Some sitcoms from the 1980s are considered timeless. Shows like Cheers, The Golden Girls, and The Cosby Show would have found success in today’s television landscape almost as easily as they did 30 years ago.
However, some comedies are just “totally 80’s.” The look, the feel, the dialogue, and storylines are covered in radical 80s awesomeness. The shows below are all funny and have an audience but only could have thrived within that gnarly neon bubble that was the 1980s. Here are 10 hit sitcoms from the awesome ’80s that wouldn’t fly today.
FACTS OF LIFE
This spin-off of Diff’rent Strokes finds the Drummonds’ former maid Mrs. Garret becoming a housemother at an all-girls school boarding school. Everything about the show screamed “the eighties” - the hairstyles, the clothes, the scenery and especially the characters.
The students on the show were a who’s who of 80’s teenage stereotypes; A tough but pretty tomboy, a vain, arrogant beauty queen, a sassy black girl on rollerskates and a large-figured Jewish girl with a big heart and sense of humor to match. The Facts of Life ran for nine seasons making it one of the longest-running 80s sitcoms.
GROWING PAINS
Growing Pains featured a classic 80s sitcom staple - role reversal. In this case, the family matriarch, after years of putting her career on hold to raise three children, returns to the workforce while dad takes his turn staying home to mind the store.
Growing Pains was a funny show that also had its share of “very special episodes” dealing with serious topics such as suicide, alcohol-related car wrecks, teenaged runaways, and drug use. However, as soon as ratings began to drop the show was guilty of yet another tired sitcom staple - a new baby. It’s hard to pinpoint what ruined the show- the birth of the fourth Seaver or Kirk Cameron finding Jesus.
DIFF’RENT STROKES
Perhaps the most iconic of all 80s sitcoms, Diff’rent Strokes was a show about two orphan black boys from Harlem who move in with a rich white guy in his Park Avenue penthouse.
The show was funny for a while and a huge ratings winner for NBC but as soon as the fish out of water premise wore off viewers were left with a corny show that tried real hard each week to find a place for series star Gary Coleman to utter his classic catchphrase, “What you talking ‘bout Willis?” Plus, you know, it all depends on a benevolent white savior.
MR. BELVEDERE
An elegant English butler who once worked for Winston Churchill takes a job with a middle-class Pittsburgh family headed by George Owens (legendary baseball announcer Bob Uecker).
The stuffy, posh Mr. Belvedere often clashed with the Ownes youngest son, the troublemaking Wesley. When not at odds with the boy, Mr. Belvedere was busy solving the daily problems of the other family members. The Owens suffered from a variety of 1980s sitcom woes such as teen pregnancy, HIV, underage drinking, homelessness, and Alzheimer’s.
WEBSTER
In an obvious attempt by ABC to cash in on the success of Diff’rent Strokes, Webster centers around an orphaned black boy who moves in with a rich white family. Emmanuel Lewis plays the title character in a role very similar to Gary Coleman’s Arnold Jackson on the NBC show.
The sitcom revolved around Webster, a five-year-old boy who moves in with his godfather George, a former NFL player who recently married a rich socialite whom Webster calls “Ma’am.” At the beginning of the series, storylines often focused on Ma’am and George adjusting to life as newlyweds but it wasn’t long before nearly every episode focused on precocious-cute-kid Webster.
CHARLES IN CHARGE
Perhaps the only thing memorable about Charles In Charge was its catchy theme song. After being canceled by CBS in 1985 the show returned in syndication two years later and found success. In total, the series ran for five seasons and contained 124 episodes.
Scott Baio played the title character who served as a caretaker for the Powell family. The children often looked to Charles to offer advice, help solve their problems and see them through tough times. The “helpful outsider” was a popular sitcom trope in the 80s as evidenced by other comedies like Mr. Belvedere and ALF.
SILVER SPOONS
Another 80s role-reversal comedy, Silver Spoons is centered around the relationship between an overgrown man-child and the uptight son he never knew he had played by Ricky Schroder.
Edward Stratton is rich and irresponsible but has to grow up rather quickly when his pre-teen son Ricky - the product of a brief marriage - shows up at his door. Silver Spoons is perhaps best remembered for the Strattons mansion which featured video arcade games, a race car shaped bed and a working train that weaved its way through the mansion.
PUNKY BREWSTER
Yet another show where a foster kid has to adjust to life in new surroundings. Soleil Moon Frye plays the title character who moves in with an elderly man named Henry (George Gaines of Police Academy fame).
Punky is a street smark kid who brings out Henry’s caring side while her new foster dad finally gives her the home she deserves. Punky Brewster became a role model for young girls across America who adopted her unique 80s wardrobe which included colorful clothing, mismatched shoes and socks and sunshine barrettes in her hair.
ALF
You had to suspend disbelief to enjoy ALF - a sitcom about a friendly alien who crashes into the home of the Tanners, a middle-class California family. Most episodes centered around the alien attempting to blend in with his new surroundings and fit in with a family who never seems quite sure they want him there.
ALF debuted in 1986 and was wildly popular. It spurred an animated series and tons of Alf-related merchandise. But you gotta think this furry muppet wouldn’t catch on today. Not in a world where Baby Yoda has become the new standard in alien cuteness.
SMALL WONDER
Small Wonder just might be the oddest sitcom from the 1980s. The series revolved around a robotic 10-year-old girl named VICI (Vicki) which stands for Voice Input Child Identical. Vicki was the creation of Ted Lawson, a robotics engineer who brought the robot home and passed her off as the family’s newly adopted daughter.
Episodes often centered around the family’s attempt to keep Vicki’s robotic identity a secret. That was kind of hard since the android possessed super-human strength, super speed and, well, talked exactly like a robot. One problem producers didn’t account for was the natural aging of the actress who played Vicki. To explain this Ted eventually gave the robot an “upgrade” which allowed Vicki to age like a normal human and even consume food and drink which, according to Ted, passed through her naturally. We’ll just take his word on that one.
