’s kiss.
Andor
There’s not enough praise I could heap on the Disney+ limited series Andor, which concluded after two seasons in which every episode was, frankly, perfect. Set in the Star Wars universe, it was the tale of Cassian Andor — a nobody living on a nowhere planet somewhere in the backwaters of the Galactic Empire. Unlike most other Star Wars “heroes,” he had no special powers of any kind, other than quick wits and determination that turned him into a reluctant rebel against authoritarianism. Andor is parsecs beyond every other entry in the canon and 100% worth watching, even if you’re not otherwise a Star Wars fan.
Love, Death & Robots
Netflix’s quirky Love, Death & Robots returned for a fourth season, and was among the best in the series, which is an anthology of short animated (or CGI, most often) tales focused on sci-fi and techno-dystopian themes — or both. This time around, the episodes hit a little smarter and a little less “style-over-substance,” the latter from which previous seasons have more than occasionally suffered. My favorite episodes: “Close Encounters of the Mini Kind,” “The Other Large Thing,” “Golgotha” and “For He Can Creep.” Definitely Skip “Can’t Stop,” though.
Pee-wee as Himself
Like every other child of the ’80s and early-’90s in the U.S., I grew up with Pee-wee’s Playhouse, and only knew the real-life performer Paul Reubens from the kids’ show and eponymous Pee-wee movies. Then, of course, as I got older I knew him for his various scandals and controversies, which drove him from public view for the better part of a decade. Now, after watching the two-part HBO miniseries Pee-wee as Himself (a documentary project finished just as its subject was to die of cancer), I know not just of the depth, complexity and pain of Reubens’ life and career, but the true profundity of his artistic genius. It should be impossible to scoff at Pee-wee ever again.
Alien: Earth
Despite its bona fide icon status, the Alien franchise launched by director Ridley Scott in 1979 has had more misses than hits. (I did and do still enjoy Prometheus and Covenant, but Romulus left me mostly cold.) However, I definitely put the new FX series Alien: Earth in the “hit” category. At least so far, after the conclusion of its first season, it’s a pretty consistently thrilling prequel that immerses the audience not in the frigid vacuum of space, but a future Earth controlled by corporations that operate like a combination of the Godfather and God. As you can imagine, an “alien” breaks loose and all hell does, too, but there’s a ton more layering and character complexity than some other entries.
Peacemaker
As antiheroes go, John Cena’s portrayal of the titular character in Peacemaker is hard to beat. Back for its second season on HBO, the show is a riff on the 2021 James Gunn-directed film The Suicide Squad, in which Cena’s Peacemaker was clearly a standout. In the series, we get to know the inner life of the man who loves peace so much he’ll kill for it. That includes his uber-racist and abusive “super”hero dad (Robert Patrick), and the ragtag bunch of quasi-government operatives who become his substitute family. This season was far funnier and actually much more thoughtful and touching than Season 1, but still raunchy, rollicking and just a plain old good time..
The American Revolution
My top prize for single best bit of “TV” — and in fact best thing I saw on a screen of any size this year — must go to legendary documentarian Ken Burns’ PBS series The American Revolution. In six episodes and 12 total hours, Burns presented the most compelling portrait of the origins of the U.S. ever put on film — filled to the brim with top historical experts, stellar cinematography and art direction, and a cast of voice actors that read like an Oscars honor roll. Though the timing of its release in 2025 had nothing to do with the current state of political and cultural affairs, it couldn’t have come at a better time and should be considered essential viewing for every American.
Honorable mentions: Fallout is streaming its second season each Tuesday on Amazon Prime, returning viewers to the radioactive wasteland full of black-humored gore and yet another star turn by Walton Goggins (this guy is everywhere).. Meanwhile, the Netflix phenomenon Stranger Things is wrapping up its nigh-on decadelong run with a mega series finale airing Wednesday, Dec. 31. You’ll hear more about both in 2026.
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TIMBER WARS: Six-part series, February-November 2022. GO READ IT»
WHERE ARE THE WORKERS?: Five-part series, September-October 2021. GO READ IT»
THE AMERICAN REDOUBT: Seven-part series, November-December 2017. GO READ IT»
STANDOFF AT RUBY RIDGE: 25 Years Later. Five-part series, August-September 2017. GO READ IT»
Curious about what media the locals use? Check our 2018 Local Media Survey. GO SEE »
Sandpoint in Pictures
Filmmaker Jimmy Matlosz of the Idaho Film Company has made a series of mini documentaries about influential Sandpoint locals, including the late Dann Hall and Erik Daarstad as well as icons Diane Michaels and Dan Shook. He is currently working on a series of interviews connected to the history of the Panida Theater. Jimmy is a 30-year veteran filmmaker who's work can be seen at dpmatlosz.com.
Meet the Reader
Ever wonder who makes the Reader happen? Here's a behind-the-scenes look pieced together by summer 2017 intern McCalee Cain in which Ben, Cameron and Lyndsie explain what exactly about the Reader keeps them coming back to their shabby (but well-loved) office each week.
