2025 is nearly over and we’re ready to call the hits and misses of the year in TV, starting with the misses. A lot of high-profile shows aired in 2025, both old favorites returning for another season and brand new series out to prove themselves. In this article, we’ll talk about the ones that didn’t. We’ll talk about the shows that returned but didn’t meet expectations. We’re not saying all of these shows are terrible or even that bad, just that they let us down for one reason or another.
IT: Welcome to Derry
IT? More like…
IT: Welcome to Derry is a prequel show that tells us what happened before the events of IT, the Stephen King book, where kids are terrorized by a nameless entity that likes to dress up as a murderous clown. A lot of the episodes are directed by Andy Muschietti, who also directed IT and IT Chapter Two, both big hits. It was hoped
It: Welcome to Derry
- Release Date
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October 26, 2025
- Network
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HBO
- Directors
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Andy Muschietti
- Writers
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Jason Fuchs, Stephen King, Austin Guzman
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Taylour Paige
Charlotte Hanlon
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stephen rider
Hank Grogan
that his involvement would help elevate the show beyond just a cheap cash-in on a popular property.
It doesn’t quite get there. The scares are creative and well-produced, but the show can’t quite overcome the feeling that it doesn’t need to exist. It introduces a storyline where the military tries to harness Pennywise’s power to give the U.S. an edge in the Cold War, but de-mythologizing him like this makes him a little more ordinary and a little less scary. The child actors do their best, and the ’60s setting is neat, but the whole thing is written too sloppily to make a great case for itself.
The Last of Us season 2
This one was always going to be tricky
The first season of The Last of Us is based on the Sony video game of the same name, and it was a huge hit. Well cast and made with that signature HBO polish, it was the zombie prestige show.
The second season of The Last of Us is based on The Last of Us Part II, which is a famously controversial video game precisely because of a couple of major plot twists, including a major character death right at the beginning. The show actually pulls this twist off — the episode in question is the highest rated of the season — but with this character gone, the energy flags and the show has a hard time holding our attention through to the end, which comes after a scant seven episodes. And it’s a cliffhanger. And we’re going to have to wait well over a year to see what happens next.
The second season of The Last of Us had a high hurdle to jump, and it didn’t quite make it.
The Last Of Us
- Release Date
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January 15, 2023
- Network
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HBO
- Showrunner
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Craig Mazin
- Directors
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Craig Mazin, Peter Hoar, Jeremy Webb, Ali Abbasi, Mark Mylod, Stephen Williams, Jasmila Žbanić, Liza Johnson, Nina Lopez-Corrado
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Bella Ramsey
Ellie Williams
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John Hannah
Dr. Newman – Scientist #2
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Squid Game season 3
How the mighty have fallen
When the first season of Squid Game dropped in 2021, it set the world on fire and is still the most-watched season of any show on Netflix. The second and third seasons were also very popular, but the ending of the series left a bad taste in a lot of fans’ mouths.
The second and third seasons were basically one big story. Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), who won the Squid Games in the first season, returns to try to help out his fellow contestants, who must battle each other to the death in a series of twisted children’s games in the hopes of being the final person left alive and taking home a grand prize. The games themselves are as creatively brutal as ever, but the show ends with a lot of things unresolved. We never get a reunion between the Front Man (Hwang In-ho) and his brother Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), and despite everything that Gi-hun goes through, the Squid Game conspiracy is still alive and well by the end.
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Some fans think this was done on purpose to set up a spinoff, but I’ll believe that when I see it. Either way, there was something missing from this show’s final stretch.
Squid Game
- Release Date
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2021 – 2025
- Network
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Netflix
- Showrunner
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Hwang Dong-hyuk
- Directors
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Hwang Dong-hyuk
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Lee Jung-jae
Seong Gi-hun / ‘No. 456’
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Wi Ha-jun
Detective Hwang Jun-ho
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Jeon Young-soo
Game Guide (voice)
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Lee Byung-hun
Front Man / Hwang In-ho
The Handmaid’s Tale season 6
Why end a show when you can begin a franchise?
Like Squid Game, The Handmaid’s Tale ran its final season this year, and fans were let down for the same reason: not enough was resolved. After years of fighting against the tyrannical Republic of Gilead, which enslaved her and used her as a brood mare, June (Elizabeth Moss) doesn’t get to reunite with her daughter Hannah (Jordana Blake), which had long been one of her main goals. The fates of several characters are left unclear, and while the Republic of Gilead takes a blow, it’s still standing.
In the case of The Handmaid’s Tale, we know for sure they’re saving some things for a new spinoff show called The Testaments, which is set to premiere on Hulu and Disney+ in April 2026. But will people tune in, or were they too disappointed in the end of this show to bother? More than Squid Game, I think The Handmaid’s Tale is a candidate to join the ranks of beloved shows with endings everyone hated.
The Handmaid’s Tale
- Release Date
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2017 – 2025-00-00
- Network
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Hulu
- Showrunner
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Bruce Miller
- Directors
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Mike Barker, Kari Skogland, Daina Reid, Reed Morano, Floria Sigismondi, Jeremy Podeswa, Kate Dennis, Richard Shepard, Amma Asante, Christina Choe, Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Bradley Whitford, Dearbhla Walsh, Liz Garbus
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Elisabeth Moss
June Osborne / Offred / Ofjoseph
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Yvonne Strahovski
Serena Joy Waterford
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Ann Dowd
Aunt Lydia / Miss Clements
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Madeline Brewer
Janine Lindo / Ofwarren / Ofdaniel / Ofhoward
The Bear season 4
No, chef
The Bear is a comedy-drama that had audiences everywhere firmly in its grip for its first two seasons. It started to lose some people in season three, which was packed with gimmicky guest stars and naval-gazing storylines that rehashed the same beats from the life of tortured genius Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), who is forever struggling to keep fancy restaurant above water. Season 4 was an improvement—the guest stars aren’t as intrusive, and we get to spend more time with the rest of the show’s excellent cast—but not enough of one to save The Bear from the impression that it’s starting to spin its wheels.
The Bear is still a solid show, but it’s hard not to feel like it’s fallen off a bit when it started as strong as it did.
The Bear
- Release Date
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June 23, 2022
- Network
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Hulu
- Showrunner
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Christopher Storer
- Directors
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Ramy Youssef
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Jeremy Allen White
Carmen ‘Carmy’ Berzatto
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Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Richard ‘Richie’ Jerimovich
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Lionel Boyce
Marcus Brooks
Alien: Earth
I’ll stick with the Predator
This is the first TV show set in the Alien universe, and it had…a few things going for it, I guess. It looked great, and the alien creatures were fun, but there was also a lot of weird stuff. The main story, about dying children whose brains are transferred into synthetic bodies, seemed to have little to do with the Alien franchise as people knew it; the iconic Xenomorph alien played only a small role in the drama, and the season finale didn’t feel like the rousing climax it wanted to be.
Alien: Earth was just kind of all right, and that’s not good enough when it has this much money, talent, and name recognition.
Alien: Earth
- Release Date
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August 12, 2025
- Network
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FX, Hulu
- Directors
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Dana Gonzales, Ugla Hauksdóttir, Noah Hawley
- Writers
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Bob DeLaurentis
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Samuel Blenkin
Boy Kavalier
Disappointment is a state of mind
I felt let down by these series, but that’s just me; if you loved them, more power to you. And remember: I’m not saying they were necessarily horrible, just not up to my expectations. You have to expect something of a show to be disappointed. That’s why I’m not taking about All’s Fair or Ironheart on this list. You can’t be disappointed by a show you already figured would be bad.
