The 1980s were the golden era of TV sitcoms. From the catchy theme songs that we still sing today, to the families that felt like they were an extension of our own, these shows captivated a nation both then and now. While they ruled the ratings four decades ago, we’re still able to find them today, whether it be for the first time, or to relive our past years. These eleven shows have stood the test of time and will live on for generations to come.
11. ALF (1986-1990)
This NBC family sitcom centers around a short, furry alien simply called ALF (short for Alien Life Form), who crashes his spaceship into the home of the Tanner family. What could have been your typical sitcom (high-strung dad, wife, teenage daughter, and young son) becomes more with the outlandish presence of the wisecracking ALF. Taken in and hidden from the government, he becomes the fifth member of the family. His boredom from being cooped up constantly gets ALF in trouble. Each week finds ALF out and about in disguise or almost getting caught by a nosy neighbor. While the plot is pure '80s cheese, there is also a lot of love to be found here. ALF is such a well-drawn character that after a while he almost seems real.
10. Perfect Strangers (1986-1993)
ABC sitcom Perfect Strangers perfected the odd couple trope. Shining its brightest as part of the network's TGIF lineup, it revolves around a man named Larry from Chicago who takes in Balki Bartokomous, a European distant cousin he does not know. Their differences cause them to clash often, but also results in its most heartwarming moments. Bronson Pinchot’s portrayal of Balki holds the show together and produces its biggest laughs. His odd accent, fish out of water cluelessness, and pure goodness, makes him one of TV’s most memorable characters. No matter how many times his naivety gets him into trouble in the most hilarious ways possible, Larry is always there to save the day.
9. Saved By The Bell (1989-1993)
Taking the novel approach of airing a live action show during Saturday mornings, a time dedicated to children’s cartoons, Saved By The Bell was set in a fictional Los Angeles high school. Made for the teen audience, those who were done with Looney Tunes but hadn’t quite progressed to more adult fare, Saved By The Bell focuses on the school days of six friends. We get every clichéd teenager (the cool one, the pretty one, the jock, the nerd), but behind the familiar lies a lot of well-thought-out characters. No matter what trouble they may get into, how often they may fight amongst themselves or with Principal Belding, they always come together at the end, still the best of friends. While most of the plots were lighter fare, a young adult could also tune in and learn about how to cope with everything from death to drug use.
8. Married…With Children (1987-1997)
This is not your typical wholesome, feel-good, family comedy. Although tame compared to today’s standards, one of FOX’s first ever shows was considered to be controversial at the time for its raunchiness. Cynical women’s shoe salesman Al Bundy (Ed O’Neill) is always in a bad mood, railing against his bimbo wife (Katey Sagal) and dumb kids, or his annoying neighbors. He hates everyone. This sitcom does a 180 on what audiences had come to know. The family fights throughout each episode. Sex is discussed freely. There are many laughs to be found in the dysfunction, however. The more absurd the show gets, the funnier it gets as well. And as dirty as it can be, it's the show’s self-awareness that makes it work.
7. Full House (1987-1995)
Its popularity spanned not only the two decades that this ABC comedy aired, but in the decades since. It has so permeated our collective consciousness that Bob Saget’s recent death was headline news that crushed everyone from kids to the elderly. Here Saget starred as a recently widowed dad who is raising his three children with help from his best friend (Dave Coulier) and brother-in-law (John Stamos). Even though the plot is born out of tragedy, the episodes are filled with easy laughs. And who could ever forget the magic created by the Olsen twins? Another popular member of the TGIF lineup, audiences would become so close to this wholesome and lovable family that it was brought back for a short run recently on Netflix.
6. Night Court (1984-1992)
A brilliant premise brought Night Court to life. Covering the happenings of a New York City municipal court at, well, night, its ensemble cast is led by Harry Anderson as the court’s joke cracking judge. The rest of the cast consists of the court’s public defenders, prosecutors, bailiffs, and clerks. Combined, they would preside over the city’s oddest cases. Put that together with a plethora of well written, peculiar characters, and you have a recipe for weekly hijinks that saw the series nominated for several Emmys during its run. John Larroquette often stole the show for his turn as a sex-crazed prosecutor, earning him Emmy Awards four years in a row for Best Supporting Actor.
5. Family Matters (1989-1998)
A spin-off of Perfect Strangers, this series about a Black family in Chicago would become another tent pole of the TGIF movement. It had all the hallmarks of a traditional '80s sitcom: a strong family dynamic, lovable characters, wholesomeness, simple laughs. It was the rise of Steve Urkel, the irritating kid who lived next door, that became the show’s center. What was once meant to be a supporting character became the lead, so popular was Jaleel White’s performance, from the suspenders and glasses, to the mannerisms and that nasally voice. Urkel became a phenomenon of the era, but even when the show focused too much on him, it always found its way back to the loving family at its core.
4. Family Ties (1982-1989)
Michael J. Fox became a household name, making three Back to the Future movies, while filming this popular series about a Midwestern family with a twist. While most sitcoms of the era focused on the usual character tropes, here we were treated to an interesting premise: what if two liberal parents had three kids, but one of them became a Regan Republican teenager? What could have been preachy instead created interesting plots every week that audiences weren’t accustomed to seeing. While the family may have quarreled, they were still tied together in their strong love for each other. They were not played as cardboard cutouts, but as real people, perfecting the way actual families are in ways that most sitcoms didn’t attempt.
3. Newhart (1982-1990)
Bob Newhart became a TV legend in the 1970s with the sitcom, The Bob Newhart Show. The simply named followup, Newhart, was even bigger. Another successful entry in the fish out of water category, here Newhart plays a New York City writer who, with his wife, buys a small inn in rural Vermont. A precursor to Schitt’s Creek, what makes the series work week after week are its cast off oddball locals. It also showed, in a medium where youth is what is most coveted, that older people could be just as funny and draw a huge audience as well. Bonus points go to Newhart for sticking the landing with the most clever series finale in history. In the final scene, Newhart wakes up next to his TV wife from The Bob Newhart Show. He rolls over and tells her he just had the strangest dream that he was an innkeeper in Vermont.
2. Cheers (1982-1993)
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This NBC series played out in a Boston bar where everybody knows your name. Run by Sam Malone (Ted Danson), the bar is filled with an eclectic cast of characters. We get a love interest for Sam in the form of a barmaid. There’s a cynical waitress, a moronic bartender, and regulars in the form of an accountant, mailman, and psychiatrist. They all come together day after day to drink and talk about their days, all the while getting into combined trouble at the bar. Cheers was one of the most watched shows in history, and also one of the most critically loved, winning the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series four times. It launched the career of Woody Harrelson, and a spinoff, Frasier, would go on to become a TV juggernaut in its own right.
1. The Golden Girls (1985-1992)
Just as Bob Newhart did, here we got the ultimate proof that the oldest among us can also be the funniest. Throw in the fact that the older people we are talking about here are all women, and you have a history-making premise. That was the launching point for this NBC series about four widowed retirees living together in a house in Miami. Bea Arthur’s Dorothy, the leader of the group, is a sarcastic realist. Her mother, Estelle Getty’s Sophia, is a smart ass who will tell you like it is. Rue McClanahan’s is man crazed and acts as if she’s 30 years younger than what she is. And what else can you say about Betty White? Her performance as the sweet but dimwitted Rose reignited her career and turned her into America’s grandmother. Thirty years after its end, these friends traveling down the road and back again, capture our hearts just as they did all of those years ago. They may have all passed on, but they will live forever.