The American Film Institute has unveiled its annual list of the year’s ten standout television programs, and Dexter was left out of the selections.
2025 has shaped up to be a very strong year for television, with new seasons of beloved series landing alongside completely new shows that are just starting to find their voice. For us Dexter fans, it has been an especially unusual and exciting stretch, with two separate entries in the franchise releasing new episodes throughout the year: Original Sin and Resurrection.
As the year winds down, the usual wave of “best of” lists begins to appear online, but one tradition actually draws particular attention. Every year since 2001, the American Film Institute, which is a nonprofit dedicated to celebrating the legacy of film and television, unveils its list of the top TV shows of the year.
The selections are not competitive the way most awards are, because there is no talk of winners or nominees. Instead, AFI highlights ten television programs that, in the eyes of a jury made up of trustes, artists, critics, and scholars, represent the medium at its best.
That’s why it came as such a surprise to see Dexter: Resurrection missing entirely from this year’s list. The omission feels especially puzzling given how strongly the series has been embraced both critically and by average viewers. On Rotten Tomatoes it holds an impressive 95% critic score and a 90% audience score, and its IMDb ratings have been consistently strong with a 9.1 rating. Despite that momentum, AFI’s jury decided it didn’t make the cut for some reason.
The final top ten instead features Adolescence (limited series), Andor (final season), Death by Lightning (Season 1), The Diplomat (Season 3), The Lowdown (Season 1), The Pitt (Season 1), Pluribus (Season 1), Severance (Season 2), The Studio (Season 1) and Task (Season 1).
What actually makes the list even harder to parse is that Vince Gilligan’s Pluribus, hasn’t even released all of its episodes yet, but it is still deemed worthy of inclusion over Dexter: Resurrection.
For a series that has been performing so well with both critics and fans, the snub actually lands at a bad moment. Just yesterday it was revealed that Dexter: Resurrection received zero nominations at the Critics Choice Awards, something that adds to a growing sense that the industry at large may be undervaluing the show...at least for now.
Whehter this is a sign of more disappointments to come or just a slow start before the recognition catches up remains to be seen, but there is definitely a belief out there, that the series has already earned far more appreciation than it is actually getting.