For the first time in 13 years, Processed Media’s Rookie Rankings are back (and now, broken into handy tiers)! Check back each month for updated grades and details on every new scripted television show of 2025 (or at least, as many as I can keep up with). And let us know your favorite new shows of 2025 in the comments!
Tier 1: Now That’s What I Call TV
1. The Pitt
New episodes air Thursdays on Max
First Impressions review
Episodes aired: 5
In its first five episodes, Max’s kinetic The Pitt has quickly, and impressively, established itself as one of 2025’s most intriguing new series. The Pitt is easily the most confident, expressive freshman series to debut in January – and, importantly, the most emotionally resonant, mostly thanks to the season’s Noah Wylie-penned fourth episode, “10:00 AM”, which sees the culmination of one of the show’s strongest early patient arcs (focused on siblings dealing with their elderly father’s medical orders).
The Pitt is certainly not a perfect series; any show trying to maintain a dozen medical stories an hour, at least half of which examine the very real issues facing the American medical system, is going to occasionally stumble. But even those occasional misfires are made out of an earnest effort to inject the genre with some grounded, old-school storytelling; smartly, the show’s setting and delivery never allows it to linger on one patient or character story for too long, giving it ample opportunity every hour to space out some of its more saccharine moments. it also doesn’t hurt The Pitt has the best cast of any new show I saw in January, a collection of compelling performances I wouldn’t be surprised to see dominate the Emmys in 2025. Grade: B+
Tier 2: The (Potentially) Watchables
2. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
Disney+, new episodes February 5th, 12th, and 19th
Episodes aired: 2
In a stronger January, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man would find itself farther down this list; like many reinterpretations, re-imagingings, and DC Animated Movies of modern vintage, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’s opening hour is really just a simple remix of an established mythos, with a few deep cut variables thrown in for good measure.
Despite its obvious visual panache, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man‘s first two episodes are rather uncompelling in their delivery, introducing all the familiar characters and beats of Peter Parker’s many, many modern iterations (including a new standard I don’t love, with another Hot Aunt May character) in fairly straightforward fashion. Sure, there are a few twists (Peter has a crush on a different girl! The Osborns are Black!), but these perfunctory wrinkles make “Amazing Fantasy” and “The Parker Luck” both feel like great appetizers for first time Spidey-enjoyers, and lackluster meals for returning Spider-Fans. Grade: C+
3. Watson
Returns to CBS February 16th, airing Sundays
First Impressions review
Episodes aired: 1
Though Watson‘s pilot isn’t exactly convincing, its strange assemblage of tones and genres certainly gives it potential, if it can find a unique, compelling voice amongst its noise of medical drama, personal conflict, and overarching plot (which apparently involves Moriarty? Played by Randall Park???). We have a few weeks before its second episode, “Redcoat” premieres February 16th – which means we probably still won’t have a complete picture of what this series is come next month’s Rookie Rankings. Grade: C
4. Going Dutch
Airs Thursday nights on FOX
First Impressions review
Episodes aired: 5
I’m certainly still intrigued by Going Dutch‘s combination of personal conflict and workplace comedy; but after five episodes, none of those episodes have entirely gelled into a series worth recommending. It’s just a bit light on everything; its central conflict – the intergenerational divide between Patrick and his daughter Maggie – is a little repetitive, its “fish out of water” stories about American soldiers at a rural base in the Netherlands are a little generic… and despite having a relatively small cast, has flirted with a number of romantic subplots, none of which have resonated.
The season’s fourth and fifth episodes, “Korfball” and “Nazi Hunters” (the latter of which was written by Ground Floor‘s Rene Gube!) have been the best of the bunch, leaning slightly further into more lighthearted comedic fare while doing the necessary legwork to start building rapport between its band of misfits. It still hasn’t quite struck the right tone (and it needs to be a number of degrees funnier), but there’s a bit of momentum in its most recent episodes suggesting it might take a step forward when it returns for its sixth episode, “When You Wish Upon a Star”, on February 13. Grade: C
Tier 3: The Meh
5. On Call
Prime Video, 8 episodes
Season review
On Call, the cop series from Dick Wolf’s son, is one of those perfectly watchable and instantly forgettable streaming series, one with a few good ideas, decent lead performances – and a profoundly confused sense of purpose, never quite sure if it wants to be a series willing to look in the mirror and contend with the realities of American law enforcement, or if it wanted to lean into The Bridge and The Shield-era storytelling about the intersection of gang violence and police intervention. And though there are occasional hints of a more visually arresting, engaging series in each of its eight half hour episodes, those are most left to the fringes of a rather predictable, surprisingly neutered story about the “good” and “bad” guys in Long Beach, and how their interactions shape and define their community. Grade: C
6. Shifting Gears
FOX, new episodes air Wednesdays
First Impressions review
Episodes aired: 4
Has Shifting Gears improved from its reductive, unfunny pilot episode? Yes and no – while the series has most certainly softened some of the cranky, reductive boomerism of the pilot episode (once it got past “Accommodations”, the show’s cringe-worthy second episode), it still relies too much on cliche jokes and half-cooked sitcom plots to drive its first handful of episodes. “Job”, the show’s third episode, benefits from leaning harder into Sean William Scott’s comedic talents, while “Grief” spends its third act on a rather potent mediation on Tim Allen’s Matt and the grief and loss he’s experiencing.
Is it the second coming of Mom yet? Absolutely not – but there have been a few (I’m saying a few) sparks of personality Shifting Gears would do well to lean into, lest it want to elevate itself to anything beyond “mostly forgettable”. Grade: C-
Tier 4: Thanks, but No Thanks(?)
7. Paradise
Hulu, new episodes air Tuesdays
First Impressions review
Episodes aired: 3
What kind of series Paradise think it is? Fogelman Flashback series about family drama and personal tragedy? Conflict driven series of political intrigue and murder mystery? Dystopian, post-apocalyptic tale, like Wayward Pines meets Fallout? To its detriment, Paradise seems to think the answer is “all of the above”; and with its third episode, “The Architect of Social Well-Being”, leans even further into the silliest aspects of its premise. Despite a few strong lead performances, Paradise‘s first three episodes are an unfortunate first act that doesn’t exactly improve in its next month of episodes (but more on that later; its placement on this list is from its aired episodes only). Grade: D
8. Doc
FOX, new episodes air Tuesdays
First Impressions review
Episodes seen: 4
With Dr. Amy Larsen finally released from her head bandage, the third and fourth episodes of Doc (somehow FOX’s first breakout hit of 2025) have found some room to start filling in the shades of some of its characters beyond their very stark, one-dimensional introductions in the first pair of episodes. It hasn’t been neat or particularly interesting, but there are still hints of a series starting to find its footing, especially with characters like Scott Wolf’s Dr. Richard Miller (Amy’s best friend-turned-rival, and the most interesting part of her flashback scenes) and Molly Parker’s conflicted Dr. Larsen.
Its medical cases are still incredibly obvious in their emotional manipulations (which makes most of them, save for one in “One Small Step” about a man training to be an astronaut), and the juxtaposition between “old Amy” and “new Amy” are too simplistic and overeager to find anything but brief moments of emotional resonance. There’s a glimpse of hope, though, and that will keep me going with Doc for at least a few more episodes. Grade: D
9. Prime Target
Apple TV+, new episodes air Thursdays
First Impressions review
Episodes seen: 3
If anyone was on the fence with whatever the fuck Prime Target was aiming for in its opening pair of episodes, its third episode, “The Sequence”, certainly isn’t going to endear anyone. At least the end of “The Sequence” finally brings the central leads of the series together, in the hopes that maybe its whiplash-esque pivots from stuffy math nerd drama to globe-trotting cyber-espionage nerd drama scene to scene would coalesce into something tangible. Time will tell if Prime Target will be able to pull itself from the dregs of the Rookie Rankings, but one thing is for certain – the more it leans into weird shit like a montage lightly associating math with the act of being horny, the better its chances. Grade: D
Tier 5: The Other Ones I Haven’t Seen Yet
American Primeval (Netflix)
Missing You (Netflix)
(list will update as shows are completed)