Favorite TV show from the '80s

[dps]

TV from the last ten years is way better than the stuff of our youth*. Mainly because they no longer have to dumb it down enough to attract 20 million viewers.

*Of course, I'm comparing best to best. It's likely worse on average, but there's no reason to watch crappy tv shows.

They never did really have to dumb it down, they just thought that they did.  But the people in charge of the best of the older shows knew this, and I'm not sure that the best of the newer shows are any better than the best of the older shows.

[Neil]

I really liked Night Court.

[Eddie Teach]

One of the best older shows was Cheers, which was nominated for over a hundred Emmys. Going back and watching it now, the jokes all seem painfully obvious and the characters cliched. Same thing happens when watching other classics like I Love Lucy, Happy Days, Welcome Back Kotter, All in the Family, etc. There's a good reason television got the nickname "the boob tube", nearly all early programming was designed so you could be entertained while resting your brain.

The biggest improvement as far as I'm concerned doesn't have anything to do with sitcoms, however. It's the influence of the DVD boxed sets on action oriented shows. Now that shows are frequently watched in a marathon binge, it's much harder to justify the "new problem comes up and is solved in 45 minutes" approach. Instead, many if not most of those shows now have a lot of emphasis on meta-narrative and multi-episode arcs.

[dps]

One of the best older shows was Cheers, which was nominated for over a hundred Emmys. Going back and watching it now, the jokes all seem painfully obvious and the characters cliched. Same thing happens when watching other classics like I Love Lucy, Happy Days, Welcome Back Kotter, All in the Family, etc. There's a good reason television got the nickname "the boob tube", nearly all early programming was designed so you could be entertained while resting your brain.

The biggest improvement as far as I'm concerned doesn't have anything to do with sitcoms, however. It's the influence of the DVD boxed sets on action oriented shows. Now that shows are frequently watched in a marathon binge, it's much harder to justify the "new problem comes up and is solved in 45 minutes" approach. Instead, many if not most of those shows now have a lot of emphasis on meta-narrative and multi-episode arcs.

[Eddie Teach]

[Caliga]

I have the Magnum PI theme song as my cell phone ringtone.

[Grey Fox]

Man, there's a lot of great shows on that list.

I'm going to go with Degrassi Junior High since it's probably the only one I actually watched in the 80s.

[Syt]

I was between 4 and 13 in the 80s. The shows I liked at the time were (keep in mind not all shows made it over the pond):
- Cosby Show
- Our House
- The Fall Guy
- Riptide
- Simon & Simon
- MacGyver
- Knight Rider
- Airwolf
- Street Hawk
- Max Headroom
- Tour of Duty
- ALF
- Who's the Boss
- A-Team
- Schwarzwaldklinik (German hospital drama series that had a huge following at the time)
- Das Boot (tv-miniseries)
- The Wonder Years
- Three's Company
- Yes, Minister/Yes, Prime Minister (they were showing British comedy shows subtitled at the time)
and lots of others I don't quite remember right now.

My parents didn't let me stay up to watch Magnum or Miami Vice at the time which were on late on German tv.

[Syt]

I have the Magnum PI theme song as my cell phone ringtone.

Had a co-worker at the old job. One day a new colleague (19 years old) asked if it was some sort of Nintendo 8bit tune.

[Caliga]

I hope you punched him in the balls.

[Josquius]

knightmare

[Scipio]

Magnum PI, Cosby, Hill Street Blues, In the Heat of the Night, Night Court, Matlock.  I'm sensing a trend here.

[Syt]

Magnum PI, Cosby, Hill Street Blues, In the Heat of the Night, Night Court, Matlock.  I'm sensing a trend here.

You're missing Hunter. And/or Slegde Hammer.

[Martinus]

Oh yeah. "Yes, Minister" most definitely. Probably one of the very few shows mentioned here that is still watchable and fresh.

[sbr]

I forgot about Night Court, that was a great show.