The Ten Best Shows Of 2025 Ranked By Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score
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InnovationGamingThe Ten Best Shows Of 2025 Ranked By Rotten Tomatoes Audience ScoreByPaul Tassi,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. News and opinion about video games, television, movies and the internet.Follow AuthorDec 15, 2025, 10:43am ESTThe RehearsalHBO MaxWe are heading toward 2026, and end-of-year recaps abound. I previously wrote up a list of the highest critic-scored shows of 2025, which were all 100%. But it is far easier to get dozens of critics to agree on whether something is good or bad compared to thousands of actual viewers. So this list of the highest audience-scored shows on Rotten Tomatoes for 2025 looks almost completely different, with a few exceptions.Here’s the full list of shows, some of which I’m betting you have never even heard of, but that means they’re probably the ones you should try out. If you have HBO Max and Netflix, that’s eight shows on this list by themselves.AsuraNetflix1) Asura (Netflix) – 94% audience score2) The Rehearsal season 2 (HBO Max) – 93% audience scoreMORE FOR YOU3) Mr. Scorsese (Apple TV) – 92% audience score4) Common Side Effects (HBO Max) – 91% audience score5) Heated Rivalry (HBO Max) – 91% audience score6) King of the Hill season 14 (Hulu) – 90% audience score7) Boots (Netflix) – 90% audience score8) Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2 (Disney Plus) – 90% audience score9) Sean Combs: The Reckoning (Netflix) – 87% audience score10) The Pitt (HBO Max) – 86% audience scoreBonus: Last Samurai Standing (Netflix)/Chief of War (Apple TV)/Toxic Town (Netflix)/Grosse Point Garden Society (Apple TV) – 85% audience scoreThe overlap here with the critics’ 100% list is Toxic Town, Asura, Last Samurai Standing and Percy Jackson season 2. The rest of these are all different, albeit in most of these cases, the critic score is still higher than the audience score. Fans are more judgmental in most cases. The PittMaxIt’s interesting to see what highly praised, very popular shows are scored relatively low by fans. The 100% rated The Chair Company is nowhere near this list, with a 68% audience score, which is identical to the 68% score given to Pluribus, counter to the 98% critic score. I’d say the most popular show on here out of everything is clearly The Pitt, which has huge viewership, is pushing for Emmys and something that HBO Max wants to pump out every year without fail. Season 2 is coming in January, almost exactly a year after season 1. And that will likely continue for the indefinite future. Personally, I’m still pretty behind on most of these. I’ve seen The Rehearsal season 2, The Pitt, Toxic Town, Boots and Common Side Effects. I’ve tried to watch Last Samurai Standing twice, but for reasons I cannot explain, I simply cannot get into it, even though it seems like it would be right up my alley. But that will likely not be the case for you. I think I’m going to check out Asura next, which appears to have the highest critic/audience score of the whole year. If I missed anything here, let me know. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.Editorial StandardsReprints & PermissionsLOADING VIDEO PLAYER...FORBES’ FEATURED Video