Most-Watched US Sitcoms of the 1980s and 1990s

[Alan Brady's Hair]

Below is a list of sitcoms that ranked in the top 12 of the annual US Nielsen ratings in the 1980s or 1990s. They're listed by the number of years the show was ranked in the top 12. The numbers following each show are the show's annual Nielsen rankings for its whole run:

A few notes:

(1) I've excluded any show that premiered in the 70s, thinking they have more in common with other 70s shows;

(2) I looked at top 12 instead of top ten because in most seasons some combination of 60 Minutes, football and movies pushed a couple of scripted shows out of the top 10;

(3) Question marks usually indicate a short season that wasn't ranked by Nielsen. There are also some shows whose rankings weren't systematically reported on wikipedia, and I didn't bother to track down a ranking of a show in its doldrum years. Too Close for Comfort's question marks are its syndicated years;

(4) The bottom of the list is swollen by shows NBC forced into its 1990s Thursday lineup, that died quickly after they were moved out of those spots; and,

(5) I don't think that I could have identified "Room for Two" or "Thunder Alley" as sitcoms.

The list:

10 years:

Friends (1994-2004): 8, 3, 4, 4, 2, 5, 5, 1, 3, 5

8:

Cheers (1982-1993): 75, 34, 13, 5, 3, 3, 4, 3, 1, 4, 8
Home Improvement (1991-1999): 4, 3, 2, 3, 7, 9, 10, 10

7:

Cosby Show (1984-1992): 3, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 5, 18
Roseanne (1988-1997): 2, 1, 3, 2, 2, 4, 9, 16, 35
Everybody Loves Raymond (1996-2005): 84, 33, 10, 12, 5, 4, 7, 9, 9

6:

Golden Girls (1985-1992): 7, 5, 4, 6, 6, 10, 30

5:

Seinfeld (1989-1998): ?, ?, 42, 25, 3, 1, 2, 2, 1
Frasier (1993-2004): 7, 15, 11, 16, 10, 3, 6, 13, 16, 32, 35
Who's the Boss (1984-1992): 31, 10, 10, 6, 7, 12, 19, 76

4:

A Different World (1987-1993): 2, 3, 4, 4, 17, 71
Murphy Brown (1988-1998): 36, 26, 6, 3, 4, 9, 16, 18, 34, 86

3:

Family Ties (1982-89): 56, 42, 5, 2, 2, 17, 35
Coach (1989-1997): ?, 18, 18, 10, 6, 6, 53, 14, 64
Night Court (1984-1992): 41, 20, 11, 7, 7, 21, 28, 50, 46
Empty Nest (1988-1995): 9, 9, 7, 23, 48, 66, 118

2:

Veronica's Closet (1997-2000): 3, 5, 86
Grace Under Fire (1993-1998): 5, 4, 13, 45, 68
Growing Pains (1985-1992): 17, 8, 5, 13, 21, 27, 75
The Single Guy (1995-1997): 6, 8
Designing Women (1986-1993): 33, 34, 33, 22, 10, 6, 67
Full House (1987-1995): 71, 28, 21, 14, 8, 10, 16, 24
The Wonder Years (1988-1993): 10, 22, 8, 30, 32, 54
Moonlighting (1985-1989): ?, 24, 9, 12, 49
Newhart (1982-1990): 12, 23, 16, 16, 12, 25, 50, 48

1 year:

Suddenly Susan (1996-1997): 3, 65, 81, 94
Caroline in the City (1995-1999): 4, 25, 47, 83
The Naked Truth (1995-1998): 24, 4, 74
Jesse (1998-2000): 5, 13
Too Close for Comfort (1980-1987): 15, 6, 38, ?, ?, ?
Fired Up (1997-1998): 6, ?
Kate & Allie (1984-1989): 8, 17, 14, 19, 38, 48
Boston Common (1996-1997): 8, 56
Union Square (1997-1998): 8
Major Dad (1989-1993): 39, 21, 9, 69
ALF (1986-1990): 28, 10, 15, 39
Anything But Love (1989-1992): 10, ?, ?, ?
Crazy Like a Fox (1984-1986): 10, 44
Room for Two (1992-1993): 10, ? 1/3
Northern Exposure (1990-1995): ?, ?, 16, 11, 14, 41
Mad About You (1992-1999): 54, 31, 11, 37, 24, 32, 85
Dear John (1988-1992): 11, 17, 50, 77
Just Shoot Me! (1997-2003): 64, 12, 37, 53, 19, 20, 107
Madman of the People (1994-1995): 12
Thunder Alley (1994-1995): 12, ?

[Sal]

Good Job, Alan! Here's a site that might help you fill out the "?" to complete the missing data.


The TV Ratings Guide - Historic Sitcom Scorecard

For example, "Caroline In The City" finished 47th in its 3rd season (1997-98) and 83rd in 1988-89, after which it was cancelled.

[Alan Brady's Hair]

Originally Posted by Sal

Good Job, Alan! Here's a site that might help you fill out the "?" to complete the missing data.


The TV Ratings Guide - Historic Sitcom Scorecard

For example, "Caroline In The City" finished 47th in its 3rd season (1997-98) and 83rd in 1988-89, after which it was cancelled.

Thank you!

[Alan Brady's Hair]

Originally Posted by rusty spike

Would folks agree that less than half of these shows have done well in syndication?

Probably. About 25% are NBC time slot hits from the 90s, and probably another 25% haven't had much of a syndication life.

[stevea]

Also the further down the list, to fewer years, the worse the syndication picture gets. This makes sense.

Sometime I'd like to see a list of 2000s shows that I'd call "Life Support" shows: sitcoms that had a decent or long run, but a majority of seasons had dismal ratings.

[Alan Brady's Hair]

Also, no Fox shows on the list. Their highest finishes during the 90s:

1989-90: Simpsons (28)
1992-93: Simpsons (30)
1997-98: Simpsons (18)
1997-98: King of the Hill (15)
1998-99: Ally McBeal (23)
1999-00: Malcolm in the Middle (28)

[Reinhold_Weege]

Moonlighting and Northern Exposure were hour-long dramas, not sitcoms.

[DJM77]

Originally Posted by Reinhold_Weege

Moonlighting and Northern Exposure were hour-long dramas, not sitcoms.

Same thing with Crazy Like a Fox.

[Alan Brady's Hair]

Originally Posted by Reinhold_Weege

Moonlighting and Northern Exposure were hour-long dramas, not sitcoms.

Moonlighting and Crazy Like a Fox got Emmy nominations in comedy categories. Northern Exposure did not - but it's a comedy.

[Alan Brady's Hair]

Originally Posted by stevea

Sometime I'd like to see a list of 2000s shows that I'd call "Life Support" shows: sitcoms that had a decent or long run, but a majority of seasons had dismal ratings.

I actually started looking at the ratings because the reputations of recent shows didn't seem to match with popularity. NBC's Thursday night, c. 2010:


The Office (2005-2013): 102, 67, 68, 77, 52, 41, 53, 77, 88
Parks & Recreation (2009-2015): 96, 108, 116, 134, 111, 115, 119
Community (2009-2014): 97, 138, 144, 133, 96
30 Rock (2006-2013): 102, 111, 69, 86, 106, 130, 99

Never cracked the top 40, so NBC replaced them with exactly the same type of shows:

The Good Place (2017-2020): 77, 77, 99, 92
Superstore (2015-2021): 66, 91, 102, 113, 87, 100
Brooklyn 99 (2013-2021): 98, 113, 118, 137, 161, 138, 105, ?

And that was it. Instead of trying for the next Big Bang, NBC just stopped making sitcoms.

[opus]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

Moonlighting and Crazy Like a Fox got Emmy nominations in comedy categories. Northern Exposure did not - but it's a comedy.

Comedies. But not sitcoms. Different, right?

[stevea]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

I actually started looking at the ratings because the reputations of recent shows didn't seem to match with popularity. NBC's Thursday night, c. 2010:


The Office (2005-2013): 102, 67, 68, 77, 52, 41, 53, 77, 88
Parks & Recreation (2009-2015): 96, 108, 116, 134, 111, 115, 119
Community (2009-2014): 97, 138, 144, 133, 96
30 Rock (2006-2013): 102, 111, 69, 86, 106, 130, 99

These four raved-about sitcoms were exactly the ones I was thinking about. For the most part, no one was watching.

[Alan Brady's Hair]

Originally Posted by stevea

These four raved-about sitcoms were exactly the ones I was thinking about. For the most part, no one was watching.

Right. The interesting thing is that they show almost no ability to grow an audience, like Cheers or Seinfeld did. Modern Family is about the best example of that sort of growth in the recent single cameras:

Modern Family (2009-2020): 36, 24, 15, 16, 19, 24, 36, 34, 58, 65, 48

[Sal]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

Right. The interesting thing is that they show almost no ability to grow an audience, like Cheers or Seinfeld did. Modern Family is about the best example of that sort of growth in the recent single cameras:

Modern Family (2009-2020): 36, 24, 15, 16, 19, 24, 36, 34, 58, 65, 48

I would also add "The Big Bang Theory" and its great spinoff "Young Sheldon" as consistent ratings winners in the recent era. "The Conners" is up there as well. Other than them. that's it. The best that any sitcom can do these days would be to finish between 30-45th place. They are the only notable exceptions.

[Alan Brady's Hair]

Originally Posted by Sal

I would also add "The Big Bang Theory" and its great spinoff "Young Sheldon" as consistent ratings winners in the recent era. "The Conners" is up there as well. Other than them. that's it. The best that any sitcom can do these days would be to finish between 30-45th place. They are the only notable exceptions.

Ghosts came in No. 16 last year.