The best TV shows of October weren't actually spooky

Watching

Usually, October gives us a swath of new horror or spooky shows to watch. This year, the best television wasn’t the scary stuff. Here are just a couple of our favorite new shows:

• The Chair Company. Ron Trosper is losing it. The Chair Company, an HBO comedy, traces the unraveling of this suburban family man, played by co-creator Tim Robinson, who believes he’s stumbled upon a criminal conspiracy following a minor workplace humiliation. Read the full review.

• Down Cemetery Road. Neither a film noir femme fatale nor a jealous housewife, Sarah Trafford has come to Oxford Investigations for help in solving a mystery that has little to do with her own life. Her initially inexplicable obsession sets the tone for Apple TV’s unusually humane conspiracy thriller. Read the full review.

See the full list of our favorite shows from October here.

Talking About

• The creator of Breaking Bad has a new show coming out Nov 7. For a creator synonymous with the rise of antihero television, Vince Gilligan’s upcoming Apple TV release, Pluribus, can be seen as a corrective of sorts. Read more about this new show and Gilligan’s journey to this moment here.

• House of Dynamite is largely a movie about structures and processes and readiness in the face of chaos—and how even the most competent and prepared authorities can still become undone by it. We spoke to the director and writer of the show about how realistic the show’s premise was.

TIME100 Next Gala

• The TIME100 Next Gala brought together honorees from the 2025 list for a night of celebration last week. See the evening's highlights, including toasts from Bridgerton and Wicked star Jonathan Bailey and Emmy-award winning Severance actor Tramell Tillman, how Tate McCrae felt when Taylor Swift shouted out her latest single, and singer Becky G’s comments on uplifting her community, and more from the gala.