The sitcom dominated TV in the ‘70s, but in the 1980s faced tough competition for critics’ attention from groundbreaking dramas like Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, and St. Elsewhere. It was still a fantastic era for sitcoms, but the best comedies of the ‘80s capitalized on the strides made by the best sitcoms of the ‘70s instead of making their own; you couldn’t get to Cheers, Night Court, or Newhart without The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Barney Miller, or, uh, The Bob Newhart Show. It was also the decade where the family sitcom came roaring back to popularity, both in traditional family units and ersatz combinations, eventually resulting in the late decade launch of ABC’s influential TGIF block—whose direct influence can be felt in every kid-targeting Disney Channel and Nickelodeon sitcom since.
It was also the decade of The Cosby Show. It’d be impossible to write about the sitcom in the 1980s without mentioning Bill Cosby, so let’s just rip that band-aid off right now. He’s a monster and it’s impossible to watch and enjoy his work today, especially the family-minded The Cosby Show, where he mugged his way through an impression of a perfect father. Still, its cultural impact at the time is almost unparalleled in TV history, and its massive success from 1984 on is credited with saving both NBC as a network and the very genre of the sitcom at a time when there were few hit comedies on TV. We can’t recommend anybody watching the show today, knowing what we know about the man behind it, but we also can’t ignore its importance at the time and to TV history. Consider this paragraph to be that acknowledgement; The Cosby Show isn’t on this list, because there’s no reason for anybody to ever watch it again.
We don’t necessarily recommend all of the shows below to today’s audiences—if you don’t have nostalgia for, say, number 20 on this list, you’ll probably turn it off within a few minutes—but some of the comedies below are as funny now as they were 40 years ago. And on a quick logistical note, a couple of shows that debuted late in the decade but whose bulk aired in the ‘90s are ranked a little bit lower than they would be if we were considering their full histories, and not just the 1980s; I’m talking about Roseanne and Murphy Brown, two shows that made an instant impact upon the culture when they started in 1988, earning their spots on this list, but that, again, largely ran in the 1990s. Arbitrary? Sure, but then this whole damn list is.
Okay. Let’s dig in and remember the best sitcoms of the 1980s.
20. The Facts of Life
Years: 1979-1988
Creators: Dick Clair, Jenna McMahon
Stars: Charlotte Rae, Lisa Whelchel, Kim Fields, Mindy Cohn, Nancy McKeon, Cloris Leachman
Networks: NBC
If you ever want to know what a typical ‘80s sitcom was like, one that isn’t remembered as either a legitimate classic or a nostalgic TGIF-style kids show, check out any one of The Facts of Life’s 201 episodes. Initially set in an all-girls boarding school, this long-running Diff’rent Strokes spinoff was textbook network cheese, with the occasional “very special episode” that would (very lightly) address serious issues like abortion. Its popularity rested heavily on the charisma and chemistry of its four teenage stars, with experienced vets like Charlotte Rae (as her Diff’rent Strokes character Mrs. Garrett) and, later, Cloris Leachman helping to guide the ship. A pre-fame George Clooney was even a regular for one single season late in its run. I was personally a huge fan of this show, which is probably the only reason it made this list.—Garrett Martin
19. Mork & Mindy
Years: 1978-1982
Creators: Garry Marshall, Dale McRaven, Joe Glauberg
Stars: Robin Williams, Pam Dawber, Conrad Janis, Jonathan Winters
Networks: ABC
The world was introduced to Robin Williams playing the Mork from the planet Ork on an episode of Happy Days. His talent was so apparent that ABC gave him his own show. His comedy was already alien, and the mile-a-minute slapstick of that first season felt completely original. Things went largely downhill from there with the introduction of Jonathan Winters as Mork and Mindy’s “baby” in Season 4, but even bad Mork & Mindy was better than most sitcoms of its era. —Josh Jackson
18. Diff’rent Strokes
Years: 1978-1986
Creators: Jeff Harris, Bernie Kukoff
Stars: Todd Bridges, Gary Coleman, Dana Plato, Conrad Bain, Charlotte Rae
Network: CBS
Two Black boys from Harlem are adopted by a rich, white businessman on Park Avenue, and hilarity ensues. Diff’rent Strokes was as defined by the way it tackled difficult American issues as it was by Gary Coleman’s endearing catch phrase, “Whatchoo talkin’ ‘bout, Willis?” Drugs, sexual abuse and racism were faced head-on, even as the effects of child stardom on its three leading kids were swept under the rug (when Dana Plato became pregnant, her character went to study in Paris). Charlotte Rae’s character of housekeeper Edna Garrett was given her own spin-off, which became another long-running series, The Facts of Life. —Josh Jackson
17. Married…with Children
Years: 1987-1997
Creators: Michael G. Moye, Ron Leavitt
Stars: Ed O’Neill, Katey Sagal, Christina Applegate
Network: Fox
Each era has its “low-brow classic” show, and for the late ’80s and most of the ’90s, that show was Married…with Children. Unlike Ed O’Neil’s current stint on Modern Family, there’s really no wit or morals to be had here, just a crass commentary on the state of the lower-class American family in the early ’90s. Al Bundy is a simple man, and he has few redeeming characteristics: He’s cheap, he’s a loser, he’s a depressed would-be philanderer, but damn if people couldn’t identify with the sad sack and his quest to simply put meals on the table with enough money left over for beer. It’s the kind of show that received heaping amounts of scorn from the literati for its entire run but is remembered today with fondness by just about anyone who wanted to kill a half hour on a Sunday night with a few harmless laughs.—Jim Vorel
16. Sledge Hammer!
Years: 1986-1988
Creators: Alan Spencer
Stars: David Rasche, Anne-Marie Martin, Harrison Page
Network: ABC
A parody of high-octane action films, Reagan era conservatism and Dirty Harry-style rogue cop movies, Sledge Hammer is a perfect artifact of the 1980s. It elevates tough guy posturing and police sadism to absurd heights, with Inspector Hammer using oversized weapons and preferring violence to arresting suspects. Its first season infamously ended with Hammer accidentally nuking San Francisco. This show was huge with my friends at school at the time, but it was up against Miami Vice and Dallas and, later, The Cosby Show, so it didn’t stand a chance in the ratings. The fact that we even got two seasons was good enough for us, and now it’ll live on forever on DVD, thankfully with the laugh track removed.—Garrett Martin
15. Family Ties
Years: 1982-1989
Creator: Gary David Goldberg
Stars: Meredith Baxter, Michael Gross, Michael J. Fox, Justine Bateman, Tina Yothers
Network: NBC
An early hit and one of the four shows that helped define the original Must See TV block, Family Ties started off strong before gradually fading away into sitcom irrelevance. The clash between liberal parents and conservative children during the Reagan Revolution was a smart, timely hook for a comedy, but as it grew more interested in its teen characters’ romantic relationships and added an additional child it lost a bit of its intelligence. It’s still an all-time classic, though, with an amazing cast and valuable insight into the time period. It’s also the show that made Michael J. Fox a star.—Garrett Martin
14. Murphy Brown
Years: 1988-1998, 2018
Creator: Diane English
Stars: Candice Bergen, Charles Kimbrough, Robert Pastorelli, Joe Regalbuto, Lily Tomlin
Network: CBS
How many television shows actually become part of the national conversation? That’s exactly what happened on May 19,1992 when Vice President Dan Quayle called out Murphy Brown (Bergen) for being a single mom. Today it’s hard to even imagine the scandal the show caused by allowing its title character to have a baby out of wedlock. But Murphy Brown was also much more than its most well-known zeitgeist moment. As a newswoman with a penchant for firing her secretaries, Brown was her generation’s Mary Richards. Surrounded by her naïve and nervous executive producer Miles Silverberg (Grant Shaud), best friend Frank (Joe Regalbuto), stuffy newsman Jim (Charles Kimbrough) and way-too-cheery Corky (Faith Ford), the series was consistently topical and political, but most importantly, it always made us laugh. —Amy Amatangelo
13. Roseanne
Years: 1988-1997
Creators: Matt Williams, Roseanne Barr, Marcy Carsey, Tom Werner
Stars: Roseanne, John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Sara Gilbert, Michael Fishman, Lecy Goranson, Natalie West, Sarah Chalke, Emma Kenney
Network: ABC
Before she permanently nuked her reputation and career through her unhinged social media, Roseanne (formerly Barr, formerly Arnold) was the star of the best ‘80s and ‘90s sitcom about working class America. The blue collar milieu wasn’t laid on too thick, but was always present within the show, at a time when the disparity between the haves and have-nots grew exponentially. Much of the show’s success can be credited to John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf, two world class actors who are as adept at comedy as they are drama—a skill that’s vital for a sitcom that regularly turned melodramatic. A testament to how strong the show’s cast and concept was: when it was revived 20 years after its initial cancellation, it became one of the most popular shows on TV again, and has continued on for multiple seasons after the firing of its former star.—Garrett Martin
12. WKRP in Cincinnati
Years: 1978-1982
Creator: Hugh Wilson
Stars: Gary Sandy, Gordon Jump, Loni Anderson, Richard Sanders, Frank Bonner, Jan Smithers, Tim Reid, Howard Hesseman
Network: CBS
WKRP in Cincinnati might have the most classic sitcom characters of any MTM show. It’s a murderer’s row of outsized comic archetypes that are grounded just enough in the typical MTM style. There’s manic DJ Dr. Johnny Fever, tacky salesman Herb Tarlek, news nebbish Les Nessman, the smooth late night DJ Venus Flytrap, and naïve manchild Arthur Carlson, each one clearly and directly inspiring characters on later sitcoms. Add in perhaps the only good role ever written for Loni Anderson and it’s a great mix of characters and personalities, with storylines that focus on their personal relationships and on the weird role radio stations play in their communities. The only knock against WKRP is that it’s a little bit more of a cartoon than MTM’s other greatest shows, in part because the straightmen who are the nominal leads are nowhere near as charismatic or interesting as the more absurd characters like Dr. Johnny Fever, Arthur Carlson or Les Nessman. Also music rights issues have made WKRP almost impossible to watch on DVD; Shout Factory put out the best DVD set yet in 2015, with most of the original music intact, but some notable ones still missing. —Garrett Martin
Years: 1987-1993
Years: 1988-1993
Years: 1982-1984
Years: 1981-1991
Years: 1975-1985
Years: 1985-1992
Years: 1984-1992
Years: 1978-1983
Years: 1982-1990
Years: 1982-1992