80s The Best 1980s NBC Shows  

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2.4k votes 292 voters 3.7k views 46 items

List Rules Vote up your favorite NBC TV series that aired in the '80s

These are the best 1980s NBC shows ranked by user votes. The 1980s was a great time for NBC television programs. Really, it was just a great time for TV in general. Particularly the sitcom. Some of the best 1980s NBC shows were dramas and other good 80s NBC series were comedies. Greatness knew no genre. Many of the greatest 1980s NBC TV shows are still popular to this day with syndicated reruns.

What shows appear near the top of this best 1980s NBC shows list? Cheers was a hit for the network as soon as it premiered in 1982. Part of its success was thanks to a talented cast including Ted Danson, Shelley Long and Woody Harrelson. Family Ties is another good show that aired on NBC in the 1980s, as is the out-of-this-world comedy Alf.

St. Elsewhere used the setting of a working hospital to add drama into the plot. Other great series that appear on this top 1980s NBC shows list include Hill Street Blues, The Facts of Life and Misfits of Science.

Do you have a favorite NBC show from the 80s? Take a look at this list and give the best series a thumbs up to bump them all the way up to the top.
list ordered by

1
62 27
The Golden Girls is listed (or ranked) 1 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
The Golden Girls Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan The Golden Girls is an American sitcom, created by Susan Harris, that originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and ...more

2
65 31
Cheers is listed (or ranked) 2 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Cheers Ted Danson, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger Watch for Free with Amazon Prime Free Trial Cheers is an American sitcom that ran for eleven seasons between 1982 and 1993. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association with Paramount Network Television for ...more

3
59 28
Night Court is listed (or ranked) 3 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Night Court Harry Anderson, John Larroquette, Richard Moll Night Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984, to May 31, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, ...more

4
53 34
Family Ties is listed (or ranked) 4 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Family Ties Michael J. Fox, Michael Gross, Meredith Baxter Watch for Free with Amazon Prime Free Trial Family Ties is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 22, 1982 until May 14, 1989. The series, created by Gary David Goldberg, reflected the move in the United States from the ...more

5
50 38
The A-Team is listed (or ranked) 5 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
The A-Team George Peppard, Mr. T, Dwight Schultz The A-Team is an American action-adventure television series, running from 1983 to 1987, about a fictional group of ex–U.S. Army Special Forces personnel who, after being imprisoned as war ...more

6
46 34
Knight Rider is listed (or ranked) 6 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Knight Rider David Hasselhoff, Edward Mulhare, Richard Basehart Knight Rider is an American television series that originally ran from September 26, 1982, to August 8, 1986. The series was broadcast on NBC and stars David Hasselhoff as Michael Knight, a ...more

7
46 34
The Facts of Life is listed (or ranked) 7 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
The Facts of Life Lisa Whelchel, Kim Fields, Mindy Cohn The Facts of Life is an American sitcom that originally ran on the NBC television network from August 24, 1979, to May 7, 1988, making it one of the longest running sitcoms of the 1980s. A ...more

8
44 33
The Cosby Show is listed (or ranked) 8 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
The Cosby Show Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad, Keshia Knight Pulliam The Cosby Show is an American television sitcom starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on the Huxtable family, ...more

9
41 32
Diff'rent Strokes is listed (or ranked) 9 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Diff'rent Strokes Gary Coleman, Todd Bridges, Conrad Bain Diff'rent Strokes is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from November 3, 1978, to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985, to March 7, 1986. The series stars Gary Coleman ...more

10
43 36
Miami Vice is listed (or ranked) 10 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Miami Vice Don Johnson, Philip Michael Thomas, Saundra Santiago Miami Vice is an American television crime drama series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and ...more

11
38 31
Mama's Family is listed (or ranked) 11 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Mama's Family Vicki Lawrence, Beverly Archer, Ken Berry Mama's Family is an American television sitcom starring Vicki Lawrence as Thelma Harper. The series is a spin-off of a recurring series of comedy sketches on The Carol Burnett Show and Carol ...more

12
35 28
CHiPs is listed (or ranked) 12 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
CHiPs Erik Estrada, Larry Wilcox, Robert Pine CHiPs is an American television drama series produced by MGM Studios that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to July 17, 1983. CHiPs followed the lives of two motorcycle police ...more

The Best 1980s NBC Dramas

13
45 40
ALF is listed (or ranked) 13 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
ALF Mihaly 'Michu' Meszaros, Paul Fusco, Max Wright ALF is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 22, 1986 to March 24, 1990. It was the first television series to be presented in Dolby Surround sound system. The title character is ...more

14
32 26
Saturday Night Live is listed (or ranked) 14 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
clash1977 added Saturday Night Live Darrell Hammond, Kenan Thompson, Seth Meyers Saturday Night Live is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, ...more

15
28 25
Remington Steele is listed (or ranked) 15 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Remington Steele Stephanie Zimbalist, Pierce Brosnan, Doris Roberts Remington Steele is an American television series co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises ...more

16
23 23
Highway to Heaven is listed (or ranked) 16 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Highway to Heaven Michael Landon, Victor French Highway to Heaven is an American television drama series which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989. The series aired for five seasons, running a total of 111 episodes. It was shot entirely in ...more

17
26 27
Silver Spoons is listed (or ranked) 17 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Silver Spoons Ricky Schroder, Erin Gray, Joel Higgins Silver Spoons is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 25, 1982 to May 11, 1986 and in first-run syndication from September 15, 1986 to March 4, 1987. The series was produced by ...more

The Best Saturday Night Live Characters of All Time

18
26 28
Gimme a Break! is listed (or ranked) 18 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Gimme a Break! Nell Carter, Kari Michaelsen, Lara Jill Miller Gimme a Break! is an American sitcom which aired on NBC for six seasons from October 29, 1981 until May 12, 1987. The series stars Nell Carter as the housekeeper for a widowed police chief and ...more

19
24 26
Bosom Buddies is listed (or ranked) 19 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Bosom Buddies Tom Hanks, Peter Scolari, Donna Dixon Bosom Buddies is an American sitcom starring Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari created by Robert L. Boyett, Thomas L. Miller and Chris Thompson. It ran from 1980 to 1982 on ABC and in reruns in the ...more

20
27 30
Matlock is listed (or ranked) 20 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Matlock Andy Griffith, Linda Purl, Kene Holiday Matlock is an American television legal drama, starring Andy Griffith in the title role of criminal-defense attorney Ben Matlock. The show, produced by The Fred Silverman Company, Dean Hargrove ...more

21
23 25
Hunter is listed (or ranked) 21 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Hunter Fred Dryer, Stepfanie Kramer, Charles Hallahan Hunter is an American police drama television show that was created by Frank Lupo, and starring Fred Dryer as Sgt. Rick Hunter and Stepfanie Kramer as Sgt. Dee Dee McCall, which ran on NBC from ...more

22
22 24
227 is listed (or ranked) 22 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
227 Helen Martin, Marla Gibbs, Hal Williams 227 is an American situation comedy that originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, until May 6, 1990. The series stars Marla Gibbs as a sharp-tongued, inner-city resident gossip and ...more

The Best Current NBC Comedy Shows

23
25 28
Punky Brewster is listed (or ranked) 23 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Punky Brewster Soleil Moon Frye, George Gaynes, Cherie Johnson Punky Brewster is an American sitcom about a girl named Punky Brewster being raised by her foster parent. The show ran on NBC from September 16, 1984 to September 7, 1986 and again in first-run ...more

24
26 31
Hill Street Blues is listed (or ranked) 24 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Hill Street Blues Daniel J. Travanti, Michael Warren, Bruce Weitz Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police ...more

25
24 29
A Different World is listed (or ranked) 25 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
A Different World Lisa Bonet, Kadeem Hardison, Jasmine Guy A Different World is an American television sitcom which aired for six seasons on NBC. It is a spin-off series from The Cosby Show and originally centered on Denise Huxtable and the life of ...more

26
19 23
Amen is listed (or ranked) 26 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Amen Sherman Hemsley, Clifton Davis, Anna Maria Horsford Amen is an American television sitcom produced by Carson Productions that ran from September 27, 1986 to May 11, 1991 on NBC. Set in Sherman Hemsley's real-life hometown of Philadelphia, Amen ...more

27
23 29
Quincy, M.E. is listed (or ranked) 27 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Quincy, M.E. Jack Klugman, John S. Ragin, Robert Ito Quincy, M.E. is an American television series from Universal Studios that aired from October 3, 1976, to September 5, 1983, on NBC. It stars Jack Klugman in the title role, a Los Angeles County ...more

The Best Movies Based on TV Shows

28
19 26
The Hogan Family is listed (or ranked) 28 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
The Hogan Family Jason Bateman, Jeremy Licht, Luis Daniel Ponce The Hogan Family is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from March 1, 1986 to May 7, 1990, and on CBS from September 15, 1990 until July 20, 1991. It was produced by ...more

29
19 26
Empty Nest is listed (or ranked) 29 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Empty Nest Richard Mulligan, Dinah Manoff, David Leisure Empty Nest is an American sitcom that originally aired on NBC from 1988 to 1995. The series was created as a spin-off of The Golden Girls by creator and producer Susan Harris. For its first ...more

30
15 21
Amazing Stories is listed (or ranked) 30 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Amazing Stories Charles Durning, Douglas Seale, Louis Giambalvo Amazing Stories is a fantasy, horror, and science fiction television anthology series created by Steven Spielberg. It ran on NBC from 1985 to 1987, and in 1992 was somewhat erratically screened ...more

31
15 25
Riptide is listed (or ranked) 31 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Riptide Kelly Preston, Anne Francis, Richard Lewis Riptide is an American TV detective series that ran on NBC from December 3, 1983 to August 22, 1986, starring Perry King, Joe Penny, and Thom Bray. It was created by Frank Lupo and Stephen J. ...more

32
19 31
St. Elsewhere is listed (or ranked) 32 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
St. Elsewhere Ed Begley Jr., William Daniels, Howie Mandel St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama black comedy television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982, to May 25, 1988. The series starred Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd and ...more

The Best Current NBC Shows

33
12 28
Crime Story is listed (or ranked) 33 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Crime Story Dennis Farina, Bill Smitrovich, Steve Ryan Crime Story is an American television drama, created by Gustave Reininger and Chuck Adamson, that premiered in 1986 and ran for two seasons on NBC. The executive producer was Michael Mann, who ...more

34
12 28
Rags to Riches (2006) is listed (or ranked) 34 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Rags to Riches (2006)

35
11 27
Misfits of Science is listed (or ranked) 35 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Misfits of Science Courteney Cox, Kevin Peter Hall, Max Wright Misfits of Science is an American superhero fantasy television series that aired on NBC from October 1985 to February 1986. It features super-powered humans and their madcap adventures. A ...more

36
10 29
Dear John is listed (or ranked) 36 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Dear John Judd Hirsch, Jere Burns, Harry Groener Dear John is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from 1988 to 1992. The series was originally based on the British sitcom of the same name. Dear John was retitled Dear John USA when it was ...more

37
9 29
Double Trouble is listed (or ranked) 37 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Double Trouble Barbara Barrie, Patricia Richardson, Anne-Marie Johnson Double Trouble is an American sitcom that aired from 1984 to 1985 on NBC. The series stars identical twins Jean and Liz Sagal as Kate and Allison Foster, two teenagers living under the watchful ...more

51 High-Paying, Flexible Jobs

38
9 31
It's Your Move is listed (or ranked) 38 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
It's Your Move Jason Bateman, Garrett Morris, Ernie Sabella It's Your Move is an American sitcom starring Jason Bateman, Tricia Cast, Caren Kaye, Ernie Sabella, David Garrison, and Garrett Morris. The show originally aired on NBC from 1984 to 1985.

39
7 28
A Year in the Life is listed (or ranked) 39 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
A Year in the Life Sarah Jessica Parker, Amanda Peterson, Adam Arkin A Year in the Life is a 1986 Emmy Award–winning miniseries and a one-hour dramatic series that ran on NBC during the 1987–1988 television season, created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey. The ...more

40
5 27
Baby Boom is listed (or ranked) 40 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Baby Boom Joy Behar, Kate Jackson, Susie Essman Baby Boom is an American sitcom series starring Kate Jackson. The series is based on the 1987 film Baby Boom. The pilot premiered September 10, 1988 on NBC, and the series began on November 2,

41
6 31
Love, Sidney is listed (or ranked) 41 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Love, Sidney Tony Randall^! Swoosie Kurtz^! Kaleena Kiff Love, Sidney was an American situation comedy which ran on NBC from October 28, 1981 until June 6, 1983. The series was based on a short story written by Marilyn Cantor Baker, which was ...more

42
5 28
Easy Street is listed (or ranked) 42 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Easy Street Loni Anderson^! jack Elam^! Lee Weaver Easy Street is an American sitcom that aired for 22 episodes on NBC during the 1986-87 television season.

43
5 28
Jennifer Slept Here is listed (or ranked) 43 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Jennifer Slept Here Debbie Reynolds, Glenn Scarpelli, Ann Jillian Jennifer Slept Here is an American fantasy sitcom series that ran for one season on NBC from October 21, 1983 to September 5, 1984.

44
5 28
NBC News at Sunrise is listed (or ranked) 44 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
NBC News at Sunrise NBC News at Sunrise was an American early morning television news program that aired on NBC from 1983 to 1999. The program featured the top news headlines of the morning, sports and weather ...more

45
4 27
Buffalo Bill is listed (or ranked) 45 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Buffalo Bill Dabney Coleman, Joanna Cassidy, Max Wright Buffalo Bill is an American television situation comedy that featured the misadventures of an egotistical talk show host, played by Dabney Coleman and his staff at WBFL-TV, a small TV station in ...more

46
4 28
Father Murphy is listed (or ranked) 46 on the list The Best 1980s NBC Shows
Father Murphy Merlin Olsen, Katherine Cannon, Timothy Gibbs Father Murphy is an American western drama series that aired on the NBC network from November 3, 1981 to September 18, 1983. Michael Landon created the series, was the executive producer, and ...more