With the realization that Airwolf, in all 79 episodes of it’s awesomeness is available on Hulu, I feel a renewed vigor for life. It’s almost like I imagine having a child would be like, only (obviously) much better. Anyway, my wife is goofing on me, largely because in the 80’s she was watching Care Bears and Kids Incorporated.
So, that begs the question, what is the greatest TV show of the 80’s?
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Comments
53 responses to “Greatest TV show of the 80’s”
Proud Commie those shows suck!
I am not a communist. I just lost the 80s. I have no idea where they went. In fact, I didn’t realize they were lost until this TV question was posed. Wait! Wait! Nope. Damn.
What about the “A Team”?
Hill Street Blues would get my vote. No, I will NOT tick a choice that includes being a commie!
Wow CI, I thought it, and totally forgot to add it as an option.
A Team also genius.
Magnum PI
I was partial to Miami Vice… Of course the 80’s was my adolescence and that could have colored my thinking.
Manimal
Miami Vice FTW. I spent most of the 80’s without socks. And I’m watching a rerun right now.
Never seen Manimal, was it NBC? Believe it or not, but from 1975-1988 all I got was CBS. Channel 3 out of Hartford, and 6 out of Albany. (Might be the other way around)
Sorry, I was more the Transformers/GI Joe demographic back then. Of those choices, however, Airwolf is the obvious pick. Amazing how many problems they could come up with that had uber-attack helicopter as the answer.
>Miami Vice FTW. I spent most of the 80?s without socks. And I’m watching a rerun right now.
Back when it was hip to wear white suits and and pink dego-T… and be a guy-guy. LOL
All I watched in the 80s was AFRTS, so i watched sixties shows in the eighties. I do, however have the complete Miami Vice series on DVDs.
I would say the A-Team, but clearly those who can’t hit anything with a mini-14, haven’t been through SFQC.
Miami Vice had [in retrospect] far too ghey of a look.
Airwolf has to take the top billing. Smoking cool helicopter and Ernest Borgnine……what’s not to love?
I was whooper snapper in the ’80s. Manimal was a show about a guy who could shapeshift into animals. As a kid it was one of my favorite shows. It was on NBC. Don’t think it ran long though.
Dave has it right. Magnum all the way.
Had to be Magnum, with Cheers running a close second. I was never cool enough for Miami Vice, but the music was pretty good.
One more vote for the A-Team here, so I guess I’m a commie.
And CI, it’s not that they CAN’T hit anything… it’s that they’re so good that even with thousands of rounds of automatic fire, they (almost) never accidentally hit anything by mistake.
you know that helicopter became a medevac copter in Germany after the show was over. Sadly it crashed (killing all on-board) during inclement weather.
The Three theme songs that you just instantly KNOW if you lived through the 80’s: Buck Rodgers (very distinctive, and lots of re-runs) A-team, and Airwolf.
@14 CI
There is NOTHING ghey about the 1972 Ferrari Daytona Spyder 365 GTS/4. Still my all-time dream car.
Had to mark Airwolf…despite my love for the A-team.
Nothing beat the look on Tom Sellek’s face while he’s holding the girl in the bikini up in the water in the opening credits. As for “Best Theme Song” I agree that the three named were awesome, but have to hold out for a seventies show, now resurrected as number one … Hawaii Five O.
count me in the Care Bear crowd for most of the 80’s, but seriously, nobody votes Macgyver? he built hot air ballons out of duct tape, and smuggled ppl out of East Germany! nobody’s ever rocked a mullet like Mac, lol
And what’s with the kids and Care Bears?
Fraggle Rock was so much better.
ohhhh how did I forget about FRock? Too True.
Another vote for Magnum PI here.
THE A-TEAM! KNIGHT RIDER!
Airwolf FTW
Best episode: the one where he flew through the B-52 bomb run.
Definitely Magnum PI for the win!
Magnum fer sure.
I just explained all about Magnum PI to my girlfriend this past weekend, since she was like 5 when it went off the air. All in all, I think those old shows have held up well.
CI Roller Dude you are spot on, the A-Team in a walk, crappy marksmanship and all.
The absence of certain regular commenters from here tells me I’m not the only one who was “busy unless urgent” during the 80s. Now, if you want to talk about some really good TV shows, start with the 60s—19, not 18, thanks.
Damn you TSO, now I can’t get the Airwolf theme out of my head. LOL
A-Team is definitely one of my faves, but Airwolf is way better. Stringfellow Hawke has got to be the best name ever invented for TV. Just the right amount of cheese, tempered with the right amount of tough.
Magnum all the way.
Also, I’m contractually obligated to mention the Muppet Show, which may have been the 70’s.
S6R: Yeah, the Muppet Show was the 70’s
This is a loaded question! You don’t even have Tour of Duty or Magnum PI up there in the poll!!!
Aw shit….now I will have the Tour of Duty song stuck in my head.
I see a red door and I want it painted black, no colors any more I want them to turn black….
Thanks a lot, TSO, now I have that song running through my melon!
Lol sorry guys! What about TJ Hooker too? Or MASH?
Have you all forgotten The Dukes of Hazzard. Those first three or four cords are instantly recognizable. Plus nothing beats Daisy Duke ever!
The Dukes of Hazzard, MASH (’72 to ’83), Dallas, etc. were, like Chips, more 70’s shows, in my view, but I could be wrong. It depends on when you started watching them, I suppose.
@17…but the music was pretty good
Don Johnson singing “HEARTBEAT”…now it’s in my fucking head, and I can’t get rid of it.
God, I hate you. And just to piss everyone off:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULI5kolBpAk
But yeah, Magnum PI and A-Team. Can’t believe you forgot those.
Add to the list:
Night Court
Married With Children
Newhart (even funnier now that I live here and see that shit daily)
The Cosby Show
Quantum Leap
Xena–Warrior Princess (can’t believe you missed this one, TSO)
Aw Sparky; did ya have to do that? Now I have THAT song going on!! Dweezil Zappa and all!!! Fuck you Sparky, ya bastid!
You think that one’s bad, here’s one that’ll have you sticking chainsaws in your ears to make the sound stop:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4ueaD22hg8
Not bad the first 400 times, but it just keep going, and going, and going….
Ok, Sparky, you asked for it!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxhqVrbixZc
Omg- Sparky you didn’t… REALLY? Glen Frey/Don Johnson medley in my head.
BTW, good call on Quantum Leap and Night Court.. Never watched QL in the 80’s, but absolutely loved the reruns..I also loved the Golden Girls…
And How could you forget this Miami Vice gem from Glenn Frey?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhk5770-TZo
Sledge Hammer! Didn’t last that long… but damn funny and irreverent!
So many good shows in the 80’s and I was at an age where I could appreciate GI Joe, Fraggle Rock, Alf, and Tour of Duty, A-Team, and Knight Rider (KITT’s evil twin was my dream car).
That said, I think my nod would go to Wiseguy.