The TV Shows, Movies, and Scandals to Be Excited for in 2025

This week:

• A rundown of all the pop culture I’m excited for in 2025.

Could It Maybe Be a Good Year?

It is not in my nature to get excited about things.

Only three days into 2025, however, not enough time has passed to make me cynical about the year to come. So here I am in that fleeting space where I feel uncharacteristically optimistic and can allow myself to look forward to things, before the year has time to swiftly hammer that out of me and I return to my natural state of jaded and annoyed.

So let’s take advantage of that while we can, shall we?

Right now, there’s a lot of pop culture planned for 2025 that I’m excited to see. I have no idea whether any of it will actually be good. But that’s the beauty of this oh-so-brief moment: I choose to believe that they all could be!

Starting pretty much immediately, I’m excited to see comedian Nikki Glaser host Sunday night’s Golden Globe Awards. The Globes is the rare award show with a loose, edgy vibe that actually works in the host’s favor, allowing them the potential to actually be good—unlike the Oscars or the Emmys, where a successful stint as emcee is a miracle. Glaser’s an expert at roasting celebrities, and I think she could nail the tone that made previous appearances by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers, Andy Samberg and Sandra Oh, and even, on occasion, Ricky Gervais great at this.

I have no idea what Beyoncé has planned for Jan. 14. Announcing a concert tour? Releasing visuals for Cowboy Carter? Debuting new music? Regardless, I have marked that date with stars and hearts on my calendar, and am anticipating it like I would a holiday.

There are some thrilling new films set for release this year, including Mickey 17, from Parasite director Bong Joon Ho and starring Robert Pattinson (Mar. 7); Sinners, another collaboration from the sterling team of Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan (Apr. 18); a new Mission: Impossible from Tom Cruise (May 23); and another go at rebooting a Superman franchise (July 11).

Yet my most anticipated film of the year is, without a doubt, Paddington in Peru. It comes out Feb. 14, and if you think I’m going to treat myself to a solo Valentine’s Day date to see the new Paddington—well, you would be absolutely right.

Other movies at the top of my list that I’m not ashamed to admit my excitement for: Renée Zellweger donning a British accent while torn between two hot, charming men once again in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (Feb. 13), and the triumphant reteaming of Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan in Freakier Friday (Aug 8.). It is my very serious opinion that Curtis’ Oscar should be for her performance in the first film.

Finally, if it was possible to already buy a ticket for Wicked: For Good (Nov. 21), I would buy one immediately for a showing… or five. At the very least, I’ve started stockpiling Kleenex for when Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo sing “For Good.” You can never be too prepared.

And while I think it’s a ludicrous practice to start thinking about next year’s Oscars before this year’s nominations have even been announced… I’m thinking about next year’s Oscars. Specifically, I can’t wait for sure-to-be-major-players After the Hunt, directed by Luca Guadagnino and starring Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, and Andrew Garfield; and the still-untitled latest from Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Regina Hall—who, if there’s any justice in the world, will finally be accepting an awards trophy like she’s long deserved.

On the TV side, the lion’s share of my anticipation is reserved for the new season of one particular masterpiece of lunacy: And Just Like That… Listen, I know people have been polarized about—and occasionally scarred by—the Sex and the City sequel series. But I just finished a rewatch of SATC and AJLT back-to-back, and have to say that we’ve been a little unfair to the latter, which is far more in line with the spirit of the original show that it’s given credit for. (Plus, the new season will have Rosie O’Donnell and Patti LuPone joining—and the character of Che Diaz leaving—so… Happy New Year to me.)

I’m thrilled that Severance is finally coming back this month (Jan. 17), even though it’s been so long since Season 1 that I don’t remember a single thing that happened in it. And obviously, a new season of The White Lotus featuring Parker Posey is the kind of event there should be a Pride Parade to herald.

I also recently did a binge rewatch of Girls. (No shade to new series, but I’ve just been on a rewatch kick lately.) The show really holds up, especially with years of remove from the exhausting discourse that surrounded every episode when it was airing. That’s why I’m so excited for Too Much, a new Netflix series created by Lena Dunham that is, once again, about a millennial New Yorker. This time, the character is played by Hacks wild card Meg Stalter.

What else am I looking forward to? Another year of Kelly Clarkson doing “Kellyoke” will get me through when I inevitably return to my sourpuss self. I will, as usual, be watching, adoring, hating, complaining about, living for, and otherwise obsessed with the Real Housewives. I can’t wait to see what they do with the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary special, and hope it’s a star-packed, massive extravaganza—and most importantly, fun.

While I hate to admit it, I will be living and breathing for every update of the Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni scandal. It’s the juiciest celebrity/industry story in years, and I have a feeling we’re just at the tip of the iceberg of ensuing drama and fallout.

And finally, as an agent of chaos, I think it would be fun if Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce got married in 2025. I’m of the few people, apparently, who don’t have an opinion one way or another about these people and their relationship. (They’re two adults who seem to like each other. Good for them.) But I think the tabloid industry and social media would short-circuit in a meltdown from the discourse circus, and that would just be a hoot to watch. That’s really what I want from 2025: more hoots.

More From The Daily Beast’s Obsessed

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What to watch this week:

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl: These claymation kooks are always a delight. (Now on Netflix)

Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever: Interesting portrait of an absolute weirdo. (Now on Netflix)

The Damned: The first great horror movie of the year. (Now in theaters)

What to skip this week:

Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action: Given the subject matter, you’d expect it to be a bit more scandalous. (Now on Netflix)

Lockerbie: A Search for the Truth: Even Colin Firth makes mistakes. (Now on Peacock)