Our annual year-end special series is back to recognize the programs that entertained and informed viewers in the past 12 months.
In the spirit of festive mood this holiday season, Trendrod’s yearly Best Shows series returns to celebrate the best Filipino stories and content in 2025.
Forty (40) of the nation’s top productions in both linear television and streaming media have been ranked for this special series.
To qualify, these must be original shows produced by Filipino production companies, TV networks, or streaming services and their respective series or season premiere dates must have taken place from January 1 to December 21, 2025.
Programs that have been continuously broadcasting since 2024 or earlier, and did take any months-long season breaks were not considered for this list.
Meanwhile, extended versions or repackaged versions of programs (e.g. a separate TV version of a show previously seen on streaming platforms) are qualified.
For the first part, we are dishing out the programs that made it to the 31st to 40th spot in our Best Shows Of 2025 list.
40. Bilyonaryo Quiz B (Bilyonaryo News Channel)
Intelligence is back on Philippine television.
That is how the Bilyonaryo News Channel promoted the spiritual successor of the iconic ‘90s game show Battle of the Brains, which aired on RPN-9.
In the BNC program, which was given the title Bilyonaryo Quiz B, the legendary quiz master himself, David Celdran, made his comeback as host of the intercollegiate competition.
Elements of the original format remained the same, with three contestants coming from different colleges and universities competing for the chance of becoming the winner by answering questions of varying degrees of difficulty within a set amount of time.
At the end of each regular episode, the winner of the earlier rounds will head to the jackpot round to answer 10 questions within 60 seconds only.
The first season culminated with the win of Aian Kirt Landicho, a BS Agricultural Biotechnology student from the University of the Philippines – Los Baños, who was hailed as the first ever Quiz B Milyonaryo.
Honest take: At a time when the truth and facts are being blurred and twisted to fit narratives of the powers that be, a quiz show like Bilyonaryo Quiz B becomes a vehicle to remind people that there is something that cannot be easily distorted and that is reality—where all of the questions draw upon.
Moreover, the program also serves as a celebration of intelligence and a challenge to the grit and composure of contestants. All these were once familiar sights on local television that have taken the backseat for a long time due to shifting preferences of viewers, whether that is for better or for worse.
A potential second season of the show could also be a good opportunity to inject additional flavor and twists to the game play, which will spice it up. One of them is for the game itself to be brought directly to the campuses to encapsulate the school spirit that could either hype up or distract the players.
39. The Clash 2025 (Season 7) (GMA)
The seventh season of the original Kapuso format.
This year marked the comeback of GMA’s long-running reality competition, The Clash, which has been running since 2018.
Not only did the show return to the air, but the beloved contestants from prior iterations, called Clashbackers, did too in a twist to this edition of the original format.
That group, composed of runners-up and other participants that were eliminated early into their respective seasons, went back to compete with the new batch.
In the end, season 7 became a close fight between Jong Madaliday (from the inaugural season) and Arabelle dela Cruz (from Season 5), with the title eventually going to the former.
Honest take: The concept of bringing back previous participants is nothing new to singing competitions in the country.
However, the introduction of twists after twists was a good move to not only keep their loyal viewers invested, but also attempt to expand the format beyond its initial scope to keep it fresh.
Additionally, it was also a chance to see how former contestants, with some already in the mainstream or doing other endeavors, improved or changed over the years.
But if there is anything to be fixed is the scheduling of the show itself on GMA, which has reduced the show to a one-night show on Sundays only and shared the reality show slot with Stars On The Floor.
Rather than doing that, GMA could instead opt to simply air them simultaneously across both days or just let one finish their run first before placing the other on the same time slots.
38. Seducing Drake Palma (Viva One / TV5)
An adaptation of the popular online novel.
This digital series, which crossed over to television, is based on the Wattpad story created by Beeyotch.
The story follows the central characters Drake Palma (portrayed by Rabin Angeles) and Alys Perez (played by Angela Muji).
Their relationship started with a request from Alys’ friend, Sheen (Ethan David) who wanted her to make the smart but aloof guy her boyfriend as a request and to make Kei (Rafa Victorino) fall for him instead of Drake.
Despite the initial pushback, the leading lady took on the impossible mission and made it a reality. Later on, the facade was broken and the stoic guy fell for her.
During its run on Viva One, TV5 also picked up the rights to air it on free-to-air television and placed it every weeknight after Frontline Pilipinas from July to September 2025.
SDP is also set to return in 2026 with a second season entitled Dating Alys Perez.
Honest take: Top-billing the romantic-comedy series became a natural progression of the careers of its lead stars Rabin and Angela, who both starred in Ang Mutya Ng Section E as Yuri Hanamichi and Rakki San Diego, respectively.
It became a showcase of their ability not only in terms of acting, but also to carry a show of their own. To be fair, they did deliver and the results show with the amount of support that they have been receiving from their fans both in the country and abroad.
In fact, fresh from the success of the drama, the duo will be heading to the big screens next with A Werewolf Boy, which is an adaptation of the Korean movie and is expected to challenge them anew as actors.
Back to SDP, it is nice to see how Viva One has been doing its own adaptations faithfully from the source material, with necessary revisions only being made to reflect today’s standards and other valid reasons.
Overall, it has been an enjoyable run for the program, with their fans surely looking forward to seeing the second book brought to life as well.
37. Prinsesa Ng City Jail (GMA)
The actual begins with a pregnant Sharlene (Beauty Gonzalez) and Divina (Denise Laurel), the ex-lover of the former’s husband Raymond (Dominic Ochoa), who will have their paths cross again inside the prison.
Wanting to get even, Divina, who was also pregnant at that time, switched their babies. That ended up making Libby, the villain’s daughter, being the one raised by Sharlene and Raymond.
Meanwhile, Princess was left behind and was raised by a prison guard named Dado (Keempee de Leon).
Years later, in a twist of fate, Princess (now portrayed by Sofia Pablo) would be able to meet her mother that she longed for without knowing it.
Honest take: This program was a good choice as the opening salvo of the network’s afternoon drama line-up for 2025.
It was able to blend well the tropes and cliché people have come to associate with the programs that air on the time slot.
PSCJ also served as Sofia’s first solo billing as the lead star and she delivered quite well, especially with her character written in such a way that would dare to fight when she knows she is on the right.
Denise Laurel as a villain also showcased her impressive acting range, especially with how she was able to seamlessly transition from making the other characters believe that she is a kind person to a cunning individual that is capable of taking one’s life.
What is considered to be rather perplexing regarding the story itself is that almost all of the major characters (which will be redacted to prevent spoilers) were jailed at some point. Although they had valid reasons, their stories could have branched out a little differently though.
36. Vibe (Main Program) (TV5)
The first live countdown show for original Filipino music (OPM), Vibe feels and acts as a fusion between the Korean shows like Music Bank and M Countdown, as the country’s very own musical-variety shows.
The Main Vibe, as it is called, airs on Sunday primetime and is the flagship edition of the week-long program, which has several formats hosted by a rotating set of Vibe Jocks like Vibe Café and Vibe Nights each weekday and Vibe TV on Saturday afternoon.
The main show features performances from various OPM acts as voted by Vhies or the general public each week (recently expanded to two weeks).
Aside from that, Vibe also serves as a platform for up-and-coming and independent artists through its Uprising segment. The jocks also showcase their own talents through production numbers incorporated into the program itself.
Honest take: Vibe in itself is an interesting concept that takes local music onto another level. In the past few years, the tide had slowly turned in favor of OPM and with the show introducing the competitive charting format, it also allowed fans to help their idols get into the show and promote their songs to a wider audience—further enhancing the music scene in the country.
Barring any other factors, the main program of Vibe is a sustainable format—one that could be tweaked any time and could boost its reputation as a premier countdown show.
35. Maka Lovestream (GMA)
Same cast, different stories.
After three seasons, the top-rating Kapuso youth-oriented series on Saturdays, Maka, was given a refresh.
Moving away from the soap opera-ish treatment of the last two seasons, the program shifted to an anthology format and was retitled Maka Lovestream.
Although, members of the Maka squad remained the same with Zephanie, Shan Vesagas, Marco Masa, Ashley Sarmiento, John Clifford, Chanty Videla, Sean Lucas, Josh Ford, Elijah Alejo, and more.
Stories that aired throughout the spin-off series’ three-month run mostly revolved around the theme of young love and friendship, with titles like 28 Days, Ride To Forever, Secret Crush, and Pretty Little Baby.
The spin-off ended its run last December 13 after three months on the air.
Honest take: With the revamp of the show into Maka Lovestream back in September, the program was able to establish its image as a youth-oriented program, rather than a drama series that happened to have young stars in it—which became the problem of the original series.
The program also helped in honing and expanding the acting capabilities of the Gen Z talents and gave them the spotlight, as they would otherwise be given secondary roles in other productions of the station.
Lastly, it also served as a good balance to the otherwise heavy Saturday drama line-up of the Kapuso network, which focuses mostly on intense dramas.
34. Avenues Of The Diamond (Viva One)
In this installment of the University Series, which is the collection of stories by Gwy Saludes that were originally published on Wattpad, viewers and readers of the online novel are able to meet Samantha (portrayed by Aubrey Caraan), a student from the blue university (a.k.a. Ateneo).
One day, she would receive the biggest shock of her life when she gets arranged to marry Clyden (played by Lance Carr), a snobbish medical student from the maroon university (UP) who devotes himself to studying.
As the story developed, so did the relationship of the two. Secrets and twists along the way also brought additional layers to the story.
AOTD builds upon the success of its three prior installments—The Rain Is España, Safe Skies, Archer, and Chasing In The Wild—which have all been given their respective adaptations by Viva One. In fact, characters from the previous series also made their appearances here.
Honest take: Avenues of the Diamond, in spite of the initial reaction over its casting, was able to deliver a good output.
The chemistry between the lead stars were there, with the overall production also being an improvement from the series that came before it.
Claudine Barretto, who played the part of Selena, Samantha’s mother, also showed why she remains to be one of the best actresses of her generation in this series.
33. Stars Under Pressure (One PH)
If going to the grocery or cooking in the kitchen are ways of destressing for some people, this program takes all that comfort out.
In this reality program from Cignal TV’s One PH channel, Chef Rolando Laudico, also known as Lau, challenges celebrities and influencers to back-to-back-to-back dares.
The episode begins with them having to shop inside the supermarket to hunt for ingredients on a budget and within a limited time.
After that, they would need to cook using these ingredients, including a main ingredient that has been decided by the production team beforehand.
The contestants would need to create these dishes with a twist—under constant pressure of time and the result of a wheel that decides the limitations that they will have while cooking.
Aside from Chef Lau, the finished products would then be taste-tested by a group of individuals, which will decide the winner of the episode.
Honest take: The entire concept of the program is good. It offers something familiar to audiences, yet presents a lot of twists that make it stand out from the otherwise sterile cooking shows and less confrontational than the competition formats that have graced the screens from the years past.
While the execution needs (or perhaps, needed) a little refinement, Stars Under Pressure was surely able to deliver an entertaining piece of content on TV on the weekends that it was on the air.
32. My Father’s Wife (GMA)
In a strange twist of fate, an estranged best friend becomes the step mother of the lead character. More than that, she is also the mistress of her husband, who happens to be her ex-lover too.
The complicated familial ties was at the core of this GMA Afternoon Prime series that was top-billed by Gabby Concepcion, Kylie Padilla, Jak Roberto, and Kazel Kinouchi.
It begins with the story of Gina (Kylie Padilla) and Betsy (Kazel Kinouchi) who were once best friends but cut their ties later on because of Gerald (Jak Roberto). For the sake of one day becoming a permanent resident and being able to work abroad, Betsy asks Gina to marry Gerald, her boyfriend at that time.
After being persuaded, she obliged on the condition of divorcing him later on. But Gina and Gerald’s relationship later blossomed to a real one, which broke Betsy and caused her to seek her revenge on Gina—something that she was able to achieve by becoming the wife of Robert, the main female protagonist’s father.
Skipping forward, they would all live together under one roof. Betsy still had feelings for Gerald and while his ties with his wife, Gina, was being strained, the two had an extramarital affair.
Honest take: Despite the theme of “kabitan” or extramarital affairs being a constant feature on local television in the past decade, My Father’s Wife was still able to bring a fresh approach to the genre.
It did not stick to the conventions of dragging the arc for too long and instead decided to “detonate the bomb” midway through the series and just after a few weeks on television—which is just a relatively short period for afternoon soaps.
That buildup was definitely worth it as viewers were able to witness the “valid crashout” of the scorned wife (Gina) and husband (in Robert) after they found out the truth and the aftermath.
It only had a relatively short, yet moderately successful run and to that, the team can pat themselves on the back knowing that the story went and ended just where it should have been.
31. TV Patrol Regional (ABS-CBN News)
More than five years since its Regional Network Group was dissolved, ABS-CBN News made the decision to revive the TV Patrol Regional name last November.
The newscast, anchored by Annie Perez, is a fast-paced fifteen-minute national newscast delivered in Bisaya that tackles news from the regions and the major headlines on the national level.
Originally streaming exclusively on digital platforms, the show was eventually brought to free and pay television platforms through A2Z and Kapamilya Channel on its third episode.
In contrast to the flagship TV Patrol and its offshoots Express and Weekend, the Regional edition does not air live. In recent installments, that has come to its advantage, as Tagalog subtitles have been added to let more viewers understand the news reports.
Honest take: TV Patrol Regional is a manifestation of the network’s mission of serving the Filipino people.
As the second Bisaya program (following the talk show Kuan-On-One) that ABS-CBN is airing on its primary channels on Sunday afternoons, the launch of TVP Regional should come as a welcome development for the diaspora nationwide (or even worldwide) as they are not only entertained, but also informed in the language that they understand and know best.
Those were the programs that ranked 31st to 40th in this year’s special Best Shows countdown.
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Other installments will be released in the coming days. For now, Trendrod wishes everyone a Merry Christmas!