Top 4: TV Comedies of the 80s

The 80s were a wonderful decade for comedy. TV censors became more and more relaxed, but political correctness hadn't arrived on the scene yet. Networks weren't competing with cable and the internet, and the more captive audience let them keep quality but low-rated shows around longer. And the theme song was still around! Plus, I was a kid, so I was an easier laugh back then. So what were the top four comedies of the 1980s? Two constraints: only half hour shows, so no Wonder Years (the line is blurred these days between comedy and drama, so I'd rather split it by length, something the Emmys should do), and only shows with the bulk of their run in the 80s, so no Simpsons.

#4. The Golden Girls - So why, as an eight year old boy, would I be watching a show about a group of old women? I have no idea. But I was, and you know what? They were really funny. And educational! I had no idea what menopause, Medicare, and lesbians (not to be confused with Lebanese) were before watching this show, so it was like hanging around with the cool kid who knew what all the swear words meant, only in this case the cool kid was a 70 year old woman.

But of course that's not what defines a good comedy. For me, it's mostly about character, casting, and jokes. Bea Arthur's Dorothy was the most important character of the show, both because for all the jokes at the expense of her looks I've heard, she's a truly gifted comedic actress, and becaus her relationships with her friends and her mother (and on occasion her ex-husband Stan) that kept everything moving. Add Estelle Getty and Betty White on top of that, and it's hard to go wrong (I can't say I was ever a Rue McClanahan fan, though). The jokes were frequent and funny, with a "Back in St. Olaf..." here, a "Picture it: Sicily, 1941..." there, and plenty of snide remarks from Dorothy to fill in the gaps. And since I mentioned theme songs up top, who can't still sing "Thank You for Being a Friend" by heart?


#3. The Cosby Show - He's become a target frequent parody and may be thought of more for his controversial political thoughts than anything else these days, but for much of the 1980s, he was the most beloved entertainer in the country, and as David Letterman once said, "Every time Bill Cosby sneezed, NBC made a million bucks." And is there any wonder why?

Who could forget the zrbtt, the Gordon Gartrelle, Cockroach, Bud (who was played by Deon Richmond and not Dule Hill), the family lip synching to Ray Charles' Night Time is the Right Time", or the time Cliff gave a horsey ride to Peter, Rudy's little fat friend? All great. The only reason the show slides this far down is that things turned ugly the longer it went on. The kids got older and less cute, so the brought in Raven Symone to Cousin Oliver-ify the show, the stories started to get weak, and I stopped watching entirely. But for a while, it didn't get much better than The Cosby Show.


#2. Family Ties - Following The Cosby Show, interestingly enough, is exactly what Family Ties did for many years, not only on NBC's schedule, but in the Nielsen ratings, where it was the second most watched show on television for several years. The Keatons, Stephen, Elyse, Alex P., Mallory, Jennifer, and later Andy, were the kind of family you wanted to be in, but they were more real than the Cleavers or other idyllic TV families of the past. And of course they got a lot of mileage out of the premise of hippie parents with a Reagan-worshipping son. And supporting characters added some nice touches. Skippy, Nick Moore, and Alex's various love interests (including a young, hot, Courteney Cox) all provided laughs as well as occasional serious moments.

Speaking of which, Family Ties specialized in the "very special episode" (sitcom episodes with a heavy-handed moral, usually about something like drugs, suicide, teen pregnancy, etc). It almost seems like every episode was a very special one. The time Alex tried to stay awake to cram for a test and got hooked on diet pills, when Skippy discovered he was adopted and tracked down his birth mother, or the time Alex acted out memories of his dead friend on a blacked out stage with a single spotlight, delivering angst-ridden monologues to a disembodied therapist voice in between scenes. But unlike some of the stupider VSE's (Saved by the Bell's diet pill addicted Jesse Spano and her "I"m so excited!" being perhaps the stupidest and unintentionally funniest ever), when Family Ties got serious, it wasn't campy or silly. From start to finish, it was a sweet, warm, and funny show. Sha la la la.

#1. Cheers - Growing up in Massachusetts, I was inclined to like a show where the main character was a former Red Sox pitcher. But it wasn't just the Boston connection. With a wide array of local stations available to me, I could technically watch Cheers at 4:00, 4:30, 5:30, 7:00, 7:30, 11:00 (which had a choice of two episodes), and 11:30 Monday through Friday from the late '80s to the mid-90s. Plus, on Thursdays, new episodes. And I never got tired of them. I didn't care if it was a Coach episode or one with Woody, Diane or Rebecca, they were all good.

The place where everybody knows your name evolved a lot over its eleven seasons. Early on, it was largely concerned with social issues, addressing class conflict by contrasting elitist snob Diane with the blue collar slobs at the bar, daringly doing an episode about homosexuality in 1983, and occasionally touching on alcoholism. Later, the series became more farcical. Physical comedy, bizarre situations, and Cliff's insanity taken to new levels (Hitler living in his apartment building is a personal favorite). But through it all, the show was hilarious.

Strangely, from 1984-1987, Cheers aired on NBC Thursday nights after both Family Ties and The Cosby Show (and followed by Night Court and Hill Street Blues/L.A. Law), so naturally I was glued to the TV on Thursdays in the mid-80s.

Honorable Mention: Night Court, Newhart, The Facts of Life, Growing Pains, Perfect Strangers.