Looking for something good to watch? Amid the deluge of television in 2025, here are the very best, starting with number 20: "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" (Paramount+)
Looking for something good to watch? Amid the deluge of television in 2025, here are the very best, starting with number 20: "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" (Paramount+) " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
"The Gold" (PBS)
"High Potential" (ABC)
"IT: Welcome to Derry" (HBO)
"The White Lotus" (HBO)
"Sirens" (Netflix)
"Severance" (Apple TV)
"Matlock" (CBS)
"Apple Cider Vinegar" (Netflix)
"Overcompensating" (Prime Video)
"Task" (HBO)
"North of North" (Netflix)
"Taskmaster" (YouTube)
"Boots" (Netflix)
"Death by Lightning" (Netflix)
"The American Revolution" (PBS)
"Adolescence" (Netflix)
"Andor" (Disney+)
"The Pitt" (HBO Max)" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> The 20 best TV shows of 2025
We're a few days away from 2026, and it's time to take stock of all the wonderful, wild, whirlwind, and downright ridiculouspop culture momentsthat defined the year.
Outside of the bonkers, the year was filled with the kind of pop culture stories that travel far outside entertainment news circles. Frominternet-breaking celebrity engagements, ajeans adthat may well have come up during Christmas dinner, or celebritiesliterally leaving planet Earth, 2025 was a doozy.
In the past year, we sawJoJo Siwa find love on "Big Brother,"a Mormon wife find redemption on the"Dancing with the Stars" ballroom,Taylor Swiftgo a little TMI on "Wood" andJeff Bezosgo all out at a foam party palooza ahead of his wedding to Lauren Sánchez Bezos.
Revisit:From Kimmel to Kendrick, pop culture moments that defined 2025
We've also looked back on the anthems that defined 2026, thereality TV shows that tore the internet in two, thebest TV shows of the yearand ourfavorite books that hit our shelves.
Now it's time to look at the moments that made us scratch our heads and do a double-take.
JoJo Siwa finds love on 'Big Brother' with Chris Hughes
After months of swirling rumors, children's entertainer turned queer iconJoJo Siwa went publicwithher relationship with Chris Hughes.
The two starred alongside each other in Season 24 of "Celebrity Big Brother UK," forming a tight friendship that many speculatedbordered on romantic.Siwa, at the time,was in a relationshipwith Australian influencer Kath Ebbs.
On the other hand, Hughes was best known for his appearance on "Love Island UK" Season 3, during which he fostered a tumultuous tie to co-star Olivia Attwood. Despite the dogged speculation,news that Hughes and Siwawere officially an item still shocked fans.
For now, the pair appear to be taking it in stride, however, posting happily on social media and appearing to shine on any think pieces on sexuality, age gap relationships, or anything in between.
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's foam wedding party palooza
Before renting outa large chunk of Venicefor hisGilded Age-style wedding, Jeff Bezos proved the billionaire class need not be classy with a foam party on his 417-foot mega yacht.
On June 22,before the formal festivities kicked off, media outlets, includingFox NewsandPeople, published photos of Bezos, Sánchez, and their guests in swimsuits, playing with foam that bubbled up on the deck. The images, shared widely on social media, served as a lightning rod for an already sparking class anger over the lavishness of the affair.
Taylor Swiftgoes TMI on 'Wood'
How much Tayvis istoomuch? For some fans, Taylor Swift delivered an answer on her latest album, "The Life of a Showgirl." With "Wood," a thinly veiled opus to Travis Kelce's, ahem, manhood, Swift reached a new level of intimacy with fans.
Pop star Taylor Swift and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce announced their engagement on Aug. 26, 2025. The couple began dating in the summer of 2023. Look back at their time together, including here, at the game between Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers during the Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on June 12, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Swift and Kelce react after the AFC Championship game against the Buffalo Bills at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Jan. 26, 2025 in Kansas City." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
(Top Row L-R) Swift and Travis Kelce attend the men's final match between Italy's Jannik Sinner and USA's Taylor Fritz on day fourteen of the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on Sept. 8, 2024." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Swift and Kelce watch game one of the ALCS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs between the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Guardians at Yankee Stadium on Oct. 14, 2024 in Bronx, N.Y." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Swift watches the action during the first half between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Nov. 29, 2024 in Kansas City, Mo." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Swift and Donna Kelce arrive prior to a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Nov. 29, 2024 in Kansas City, Mo." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Kelce celebrates with Swift after a 17-10 victory against the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC championship game at M&T Bank Stadium on Jan. 28, 2024, in Baltimore, Md." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Swift reacts after Kelce (not pictured) scores a touchdown against the Bills during an AFC divisional round game at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., on Jan. 22, 2024." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Swift and Jerrod Carmichael watch the 2024 AFC divisional round game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium on Jan. 21, 2024." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Swift reacts during the game between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Dec. 10, 2023 in Kansas City, Mo." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Lyndsay Bell, from left, Taylor Swift and Brittany Mahomes react in a suite during the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023, in Green Bay, Wis." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Swift and Brittany Mahomes cheer during the second half of the game between the Los Angeles Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Oct. 22, 2023 in Kansas City, Mo." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Swift and Donna Kelce look on before the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., on Oct. 12, 2023." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Swift and Donna Kelce look on before the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Oct. 12, 2023 in Kansas City, Mo." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Swift and actor Blake Lively cheer prior to the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on Oct. 1, 2023 in East Rutherford, N.J." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Swift cheers prior to the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on Oct. 1, 2023 in East Rutherford, N.J." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Swift reacts while sitting next to Donna Kelce watching the Kansas City Chiefs play the Chicago Bears at Arrowhead Stadium on Sep 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Swift and Kelce (87) react after the AFC Championship game against the Buffalo Bills at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Jan. 26, 2025 in Kansas City, Mo." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are engaged! See the couple's love story in photos
Pop star Taylor Swift and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelceannounced their engagement on Aug. 26, 2025. The couple began dating in the summer of 2023. Look back at their time together, including here, at the game between Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers during the Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on June 12, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla.
Known for her no-holds-barred approach to songwriting, her latest romance is not immune, though some fans were shocked by the raunchiness of the track, given Swift's penchant for a PG-tone.
With lyrics like "Redwood tree, it ain't hard to see/His love was the key that opened my thighs" and "Girls, I don't need to catch the bouquet mm/To know a hard rock is on the way," Swift broke the bedroom wall, and let listeners know like it or not, they would be getting all the dirty deets.
NicOlandria truthers win vindication
Season 7 of "Love Island USA" was choc-full of memorable and viral moments, from Huda Mustafa's "I'm a mommy" to Amaya Espinal's colorful wordplay. Perhaps most memorable, though, were the legions of fans who became obsessed about a potential pairing between contestants Nic Vansand Olandria Carthen.
Coupled with different partners for the majority of the show's run, couch-bound quarterbacks insisted that they were fated and − a shock elimination, a racism scandal, and claims of producer meddling later – that wish came true.
While they did not win the show, they certainly won the invisible competition for influence, as their early supporters doggedly (sometimes parasocially) tracked their romantic progress.
A Mormon wife's 'Dancing with the Stars' redemption
Defying the network television odds, "Dancing with the Stars" rose to new heights of popularity in 2025, drawing in a young fanbase with celebrities they recognized from their TV screens and a seemingly endless stream of TikTok content.
And, at the center of it all? The stars of Hulu's "Secret Lives of Mormon Wives."
While Jen Affleck was eliminated mid-season, Whitney Leavitt made it almost to the finals, impressing judges with her ballroom chops and dividing the internet over her reality TV villain status. When it turned out her detractors outnumbered her fans, and she was eliminated alongside partner Mark Ballas, "Call Her Daddy's" Alex Cooper stepped in as a de facto fairy godmother.
Producing their finale dance on her own and airing it with a blockbuster interview, Cooper gave Leavitt a second chance. Now, she's got a guest role on Broadway and, perhaps, the last laugh.
Katy Perry leaves Earth − and Orlando Bloom
The "Firework" singer, 41, delighted some fans and drew mocking from others when she kissed the dirt after a brief trip to space alongside television host Gayle King and Jeff Bezos's then-fiancée Lauren Sánchez Bezos.
The trip, billed as a salute to feminism, was made up of all female astronauts and "astronaut" stars who boarded a Blue Origin capsule for an 11-minute flight. The group of six women, which includedGayle King and Katy Perry,was also carrying astronauts Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen and Kerianne Flynn.
Blue Origin's Mission NS-31 is the first all-female astronaut crew since 1963.
Perry's jaunt kicked off a tumultuous year for the pop star. Months after she was spotted floating in zero-gravity, she drew middling reviews for her "Woman's World" tour, then shocked fans by splitting from longtime partner Orlando Bloom and rebounding with a former Canadian Prime Minister. Perry and Justin Trudeauwent Instagram official in December.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:From Taylor Swift to JoJo Siwa, stars that shocked us in 2025
