By Ashley Wilcom
The 2025 season of television thus far has been off to a rocket-launch start, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon.
Water-cooler talk of what’s new on TV has reached its former glory — both in person and online. With shows like “White Lotus” and “The Pitt” on HBO, “Yellowjackets” on Showtime, “Daredevil: Born Again” on Disney+, “Severance” on Apple TV+, and “9-1-1” on ABC, television has steadily become relevant and cool again.
HBO has two heavy hitters on its docket with the highly anticipated return of “White Lotus” and its star-studded cast, plus its new-kid-on-the-block “The Pitt,” which has been ravenously received by both audiences and critics. This show has breathed life into the stale formula of medical dramas with its gritty realism and gore, thanks to its home network, known for its no-holds-barred approach to television.
“Yellowjackets” returned for its third season on Showtime, much to the delight of its dedicated online fanbase. The writers have continued to pull rabbits out of a hat, with the addition of Hilary Swank as Melissa’s adult counterpart, to its already impressive cast. The mystery and drama has only intensified as the season unfolds, leaving fans to speculate online about what really happened in the Canadian wilderness where the characters were formerly stranded.
Apple TV+ has entered the conversation with the return of its hit series “Severance,” causing audiences to scramble to decipher the meanings hidden in its psychological office drama labyrinth. The success of “Severance” might just be a stepping stone for the streamer to land other successes, something it has been lacking in the current crowded landscape of streaming TV.
Disney+ is also testing a new approach with its audience by adding adult television to its roster, with “Daredevil: Born Again” serving as its guinea pig. The series has not held its punches when it comes to gore and violence, leading critics and audiences alike to express their satisfaction with the show. According to IMDB, each episode has a ranking between 8.0 and 9.0/10, marking “Daredevil: Born Again” a confident success.
On the network TV side, the return of “9-1-1” on ABC from its winter hiatus has seen a ratings surge, due to its growing audience of 18-39 year-olds, one of the most sought-after demographics to capture. Fans of the show, now on its eighth season, have been on the edge of their seats speculating about the will-they-won’t-they romance between its two leads, Buck and Eddie (affectionately known online as “Buddie”). Network TV has been struggling lately due to the dominance of streamers in today’s television landscape. However, with the success of “9-1-1” as a traditional network procedural, ABC might have just cracked the code on how to keep audiences tuning in.
While some have suggested that the era of “Peak TV” came to a petering stop at the close of the 2010s, it appears that TV, and “Peak TV” at that, has made its comeback this year with a resounding boom. Hopefully, this trend will continue and perhaps usher in a new era of great television.
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