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Best Crime TV Series of the 1980s

375 Crime series that started in the 1980s, ranked by popularity

All Crime series All series from 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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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
375 series

Poirot

★ 8.6
60K 70 1989–2013
Detective mystery · Period piece

The A-Team

★ 7.5
46K 97 1983–1987
Episodic · Campy · Adrenaline

MacGyver

★ 7.6
45K 139 1985–1992
Episodic · Genius lead

Knight Rider

★ 6.9
41K 90 1982–1986
Campy · Nostalgic · Episodic

Miami Vice

★ 7.6
34K 111 1984–1989
Stylized direction

Murder, She Wrote

★ 7.3
33K 264 1984–1996
Detective mystery · Cozy

Baywatch

★ 5.5
33K 243 1989–2003
Easy watching · Campy · Episodic

Magnum, P.I.

★ 7.5
32K 158 1980–1988
Detective mystery · Episodic

Tales from the Crypt

★ 8.0
30K 93 1989–1996
Anthology · Campy · Dark comedy

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

★ 8.7
28K 13 1984–1985
Detective mystery · British TV

Police Squad!

★ 8.3
25K 6 1982–1982
Parody · Absurdist · Deadpan cool

Inspector Morse

★ 8.2
16K 33 1987–2000
Detective mystery · British TV

The Return of Sherlock Holmes

★ 8.7
15K 11 1986–1988
Detective mystery · Genius lead

21 Jump Street

★ 7.2
15K 102 1987–1991
School & campus · Procedural

Hill Street Blues

★ 8.2
12K 144 1981–1987
Ensemble cast · Workplace · Gritty

Matlock

★ 7.2
11K 181 1986–1995
Legal · Procedural · Episodic

EastEnders

★ 4.8
10K 7405 1985–present
Soap & telenovela · Long-runner

Beauty and the Beast

★ 7.0
9K 55 1987–1990
Romantic yearning · Love story

Cops

★ 7.0
8K 1224 1989–2025
Long-runner · Gritty · Episodic

Unsolved Mysteries

★ 8.3
7K 609 1987–2010
True crime · Docuseries · Episodic

In the Heat of the Night

★ 7.6
7K 146 1988–1995
Small town · Procedural

Simon & Simon

★ 7.1
7K 156 1981–1989
Episodic · Banter chemistry

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Hound of the Baskervilles

★ 8.5
7K 2 1981–1981
Detective mystery · Atmospheric

The Equalizer

★ 7.8
7K 88 1985–1989
Episodic · Big city life
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