Take heart, North America. Jimmy Kimmel is still here to stand up for us all; he even signed an extension to his contract. Other top shows from 2025 tackled issues that seem even scarier than actual news headlines — if such a thing can be imagined. They can be, by the people who made many of the great shows I watched in one crazy, anxious year. Here are ten that made me laugh and cry in 2025.
Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC; Citytv). Nothing on television was as frightening, dramatic, consequential or fearlessly funny this past season as the late night talk show not even Donald Trump could take down.
In the wake of the murder of Charlie Kirk. Kimmel faced the full hellfire of the bloated orange commander in thief. Kimmel’s crime: pointing out that the president of the United States was acting like a petulant four year old. Trump hates most late night talk show hosts but especially Kimmel, the “loser” who dared to mock him incessantly throughout 2025. The White House seized on a klunky Kirk reference and flexed into full retribution mode, threatening ABC’s parent company Disney, calling on affiliates to pull the show or else and unleashing his appointed attack dog and FCC chairman. These were the same bullying tactics that have cowered foreign governments, Democrats and Republicans, the courts and law firms and many other so-called enemies on his list he says doesn’t exist.
DIsney blinked first; then came the flood of streaming subscription cancellations. Pro-Trump affiliate heads buckled after re-reading their network contracts. Even key Republicans finally saw that snuffing out free speech in America was, well, un-American.
Kimmel was back on the air in one week. He doubled down on the mock-o-meter. His ratings shot through the roof. Suddenly, Trump succeeded in doing what ABC, CBS and NBC had failed to do for decades — make broadcast television relevant again.
Other distractions, pro and con, continue daily. but history will record that this was when the tide began to turn. Doubt was placed in the minds of the MAGA faithful. South Park, Colbert and SNL started piling on. Even Marjorie Taylor Green broke rank.
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Kimmel, the guy who once hosted a show where, when things got dull, cameras cut to women jumping on trampolines, transformed into a staunch defender of democracy, the rule of law, and the first amendment. He went from The Man Show to The Man, the one who would not bow and put his country and hs values before himself or his career. Read more of my take on Kimmel’s moment, including his triumphant week of shows in Brooklyn right after returning to ABC, at this link.
Pluribus (AppleTV). The new documentary Breakdown: 1975 (Netflix) makes the point that, back 50 years ago when things were about as bad as they are today, filmmakers hunkered down with unblinking stories. Audiences were challenged to confront political ugliness and social upheaval. And, here’s the thing — people could not get enough of films such as “Three Days of the Condor,” “Taxi Driver” and “Network.”
Maybe that is what is happening now. Pluribus seems like an escapist sci-fi story but, in the hands of series co-creator Vince Gilligan, it is something more sinister. What if everyone on earth, save for a dozen people, were reduced to a hive-minded army of well-behaved peacenicks? Would you fall in line even if it meant your only nourishment was dining out on the carcasses of frozen friends and neighbours?
The series offers a tour de force performance from Rhea Seehorn as cranky earthling Carol. Don’t be put off by reports of a middling Season One finale (although that is a fair assessment). The other eight episodes read like a gripping novel, and more seasons are already ordered. Read the full review here.
Adolesence (Netflix). This is Part Two of the take-a-hard-look-at-the-world-today argument. Adolesence is even more disturbing than Pluribus, in style and in content. It is suffocating because it hits us all where we live — as part of a family.
The performances are all incredible, especially when you consider that every episode plays as if locked into a single, hour-long take. Producer-writer-star Stephen Graham in particular is beyond fearless, his temper erupting in one scene and his very soul crushed in the next. Set on his 50th birthday, the working dad is all but destroyed. Emmy-winner Owen Cooper who plays troubled young Jamie Miller — what a haunting performance from the then 14-year-old.
On its whole, Adolescence is a searing look at toxic masculinity, cyber bullying, and a culture and society that has dropped the ball when it comes to raising young men. After you watch, follow this link to a Tudum Explainer article which reveals the lengths to which the creators and producers went to pull off this cautionary tale. One warning however: you will be shaken up by this experience. Even if that leads to enlightenment, make sure you are ready to take it on. Read the full review here.
Landman (Paramount+). The second season of this Taylor Sheridan drama broke records when it returned in November. This is different from the two prior picks in that it is more of a traditional hour-long escapist drama — sort of a Dallas for the 2020’s where, instead of who shot J.R., the question is, who would want to risk their lives working on an oil well?
Billy Bob Thornton holds it all together as Tommy Norton, the “landman” or field boss of the oil fields in question. The fires he puts out at home, mainly caused by his spend-crazy wife Angela (Ali Larter) and un-checked cheerleader daughter Aimsley (Michelle Randolph), are just as ferocious as the ones at work. There he answers to his newly-widowed boss Cami (Demi Moore), and tussles with a mobster-slash-financier (Andy Garcia). Two Canadians shine as the team who have Tommy’s back: the great Colm Feore (as steady exec Nathan) and frisky law shark Rebecca (Kayla Wallace, featured this week in both audio and video versions of brioux.tv: the podcast). Add Sam Eliott as Tommy’s disgruntled dad and then strap yourself in for episodes that spin and move like the buck riding machine back at the local saloon.
Slow Horses (AppleTV). What a series; what a cast. Gary Oldman is superb in this British spy drama as sly, slovenly M15 loose cannon Jackson Lamb. As Apple’s PR folk call him, “Drinker, Thinker, Rebel, Spy.”
His gang of misfit spies are played by a nimble British cast: Jack Lowden, Saskia Reeves, Christopher Chung and, in previous seasons, Rosealind Eleazer, Kadiff Kirwan and others. M15 higher up Kristin Scott Thomas would love to fire them all but they keep saving the day each season. Five seasons have been streamed so far with two more already ordered. James Callis as the requisite fool in charge gets his big star turn in Season Five but each season is as good as the next. This is a remarkably consistant TV show that plays like a big-budget movie and keeps exceeding expectations. Credit series creator Will Smith, Mick Herron, who wrote the novels, and Canadian-born executive producer (and early brioux.tv: the podcast guest) Graham Yost, who never let a University of Toronto education get in the way of some terrific storytelling,
Leanne (Netflix). Set in Knoxville, Tennessee and based on Leanne Morgan’s stand up act, Leanne is a fairly conventional comedy. It ranks on my top ten list, however, because Morgan arrives fully formed as a refreshingly original character. This stand up star makes the best segue to sitcom lead since Roseanne.
Morgan plays a woman blindsided when her husband (played by Ryan Stiles from The Drew Carey Show and Whose Line is it Anyway) leaves her for another woman. Helping her pick up the pieces is twice-divorced sister (Kristen Johnston from 3rd Rock from the Sun).
The series is in great hands with veteran sitcom showrunner and brioux.tv: the podcast guest Chuck Lorre (The Big Bang Theory). He wisely paired sitcom newcomer Morgan with seasoned players Stiles and Johnston. Unlike Roseanne, however, Morgan does not appear to need tugboats to steer her towards her marks. She has the chops and is as effective in the funny moments as she is in the more heartfelt. The 59-year-old is also frank and fearless about the hormonal hell that is menopause.
The series is an easy binge. We zipped through Leanne in four nights — and look forward to more.
The Studio (AppleTV). How famous Canadian stoner Seth Rogen – co-creator, co-writer, co-director and star – convinced Apple to give him millions would make a great episode of, well, The Studio.
Rogen plays Matt Remick, the newly installed head of fictional Continental Studios. A cinephile, Rogen wants to make arty, Oscar-bait films while trying to keep the studio afloat by greenlighting potential franchise films (a nice term for garbage) like an action movie based on the Kool-Aid Man.
The Studio boasts a terrific comedy cast in roles big and cameo. Catherine O’Hara (unfortunately underused plays a former studio head); Ike Barenholtz a vice president and best pal; Katherine Hahn a foul-mouthed head of marketing. Bryan Cranston is terrific (as always) in a limited role as Continental’s CEO.
Stars from in front of and behind the camera appear as themselves in every episode: directors Martin Scorsese, Sarah Polley (who directed Rogen in the 2011 romantic comedy “Take This Waltz”), Peter Berg, and Ron Howard (who plays hilariously against his nice guy image in episode 3). The most inspired piece of casting was having Ted Sarandos, head honcho of Apple TV’s rival Netflix, appearing as himself at the Golden Globes, where Netflix takes home an armload of awards. (I wonder how that went over at the Apple pitch meeting?). Read the rest of my original review at this link.
The Residence (Netflix). If only the real White House was this much fun.
If you are a fan of the recent Daniel Craig “Knives Out” films, or mystery movies from the past such as “The Last of Sheila,” “Clue” or “Murder on the Orient Express,” you’ll especially want to check in to this Residence. Lavishly produced by Shondaland’s Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers and created and written by Paul William Davis (Scandal), the series is long and talky and bogs down in spots in a few early episodes. Stick with it. The surprises keep piling up as fast as the clues, thanks to a terrific cast of veteran players you’ll welcome back, fresh faces you’ve never heard of and a couple of people who step up beyond expectations.
At the centre is Uza Abduba, who some will remember as “Crazy Eyes” from Orange is the New Black. She plays Cordelia Cupp, a character who runneth over with murder mystery tropes. She is Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Hurcule Poirot and Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc rolled into one.
The bad news? Netflix canceled this gem after one winning season. Read my full review here.
Wake Up Dead Man: a Knives Out Mystery (Netflix). Master sleuth Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) plays a backseat in this third “Knives Out” film to Josh O’Connor (Prince Charles in The Crown). The British actor plays Jud Duplenticy, a Catholic priest exhiled to a rural parish and tasked with surviving whacked out paster Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin). There are the required array of suspects and red herrings, here played by an A-List cast including Glenn Close, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny and Thomas Hayden Church. Mila Kunis is a local cop trying to beat Benoit to the arrest. Writer-director Rian Johnson, however, is less interested in creating the usual murder mystery puzzle and more on exploring a much bigger mystery: faith. Benoit is the atheist/skeptic. Fr. Duplenticy is a true believer. Both weave a riveting sermon or two before this mass has ended. Thought provoking and great fun.
The Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series (Sportsnet). Best cast on television, even if the ending was a bummer.
