My favourite 80s TV shows

Alas Smith & Jones

Remember "Not the Nine O'Clock News"? While Rowan Atkinson headed off to do Blackadder, Griff Rees Jones and Mel Smith continued on with that unique brand of comedy in a show that lasted for a number of series.  This is by far my favourite comedy sketch show of all times.

The A Team

One of my all-time favourite TV shows. The characters were brilliant and you really wanted to believe they really existed. It was the first show of its kind which was more action packed than any other show on TV. Each subsequent season declined in quality, but it will still be one of the best TV shows ever produced in the 80s.  

If you loved the A Team, then check out my tribute here.

Benson

This was one of my favourite sitcoms of the 80s. A spin off of the 70s sitcom “Soap” following the career of Benson Dubois who went from butler to budget director at the Governor's mansion, then later on, an American State. I just loved his sarcasm and his continuous badgering of his fellow staff. The faces he pulled were classic.

If you loved Benson, then check out my tribute to the show here.

Blackadder

Classic show, each series starring a different Edmund Blackadder in a different time, but with the same actors. Blackadder became smarter with each series, while Baldrick became more dense. A wonderful recurring cast.

Blackadder Goes Forth was my particular favourite.

Dukes of Hazzard

This is without a doubt my favourite show of the 80s. It was just so much fun and the characters… even the villains… were loveable. Some of the best episodes were when the devious Boss Hogg and Rosco teamed up with the Duke Boys against some other villain. The last season in particular, although pretty bad, had them aligning themselves more and more. The final episode… and the last time Boss Hogg ever appeared on our screens, showed a tender moment between himself and Rosco. Sometimes it was hard to believe that the Duke Boys were so forgiving when it came to Hogg and Rosco's dirty tricks, but at the same time you couldn’t help but believe that deep down they really did care about each other.

Click here for an amusing list of things that you'll only see in Hazzard.

Grange Hill 

Probably the best kids TV show of the 80s. I’m thinking it’s because it reminded me so much of the way things were at my school in New Zealand. The culture was very similar. Just a pity they canned in down here after about series 4 or 5, yet it continued on for years in the UK

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 

This quckly became my favourite comedy of all times. Based on the first two hitchhiker's books, it was different and outrageously hilarious. It introduced me to the genius of Douglas Adams and its so sad he didn't live long enough to write more. Also a pity we never got to see the later books in the series made into a TV show too.

I have written some observations about this series of books. Check it out.

Magnum PI

Magnum PI was a quality detective show. One of the best and longest lasting. As much as I liked Magnum, my favourite character, without a doubt, had to be Jonathon Quale Higgins.

Monkey 

A bizarre Japanese show of the 70s & 80s, with over-the-top overdubbed acting. But you couldn’t help but be enthralled by it. It was like a crappy martial arts movie done as a TV show, but the stories were great. Not only that, but it was one of the first shows I’ve ever seen where the characters… even the heroes had their darker side and the villains were not always completely evil. The whole Yin/Yang thing I believe. Some of the content was even a little extreme for 70s and 80s TV.

I have my own tribute page to this cult classic. Check it out. 

The Professionals 

British cop and detective dramas were always quality shows and this was no exception. Sure, the critics panned this, but Bodie and Doyle were just two of the coolest guys on TV at the time. And you couldn’t help but like their cantankerous boss, George Cowley either. I always liked Bodie the best, but most people I knew seemed to prefer Doyle.

The Unrepeatable Who Dares Wins 

The writers from "Not the Nine O'Clock News" and "Alas Smith & Jones" got together to do this comedy sketch series. Tony Robinson (Blackadder's Baldrick) was also one of the comedians in this one. Classic stuff.

The Young Ones 

Just like Monty Python, the Comic Strip had some great stuff and also some very bizarre stuff. This was great and had plenty of bizarre to go with it. Pity they only did two series of it.