Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who would rather reflect on the year in pop culture than look at their current bank statement.
Santa wasn’t the only one making lists this year. As the final days of the year come to a close, we’ve gathered several of our key year-end TV and film lists for 2025 in one handy place for easy browsing while you wait in return lines, prepare to board flights or zone out on the couch.
We also threw in some other recent lists, unbound to 2025 but still useful this time of year when our brains need all the help they can get to winnow down viewing choices.
Enjoy!
From left, Tessa Thompson in “Hedda”; Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman in “The Roses”; Michael B. Jordan and Miles Caton in “Sinners.”
(Photo illustration by Josep Prat Sorolla / For The Times; photos from Amazon Prime, Searchlight Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures )
The 10 best movies of 2025 — and where to find them: The best movies of 2025 include “Sinners,” “Hedda,” “One Battle After Another,” “Eddington” and “The Naked Gun,” according to our critic Amy Nicholson.
The 12 best needle drops of 2025: These songs made their scenes indelible, from classic rock and dance pop to old-timey blues and thrash. There’s even a former Beatle on here.
Best of 2025: Television — from left, Anna Lambe in “North of North,” Ethan Hawke and Michael Hitchcock in “The Lowdown,” “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads.”
(Photo illustration by Josep Prat Sorolla / For The Times; photos by Netflix, FX and Warner Bros.)
The best TV shows of 2025: The TV series on this list delivered real surprises with new directions and original formats, while others just had good old-fashioned storytelling, according to our critic Robert Lloyd.
The 16 best documentaries of 2025: The documentary films and series that captured our attention this year feature famous people and ordinary people, as well as new ideas and perspectives.
The best reality TV of 2025: Scandals, competitions and breakups are par for the course on reality shows, but this year also brought some tender moments that made for must-see TV.
The 33 best comedy specials of 2025: Specials by Frankie Quiñones, Andrew Schulz, Jordan Jensen, Sebastian Maniscalco, Bill Burr, Atsuko Okatsuka and Gabriel Iglesias make our list.
15 must-watch British crime drama series: Whether with an old-fashioned one-case-per-episode or a more sprawling multistrand story, quaint or violent, historic or modern, the birthplace of Agatha Christie understands that we all need stories that make sense of seemingly senseless acts.
Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who wants to spend some time revisiting Rob Reiner’s indelible mark on pop culture.
For many of us, it was already that time of year when we pop in our DVD of “When Harry Met Sally…” or figure out which streaming service has it in its library (or digitally rent it, if none do), and passively recite every quotable moment until Harry’s breathless declaration of love on New Year’s Eve necessitated our full performance. It was a comfort watch in the best sense because of how joyous and hopeful it left so many of us, even cynics, feeling. This year, as the tradition now becomes layered with sadness following the tragic deaths of Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, there’s at least comfort in knowing all the Hollywood magic he brought to life (whether he was directing, or starring in a production) that was full of humanity, humor and heart, and accompanied us at different stages of our lives, can continue to do so. Members of our film team took a look at some of Reiner’s best films, many of which can be streamed. And TV critic Robert Lloyd reminded us of Reiner’s contributions to television, particularly through shows like “All in the Family” and “New Girl” (“Lettuce, tomato, lettuce, meat, meat, meat, cheese, lettuce” — iykyk).
But if it’s all too soon, we get it. Maybe our other streaming recommendations can provide an escape — one is a TV drama about a disillusioned Broadway director returning home to his amateur community theater, and the other is a mystery thriller with an unlikely duo teaming up to investigate the case of a missing girl.
Also in this week’s Screen Gab, “Emily in Paris” actor Samuel Arnold stops by Guest Spot to tell us about the behind-the-scenes adventures of the show’s Italian-set fifth season.
ICYMI
Must-read stories you might have missed
Julianne Hough near the Dolby Theatre at the 97th Academy Awards earlier this year. The Oscars are moving to YouTube, sending shock waves through Hollywood.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
What the Oscars moving to YouTube means for broadcast TV: The Academy Awards will stream on YouTube beginning in 2029, ending a more than five-decade run on broadcast television and marking the show’s biggest distribution shift in its history.
Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times
Harry McNaughton as Charlie Summers, a disillusioned Broadway director returning home to his amateur community theatre in “Happiness.”
(Andi Crown Photography / PBS)
“Happiness” (PBS app, pbs.org)
What could be better, at this festive time of year, or any other time, than a backstage musical comedy set in an amateur theatrical company in New Zealand’s fifth-largest city? Harry McNaughton plays Charlie Summers, whose Broadway dream dies when he’s fired as the director of a “Cats” revival and, losing his work visa, returns home to New Zealand for what he hopes will be only a couple of days. Naturally, it turns out otherwise, with Charlie drawn reluctantly into the production of a new musical, “The Trojan Horse,” at the Pizazz theater, run by his mother (Rebecca Gibney) and stocked with a original twists on classic characters: a dictatorial director, the always-cast leading lady, a talented ingénue, a buff electrician with a great voice and the shy high school music teacher who wrote it, making themselves and their desires quickly felt. (There’s a feminist thrust to the plot.) The songs are tuneful and witty, the performances fun, the atmosphere charged but charming. Presented in six 20-minute episodes as part of “Masterpiece Theater.” — Robert Lloyd
Emma Thompson as private investigator Zoë Boehm and Ruth Wilson as art conservationist Sarah Trafford in “Down Cemetery Road.”
(Matt Towers / Apple TV)
“Down Cemetery Road” (Apple TV)
Nothing says the holidays like a gripping crime drama where everyone’s a suspect! Apple TV’s smart and unvarnished British series follows Zoë Boehm (Emma Thompson), a private investigator who hasn’t the time or bandwidth for social niceties, shows of emotion or combing her hair. She’s thrown together with homemaker and art restorer Sarah Tucker (Ruth Wilson), a passive suburbanite who likes 4 Non Blondes.
Their sparring personalities create the undeniable chemistry that’s at the heart of this eight-part series, while the drama’s unexpected turn of events and fast pacing make it hard to hit pause. The two women are connected when a deadly residential explosion rocks Sarah’s neighborhood. A woman was killed, but her young daughter, who made it out alive, has mysteriously disappeared. The quest to find the girl pulls the odd-couple investigators into a complex and dangerous cover up by the Ministry of Defense, and they discover the explosion was in fact an orchestrated assassination.
Morwenna Banks’ adaptation of Mick Herron’s debut novel of the same name, “Down Cemetery Road” also features the PTSD-plagued Downey (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett), the villainous Amos (Fehinti Balogun), bumbling agent Hamza Malik (Adeel Akhtar) and his sociopathic boss, C (Darren Boyd). But it’s Thompson’s gruff character who gets the best lines, such as the one she says to a potential client: “I don’t drink Prosecco and I don’t bond emotionally.” The show has already been renewed for a second season. — Lorraine Ali
Guest spot
A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching
Samuel Arnold as Julien in Season 5 of “Emily in Paris.”
(Netflix)
Every office needs a deliciously snarky employee who is too fabulous to work, but still manages to grace the room with their presence to boost the vibe. In “Emily in Paris,” that person is Julien. The quippy, sharply dressed and gossip-loving character, played by Samuel Arnold, has been a bright spot in the series over its run. Initially the guy who liked to remind Emily she was une ringarde American, he’s softened his stance on his fish-out-of-water colleague. But as the Agence Grateau luxury marketing team ventures to Italy this season, which is now streaming, his side eye shifts focus to a new co-worker. Over email, Arnold shared what it was like shooting outside their usual setting and the animated series he returns to over and over. — Yvonne Villarreal
The Grateau team spent time in Italy this season. Some filming took place in Rome and Venice. What’s a memory or experience that stands out from filming there? Did any place there become a go-to spot for you when you weren’t shooting?
Rome was incredible, both on and off screen. One moment that really stands out is when Ashley Park and her choreographer, Carlye Tamaren, taught us one of Ashley’s dance routines. Everyone did so well — and Bruno Gouery was absolutely hilarious. When we weren’t filming, one of our favorite meeting spots was the rooftop at the Minerva Hotel. It’s stunning. In Venice, we would all gather in Bruno Gouery’s room and play a pirate dice game that Lucien Laviscount introduced us to. The city itself felt like a dream.
The series revolves around Emily and her fish-out-of-water experience of building a new life in Paris. How would this series look if it were titled “Julien in Paris”? Five seasons in, what would a slice of his life look like if you could pitch it to Darren Star?
If the show were called “Julien in Paris,” it probably wouldn’t be very exciting — Julien is a Parisian. He has Paris on lock. I like to think he sees himself as the prince of the city. Now, Julien in New York City — opening his own marketing firm there — that’s a different story. I can already feel the drama.
Julien is very discerning and could spot the games Genevieve was playing. How do you think he handled her, and the position he was in, knowing this secret could damage Emily and Mindy’s friendship?
I think Julien handled it pretty well. It’s not a great position to be in. When one friend hurts another, the right thing to do is to encourage the person at fault to do the right thing. And when someone like Genevieve — played by the absolutely lovely Thalia Besson — tries to stir up trouble, Julien definitely knows how to deal with that in the best possible way.
With all the love triangles (and squares), who would you, Samuel, pick for Emily — Gabriel or Marcello? And for Mindy — Nicolas or Alfie?
I don’t think I should be picking men for those women. What I can say is that they should follow their hearts and embrace whatever comes with that. Honestly, we should all try to do the same.
What have you watched recently that you’re recommending to everyone you know?
I recently watched “Safe House” [Netflix], with Lucien Laviscount as a badass action hero. The casting is great, the ending really catches you off guard, and Lucien does his own stunts — which makes it even more impressive.
What’s your go-to comfort watch — the movie or TV show you always come back to?
“Rick and Morty” [Hulu]. It never gets old. It’s funny, packed with pop-culture references — which I love — and the voice acting is just incredible.
