During the '80s, the U.S. experienced a dramatic change in television sitcoms. The 70's had been an era in which sitcoms were the voice of social issues, injustices, and political viewpoints. In the '80s, viewers no longer wanted to turn to television to be goaded into social action; they wanted to watch T.V. as an escape from an increasingly hectic world. Light-hearted humor returned to sitcoms. Morals and values remained part an element of sitcom plots, but sitcoms of the '80s were more escapism than anything else.

Agree? Disagree? What do you think is the most groundbreaking sitcom of the 1980's?

Cheers
The Cosby Show
Diff'rent Strokes
Family Ties
The Golden Girls
Newhart
Who's The Boss?
Other Sitcom that isn't listed

During the '80s, the U.S. experienced a dramatic change in television sitcoms. The 70's had been an era in which sitcoms were the voice of social issues, injustices, and political viewpoints. In the '80s, viewers no longer wanted to turn to television to be goaded into social action; they wanted to watch T.V. as an escape from an increasingly hectic world. Light-hearted humor returned to sitcoms. Morals and values remained part an element of sitcom plots, but sitcoms of the '80s were more escapism than anything else.

Agree? Disagree? What do you think is the most groundbreaking sitcom of the 1980's?

Cheers
The Cosby Show
Diff'rent Strokes
Family Ties
The Golden Girls
Newhart
Who's The Boss?
Other Sitcom that isn't listed


I agree,that is still what i look for.When i turn on the tv.To escape lol
It's hard to say.What was the most ground breaking.Cheers if i had to just choose one.But they we're all great.Wonder years was a great one not on the list.Also full house and growing pains.We're 80's shows.

Its The Cosby Show and it isn't even my favorite sitcom of the 80's. Sitcoms were dying and TCS totally reinvented the genre. If it wasn't for it, most of those comedies of the 80's might have been short lived.

The Cosby Show hands down. It was probably the first African American sitcom that just focused on life and family and not black stereotypes. The Golden Girls would be a close second.

The Cosby Show, easily

but my favorite on the list is Cheers

Yeah, if you look at it, NBC built their whole prime-time slot around the ratings they got from Cosby. A Different World, 227, Amen, Golden Girls, Alf, Cheers, Family Ties, Night Court, etc. They even inspired comedies on other networks, Growing Pains, Charlie & Company(even though short lived) like Sonny said, Cosby Show alone reinvented comedies in the 80s. Growing up in the 80s, it was mandatory to be in front of the set at 8pm on Thursdays. Whatever you had to do, it took a back seat until the Cosby show went off.

I guess as far as ground breaking it probably was Cosby.But my fav was Cheers out of the list.Then again that's even hard to say.Because i loved so many 80's shows.I'm watching night court as we speak.And this was a great show in its self.

Married With Children this sitcom would help usher in the era of low brow raunchy humor that would become so popular in the 90s and 2,000s let's face without the Bundys you wouldn't have had shows like Family Guy and Two And 1/2 Men because up until MCW sitcoms including Night Court were playing it safe and not really pushing the envelope.

Married With Children this sitcom would help usher in the era of low brow raunchy humor that would become so popular in the 90s and 2,000s let's face without the Bundys you wouldn't have had shows like Family Guy and Two And 1/2 Men because up until MCW sitcoms including Night Court were playing it safe and not really pushing the envelope.



I couldn't agree more with you about Married With Children.One of my fav shows of all time.And i would venture to say. The most ground breaking of the 90's.

I may get stones thrown my way, but I've always felt The Cosby Show was/is overrated. I understand it's a classic show, known for saving the sitcom genre. But it was also paired with shows like Cheers and Family Ties, both of which made an impact on Pop Culture in their own right. All three shows were highly rated and have their own following.

The Cosby Show was one of the first shows to present African-Americans in a completely non-stereotypical light, but to call it groundbreaking or influential makes me scratch my head. It seemed like more of a throwback than it was a step forward for the genre. It's family-centric plotlines were very reminiscent of something like "Father Knows Best." Plus, the sad fact remains that its portrayal of African-Americans never really continued. Simply putting Black actors on network TV has been somewhat abandoned by execs. It would be nice if "The Cosby Show" had been influential enough to add some color to the faces of network TV, but, as it stands, it's simply a classic comedy throwback whose ideas never really moved forward. I don't think it was all that groundbreaking. And it pales in comparison to shows like Seinfeld, Roseanne, Married...with Children.

I voted for Diff'rent Strokes as the most groundbreaking show of the decade. The premise alone sets it apart. And having an interracial family, even in 2012, is rarely seen (with the exception of 90210, Modern Family, and maybe another show or two). The issue-of-the-week episodes had been done by others, but I've always felt this show was supposed to be presented as a sweet, wholesome show, and it was somewhat shocking to see some of the storylines they came up for this family. They could turn the vibe of the sitcom from funny to downright creepy in the blink of an eye. I mean, one minute Mr. Drummond was on his way to buy the family tickets to Disneyworld.. and the next thing you know he’s in a car accident, has amnesia...and is set to lose his company. Another thing is that Kimberly wasn't just the ditzy sister of the cool Willis, and the adorable Arnold - she was a normal teenage girl, that fit into this 'new' family well.

I'm going with Married with Children comedy raunch and Roseanne blue collar working class Mom with kids who didn't get along.

The Facts of Life is an American sitcom that originally aired on NBC from August 24, 1979, to May 7, 1988, making it one of the longest-running sitcoms of the 1980s. It's also the longest running tv show with an all female main cast.

Gimme A Break got NBC rolling in the 80's. Was a popular hit and deserved more credit. St. Elsewhere is certainly up there.

Cosby was always overrated to me.

St. Elsewhere is certainly up there.


But that's not a sitcom.

Well the obvious choice is Cheers. Yeah, it may of almost been cancelled in its first season, but it later became one of the best shows of the 80s and quite possibly, of all time

I would say THE COSBY SHOW and I only saw 1 episode coming in on skip one night from channel 10 up in Rodchester. (WHUC)

It was raining that night I remember.......

Newhart is one of most groundbreaking 80s Sitcoms, Same goes for Cheers

Cheers in sitcoms and Hill Street Blues in police procedurals started a trend to where every genre became serialized. The most powerful sitcoms of the 90s (Friends) and 2000s (Big Bang) follow Friends in this regard.