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Best Drama TV Series of the 1980s

Top 500 most popular Drama series that started in the 1980s

All Drama 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
500 series (top 500 shown)

A Country Practice

★ 6.8
801 1058 1981–1993
Drama · Romance

Bret Maverick

★ 7.5
800 18 1981–1982
Drama · Western

Oppenheimer

★ 8.1
798 7 1980–1980
Biography · Drama · History

A Dream in Red Mansions

★ 8.8
793 36 1987–1987
Drama · History · Romance

A Man Called Hawk

★ 7.4
786 13 1989–1989
Action · Drama

The Life and Loves of a She-Devil

★ 7.9
786 4 1986–1986
Drama

The Black Forest Hospital

★ 5.7
785 71 1985–1989
Drama · Family

The Legend of the Condor Heroes

★ 8.5
778 59 1983–1983
Action · Adventure · Drama

All the Rivers Run

★ 7.6
769 8 1983–1983
Adventure · Drama · Romance

Roque Santeiro

★ 8.8
755 209 1985–1986
Comedy · Drama · Fantasy

Violence Jack

★ 6.3
753 3 1986–1990
Action · Animation · Drama

Till We Meet Again

★ 6.9
747 3 1989–1989
Drama · Romance · War

Das Traumschiff

★ 4.2
743 109 1981–present
Drama · Romance

Vuk Karadzic

★ 8.7
738 16 1987–1988
Biography · Drama · History

Mirza Ghalib

★ 9.2
735 1 1988–present
Biography · Drama · Music

Mussolini: The Untold Story

★ 6.9
729 3 1985–1985
Biography · Drama · History

Fair City

★ 2.7
725 2316 1989–present
Drama

To Serve Them All My Days

★ 8.5
717 13 1980–1981
Drama

Amerika

★ 6.1
714 7 1987–1987
Action · Drama

Vampire Princess Miyu

★ 6.8
708 4 1988–1989
Animation · Drama · Fantasy

Navarro

★ 6.4
703 110 1989–2006
Crime · Drama

Out on a Limb

★ 7.3
699 2 1987–1987
Biography · Drama · Romance

Wagner

★ 7.5
698 10 1983–1983
Biography · Drama · History

The Last Days of Pompeii

★ 7.0
698 3 1984–1984
Action · Drama · History
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