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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)

The Age of Iron

★ 7.2
330 4 1982–1982
Drama · Fantasy · History

All Passion Spent

★ 7.9
330 3 1986–1986
Drama

First Born

★ 7.3
329 3 1988–1988
Drama · Sci-Fi

Medisch Centrum West

★ 6.6
328 120 1988–2026
Comedy · Crime · Drama

Moondial

★ 7.4
323 6 1988–1988
Drama · Family · Fantasy

School of Love

★ 7.4
323 26 1981–1981
Animation · Drama · Family

My Aunt Qumasha

★ 9.1
320 13 1983–1983
Comedy · Drama · Family

Ellis Island

★ 7.1
318 3 1984–1984
Drama · History

The Legend of the King and the Shepherd

★ 7.2
317 10 1984–present
Comedy · Drama · Fantasy

Screen Two

★ 6.6
315 164 1984–1998
Drama

Dolgaya doroga v dyunakh

★ 7.9
315 7 1982–1982
Drama · History · War

Partners in Crime

★ 6.5
315 13 1984–1984
Crime · Drama · Mystery

Dumou Fi Oyoun Waqiha

★ 7.1
313 14 1980–1980
Drama · History · War

Game, Set, and Match

★ 8.3
311 13 1988–1988
Drama · Thriller

Küçük Aga

★ 7.9
310 8 1983–1983
Drama · War

The Yellow Rose

★ 7.4
308 22 1983–1984
Drama · Western

Irgendwie und sowieso

★ 8.6
307 12 1986–present
Adventure · Comedy · Drama

Adderly

★ 7.7
306 45 1986–1988
Adventure · Comedy · Drama

Crossings

★ 6.6
305 3 1986–1986
Drama · Romance · War

Manuel on the Island of Wonders

★ 7.8
305 3 1984–1984
Adventure · Drama · Fantasy

Buniyaad

★ 8.6
305 110 1987–1988
Drama

A Year in the Life

★ 8.6
304 22 1987–1988
Drama

The Irish R.M.

★ 7.8
302 18 1983–1985
Comedy · Drama · History

Beulah Land

★ 6.7
301 3 1980–1980
Drama
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