December 2025 offers a packed slate of TV premieres and finales across broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms, featuring major returns like the final episodes of Stranger Things and Emily in Paris Season 5. Highlights include Netflix's frontier drama The Abandons and Peacock's espionage thriller The Copenhagen Test, alongside holiday specials and movie releases. Broadcast favorites like NCIS and Abbott Elementary head into hiatus with fall finales.
Key Premieres
Netflix leads with several high-profile debuts, including the eight-episode binge of The Abandons on December 4, starring Lena Headey and Gillian Anderson as outlier families in 1850s Oregon. Simu Liu and Melissa Barrera headline The Copenhagen Test, an eight-episode espionage thriller premiering December 27 on Peacock, where a Chinese-American analyst discovers his brain has been hacked. Hallmark's Twelve Dates 'Til Christmas, led by Mae Whitman, begins with a two-episode premiere on December 5, following a textile designer in a holiday matchmaking program. Starz revives Spartacus: House of Ashur on December 5, with Nick E. Tarabay reprising his role in an alternate-history gladiator story.
Disney+ launches Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 on December 10 with two episodes, while Netflix drops Emily in Paris Season 5 as a 10-episode binge on December 18. The final episodes of Stranger Things arrive in volumes: Volume 2 on December 25 with three episodes, and the series finale on December 31.
Notable Finales and Specials
Season finales include All's Fair on December 9, IT: Welcome to Derry on December 14, Mayor of Kingstown Season 4 on December 28, Pluribus on December 26, and South Park Season 28 on December 10. Holiday specials abound, such as The Wonderful World of Disney: Holiday Spectacular on December 1 with performances by Gwen Stefani and others, and CMA Country Christmas on December 2 featuring Riley Green and Lady A.
Movie Highlights
Films include Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery on Netflix with Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, Jay Kelly starring George Clooney and Adam Sandler, and Oh. What. Fun. on Prime Video with Michelle Pfeiffer. Kate Winslet's directorial debut Goodbye June streams on Netflix December 24.