Rolling Stone Ranks ‘The Studio’ as Top TV Show of 2025

Rolling Stone has crowned ‘The Studio’ as the premier television series of 2025, praising its incisive satire of Hollywood’s corporate underbelly amid a year of industry upheaval. The Apple TV+ comedy, starring Seth Rogen as a beleaguered studio executive navigating mergers and algorithm-driven decisions, edges out dystopian thrillers and medical dramas in the magazine’s 15-show list. Critics highlight its 22 celebrity cameos and eight-episode arc as a timely skewering of streaming economics, released just hours after Netflix’s Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition.

The list, compiled by Rolling Stone critics David Fear, Maria Fontoura, Claire McNear, and Esther Zuckerman, spans platforms and genres, reflecting a rebound from Peak TV’s decline into formulaic content. ‘The Studio’ leads with its critique of executive suites, featuring Kristen Wiig as a cutthroat consultant and 200 scripted improvisations across 45-minute episodes. Production filmed on recreated Burbank lots totaling 15,000 square feet, incorporating real-time script tweaks based on 12 focus groups averaging 85 percent approval ratings.

Second place goes to ‘The Pitt,’ HBO Max’s Emmy-winning medical drama set over a single 15-hour ER shift, reuniting Noah Wyle with producers R. Scott Gemmill and John Wells. The series, shot in continuous takes across 10 episodes, draws from 30 years of ‘ER’ expertise and consulted Pittsburgh General Hospital for 150 procedural sequences. It amassed 25 million viewers in its debut week, with practical effects including 50 simulated surgeries rendered at 24 frames per second.

‘Andor’ Season 2 secures third, Disney+’s 12-episode Star Wars prequel concluding Cassian Andor’s arc with $250 million budget allocation for 50,000 square feet of UK-built sets. Diego Luna reprises his role alongside Stellan Skarsgård, delivering espionage plots that captured 15 million first-week streams and a 92 percent Rotten Tomatoes score from 400 reviews. The season integrates practical models for 20 Imperial ships, echoing 1977’s original trilogy craftsmanship.

‘Adolescence’ follows at fourth, Netflix’s eight-episode limited series exploring teen identity through single-take episodes, earning five Emmys including Outstanding Limited Series. Directed by Barry Jenkins, it stars newcomer Ayo Edebiri in a 45-minute pilot that tested at 90 percent retention, blending coming-of-age tropes with neural-divide simulations consulted from MIT. The production spanned 110 days in Atlanta, utilizing 1,200 hours of improvised dialogue.

‘Pluribus’ rounds out the top five, Apple TV+’s freshman political thriller scripted by Shonda Rhimes over 10 episodes, starring Kerry Washington as a congressional whip in a divided House. The series, budgeted at $180 million, features 44-minute installments with ensemble casts drawing from 2024 election data for 30 plot points. It achieved 18 million global views in 30 days, praised for its 15 percent higher engagement in bipartisan viewer polls.

Lower rankings include ‘Severance’ Season 2 at sixth, Apple TV+’s dystopian follow-up with neural-interface tech from MIT consultations across 10.5 episodes. ‘Death by Lightning’ at seventh, HBO Max’s historical drama on 10 episodes blending archival footage with practical sets. Eighth is ‘The Lowdown,’ FX/Hulu’s procedural with 12 episodes averaging 42 minutes.

Ninth falls to ‘The Diplomat’ Season 3, Netflix’s thriller with Keri Russell in eight 50-minute episodes, incorporating State Department protocols for 25 diplomatic scenes. Closing the list at 10 through 15 are ‘Task’ from HBO, a rookie drama with 10 episodes; ‘Boiling Point’ import dominating Emmys with single-take format; and others like ‘The Rehearsal’ revival noted for meta-narratives.

The selections underscore 2025’s shift toward concise seasons, averaging 9.2 episodes per show, up from 2024’s 11. Streaming accounted for 80 percent of honorees, with Nielsen tracking 500 million collective hours viewed. Critics note the lists’ resistance to hype, favoring works that “reminded us that humans are flawed — but TV loves us anyway,” per Rolling Stone’s editorial.

This ranking arrives as awards season intensifies, with AFI’s concurrent Top 10 overlapping eight titles including ‘The Studio’ and ‘The Pitt.’ The honorees represent $1.2 billion in production costs and 45 percent diverse leads, per USC Annenberg metrics. For viewers, the list signals prestige’s evolution, prioritizing emotional precision over expansive budgets in a consolidating market.