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Best Sport TV Series of the 1980s

149 Sport series that started in the 1980s, ranked by popularity

All Sport 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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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
149 series

Coach

★ 7.0
9K 199 1989–1997
Sitcom · Sports · Warm humor

American Gladiators

★ 6.6
3K 158 1989–1996
Reality competition · Sports

Inside the NBA

★ 8.8
965 117 1988–present
Sport · Talk-Show

Bodyline

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

Saturday Night's Main Event

★ 7.3
680 45 1985–2026
Action · Sport

1st & Ten

★ 6.6
659 80 1984–1991
Comedy · Sport

Dash!! Kappei

★ 6.9
576 65 1981–1982
Animation · Comedy · Sport

ESPN's Sunday Night Football

★ 7.8
569 235 1987–present
Sport

The NBA on TNT

★ 7.7
542 513 1988–present
Sport

WWF Superstars

★ 6.9
491 780 1986–2001
Action · Sport

The First Olympics: Athens 1896

★ 7.5
488 2 1984–1984
Drama · History · Sport

ESPN College Football

★ 7.2
459 3400 1980–present
Sport

WCW Saturday Night

★ 7.2
275 785 1985–2000
Action · Sport

He Shoots, He Scores

★ 7.6
271 13 1986–1988
Drama · Sport

Learning the Ropes

★ 6.9
221 13 1988–1989
Comedy · Sport

WWF Prime Time Wrestling

★ 7.5
218 417 1985–1993
Comedy · Sport

Scully

★ 7.8
184 7 1984–1984
Comedy · Drama · Sport

NBA on ESPN

★ 6.8
169 939 1982–present
Sport

WWF Challenge

★ 7.1
165 469 1986–1995
Sport

The Slap Maxwell Story

★ 7.7
162 22 1987–1988
Comedy · Sport

The Manageress

★ 7.6
159 12 1989–1990
Drama · Sport

Jossy's Giants

★ 7.6
154 10 1986–1987
Comedy · Family · Sport

Fishing Enthusiast Sanpei

★ 7.1
154 109 1980–1982
Animation · Sport

The Star Games

★ 2.3
147 5 1985–present
Sport
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