Once and For All: Are the 1980s “Comfort TV”?

When I started this blog, I defined Comfort TV as the television era that covers the 1950s through the 1980s. I even wrote a piece last year about evaluating 1989 as the final year of the classic TV era.

But lately I’ve been having second thoughts.

It’s true that the communal pop culture experience television once provided was still accessible in the 1980s, and didn’t disappear completely until the following decade.

However, as I review lists of the top shows from that decade I have to admit that, while I watched and enjoyed many of them, I don’t feel the same nostalgic fondness for them that I do for shows from the 1960s and ‘70s. They are also significantly under-represented in my otherwise voluminous TV-on-DVD collection. 

There is also the fact that I hold membership in two Facebook groups devoted to classic TV, that both use 1979 as a cut-off point. One of them is quite militant about it.

So it’s time to take a fresh look at the 1980s, and decide once and for all whether it deserves continued coverage in this blog. I figured the best way to do this is to review the shows that debuted between 1980 and 1989, and determine if they meet the criteria of Comfort TV.

1980

This was a bad year for TV, Comfort or otherwise, with very few debuting series surviving beyond one season. Its biggest trend was repackaging successful concepts through sequels and spinoffs: Sanford, Enos, Flo, Galactica 1980, The Flintstones Comedy Show, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy Doo, and Beyond Westworld. None of them worked, but it’s interesting how television was already feeling nostalgic. 

The year’s three most successful sitcom debuts didn’t last much longer: Bosom Buddies, It’s a Living, and Too Close for Comfort. I like Bosom Buddies and own the DVDs, and would buy It’s a Living if music rights were not keeping it out of the home video market. Still, not a great opening argument for keeping the ‘80s in this blog. The only new show from this year that meets all of the Comfort TV criteria is Magnum, P.I., a worthy entry in the private eye genre. 

1981

The repackaging craze continued this year with The Brady Brides, Bret Maverick, Checking In (a Jeffersons spinoff), a cartoon version of Laverne & Shirley, and sitcom adaptations of the films Foul Play, Harper Valley PTA, Private Benjamin and Walking Tall.  

Thankfully Steven Bochco proved the medium hadn’t completely run out of original ideas with Hill Street Blues. Its abrasive language, frank portrayals of sex and violence, and handheld camerawork that put viewers inside an inner city police station, sometimes uncomfortably so, all represented a sea change in dramatic television. It’s also the first sign that we’ve entered a post-Comfort TV era.

However, there were also more traditional shows that debuted that year with varying degrees of success – Code Red, The Fall Guy, Father Murphy, The Greatest American Hero, Nero Wolfe, Nurse, and The Two of Us. And the prime time soaps Dynasty and Falcon Crest have retained their ostentatious, over-the-top appeal. 

So that’s one year for, one year against.

1982

The pro-Comfort TV ‘80s lobby gets a big boost from 1982 with the debuts of Cheers, Cagney and Lacey, Fame, Family Ties, Knight Rider, Newhart, Remington Steele, Silver Spoons and Tucker’s Witch (which I liked even if nobody else did). Only St. Elsewhere and Square Pegs anticipate the edgier fare of the 1990s and beyond. 

1983

It’s not Comfort TV…it’s HBO. This was the year that the pay-cable network introduced America Undercover, the documentary series that spawned Autopsy, Real Sex and Taxicab Confessions, all of which are galaxies away from Father Knows Best. Back on the broadcast networks, shows like Bay City Blues and Buffalo Bill stretched the boundaries of their respective genres. And the shows that followed more traditional formats – Cutter to Houston, Emerald Point N.A.S., Hardcastle and McCormick, Scarecrow and Mrs. King – just weren’t very good. Only Hotel, Goodnight, Beantown and the miniseries V bring back any fond memories for me.  

1984

The Cosby Show, Highway to Heaven, Kate & Allie and Murder She Wrote were the year’s best Comfort TV debuts, and some would put Who’s the Boss and Night Court in that category as well. Miami Vice was cool back then but hasn’t aged well.  Still, the first half of the decade continued to introduce shows that fit well with the archetypes of decades past. 

1985

Joining the ranks of shows befitting the Comfort TV standard were The Golden Girls, Growing Pains and McGyver. But the best new show that year was Moonlighting, a series that didn’t fit into any previous mold ­­- even the Emmys had trouble deciding whether it belonged in the comedy or drama category. During that same season, Comfort TV stars Lucie Arnaz, Mary Tyler Moore and Patty Duke all starred in new shows that flopped. That’s not a good sign. 

1986

Can the failure of Life With Lucy be interpreted as the door closing on the classic TV era? Or was it just not a very good show? Either way, it seems like a pivotal moment when audiences are no longer interested in watching Lucille Ball in prime time. 

I enjoyed Head of the Class and Perfect Strangers but not much else from 1986, though clearly Matlock belongs in the Comfort TV category given how often it has been rerun since.

1987

The shows that generated the most headlines in 1987 were those well outside Comfort TV Land – Married With Children, The Morton Downey Jr. Show, Max Headroom, Thirtysomething and Wiseguy. However, Full House and My Two Dads proved there were still sitcoms suitable for a family audience, and Star Trek: The Next Generation proved it was possible to revive a classic property with a quality that rivaled (surpassed?) its predecessor. 

1988

And as we near the end of the decade, Comfort TV contenders continue to dwindle. The Wonder Years qualifies, and I guess Empty Nest does as well, but that’s about it. Roseanne was the year’s most successful and buzzworthy series, but like Married With Children it featured a family unit that no one would ever confuse with the Bradys or the Nelsons or even the Huxtables. As for Murphy Brown, it was obviously a huge hit, but no Comfort TV series would purposely alienate half its audience by taking sides in the nation’s political divide. 

1989

As I covered in my aforementioned piece on 1989, this was the year when reality shows like COPS, Rescue 911 and America’s Funniest Home Videos began stealing prime time slots from scripted shows. It was the year that long running game shows like Card Sharks, Sale of the Century and Super Password all left the air. It was the year that introduced Seinfeld and The Simpsons, two cynical and subversive sitcoms that audiences loved – it’s hard to imagine that same audience also enjoying the few, more traditional shows that also debuted that year, like Coach and Major Dad. The viewers have spoken.

So what’s the verdict?

I’d say it’s clear that the 1980s were indeed the transitional decade between the more traditional, uplifting, family-friendly shows of TV’s first age, and the current anything-goes, time-shifting, niche-viewing broadcast climate we’re in today. I understand why some classic TV groups and sites prefer to draw the line at 1979, but for me there were still - barely - enough shows introduced in the 1980s that belonged to the same universe as the Comfort TV shows of the past.

And so, while it’s a close call, we’re going to keep the 1980s under the Comfort TV era banner.