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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.

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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)

The Arsenio Hall Show

★ 6.5
1K 1366 1989–1994
Comedy · Music · Talk-Show

Space Cobra

★ 8.3
1K 32 1982–1983
Action · Adventure · Animation

Adventures of the Piglet Foontic

★ 7.1
1K 4 1986–1988
Adventure · Animation · Comedy

Kane & Abel

★ 7.8
1K 3 1985–1985
Drama

Sivi dom

★ 8.8
1K 12 1984–1986
Drama

Billionaire Boys Club

★ 6.7
1K 2 1987–1987
Drama · Thriller

Patlabor: Early Days

★ 7.3
1K 7 1988–1988
Action · Animation · Comedy

Bionic Six

★ 7.3
1K 65 1987–1987
Action · Animation · Family

Tanner '88

★ 7.8
1K 11 1988–1988
Comedy · Drama

Ronin Warriors

★ 7.5
1K 39 1988–1995
Action · Adventure · Animation

Kamiondzije 2

★ 8.6
1K 8 1983–1984
Comedy · Drama

Kimagure Orange Road

★ 7.6
1K 49 1985–1988
Animation · Comedy · Drama

Zmiennicy

★ 7.9
1K 15 1986–1988
Comedy

Hello! Sandy Bell

★ 7.7
1K 47 1981–1982
Adventure · Animation · Romance

Tales of Little Women

★ 7.4
1K 48 1987–1987
Animation · Drama · Family

Byker Grove

★ 6.2
1K 344 1989–2006
Drama · Family · Romance

Partners in Crime

★ 7.4
1K 11 1983–1984
Crime · Drama · Mystery

At the Movies

★ 8.5
1K 165 1982–1986
Talk-Show

Our House

★ 7.2
1K 46 1986–1988
Drama · Family

Brotherhood of the Rose

★ 6.8
997 2 1989–1989
Thriller
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