Classic 80s TV Shows: 10 That Made History

Classic 80s TV shows made history: from Cheers and ALF to Knight Rider and MacGyver, the decade’s classics defined what we still call nostalgic TV today — and many of them are still available to binge. In this list of 10 80s series, we revisit the titles that SBT brought to Brazil and won over an entire generation of fans.

Years have passed and times have changed, but some TV series still live on in our memories, even if we did not follow them when they first aired. Many of them, in fact, we only watched thanks to broadcast TV — more specifically SBT, which treated us to series such as ALF, Full House and Punky Brewster.

And to relive an era of TV classics (and our memories of titles only Brazil could rename), we have picked 80s series that awakened the binge-watcher in so many of us and hold a guaranteed spot in our hearts.

Cheers premiered on September 30, 1982

A classic sitcom full of funny situations and very everyday dramas. The setting? A Boston bar called Cheers, owned by former baseball player Sam Malone, where the gang gathered to complain about life and share their stories. At times the show took on a somewhat soap-opera tone in its romances. Cheers lived a long life, crossing the 80s with 11 seasons on the air. Besides strong ratings, the comedy also became a collector of TV awards. In the legacy left by Cheers, the series boosted the careers of names like Kirstie Alley and Woody Harrelson, and spawned the spin-off Frasier.

The A-Team premiered on January 23, 1983

Four former Vietnam War veterans convicted by a military court escape and form a team of mercenaries. Operating underground, the squad takes “requests” from people in danger with nowhere else to turn for help. With plenty of action and doses of humor, each episode follows the quartet on a mission, a rescue or something of the sort. Usually full of strategies, they end up pulling it off and, at the end of the day, leave the bad guys to be arrested by the police while they make their own getaway. The series ran for five seasons and spawned a comic book series released at the time. Years later, in 2010, a feature film of the same name revived the adventures of Hannibal, Face, Murdock and B.A. on the big screen.

Punky Brewster premiered on September 18, 1984

Ingeniously retitled in Brazil as Punky, a Levada da Breca, the sitcom was a hit here. With countless comic situations but also many heartbreaking moments, the series told the story of Penelope “Punky” Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye), a girl of about eight who was abandoned by her parents and ended up living alone in an empty apartment in a condo building. Over time she grows close to the residents, especially the building manager, widower Arthur (Henry Warnimont), who keeps trying to discipline the girl (to keep her out of further trouble) and later adopts her. From a certain angle (with some poetic license here), Punky is a female, American version of our beloved Chaves.

Moonlighting premiered on March 3, 1985

In the 80s, Brazilians translated series titles in their own way. So Moonlighting became A Gata e o Rato in Brazilian lands. But didn’t the title fit? The show built all its dynamics on the story of the “couple that’s not a couple — almost a couple,” Maddie and David. The “opposites attract” theory was tested in every episode: an investigator and a model forced to work together to avoid going bankrupt. Amid bungled missions and plenty of sexual tension, the series starring Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis was a ratings phenomenon, especially in its early seasons. Things started to fall apart after the leads’ relationship became real and the show ended at the close of its fifth year. Iconic, no doubt, Moonlighting can be considered the pioneer of its genre. Just ask the fans of Castle.

See Also: The 10 Best 90s TV Shows

MacGyver premiered on September 29, 1985

Stopping a chemical leak with chewing gum and chocolate; building a bomb with fertilizer and car oil; assembling a telescope in 35 seconds; fooling a biometric ID system. These were some of the tricks that made Angus MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) the great hero of the 80s. His resourcefulness, improvisation and brilliance, derived from scientific knowledge and everyday items, let this former secret-forces agent escape any jam or disaster without the use of violence or any kind of weapon — although he got into fights when necessary, MacGyver refused to carry a gun.

The hero’s exploits became so famous that to this day clever (and, why not, almost miraculous) solutions are compared to the MacGyver style. Over seven seasons, the producers preferred to explain less about how the hero built his gadgets to keep anyone from trying it at home.

ALF premiered on September 22, 1986

In an era still far from today’s special effects and three-dimensional, futuristic plots, a cute, ironic and clumsy alien crash-landed in the Tanner family’s garage and made TV history. ALF was a comedy with classic humor and a family tone that stayed on the air for four seasons. But bringing the beloved ALF to life was no easy feat. The character was actually a puppet, a marionette voiced by Paul Fusco in the US and by comedian Orlando Drummond Cardoso in Brazil. Due to the rudimentary technology of the time, each episode of just over forty minutes took about twenty hours to film. All the work paid off: the adventures of Gordon Shumway, aka ALF, were so successful that the character got a cartoon, comic books and a TV movie, plus plush replicas. Here in Brazil, under the name Alf, o Eteimoso, the sitcom aired and reran several times.

21 Jump Street premiered on April 12, 1987

Long before bringing Captain Jack Sparrow to life in Pirates of the Caribbean or playing iconic characters in Tim Burton films, before his Oscar nomination and Golden Globe win, Johnny Depp was the lead officer of 21 Jump Street. The crime series followed the daily lives of undercover cops in schools, posing as students to solve cases and crimes, operating out of a headquarters at 21 Jump Street. The production was inspired by a real police department that uses disguises in its investigations. Tackling issues like trafficking, gang fights and other social problems, the show carried a social tone beneath all the action and investigative atmosphere. No wonder 21 Jump Street became an 80s hit, especially with its target audience: young people. With strong ratings, the FOX series managed to compete with the big networks and stayed on the air for five years. True, Depp left the show at the end of the fourth season to focus on film, but officer Tom Hanson made the actor a star and marked his career. And the series marked the teenage years of many of us.

Full House premiered on September 22, 1987

Anyone who did not fall in love with the Tanner family at first sight had plenty of chances on SBT afternoons for nearly a decade. If that still had not happened, Netflix came along and released all eight seasons (and 192 episodes). To put the cherry on top, it even made a spin-off, Fuller House, with nearly all the original characters. In other words, either you already love them or you’re weird!

Jokes aside, Full House turned 30 in 2017 still going strong and, in the tech era, serving as meme fodder (like the latest “how do you not age?”) and gifs that express our emotions (whether through catchphrases or Michelle’s countless faces (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen) you’ve surely seen around the web). With the best cast of kids ever assembled — in our humble opinion — whom we got to watch grow up, the series won us over with comic writing without excess, moving at the right moments and honest in others.

Read also: The 10 Best Series of the 2000s

The Wonder Years premiered on January 31, 1988

Right in the middle of the 80s, a nostalgic sitcom won over many people. Aptly called The Wonder Years, the series portrayed Kevin Arnold’s teenage years amid the cultural, political and social transformations of the late 60s and early 70s. Driven by an amazing soundtrack and referencing historical facts, the plot followed the everyday adventures of a typical American boy of the time. Living with his parents, sibling squabbles, true friendships and first love. And long before Everybody Hates Chris or How I Met Your Mother, Kevin Arnold taught us how captivating it is to hear personal stories narrated by those who lived them and to compare them with our own. Watching The Wonder Years was like mixing our experiences and discoveries with the characters’ and vice versa. Remembering Kevin, Winnie, Wayne and company already brings a smile to our faces. Oh, yes! With so many reruns, the series was followed by different generations over the years. Now, The Wonder Years is that lovely little piece of TV past we revisit to remember when we didn’t even mind dubbing and had a whole lifetime ahead of us.

Seinfeld premiered on July 5, 1989

And last but definitely not least. Before the 80s said goodbye, they left us a fine TV legacy: Seinfeld. The series that premiered in 89 ran through the following decade, staying 9 seasons on the air. The sitcom made history with its catchphrases and an unusual quartet of leads — flawed characters who were no role models to follow. Seinfeld broke narrative taboos and, besides boosting the careers of Jerry Seinfeld himself, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards, the comedy was essential to the rise of other series in the genre, such as Friends.

Remember any other memorable 80s series? Tell us in the comments!

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