10 Best ‘80s Sitcoms (And Where to Stream Them)

Television in the ’80s has always had a tinge of nostalgia around it; a lot of people grew up with ’80s TV, whether they watched it live or they watched endless reruns later on. Luckily, despite these shows’ age, a lot of them are actually streaming. The ’80s involved a lot of breakthroughs in TV; the ’70s had involved a lot of stretching the boundaries of what could be done with the medium, and the ’80s, at times, fully embraced the challenge. ’80s sitcoms, however, were often at their best when they embraced the classical sense of what television was (a series of mostly unrelated episodes with a shared cast) with what the world was becoming (more connected, with society continuing to evolve).

There are only a few shows that did not make this list, because they’re not streaming. Newhart isn’t here, because it’s not streaming; The Cosby Show also isn’t here, but you can stream it on Philo, a live TV platform. The shows that are here are all available on a regular streaming platform, and they make up the best ’80s sitcoms had to offer.

1) Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983-1987)

Technically, this spy show is classified as a drama (due to episode length), but the hijinks single mom Amanda King regularly gets up to as she “helps” a mysterious “Agency” operative, Lee “Scarecrow” Stetson, could qualify this show as a comedy.

Single-camera sitcoms were rare in the ’80s, with most of the more notable ones starting at the very end of the decade, and mostly running in the ’90s. Scarecrow and Mrs. King is also considerably less serious than similar shows of the era, with plots that regularly relied on the two leads being forced to do espionage together, usually with comical errors in judgment along the way.

All four seasons of its run are on both Tubi and The Roku Channel. In a lot of ways, it’s a spiritual sequel to Get Smart, a spy comedy from the ’60s.

2) Moonlighting (1985-1989)

Moonlighting is another show that lives in many genre categories, but given that it is known to this day for how well it introduced an edgier comedy style into television, it deserves a mention here.

Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd play business partners who both hate and love each other, as they go into the private detective business. Much like Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Moonlighting relies on the chemistry between its two leads to find comedy in more serious premises. Moonlighting also injected a lot of “will they or won’t they” energy into its early days, which, of course, would become a standard trope of romances in ’90s and later sitcoms.

Moonlighting, which wasn’t streaming for a long time, can be found in full on both Hulu and Prime Video.

3) Kate & Allie (1984-1989)

Kate & Allie was a lovable sitcom that aired on CBS from 1984-1989. It starred Saturday Night Live original cast member Jane Curtin as part of a single, divorced mom duo in New York City; the other mom was television actress Susan Saint James.

Even though the show was popular and highly rated during most of its run, public opinion of it cratered during its final season, when Allie (Curtin) got remarried, and the writers contrived a reason to have Kate (Saint James) move back in with her and her new husband.

Despite disappointment in the ending, it was a good, classic sitcom for much of its run, and it can be streamed in its entirety on The Roku Channel.

4) It’s Garry Shandling’s Show (1986-1990)

Comedian Garry Shandling had a meta multi-cam sitcom before he made his all-time great workplace sitcom, The Larry Sanders Show, for HBO. It’s Garry Shandling’s Show took an unusually meta approach for its entire run, with the cast knowing they were in a TV show, and often including the audience in “manipulating” the events of episodes.

Even though the show originally aired on Showtime, it lives on in streaming on HBO Max.

5) Night Court (1984-1992)

Night Court is the only show on this list that got a second chance at life; the classic ’80s sitcom got a three-season revival on NBC in 2023. The original Night Court ran for an impressive nine seasons, and they’re all available to stream on Prime Video.

The quirky workplace sitcom took place at the night shift for a Manhattan Criminal Court, presided over by the young (for the job) judge, Harry T. Stone (Harry Anderson). The show was created by Reinhold Weege, who started out on the popular ’70s sitcom Barney Miller, which took place in a police precinct.

Night Court found the comedy inherent in the kinds of cases that would appear in front of Judge Stone.

6) Taxi (1978-1983)

Taxi is borderline an ’80s sitcom, but the majority of it did air during the ’80s, so it’s allowed. Taxi helped launch an impressive amount of careers — Danny DeVito, Judd Hirsch, Christopher Lloyd, Andy Kaufman — and it was consistently hilarious and over-the-top.

The characters in Taxi were mostly working-class, as they worked at a New York taxi company. It was a show often on the bubble, and it spent its final year at NBC, after airing most of its run on ABC, but it was loved at the time by critics, and a lot of the comedy, which was always grounded in the eccentricities of its characters, still works well.

Taxi can be streamed on both Pluto TV and Paramount+.

7) The Golden Girls (1985-1992)

The Golden Girls was a perfect combination of star, legendary comedians, and the perfect time. Combining Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty in one hit TV show just worked, again and again.

Watching The Golden Girls out of order when it’s in reruns is more often than not most viewers’ introduction to it; however, you can watch the entire series on Hulu, and experience one of TV’s greatest friend groups from the beginning to the end.

8) Family Ties (1982-1989)

Family Ties, in many ways, is the quintessential ’80s show, capturing mounting tensions within the average American family at the time. Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox) isn’t just a young Republican, he’s also incredibly ambitious, and disappointed by how his hippie parents ultimately settled down, for a life in the suburbs. While Family Ties could often be saccharine, Fox’s performance injected life throughout the series, and his supporting family also did good work.

Family Ties can be streamed on both PlutoTV and Paramount+.

9) Blackadder (1983-1989)

Blackadder was an odd premise that only the Brits could do really well. It tells the story of many generations of the Blackadder family (always played by Rowan Atkinson), and along the way points out the comical inconsistencies in British history, and therefore, in British cultural identity. Atkinson is joined by a cast of actors who would all become recognizable, but Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry are probably the most immediately familiar to American viewers.

As Blackadder speeds through the centuries, it goes on a wild ride, and it’s a thrill from start to its tragic finish. Blackadder can be streamed on Hulu.

10) Cheers (1982-1993)

Cheers is often considered one of the best shows of all time, if not just one of the best sitcoms. It all took place at a fictional, working-class bar in Boston, with a core cast that worked incredibly well together. The cast would grow and expand over the years, but the heart of the show was always contained in the idea of a group of strangers brought together into a community by a common watering hole.

Cheers is available to stream on Hulu, Pluto TV, and Paramount+, which means there’s no excuse for not streaming it from the first time Sam Malone serves a customer.

What are your picks for the best ’80s sitcom? If it’s streaming, let us know where in the comments below!

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