The ’80s are filled with excellent television shows, and plenty of them have had legacies that have lived on into the 21st century, but this list is for those underrated shows that haven’t left the same cultural footprint but are no less worth watching. If the ’80s are known for anything, it’s probably sitcoms, with shows like Cheers, The Cosby Show, and All in the Family premiering this decade. Sitcoms weren’t the only shows people were watching in the 1980s, however.
Star Trek: The Next Generation and Quantum Leap held down the science fiction fans. At the Movies and SportsCenter gained steam this decade for sports and movie lovers. Magnum P.I., L.A. Law, and Black Adder were popular genre shows from the era as well. In between these beloved, acclaimed, and well-remembered series were plenty of other shows that have since been lost to the decades, but can stand up against the best of the decade. These underrated ’80s TV shows are worth checking out, even if they’ve been forgotten about.
10
Only Fools And Horses (1981-2003)
A Clever And Long-Lived Sitcom From England
Only Fools and Horses is a British sitcom that premiered in 1981 and ran for seven seasons, which were followed by 10 specials that aired between 1991 and 2003. The series is set in Peckham, a working-class district of south-east London, and stars David Jason as Del Boy, a market trader, and Nicholas Lyndhurst as Del Boy’s younger brother, Rodney Trotter.
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The series follows the Trotter brothers’ ups and downs as they try to get rich, often resorting to get-rich-quick and mildly illegal schemes to do so. Only Fools and Horses was regarded as one of the UK’s top sitcoms and comedy TV shows, and still ranks high on lists of the country’s best shows ever. The popularity did not translate to American audiences at the time, but it’s as sharp and funny now as it ever was.
9
Beauty And The Beast (1987-1990)
A Dark, Modern Take On A Classic Fairy Tale
Though it may now be most famous for having a young George R.R. Martin on the writing staff, CBS’s three-season Beauty and the Beast is an underrated entry in the fantasy TV show canon. An updated version of the classic fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast, is set in modern-day New York City. Catherine Chandler (Linda Hamilton) is mugged in Central Park, but is rescued by a monstrous beast, named Vincent (Ron Perlman).
The Beast in Beauty and the Beast never changes back to his human form.
Beneath the city is a subterranean complex of magical and humanoid creatures, and there, Catherine and Vincent begin to fall in love. Hamilton left the series after season 2, requiring a sudden shift in the story, which took on a menacing and violent quality. Despite the abrupt change, all three seasons are a unique and compelling story that opened the door for more unusual forms of fantasy TV.
8
Kate & Allie (1984-1989)
A Modern Take On Single Mothers
Kate & Allie stars Susan Saint James and Jane Curtin as Kate McArdle and Allie Lowell, respectively, the title characters of the CBS sitcom. Kate is a free spirit, while Allie is a more conservative type, but both women end up divorcing their husbands at the same time. Consequently, they decide to move into a NYC brownstone together and raise their families together.
It’s a refreshingly modern take on female friendships in television, and Kate and Allie are well-rounded characters. They both date frequently, but are not overly concerned with remarrying; at the same time, they don’t take marriage or a committed relationship out of the equation. It’s a balanced series that never gets the love it deserves, even after six seasons.
7
It’s Gary Shandling’s Show (1986-1990)
Shandling’s Meta, Strange Parody Of A Sitcom
The Larry Sanders Show is often ranked among the greatest TV shows ever, but even fans may not know that this was actually Garry Shandling’s second attempt at a singular comedy series. Shandling’s first go-round came with the 1986 series, It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, a meta sitcom where Shandling plays himself as someone aware that they are on a sitcom.
It’s strange, funny, and hard to wrap your head around, but there really wasn’t much like it when it first premiered. Even now, the meta-levels and complexity are still hard to keep track of. Shandling frequently breaks the fourth wall, and the series feels well ahead of its time, an underrated TV show as much as any.
6
SCTV (1976-1984)
A HIlarious And Unique Comedy Sketch Show
You may have heard of the Second City improv enterprise before, but you may not have heard of the TV show spinoff of the nation-spanning comedy troupe. The Second City is an improvisation comedy theater troupe based in Chicago but with satellite theaters in Toronto and New York City. If you look at the early careers of some of the best comedy actors, a staggering number of them began with Second City.
Consider Second City the feeder team for Saturday Night Live.
Consider Second City the feeder team for Saturday Night Live. Second City TV (SCTV) was specifically spun off from the Toronto troupe and features now-famous Canadian comedians like Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Martin Short, and Harold Ramis. SCTV was only available in some markets and was overshadowed by SNL in others, but it’s an Ur-text for a lot of the TV comedies that would come afterward.
5
Newhart (1982-1990)
A Delightful And Charming Sitcom
Well before he became known to younger audiences as Buddy’s papa in Elf, Bob Newhart was a beloved stand-up comedian and award-winning comic actor, which makes it extra unusual that his own series, Newhart, has mostly been forgotten. The show sees Newhart star as Dick Loudon, a DIY and travel author who moves to a small town in Vermont to operate the Stratford Inn with his wife, Joanna (Mary Frann).
The show was nominated for 25 Emmy Awards but never won, and six Golden Globes, but still never won.
They are joined by all the colorful guests and townspeople you can imagine, and the nearby Dartmouth College provides a rotating group of goofy and eccentric employees and students who visit from time to time. The show was nominated for 25 Emmy Awards but never won, and six Golden Globes, but still never won. Hilarious and charming, Newhart is worth binge-watching.
4
227 (1985-1990)
A Slice-Of-Life Series Set In Washington, D.C.
227
- Release Date
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1985 – 1990-00-00
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Barry Sobel
Dylan McMillan
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Bobby Brown
Harold Bailey
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Bobby McGee
Alexandria DeWitt
227 aired on NBC beginning in 1985 and lasted for five seasons, following the inhabitants of the middle-class apartment building, 227 Lexington Place, in a historically Black neighborhood in Northeast, Washington, D.C. Marla Gibbs stars as Mary Jenkins, a nosy, but ultimately kind-hearted neighbor and housewife who gossips about the other residents and takes care of her family at the same time.
This was Regina King’s first professional acting role.
Hal Williams and Regina King also star as Mary’s husband, Lester, and daughter, Brenda, respectively. The series earned two Emmy Awards nominations and one Golden Globe nomination, with Jackée Harry, who plays Sandra Clark, winning one of those two Emmys. 227 was outshone by The Cosby Show, which premiered in 1984. A shame, considering how excellent 227 was.
3
Sledge Hammer! (1986-1988)
David Rasche Is A Hilarious Parody Of TV Detectives
Sledge Hammer!
- Release Date
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1986 – 1988-00-00
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Anne-Marie Martin
Dori Doreau
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Anthony De Longis
Uncredited
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David Rasche, known for his role as the non-committal, dry as a desert Karl Muller on Succession, stars in the late ’80s underrated comedy TV show, Sledgehammer. This police satire follows Inspector Sledge Hammer (Rasche), a detective for the San Francisco Police Department who is a parody of every “cop-on-the-edge” character from earlier TV shows.
Sledge Hammer is a “shoot first, ask questions later” type of detective, and his appreciation for his gun is so much that he puts it to sleep every night on a satin pillow next to him in bed. Though it was a short-lived series and was in part overshadowed by The Naked Gun films that began in 1988, Sledge Hammer! is a laugh-out-loud comedy with a fantastic performance by Rasche at the center.
2
The Young Ones (1982-1984)
An Offbeat, Acid-Dipped British Sitcom
The British sitcom The Young Ones only ran for two seasons and 12 episodes, but uses that short runtime to tell an extremely relatable, clever, and hilarious story about four dissimilar undergrads who share a rundown London flat. The four young men go to class, goof off, and annoy each other to no end in this highly underrated ’80s television series.
The Young Ones came in on a wave of British anarchy in the 1970s and 1980s and includes offbeat and surreal humor and a tone that can be described as biting and almost mean. There are puppets, absurd jokes, violent slapstick, and much more. It’s not a surprise that this show didn’t have mass appeal, but it’s a surprisingly influential and still relevant series.
1
Hill Street Blues (1981-1987)
The Underrated Grandfather Of Modern Police Procedurals
Hill Street Blues
- Release Date
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1981 – 1987-00-00
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Daniel J. Travanti
Frank Furillo
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Michael Warren
Robert Hill
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James B. Sikking
Howard Hunter
Though this is a lesser-known series, Hill Street Blues is one of the most influential police procedurals ever, with many later cop shows owing much to the series, including its use of hand-held camera work, ensemble casts, and multiple overlapping storylines. The series earned 96 Emmy nominations, winning 24 of them, and earned 11 Golden Globe nominations, taking home three trophies, but it was never a ratings leader in terms of viewership.
The seven-season series is set in the Hill Street neighborhood of a large, unnamed U.S. city. The “Blues” of the title refers to the local name of the police officers who work the Hill Street district, and who often contend with what their moral obligation is vs what their legal obligation is. It’s the quintessential underrated ’80s TV show.
