The 1980s TV Shows Everyone Must See
We ranked the best shows of the 1980s.
The 1980s were an amazing time as the economy was booming, technological innovations were picking up speed every year, the music was amazing, and the fashion was regrettable. Television of the time started to change alongside American culture, with dramas able to go darker than ever before, comedies could push against the boundaries of the 70s, and everything was done in excess. Just as some of the greatest movies of the decade, like Die Hard, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Back to the Future, still hold up today, so does the television of the era.
There are a lot of great shows from the 1980s, but here’s a ranking of the ten best that are worth your time, scored using a cumulative critic and audience rating.
1. Cheers
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Starting off our list at number one is Cheers, one of the most influential sitcoms of all time. Featuring Ted Danson as washed-up baseball player Sam Malone, the first few seasons of the bar where everyone knows your name was propelled by the “will they or won’t they” between the bartender and waitress Diane Chambers (Shelly Long). Over time, the sitcom finds its footing as classic characters join the ever-growing ensemble, including Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), Woody (Woody Harrelson), Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman), and the most famous bar-flies in television, Norm Peterson (George Wendt) and the trivia buff mailman Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger).
Cheers earned over 100 Primetime Emmy Nominations during its 11-season run, eventually launching the spin-off Frasier, which also ran for multiple award-winning seasons. Beyond the fantastic cast and memorable characters, the series also pushed for serialized storytelling, which was very rare in sitcoms at the time, but today is expected from almost every show.
2. The Simpsons
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The Simpsons debuted on December 17, 1989, which makes it an 80s television show. It’s a 90s, 00s, 10s, 20s, and most likely a 30s show since it’s also the longest-running scripted primetime series in history. During the 32-year run, the main six voice actors, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, and Harrey Shearer, are still voicing the eclectic cast of Springfield.
With a cast of hundreds of characters and over 700 episodes aired, there’s little the Simpsons family has yet to do; they even adopted a horse multiple times. The 90s are referred to as the series Golden Age, featuring such classics as “Marge vs. the Monorail,” “Homer’s Enemy,” “Who Shot Mr. Burns,” and “The Treehouse of Horror.”
3. The Cosby Show
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Bill Cosby may have been found guilty of horrible crimes, which limits access to The Cosby Show today, but as a relic of the 1980s, it’s hard to overstate how important the show was to America at the time. Featuring the comedian as a medical doctor, the series was groundbreaking for showing a side of the black experience in America rarely shown at that point. Most importantly, it was legitimately funny with Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad’s chemistry causing punchlines to land with just a wry glance.
The Cosby Show aired in the same timeslot for all eight seasons, Thursdays at 8 p.m., and was the number one show for five consecutive seasons. The series also launched A Different World, starring Lisa Bonet, about her character’s life at Hillman College.
4. Hill Street Blues
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If you’ve seen any police procedural or movie, including Zootopia, that features a squad room scene; it’s because of Hill Street Blues. One of the greatest procedurals of all time, the series ran from 1981 to 1987, but listing all of the homages, tributes, and parodies that have aired since would be impossible. Notably, the show was created by Steven Bohco, the powerhouse producer that went on to create NYPD Blue, which defined the procedural for the 90s.
“Let’s be careful out there” became a rallying cry after being featured in every pre-credit briefing sequence. Hill Street Blues mirrored the changing landscape of major cities with darker plots and harsher consequences than most previous primetime shows. Rudy Guiliani’s war on crime in Ney York City and Ronald Reagan’s famous “War on Drugs” was in full swing during the show’s later seasons, resulting in intense episodes that still hold up even today.
5. Miami Vice
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Miami Vice is the most iconic show of the decade, with everything from the fashion to the soundtrack reflecting 1980s Miami. Starring Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas, the crime drama was such a hit that both stars released pop albums at the height of the show’s popularity. The crimes investigated on the show fit the setting and title, mostly focusing on the rise of cocaine trafficking in southern Florida and overlooking the fashion crimes committed on a weekly basis.
Unlike later procedurals set in Miami, Miami Vice filmed most of its episodes along South Beach, which was legitimately being destroyed by cocaine at the time. More noticeable to viewers at home was the soundtrack, which featured contemporary hits of the time, including Phil Collins’ “In The Air Tonight,” Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s one song, Corey Hart’s “Sunglasses at Night,” U2, and ZZ Top.
6. Family Ties
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The defining sitcom of the American family during the Reagan administration, Family Ties turned the classic “conservative parents vs. liberal kids” dynamic on its head by making Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter-Birney’s characters former hippies raising Michael J. Fox‘s Alex Keaton, a young Republican. This time around, jokes were made at the expense of the “out of touch” hippies and supporting the rise of conservatism at the time, but as it’s a family sitcom, nothing was ever truly vicious, and it was clear that the characters loved each other.
Michael J. Fox was the breakout star, going on to star in Back to the Future and becoming one of the hottest stars of the decade. Family Ties won multiple Emmys during its seven-year run, but it’s the unique dynamic that makes it one of the best shows of the 1980s.
7. L.A. Law
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The precursor to Law & Order, L.A. Law was the defining law drama of the 1980s, running from 1986 through 1994, featuring “ripped from the headlines” stories. Just as the more recent procedural has featured a litany of recognizable guest stars, so to did L.A. Law, including Vanna White, along with an amazing roster of future stars, including Lucy Liu, Jeffrey Tambor, and Don Cheadle, while the full list is far too long to list, it can be seen on IMDb.
Fans knew what to expect from each episode, with a light theme song for the more zany and humorous episodes and a bass-heavy synthesizer version for the serious episodes. The main cast featured Blair Underwood, Corbin Bernson, Harry Hamlin, Jimmy Smits, Jill Eikenberry, and in one of the later seasons, Debi Mazar. If not for the success of L.A. Law in redefining the lawyer procedural, countless shows over the last four decades would never have been greenlit.
8. St. Elsewhere
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Hill Street Blues and L.A. Law defined police and lawyer procedurals, while St. Elsewhere was the medical procedural of the 1980s. Don’t worry, your eyes aren’t deceiving you; Denzel Washington starred for all six seasons as Dr. Philip Chandler. Ed Begley Jr., Howie Mandel, and future NCIS headliner Mark Harmon also had major roles in the award-winning series.
St. Elsewhere followed the staff of a run-down Boston hospital with a gritty style that matched its contemporary Hill Street Blues. Embracing the philosophy that doctors aren’t perfect, the series highlighted the personal lives and problems of the staff just as much as it did the incoming patients through interlocking, serialized storylines. As with other shows on this list, the primetime drama earned over 100 Emmy nominations during its run.
9. Moonlighting
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Now it’s commonly known as “the show Bruce Willis was on before Die Hard,” but Moonlighting was a great show in its own right. Starring Cybill Shepard alongside Willis, the pair were mismatched private detectives, with Shepard’s Madolyn Hayes a broke model and Willis’ David Addison a wise-cracking New Yorker. As with Cheers, the show leaned into the sexual tension between the two leads throughout its five-season run.
The real impact of Moonlighting isn’t from its stars but rather the writing. Considered the first dramatic comedy (dramedy) on primetime television, the lasting impact is how smoothly the show blended multiple genres within the same episode. From the groundbreaking procedurals to the first dramedy, it’s clear that the 1980s had a lasting impact on television.
10. Golden Girls
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Golden Girls may be at the bottom of the list, but it’s first in our hearts. Airing from 1985 to 1992, the sitcom about retired single women living together is almost perfect. Starring Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, Estelle Getty, and the legendary Betty White, the series has been culturally relevant for almost 40 years, continuing to attract new fans to this day.
While it’s not the best sitcom of the 1980s according to critics, the timeless appeal of the heartwarming series means that any episode can be played in any decade, and it will find an audience. Other shows exemplified the decade better, but Golden Girls captured adult friendship better than any other show.
