Daniel Fienberg’s Top 10

It is, I’m sure, a complete coincidence that the two shows that hit me hardest in 2025 were very different dramas cautioning viewers about fascism, each delving into the rise of banal evil — but only one offering a template for how to plant the seeds of revolution. It turns out that our contemporary lives have a lot in common with life a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (or 100 years ago in Europe).

For the first time since critics and television executives began discussing “Peak TV,” there were stretches of 2025 during which it was possible to feel the impact of a global pandemic, multiple extended industry strikes and the looming specter of unprecedented media consolidation. There was never too little television, but sometimes the search for greatness

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