Favorite 80's TV Shows?

Maybe it's just because I grew up during them, but for me, the 80's were the golden years of television. Many new directions were tried, and many failed, but I enjoyed watching them...

Some of my favorites:

The "Babe of the Week" shows, as I call them. Our hero (or heroes) rescue some damsel in distress and get the bad guys at the end.

Magnum P.I.
Airwolf
Knight Rider
A Team
BJ and the Bear
Dukes of Hazzard
(main stream ones)

Then the more "out there" ones.....
Automan
Streethawk
Manimal

Of course there were classic sitcoms during this decade, but I really loved the sci-fi shows, again, kind of obscure....
Mr. Merlin
Powers of Matthew Starr
Otherworld
Phoenix

There's lots of others, that are just so numerous to mention.
What were some of your favorites in the 80's?

reply to post by Gazrok


As soon as I saw Airwolf, the theme started playing in my head. Guess it had a bigger effect on me than I thought.

But to me, this show is one of the best that I have ever seen. I loved it.."let's go down to the beach and shoot some clams" priceless

reply to post by Gazrok


You pretty much hit it for me with your picks.

My standouts were Knight Rider and A-Team. My secondaries were Dukes of Hazard and the little remembered, Riptide.
en.wikipedia.org...(TV_series)

I also liked your short-lived obscure shows. I really loved Automan, but it was basically canceled before it even got going. Streethawk was well done, but couldn't compete with KR and Airwolf (not a fan of that one due to Jan Michael Vincent). Manimal was too out there for mainstream America.

As for sitcoms, I watched the typical NBC Thursday night, but some of my first memories of a show I had to watch was the Jeffersons. Pretty strange for a kid from southern Iowa.

Nickelodeon provided You Can't Do That On Television plus The Tomorrow People. Both awesome for the their own reasons.

I could go on and on, but the last thing to note. I hated ALF, Punky Brewster and most other primetime shows aimed at kids. I also hated (and continue to hate) the ABC Friday night comedies with a special emphasis on Full House.

reply to post by tribewilder


Steve Landsberg just passed away. Great show.

Cheers
Taxi (went off the air in 82)
Seinfeld.
Family Ties
Married...with children
Night Court
Bosom Buddies
Soap (ended 1981)

I wasn't a big drama watcher back then so the list is all about the comedies

reply to post by WickettheRabbit


Right there with you on ALF. Couldn't stand that show...and never got the appeal. Totally forgot Riptide.

I also liked the short-lived Misfits of Science (kind of like the short-bus X-Men, with a young Courtney Cox), and Sledge Hammer (a slapstick cop show...).

Kids shows are a WHOLE other thread probably, hehe.. (and I'd likely get some 70's ones in there from being really young) Great Space Coaster, HR Puff & Stuff, Krofft Superstars, Laugh-a-lympics, etc.

From above..The Fall Guy...wow, who didn't just love Heather Thomas?

Sledge Hammer was great.

forgot about The Naked Gun
Newhart - if only for the brothers Darryl and Larry
Hill Street Blues
St Elsewhere

reply to post by Gazrok

I forgot about Misfits of Science. I think there were a number of 80s series that didn't much further than the pilot.

Another cop show I liked, but didn't really get was TJ Hooker. I also liked St. Elsewhere for medical dramas.

Hated Dallas.

reply to post by WickettheRabbit


I liked Falcon Crest over Dallas. My mom watched it, and I was enamored with the brunette on it (though I didn't know why at the time, hehe...). Oddly enough, on Desperate Housewives, the actress who played Gabby's niece looks a LOT like her...

Also forgot Remington Steele and Scarecrow and Mrs. King (I was obsessed with becoming a secret agent for most of the 80's). Later on, I learned that a career with the CIA was not going to be like Bond....and it lost it's luster a bit.

Did you guys get 'The Young Ones' in USA? A British show about a bunch of young students in share accommodation. Some really funny sketches, imitated but never successfully.
A great thing about these guys is they never watered down the brand with comebacks or sequels, I guess they knew that there's only so many times you can hit a guy with a shovel or set fire to him & it will stay funny.
And to quote a character named Vivian; "oh, did I say give you a big girly kiss on the bottom? Excuse me, I meant to say DRIVE A PICK-AXE THROUGH YOUR SPINAL COLUMN ! ! !"

reply to post by klaatu4711


Don't remember it, but for at least 4 years of the 80's, I was either in Alaska or Saudi Arabia, hehe... Only later did I get one of my favorite BBC comedies....Black Adder. I hate Mr. Bean...but Rowin Atkinson in Black Adder is pure comic genius.

Other mentions: Werewolf, Max Headroom (two other, "Out there" shows)....

My favourites would be, The Young ones on the BBC, Only Fools and Horses also on the BBC, Black Adder . I remember I used to watch Airwolf and A team oh and night rider. Was only 9 at the end of the 80s. I watched Young ones in my Teens. Very Funny
Edit
Just remembered one, The Wonder Years.... Classic

Don't be ri-di-cu-lous

reply to post by DangerMonkey


Ew. No offense.

reply to post by klaatu4711


In my neck of the woods, we only got BBC comedies from the 80's in the 90's when they were shown on PBS. Young Ones was never a favorite of mine.

Another real obscure one "Something is out there". (it's so obscure, it doesn't even show in 80's tv show lists, but was in the fall of 88.)

Had Myriam D'Abo (Bond girl in Living Daylights) as an alien who helped a guy solve paranormal crimes (I think she was like an alien cop on her world or something). Didn't even make it a whole season...but damn she was cute...

Dabney Coleman had a couple of really funny sitcoms in the 80s - Buffalo Bill and Slap Maxwell. I know Dabney isn't everyone's cup of tea with that character type he usually plays - the weaselly, self-centered smart aleck. But those characters always remind me of my favorite person.

Me.

reply to post by yeahright



Dabney's shows were awesome, as were many of his roles in movies. War Games, Cloak and Dagger, Tootsie etc.

I was thrilled to see him in Boardwalk Empire. He's one of those rare talents that can do comedy and drama without a hitch

reply to post by Crakeur


Dragnet
Modern Problems (Lousy movie, but Dabney's a riot)

reply to post by Crakeur


Yeah, Sledge Hammer was a classic (as seen by my signature)! Don't know why they ever canceled it, and only did 2 seasons. I think a lot of people just didn't catch the jokes - it was ahead of it's time. I have got both seasons, and watched it again recently.

David Raschy played the part perfectly. His infamous 'you no good yoghurty.... (insert insult here).....' was classic