Copyright Screen Rant
The 1980s were a truly remarkable decade for television, but not every series left as deep a mark. Forty years later, some of the best of the best are still popular with modern viewers. The age of streaming allows us to watch TV Shows like Cheers, Full House, The Golden Girls, Murder She Wrote, Family Matters, Alf, Growing Pains, Family Ties, and much, much more on repeat. Of course, the hits weren't the only things on TV in the 1980s. Just because a 1980s TV show didn't stick in our memories after all these years doesn't mean it was bad. In the vast sea of '80s television, a few unique projects were sure to get lost. This comes down to a series failing to find its audience at the time. However, a handful of decades later, modern audiences might find these forgotten jewels to be worth a watch. Jennifer Slept Here (1983-1984) Jennifer Slept Here is a sitcom with a unique premise that could only come from the 1980s. The series ran on NBC from October 21, 1983, to May 12, 1984, and followed teenager Joey Elliot, whose family moved into a house haunted by the ghost of a movie actress, Jennifer. Joey is the only one in the home who could see Jennifer, a detail that made him appear rather insane to his family and friends. This 1983 series ran for a single season, comprising 13 episodes. However, during this short run, it managed to claim a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, and John P. Navin Jr., who played Joey, won a Young Artist Award for his role. Unfortunately, Jennifer Slept Here wasn't a strong performer on NBC, so it was canceled. Later, the series gained a bit more traction with reruns. Small Wonder (1985-1989) Sci-fi sitcoms are something that there aren't enough of in the 2020s. Small Wonder was easily one of the most bizarre and low-budget of the 1980s, but it actually managed to gain some traction. The series followed a robotics engineer who secretly made himself a robot daughter, Vicki. Small Wonder ran for a pretty impressive four seasons and proved popular with child audiences. Reruns continued to perform well globally going into the 1990s. Still, as far as adult viewers and critics were concerned, Small Wonder was an outrageous joke. It's still a rather silly series, but 40 years later, it could become a nostalgic guilty pleasure for those who choose to resurrect it. Bosom Buddies (1980-1982) Bosom Buddies is another '80s TV show that might not fly today, but that's all part of what makes it worth revisiting. It stars Peter Scolari and a pre-movie-fame Tom Hanks as two struggling men who disguise themselves as women to live in an affordable, female-only apartment complex. Much of Bosom Buddies was improvised, and Hanks' comedic performance played a significant, though quiet, role in launching his career. Bosom Buddies came from the creators of Laverne & Shirley, but it never found the same level of success. Hanks and Scolari were both relatively unknown, and the SAG strikes of the 1980s significantly hindered the series' release schedule. Though Bosom Buddies successfully earned a second season, it was ultimately canceled in 1982 and essentially forgotten. Misfits of Science (1985) Sci-fi comedy-drama series Misfits of Science premiered on NBC in October 1985, and followed a group of super-powered teens at the Humanidyne Institute. It was an early work of Tim Kring, who later created 2006's Heroes, which had some similar concepts. Misfits of Science was one of Courtney Cox's early TV roles. Misfits of Science ran for 15 of the 16 episodes that were filmed before it was canceled due to poor ratings. However, rewatching today reveals small peeks at brilliance. It's good fun to watch Cox on screen in the lead-up to her big break, and the campy sci-fi misadventures make Misfits of Science another '80s series worth reviving. Street Hawk (1985) Street Hawk was a vigilante action series that truly should have gone on longer than it did. Premiering in 1985, Street Hawk revolved around Rex Smith's Jesse March, an ex-motorcycle cop turned vigilante who fights crime using an all-terrain attack motorcycle. Street Hawk was a crime-of-the-week series that saw March balance his two lives. Street Hawk was a bigger hit outside the US than within it. The series was ultimately moved to a less desirable time slot on ABC, significantly reducing its viewership. After a single season and 14 episodes, it was unfortunately canceled. Still, for those who find it today, it's a campy adventure that's entirely worth the binge Wizards and Warriors (1983) Fantasy adventure TV series Wizards and Warriors premiered on CBS in 1983, and could easily be considered a sort of early Game of Thrones or The Witcher. Set in the medieval Aperans, the series explored the political conflicts with neighboring kingdoms, which are handled by a combination of traditional battle and magical wizard warfare. Wizard and Warriors won a Primetime Emmy Award for its costumes, but it couldn't quite gain enough ratings within its 8/7 Central slot. The show was canceled after its first eight-episode season. A DVD box set became available in 2014, somewhat reviving the old fantasy TV series. Still, Wizard and Warriors is largely unheard of today. Riptide (1984-1986) The detective TV show Riptide, which premiered in 1984, checks off all the classic tropes of a great TV show within the genre. It follows Perry King's Cody and Joe Penny's Nick, two former war buddies who start their own detective agency and run it out of their boat, the Riptide. They're joined by tech genius Boz (Thom Bray) and his robot, Roboz. Riptide ran for three seasons, which is significantly more than many other entries in this list. It was ultimately canceled as each installment performed worse than the previous. This came down largely to Riptide's predictability and the fact that it was really just an amalgamation of every detective series that came before it. Now, this same tropiness is what makes Riptide a hidden gem today. Sledge Hammer (1986-1988) Sledge Hammer is a satirical police sitcom that, for a time, managed to make a real mark. Created by Alan Spencer and starring David Rasche as the titular Inspector Sledge Hammer, the series overtly pokes fun at the typical cop-on-the-edge trope, parodying the film Dirty Harry, especially. Sledge Hammer might have had better legs if ABC hadn't moved the show's time slot so many times. There was no expectation of a second installment, but the finale's viewership was so high that ABC greenlit season 2. However, the time-slot hoping didn't stop there, and ratings plummeted, finally resulting in cancellation. Now, Sledge Hammer isn't remembered nearly enough. Empty Nest (1988-1995) Though Golden Girls is a cult classic, only die-hard fans may know about one of the series' spinoff shows, Empty Nest. The show's pilot initially aired as a Golden Girls episode, which introduced the Corlisses, neighbors of Blanche, Rose, Dorothy, and Sophia. George and Renee Corliss suffer from empty nest syndrome, and this was, naturally, the central premise of Empty Nest. Empty Nest ran for seven seasons, and star Richard Mulligan even claimed a Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy for his work on the series. Still, it consistently struggled with ratings. The best-performing episodes were those that featured crossover characters from The Golden Girls. This original series' massive success and lasting reputation overshadowed its spinoff. It's Your Move (1984-1985) At first glance, It's Your Movie really looks as if it should have become a cult classic. From Married...with Children creator Ron Leavitt and The Jeffersons' Michael G. Moye, the TV sitcom starred Jason Bateman as precocious teen scam artist Matthew Burton, who meets his match in his mom's new boyfriend, Norman (David Garrison). Critical reception for It's Your Move was initially quite good when it premiered in 1984. However, it suffered the same fate as dozens of other promising '80s TV shows—it got stuck with a time slot that forced it to compete with a higher-profile series. By the end of season 1, interest in It's Your Move waned, and it was canceled. Today, it's a fun, one-shot binge and a great look at Bateman's early career.
