PEAK tv IS OVER—AND 2025 PROVED IT: THE SHOWS THAT WASTED OUR TIME

We were promised abundance. What we got was exhaustion. In 2025, television didn’t collapse—it overexpanded, drowning viewers in safe spinoffs, prestige cosplay, and algorithm-approved boredom. With only so many hours in a day, nothing hurts more than investing in a series that should work… and absolutely doesn’t.

As the year closes, Variety’s tv critics drew a hard line in the sand. These are the shows that failed to justify their existence—despite big stars, familiar IP, or supposedly “can’t-miss” concepts. Some were quietly canceled. Others limped on, daring audiences to keep watching. Either way, the verdict is clear: these were the biggest misfires of 2025.

1. Countdown (Prime Video) — URGENCY WITHOUT A PULSE

A thriller that forgot to thrill. Countdown promised high-stakes momentum but delivered procedural filler stretched thin. The ticking clock never ticked, the tension never landed, and the result felt like a pilot endlessly replaying itself.

2. Pulse (Netflix) — FLATLINE TELEVISION

Medical dramas live or die by character intensity. Pulse barely registered a heartbeat. Despite a glossy setup, it lacked emotional urgency, compelling arcs, or a reason to care—an ironic fate for a show named after vital signs.

3. Prime Target (Apple TV+) — PRESTIGE WITHOUT PAYOFF

Smart premise. Serious tone. Empty calories. Prime Target chased importance instead of storytelling, confusing complexity for depth and atmosphere for substance. The result? A thriller that thought it was cleverer than it actually was.

4. The Runarounds (Prime Video) — STYLE OVER STORY

This one wanted desperately to be cool. Unfortunately, aesthetics can’t replace character or narrative drive. The Runarounds spun in circles, mistaking vibes for vision and never finding solid ground.

5. Sheriff Country (CBS) — THE SAME SHOW AGAIN

Procedurals survive on familiarity—but Sheriff Country pushed that comfort into creative coma. Predictable beats, recycled conflicts, and zero reinvention made it feel like tv on autopilot. No surprise it failed to stand out.

6. Suits LA (NBC) — BRAND NAME, NO BITE

Suited in name only. This spinoff leaned hard on nostalgia while forgetting what made the original crackle: wit, chemistry, and swagger. What remained was a hollow imitation—proof that IP alone can’t recreate lightning.

7. The Terminal List: Dark Wolf (Prime Video) — GRIM WITHOUT GRAVITY

Dark, dour, and dramatically inert. This extension of The Terminal List doubled down on severity while shedding tension and purpose. Grit isn’t depth—and this series confused the two at every turn.

8. zero Day (Netflix) — BIG IDEAS, SMALL IMPACT

Zero Day reached for relevance and landed in confusion. The ambition was there; the execution wasn’t. Heavy themes collapsed under clumsy plotting, leaving viewers with noise instead of insight.

THE COMMON THREAD: SAFE BETS, DEAD RESULTS

These shows weren’t failures because they took risks. They failed because they didn’t. Familiar IP. Familiar tones. Familiar mistakes. Hollywood’s addiction to brand recognition over bold creation finally caught up with it—and audiences felt the fatigue.

FINAL WORD: LESS CONTENT. MORE COURAGE.

2025 didn’t suffer from a lack of talent. It suffered from a lack of imagination. Until studios stop mistaking volume for value, lists like this will keep getting longer—and viewers will keep checking out.

Peak tv isn’t dead.
But it’s buried under a lot of very expensive mediocrity.