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Best TV Series of the 1980s

Top 500 most popular series that started in the 1980s

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Genres

Genres as assigned by IMDb. Selecting several means a show must match all of them.

Decades

By first-air year. Several selections widen the range; a specific year narrows within its decade.

Specific year
Tags

Rating patterns, computed from IMDb episode-rating trajectories. Deliberately strict: only shows with an unmistakable pattern carry one, so expect small numbers.

Rating patterns

Taste tags, judged by our AI taste model. They cover the 5,000 most-rated shows.

Tone & mood
Pacing & structure
Humor style
Themes & subject matter
Characters & perspective
Emotional payoff
Craft & style
Format & audience
Viewing-culture clusters
Intensity & content character
500 series (top 500 shown)

Booker

★ 6.3
1K 22 1989–1990
Crime · Drama · Mystery

The Guyver: Bio-Booster Armor

★ 7.5
1K 12 1989–1992
Action · Animation · Horror

Astro Boy

★ 7.3
1K 52 1980–1981
Action · Adventure · Animation

The Flying Doctors

★ 6.8
1K 221 1986–1992
Drama

Police Academy: The Animated Series

★ 5.7
1K 65 1988–1989
Animation · Comedy · Crime

Starman

★ 6.7
1K 22 1986–1987
Sci-Fi

Rescue 911

★ 7.5
1K 186 1989–1996
Documentary

Dil Dariya

★ 6.3
1K 1988–1989
Romance

The French as Seen by...

★ 6.3
1K 5 1988–1988
Comedy · Documentary · Drama

Sense and Sensibility

★ 6.7
1K 7 1981–1981
Drama · Romance

London's Burning

★ 7.0
1K 172 1988–2002
Drama

Monaco Franze - Der ewige Stenz

★ 8.3
1K 10 1983–present
Comedy · Crime · Drama

Family Feud

★ 6.6
1K 1153 1988–1995
Game-Show

Çalikusu

★ 8.4
1K 7 1986–1986
Drama

A Very British Coup

★ 8.2
1K 3 1988–1988
Drama

Brookside

★ 6.6
1K 2915 1982–2003
Drama

Investigation Held by Koloboks

★ 7.9
1K 4 1986–1987
Animation · Comedy · Family

Belle and Sebastian

★ 7.3
1K 52 1981–1982
Adventure · Animation

The Kenny Everett Television Show

★ 7.2
1K 45 1981–1988
Comedy · Music

Doosra Keval

★ 6.3
1K 2 1989–1990
Drama

Nature

★ 8.9
1K 747 1982–present
Documentary · Family

The Long Hot Summer

★ 7.0
1K 2 1985–1985
Drama · Romance

Brush Strokes

★ 6.6
1K 40 1986–1991
Comedy

Stingray

★ 7.4
1K 23 1986–1987
Action · Crime · Drama
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