Showstoppers! Our Favorite Shows of Q1 2025

With all the content on TV these days, “What are you watching?” is a frequently asked question when friends get together. As part of our job helping you decide what to watch, we watch as many popular shows as we can, and publish our findings in the Thursday FabList ‘This & That’ newsletters!

Although we can’t possibly see everything, we do watch a lot (see a summary of everything we’ve recommended this year so far here) and decided to do a quarterly recap on the ‘best of the best’ to keep you up to speed in case you’ve missed anything!

With all that’s going on in the world today, we’ve found ourselves gravitating towards feel-good shows that are easy to watch and don’t raise our stress levels. We list these shows below first, followed by more dramatic/tense shows we’ve liked this quarter. We’ve also included some shows we just couldn’t get into (often against popular opinion), and others that are on deck for Q2.

No-Stress, Well-Done, Fun Watches:

Running Point: TV Series on Netflix.

Kate Hudson is incredible as the head of her family’s LA NBA team. It’s somewhat ‘Ted Lasso-ish’ but with a female lead and basketball.  Sports, humor, great acting, and good blazer outfits – we were so sad when this season ended and can’t wait for Season 2.

Wild Life: Documentary on Disney+.

This documentary features the hard work of conservationists Kris and Doug Tompkins and chronicles their fight to preserve one of the last truly wild places on earth – Patagonia. And since we just spent 2 weeks in Patagonia, we want to say THANK YOU to the Tompkins (and Yvon Chouinard) for protecting this gorgeous land.

The Residence: Limited TV Series on Netflix.

New Shondaland (Shonda Rhimes – Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, etc.) lighthearted ‘who-dunnit’ murder mystery that takes place in the White House. It won’t tax your brain, but it’s well acted and a fun one. Uzo Aduba’s sleuthing is delivered perfectly!

Apple Cider Vinegar: TV Mini Series (Biography) on Netflix.

This series is based on the true story of  Australian wellness guru/influencer Belle Gibson who pretended to be suffering from cancer and keeping the disease under control via self-care therapies. She later confessed that none of it was true. Fans of The Dropout (Elizabeth Holmes story) will love this.

High Potential: TV Series on Hulu.

Starring Kaitlin Olson (Always Sunny, The Mick, Hacks) as a brilliant, quirky, single mom with three kids who helps solve an unsolvable crime when she rearranges some evidence during her shift as a police department cleaner. She then goes on to join the force and continues contributing via her very unorthodox crime-solving techniques. For fans of The Mentalist.

Colin from Accounts: TV Series on Paramount.

An Australian comedy featuring a microbrewery owner and a student doctor who are brought together by a car accident that injures a stray dog they agree to adopt together. Romance, dogs, humor – a fun watch.

More Dramatic/Somewhat Darker TV Shows:

Landman: TV Series on Paramount.

This was Chrissie’s favorite show of the year so far. Billy Bob Thornton delivers in Season 1, the story of the oil world of West Texas and the roughnecks and wildcat billionaires trying to strike it rich. Also starring Ali Larter, John Hamm, and Demi Moore. Great cast, great show. Can’t wait for season 2!

Paradise: TV Series on Hulu.

We are typically not into science fiction or apocalyptic shows, but this one with Sterling K. Brown and James Marsden is addictive. The series follows Secret Service agent Xavier Collins (Brown) as he investigates the murder of former President Cal Bradford (Marsden) in a seemingly idyllic, yet underground, community, three years after a doomsday event.

White Lotus: TV Series on Max.

Season 3 surprised us by being darker/more ‘stressful’ than previous seasons, (and introducing some ‘uncomfortable’ topics into the storyline!),  but the ensemble performances are so great. Mike White (producer) drops subtle visual hints along the way to his usual whodunit, which keeps your eyes glued to the screen. Can’t wait for the finale!

The Agency: TV Series on Paramount.

This spy thriller is about a covert CIA agent (Michael Fassbender) who abandons his undercover life and returns to London where a past love emerges that puts them both in a deadly game of espionage.

The Pitt: TV Series on Max.

A modern-day ER starring Noah Wyle. Each episode is an hour in a Pittsburgh ER that Wyle runs. Each show introduces new characters and traumas to create a bracingly fresh medical drama.

No Thanks:

Sorry, but we just couldn’t get into Severence, even though our family members loved it!

On Deck:

Adolescence: TV Series on Netflix.

When a 13-year-old is accused of the murder of a classmate, his family, therapist, and the detective in charge are all left asking what really happened. Getting a lot of buzz about the dangers of social media.

Zero Day: TV Series on Netflix.

Robert DeNiro. The series asks the questions of “In the midst of crisis, how can we discover the truth when it seems that the world is being destroyed by uncontrollable forces?” as well as  “To what extent are conspiracy theories our own inventions or products of our imagination?”

Lockerbie: A Search for Truth: TV Mini Series on Peacock.

Based on the events surrounding the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, this tells the story of the crash investigation on both sides of the Atlantic and the devastating effect it had on the small town and the families who lost loved ones.

A Thousand Blows: TV Series on Hulu.

The fortunes of Hezekiah and Alec, two best friends newly arrived from Jamaica. Fighting for survival in the violent melting pot of Victorian London’s East End, they come up against Sugar Goodson, a dangerous, veteran boxer.

The Studio: TV Series on Apple TV+.

Starring Seth Rogen and Catherine O’Hara. Follows a legacy Hollywood movie studio striving to survive in a world where it is increasingly difficult for art and business to live together.