[2025 Year-End Review] Cineplay's Picks for the Best TV (Scripted) of 2025

The year 2025 is coming to a close. Just as we often hear previews for year-end tax settlements, the end of the year requires a time to reflect and summarize the past year. Therefore, Cineplay is also looking back on the year and selecting works in various fields. We have chosen films, scripted, non-scripted, actors, rookie actors, and special awards regardless of the field. Among them, this post selects the most impressive works from the non-scripted category. The selections are from works that officially aired in Korea or were released on OTT platforms by December 10, 2025. If there are any works you missed, I hope you take note and watch them.

Chua Young - 〈Our Unwritten Seoul〉

〈Our Unwritten Seoul〉 brutally reflects the reality of today's South Korea, which is suffering from endless competition and line-ups, and the youth who are losing their dreams and hopes within it. 〈Our Unwritten Seoul〉 serves as the warmest comfort for modern individuals living diligently today for an unknown tomorrow that has yet to come, in a South Korea caught in the clutches of survivalism through the narrative of experiencing each other as the unknown and the future.

Joo Sung-cheol - 〈Our Unwritten Seoul〉

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A drama that can only be described as 'right and excellent' encompasses everything from the lie of twin sisters swapping lives, to memories of childhood, and the various issues within the company. I am truly curious about the 'future' of Park Bo-young and Park Jin-young.

Kim Ji-yeon - 〈You and Everything Else〉

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Every year-end, as I reflect on the past year as if organizing my life, I realize that the most impressive works I have seen are a kind of self-confessional content. Like writing a backlog of diaries, it confronts me with my old emotions, shame, and weaknesses. Therefore, 〈You and Everything Else〉 is the drama that impressed me the most this year and resembles the countless diaries everyone has written. 〈You and Everything Else〉 does not romanticize love and friendship. Instead, it candidly conveys that the choices stemming from deficiencies and anxieties, or from love and loss, ultimately shape the lives of the characters. Through the story of Sang-yeon written from Eun-jung's perspective, we come to understand Eun-jung, hate Sang-yeon, or even love Sang-yeon, and in doing so, we discover ourselves in them. As writer Song Hye-jin of 〈You and Everything Else〉 said, "Sang-yeon is like a collection of all the friends I loved," I recognize once again that the most personal confessions, like 〈You and Everything Else〉, touch the most universal emotions, and that the most personal content is the best content.

Seong Chan-eol - 〈The Residence〉

This is a comprehensive gift set. It is suitable as a mystery, a black comedy, or an ensemble drama. The image of a quirky detective at work is quite classic, yet the modern feel is strong due to the mixed timeline structure, making it feel like an indirect experience of ADHD. An FBI agent follows the erratic detective, creating a strange buddy movie vibe, and the thrill of secrets being revealed one by one is quite significant. It is also fascinating to catch a glimpse of how the White House operates, adapted from a book based on interviews with actual White House staff. The only downside is that there is too much dialogue, but even that is elevated by the actors' witty performances, so if you're craving a tight thriller or black comedy, I recommend it.