2025's Must-Watch TV Pilots: From Dark Dramas to Sci-Fi & Hollywood Satire

• "Adolescence" became Netflix's most-streamed show, a four-part British limited series exploring a 13-year-old's murder accusation and online radicalization, filmed in a groundbreaking single-take format.
• Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's "The Studio" (Apple TV) satirizes Hollywood's ego and chaos, featuring celebrity cameos and clever direction, highlighting art's struggle against survival.
• "Long Story Short," from BoJack Horseman creators, is an animated series tracing a Jewish-American family's life across decades, focusing on memory, faith, and the quiet power of ordinary moments.
• "Dying for Sex" (based on a podcast) stars Michelle Williams as Molly, who explores sex and desire after a terminal cancer diagnosis, finding agency and tenderness through friendship.
• Vince Gilligan's "Pluribus" (sci-fi) features Rhea Seehorn as a novelist immune to a virus creating a cheerful hive mind, questioning if universal harmony is preferable and if she's the problem.

Why It Matters: 2025's TV pilots delivered diverse, impactful stories, pushing creative boundaries and sparking vital conversations.