☰
Genres
DramaComedyAnimationActionCrimeAdventureRomanceReality-TV More genres →
Decades
2020s2010s2000s1990s1980s1970s1960s1950s1940s1930s1920s1900s
Tags Search Sign in

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
Filter & sort
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)

Tucker's Witch

★ 7.4
299 13 1982–1983
Drama · Fantasy · Mystery

Sadat

★ 6.4
298 2 1983–1983
Biography · Drama · History

Paper Dolls

★ 6.9
296 13 1984–1984
Drama

Ala Al-Donia Al-Salam

★ 8.9
291 16 1987–1987
Comedy · Drama

Armored Trooper VOTOMS

★ 7.6
290 52 1983–1984
Action · Animation · Drama

The Manions of America

★ 7.1
289 3 1981–1981
Drama

Once a Cop...

★ 7.3
289 6 1987–1987
Action · Crime · Drama

Tall Tales & Legends

★ 7.2
288 9 1985–1988
Adventure · Comedy · Drama

Street Legal

★ 7.3
288 126 1987–1994
Drama

Nukkad

★ 8.4
287 42 1986–present
Comedy · Drama

Supernova Flashman

★ 8.0
284 50 1986–1987
Action · Adventure · Drama

Pavlova: A Woman for All Time

★ 6.9
283 5 1983–1983
Biography · Drama · Music

Celebrity

★ 7.5
283 3 1984–1984
Drama

Space

★ 7.3
282 5 1985–1985
Drama

Wild Times

★ 6.6
278 2 1980–1980
Drama · Western

The Charmer

★ 7.9
278 6 1987–1987
Drama

Houston Knights

★ 7.3
276 30 1987–1988
Action · Crime · Drama

A Bit of a Do

★ 7.2
276 13 1989–1989
Comedy · Drama

Lady Lady

★ 7.4
272 21 1987–1988
Animation · Drama · History

He Shoots, He Scores

★ 7.6
271 13 1986–1988
Drama · Sport

Diese Drombuschs

★ 7.0
270 39 1983–1994
Comedy · Drama · Romance

A Year in the Life

★ 8.6
270 3 1986–1986
Drama

Dom

★ 7.7
267 25 1980–2000
Drama

The Invisible Man

★ 7.1
266 6 1984–1984
Crime · Drama · Horror
Browse by decade
1900s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
Browse by year
1989198819871986198519841983198219811980
Browse by genre
Action Adult Adventure Animation Biography Comedy Crime Documentary Drama Family Fantasy Game-Show History Horror Music Musical Mystery News Reality-TV Romance Sci-Fi Short Sport Talk-Show Thriller War Western