I’ve been watching 80s TV in realtime for the last 7 years on a 35-year delay. Started in 1982, it’s 1988 now. Here are my thoughts. Wall of text incoming…
Comedy From the earlier half of the decade Newhart and Cheers are the absolute cream of the crop and nothing even comes close at the time. Most people probably think of Larry, Daryl and Daryl when they think of Newhart but Peter Scolari and Julia Duffy are the stars in my opinion (along with Bob Newhart obviously, and Tom Poston as George Utley is a treasure). They steal the show every time they show up. Shoutout to Jim and Chester too. The earlier seasons aren’t as great but they are still watchable. I look forward to Newhart more than any other show.
There is nothing I could say about Cheers that hasn’t already been said. It’s an all-time great sitcom. For me it’s the link between the greatest 70s sitcoms (Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Bob Newhart Show) and Seinfeld. Contender and probably winner for the best ensemble comedy cast ever.
Golden Girls is brilliant but not my absolute favourite. I think people place it on a higher level than it really deserves, but it is way above average.
Night Court is OK mostly because the cast are so great. But the material is not the best and I don’t think it aged well.
The Wonder Years is brilliant so far (just watched first season). Feels like a 90s show.
Silver Spoons and Diff’rent Strokes were fun in the earlier seasons but took a serious nosedive when the kids got older. Gimme a Break managed to ride out a VERY questionable format thanks to Nell Carter’s talents, but totally lost its way when the Chief died. That guy from Weekend At Bernies doing pratfalls every scene he’s in is a notable low point.
Family Ties manages to raise a laugh most of the time despite a few dips in quality. I don’t think it suffered like the others did in later series. Justine Bateman and Michael J Fox mostly carry the show though.
Married With Children is as funny as it ever was. I love it. It’s dumb fun done right.
ALF is derided these days but whoever was writing those wisecracks had some real talent. It’s a fun watch.
It’s Garry Shandling’s Show is cool. Probably one of the most influential comedies of the 80s in how it played with conventions and broke the fourth wall. Seeing Gilda Radner in her final appearance is bittersweet, but hilarious.
Full House and Growing Pains are full-bore 80s corniness. But they are enjoyable enough so far. A LOT of hugging and learning in these.
Pee-Wee’s Playhouse is insane. Best enjoyed in small doses.
I won’t mention Cosby apart from that I watched it and he deserves to rot in hell. I feel bad for the supporting cast.
Drama 80s TV drama pretty much sucked. There is nothing I would really go back to apart from maybe Wiseguy. Knightrider was a fun concept but got stale quick. Same with Airwolf. Top-notch theme tunes though.
I couldn’t get past 3 episodes of thirtysomething. Dull.
Moonlighting was actually pretty great and it’s no surprise that Bruce Willis became such a big star. He is in his element here.
Apart from that St Elsewhere and Hill Street Blues are probably about as good as it gets for the early 80s and even then they can be hard work. Most the rest is filled up with bad cop / detective shows. Hard to watch nowadays. I really wanted to enjoy Miami Vice but I couldn’t get into it. Maybe I’ll give it a second chance one day. Beauty and the Beast is kind of decent but super cheesy.
The Fall Guy is a ridiculous show. Nice to see a cameo from Andre the Giant in there.
I almost want to put TJ Hooker in the comedy and/or fantasy categories for its pure stupidity. Was anybody really buying Shatner as a tough cop? If you want something to laugh at just watch the opening credits. Turn it off after though - it stinks.
Horror/Sci-Fi/Fantasy. The 80s weren’t great for genre TV. There was a weird anthology show boom in the mid 80s I think due to the Twilight Zone Movie coming out. Shows like Tales From The Darkside, Amazing Stories, New Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents were decent but I prefer episodic content and I lost interest as time went on. Production quality was good on these shows, for the time. Particularly Amazing Stories. Jim Henson’s Storyteller series is my favourite out of these. Friday the 13th series is probably the worst.
Upcoming shows 1988 suffered from a writers strike and seems a little light on new shows that look to be worth watching. I am looking forward to Roseanne, Murphy Brown and Mystery Science Theater 3000 but that’s about it.
1989 doesn’t seem to be up to much either but at least there’s Seinfeld and Simpsons debuting. Family Matters will be on my watchlist too but I couldn’t mention it in the same sentence as the other 2.
What do you guys think? Did I miss anything?
Find a copy of “V” if you’re looking for fun 80s sci fi.
Buck Rogers doesn’t fall under the time period you’re watching, but it’s close. The first season is a hoot, but it goes way downhill when the network retools it to save money, and places Buck on a ship. I distinctly remember Buck standing in front of an obviously cardboard shuttlecraft from that season.
I did actually have V on my list but never got round to it. I wanted to see the TV movie first but my partner is a hard-sell on that sort of stuff. I’ll have to find some time for it. Buck Rogers sounds like fun! One thing I love about that era is that they could produce the silliest shows and keep a straight face.
Now you mention sci-fi I just realised I didn’t mention Star Trek TNG in my post…
Magnum, PI and Simon and Simon. Both hold up well IMO especially the first few seasons. Both are shot on location in Hawaii and California and are an interesting time capsule of life back then if nothing else.
I watched the first episode of Magnum PI and was impressed by the quality. Never picked it back up for some reason though. I never watched Simon and Simon - think I was overwhelmed with hour-long detective shows at the time and a lot of them got bumped from my schedule.
Some of the Magnum PI episodes are pretty clever and funny. Simon and Simon is mostly about the odd couple pairing of the two brothers. But I can see where a lot of future TV and movies were influenced by these shows.
Depending on how strict you are on dates, the first one that jumps to mind is “Dallas”. It ran from '78-'91, so in my mind, it is a show that very much was 80s.
Honorable mention to “Doogie Howser, M.D.”; '89-93.
Good shout - I never watched Dallas or Dynasty but I feel like I’m ignoring a pop-culture touchstone with those 2. The amount JR is referenced in other shows I almost feel like I have seen it.
Dynasty is a hoot. Especially the fashions.
Some trivia for you: the patriarch Blake Carrington was originally written for George Peppard. He decided to do A-team instead. It really shows in the writing for the first season. Blake becomes a much softer character as the show moves forward.
Season one is kind of dull. It’s not until Joan Collins enters in season two that the show finds its angle.
tracy ullman show (birthplace of the simpsons)
Star Trek TNG is 1987
small wonder
Punky brewster?
Yeah I totally forgot to mention TNG but I did watch it. First season has its moments but isn’t the best.
Still good to see though. Punky Brewster I didn’t get past the first couple episodes. It was cool but think I was fatigued what with all the other similar shows. Same reason I didn’t really bother with Webster at the time.
I think I had a look for Tracey Ullman but I don’t know if there are many episodes available?
Small Wonder must have passed me by. It looks dreadful! Hopefully in a good way though? I’ll check it out but I just recently got through Out of this World and that was pretty terrible. Sounds kinda similar.
I absolutely love Cheers! I love the way the humor evolved and changed with the times. We had the the whole show on constant cycle when my first baby was born 3 years ago. Now it feels like going back to see old friends whenever we put it in again
Yeah it was my absolute top number 1 favourite show for a very long time. It’s one of those shows I can just throw on any episode any time and enjoy it. Cheers, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart Show, Newhart and Golden Girls are top 5 for that vibe. Like a warm hug
I won’t mention Cosby apart from that I watched it and he deserves to rot in hell. I feel bad for the supporting cast.
I’ve heard it said that the working name for Married with Children was “Not the Cosby Show.” I think it was in a VH1 special. But I haven’t been able to corroborate it.
Quantum leap?
Quantum Leap came out in 1989, and OP said they are on 1988 now, so they have something to look forward to for next year.
Oh yeah, the ‘80s were loaded to the gills with throwaway buddy PI dramas (three out of any four were created by Stephen J Cannell), featuring either a duo or trio who were buddies in Nam or loose cannon ex-cons teamed up with straight-laced men of the law. They were totally a dime a dozen, but on the bright side, most of them had rad-as-h*ck theme songs by the best in the biz, Mike Post.
Oh man Mike Post is a legend for the Hill Street Blues theme alone. He did the Greatest American Hero too. The 80s had the best TV Themes of any decade in my opinion
And Rockford Files, among many others
Who’s the Boss (1984).
For 1988, there’s Mystery Science Theater 3000
Not sure if you’re interested in Movies too but Akira came out in 1988 and is friggin awesome.
I’m looking forward to MST3K for sure. Who’s The Boss got lost in the shuffle somehow. Looking back there was a lot of debuts in 1984 and I couldn’t watch everything. Definitely one I need to revisit though
I did watch a few movies this years too but haven’t been in the mood a lot of the time. I’d already seen a lot of the ‘good’ movies from 88 so went for the lighter side a lot of the time.
Crocodile Dundee 2 Short Circuit 2 18 Again! Willow Funny Farm Hot To Trot Vibes
Of those Funny Farm was the one I enjoyed most. Short Circuit 2 is good Sunday afternoon fun if you can get past the horrific indian stereotype. Hot To Trot is straight up weird and Vibes was a struggle to watch. The others were fine.
I never watched Akira. I am a bit of a hard sell on anime sometimes but I always hear good things about it. I’ll put it on the list
Little House on the Prairie?Dukes of Hazard? Probably unwatchable but as a kid in the 80s I loved those Duke boys.Edit: Looked it up and LHotP went from 74 to 83 so never mind
Where’s The A-Team?
I dunno, it’s up there with Knight Rider and Airwolf in that it’s cool as hell to start with, but an hour long episode every week is a drag. My opinion anyway, but I feel like once you’ve seen a handful of episodes it gets boring. Someone else said the best part of those shows is the theme song and I have to agree.
Just did my cheers rewatch and it’s fun but damn a lot of the humor doesn’t age well. Just like Frasier (also did a rewatch) it has a lot of toxic masculinity and homophobia in subtext. But somehow also progressive for its time?
The way I look at it is that I’m more happy that we’ve progressed since than I’m upset about what people were laughing at back then. Regardless of who was on the receiving end the comedy was good and I will enjoy it without guilt. That being said if somebody made those jokes today it would be a different story
That’s a good way to look at it. Thanks cause I think the way things are now, especially as an ally to a lot of people, I’m on edge and constantly being defensive. Being able to laugh and stuff enjoy it is nice though.
Matlock? Macgyver? Miami Vice?
Definitely need to watch a bit of Macgyver! I want to check out Miami Vice again sometime but my partner hated it. I do love the style and the music though.
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Did you watch any MASH? It ended in '83, so should have been in your timeline. I watched it back when Netflix was mailing DVD’s in the early 2000’s and it was a lot of fun then. I should probably look for a rewatch.
I have a real problem with shows with laugh tracks (or studio audiences or whatever, same difference). Modern sitcoms have pretty much done away with them and good riddance, so I don’t know if I could even do a rewatch of Friends or not.
Oh yeah I watched a ton of 70s sitcoms a few years back. Mostly Norman Lear and MTM productions. Stuff like All In The Family, Sanford and Son, The Jeffersons, Mary Tyler Moore and its spin-offs. Watch a ton of Happy Days in anticipation of watching one or two of the 80s spinoffs, but never managed to finish it and lost my appetite for any more of that. Lol.
I never finished MASH just because its one of those shows you have to be in the mood for. but I enjoyed it and finished the first couple seasons. I need to finish it sometime.
The laugh track thing is weird - after watching so many 70s and 80s sitcoms I tune it out. I think its not so bad when the jokes are actually good and its a live audience, but some of those early 2000s shows were so obnoxious with it.
Interestingly I think they released some MASH episodes without the laugh track. You should look hat up if you go for a rewatch
Go easy on Mystery Science Theater if you start with the earliest season (the KTMA episodes). They were riffing live, and while there are a few good jokes and a solid proof of concept, the show got WAY better with a writing team.
I powered through those old KTMA episodes years ago. I will probably try and watch them again but I know exactly what you mean. I still love Joel though and I like the way he comes across in the early episodes, and the skits were good if I remember correctly. My biggest complaint with those is the movies themselves - there’s way too many Kaiju and puppet movies for my liking. 5 Gamera movies back to back is tough to say the least.
