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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 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)

Our House

★ 7.2
1K 46 1986–1988
Drama · Family

The Far Pavilions

★ 7.0
992 3 1984–1984
Drama · History · Romance

Masterpiece Mystery

★ 8.9
991 311 1980–present
Crime · Drama · Mystery

Szomszédok

★ 6.7
986 331 1987–1999
Drama · Family · Romance

Tenko

★ 8.5
978 30 1981–1984
Drama · History · War

The Murder of Mary Phagan

★ 7.5
971 2 1988–1988
Crime · Drama · History

Fortunes of War

★ 7.7
963 7 1987–1987
Drama · War

East of Eden

★ 7.5
947 3 1981–1981
Drama

AfterMASH

★ 5.7
938 30 1983–1985
Comedy · Drama

Anzacs

★ 8.1
915 6 1985–1985
Drama · History · War

Rags to Riches

★ 7.6
910 21 1987–1988
Comedy · Drama · Family

Bodyline

★ 8.4
903 7 1984–1984
Drama · History · Sport

Little Gloria... Happy at Last

★ 7.4
903 2 1982–1982
Biography · Drama

Carrusel

★ 8.3
900 358 1989–1990
Drama · Family

Mistral's Daughter

★ 6.7
878 8 1984–1984
Drama · Romance

World War III

★ 6.6
876 2 1982–1982
Drama · Thriller · War

Peter the Great

★ 7.7
871 4 1986–1986
Biography · Drama · History

A Little Princess

★ 8.3
856 6 1986–1987
Drama · Family

The Ruth Rendell Mysteries

★ 6.9
856 86 1987–2000
Crime · Drama · Mystery

Raafat Al Haggan

★ 8.5
851 56 1988–1991
Drama · History · War

Lindenstraße

★ 4.7
849 1758 1985–2020
Drama · Family

Velo misto

★ 8.9
845 14 1980–1981
Comedy · Drama · History

Piece of Cake

★ 8.1
837 6 1988–1988
Drama · War

Cover Up

★ 7.7
814 21 1984–1985
Action · Adventure · Drama
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