Best TV Shows of 1988
This page is updated regularly. Subscribe, so you don't miss new recommendations. The list of "Best TV Shows of 1988" contains films with the following parameters. Style: realistic, humorous, serious, offbeat, suspense and tense. Plot: friendship, friends, family relations, escapades, family, danger, heroes, imaginary, anti hero and deadly. Genre: Drama, Comedy and Family. Country: USA, UK and Canada.
Best TV Shows of 1988
TOP TV Shows: The Wonder Years (1988), Red Dwarf (1988), Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988), China Beach (1988), Roseanne (1988), Murphy Brown (1988), The Kids in the Hall (1988), In the Heat of the Night (1988), War and Remembrance (1988), Empty Nest (1988), You Rang, M'Lord? (1988), Midnight Caller (1988), Mission: Impossible (1988), Dear John (1988), Tanner '88 (1988), Count Duckula (1988), Garfield and Friends (1988), My Secret Identity (1988), Monsters (1988), The Bourne Identity (1988).
List of Best TV Shows
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 22 min.
TV show
Story:
The Wonder Years is an American television comedy-drama created by Neal Marlens and Carol Black. It ran on ABC from 1988 through 1993. The pilot aired on January 31, 1988, following ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXII.
The show achieved a spot ...
Style:
touching, sentimental, sitcom, humorous, semi serious ...
Audience:
teens, kids, pre-teens, family outing, teen drama
Plot:
childhood, generation gap, childhood sweetheart, friends, coming of age, high school, first love, teenage life, dating, family relations, love and romance, family life ...
Time:
20th century, 70s, 60s
Place:
usa
Is relevant?
39K
Genre: Comedy, Sci-Fi
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min.
TV show
Story:
The adventures of the last human alive and his friends, stranded three million years into deep space on the mining ship Red Dwarf.
Style:
sitcom, sexy, stylized, witty, not serious ...
Audience:
teens, family outing
Plot:
spaceship, space travel, space, friendship, slacker, isolation, adventurer, space and aliens, robot, androids and robots, escapades, captain ...
Time:
future, distant future, 20th century, 2010s, 80s ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
TV show
Story:
A stranded spaceship pilot captured by mad scientists survives a blitz of cheesy B movies by riffing on them with his funny robot pals.
Style:
anthology, spoof, skit, black and white, dark comedy ...
Audience:
kids, teens
Plot:
robot, space and aliens, halloween, space, mad scientist, outer space, stupidity, androids, satire, pun, monkey, love ...
Time:
future, near future, 90s, 80s
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min.
TV show
Story:
Dateline: November 1967. Within klicks of Danang, Vietnam, sits a U.S. Army base, bar and hospital on China Beach filled with wounded soldiers and one very lovely but damaged Army Nurse Colleen McMurphy. Many heroes, dead and alive, try to make ...
Style:
serious, sincere, realistic, touching, medical drama ...
Plot:
vietnam war, medical, military, doctor, doctors and patients, superior officer, power relations, military life, wartime life, military base, us military, nurse ...
Time:
60s, 20th century
Place:
vietnam, asia, indochina
Is relevant?
49K
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 21 min.
TV show
Story:
A working-class family struggles to get by on a limited income in the fictional town of Lanford, Illinois.
Style:
sitcom, humorous, funny, biting, cynical ...
Audience:
kids, family outing
Plot:
working class, overweight, girl, dysfunctional family, husband wife relationship, teenage girl, mother daughter relationship, sister sister relationship, child, tomboy, blue collar, chubby ...
Time:
90s, 80s, 20th century, 2010s, 21st century
Place:
illinois, usa
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min.
TV show
Story:
Murphy Brown is an American situation comedy which aired on CBS from November 14, 1988, to May 18, 1998, for a total of 247 episodes. The program starred Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news anchor ...
Style:
sitcom, humorous, realistic, talky, not serious ...
Plot:
journalism, workplace, female protagonist, television reporter, media satire, workplace situations, single parent, news anchor, mother daughter relationship, female journalist, journalist, feminist ...
Time:
20th century, 90s, 80s, 2010s, 21st century
Place:
washington d.c.
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy
Country: Canada
Duration: 25 min.
TV show
Story:
The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy group formed in 1984, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson. Their eponymous television show ran from 1988 to 1994 on CBC in Canada, ...
Style:
sketch comedy, not serious, humorous, surreal, witty ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
disorder, sketch, satire, stupidity, artists and showbiz, workplace, goofy hero, media, workplace situations, social satire, stereotypes, entertainment ...
Time:
80s
Place:
canada
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
In the Heat of the Night is an American television series based on the motion picture and novel of the same name starring Carroll O'Connor as the white police chief William Gillespie, and Howard Rollins as the African-American police detective ...
Style:
detective, retro, serious, realistic, tense ...
Plot:
police, small town, police detective, legal, team, american south, african american, mafia, social justice, deep south, terrorism, police officer ...
Time:
90s, 20th century, 80s
Place:
mississippi, usa, southern usa
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Yugoslavia, USA
Duration: 135 min.
TV show
Story:
War and Remembrance is an American miniseries based on the novel of the same name by Herman Wouk. It is the sequel to highly successful The Winds of War.
Style:
historical drama, saga, serious, realistic, captivating ...
Plot:
world war two, holocaust, war, nazi germany, military, world war, submarine, dictatorship, nazi, winston churchill, hitler, u.s. president ...
Time:
1940s
Place:
asia, pearl harbor, pacific ocean, japan, europe ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min.
TV show
Story:
Empty Nest is an American sitcom that originally aired on NBC from 1988 to 1995. The series was created as a spin-off of The Golden Girls by creator and producer Susan Harris. For its first three seasons, Empty Nest was one of the year's top 10 ...
Style:
sitcom, realistic, sentimental, semi serious, touching ...
Audience:
family outing
Plot:
doctor, family relations, supportive parent, parents and children, family life, siblings relations, father daughter relationship, coworker relationship, medical, hospital, nurse, singleness ...
Time:
20th century, 80s, 90s
Place:
florida, miami, usa
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min.
TV show
Story:
You Rang M'Lord? is a British comedy series written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, the creators of Dad's Army, It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Hi-de-Hi! It was broadcast between 1990 and 1993 on the BBC. The show was a comedy set in the ...
Style:
sitcom, humorous, not serious, realistic, witty
Audience:
kids
Plot:
domestic servant, servant, master and servant, farce, eccentric family, social differences, family relations, household, high society, interwar period, lifestyle, dishonesty ...
Time:
1920s, 20th century
Place:
london, england, europe
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
Midnight Caller is a dramatic NBC television series created by Richard DiLello, which ran from 1988 to 1991. It was one of the first television series to address the dramatic possibilities of the then-growing phenomenon of talk radio.
Except for a ...
Style:
crime drama, detective, suspenseful, emotional, tense ...
Plot:
radio announcer, ex cop, redemption, radio station, humanitarian, investigation, urban, moral ambiguity, mature, police procedural, friendship, social issues ...
Place:
san francisco
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 47 min.
TV show
Story:
Mission: Impossible is an American television series that chronicles the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force. The show is a revival of the 1966 TV series of the same name. The only actor to ...
Style:
suspense, tense, twisted, cliffhanger
Plot:
espionage, mission impossible, deception, hi-tech, undercover, infiltration, black ops, disguise, hostage rescue, heist, surveillance, rebirth ...
Time:
80s, 90s
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min.
TV show
Story:
Dear John is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from 1988 to 1992. The series was based on the British sitcom of the same name. Dear John was retitled Dear John USA when it was shown in the UK. During its four-season run, the series was bounced to ...
Style:
sitcom, lighthearted, situational comedy, feel good, romantic comedy ...
Audience:
kids
Plot:
support group, divorce, friendship, family drama, heartwarming, single father, midlife crisis, custody battle, bittersweet, suburban life, working class, neighborhood ...
Time:
80s
Place:
new york
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 353 min.
TV show
Story:
In 1988, renegade filmmaker Robert Altman and Pulitzer Prize–winning Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau created a presidential candidate, ran him alongside the other hopefuls during the primary season, and presented their media campaign as a ...
Style:
mockumentary, political, biting, cynical, semi serious ...
Plot:
politics, election, white house, american politics, political satire, satire, usa politics, state affairs, fighting the system, journalism, ambition, idealism ...
Time:
80s, 20th century, year 1988
Is relevant?
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family, Horror
Country: UK
Duration: 22 min.
TV show
Story:
Count Duckula is a British children's drama, horror, comedy, animated television series created by British studio Cosgrove Hall and a spin-off from DangerMouse, a show in which the Count Duckula character was a recurring villain. The series ...
Style:
retro, anthropomorphic, gothic, spooky, children's program ...
Audience:
kids, pre-teens, family outing, preschool
Plot:
vampire, butler, vegetarian, cartoon duck, vampire hunter, servant, castle, imaginary, goofy hero, escapades, master and servant, supernatural ...
Time:
80s, 90s
Place:
transylvania
Is relevant?
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
Country: USA, Canada, Australia, Taiwan
Duration: 30 min.
TV show
Story:
The animated stories of Garfield the cat, Odie the dog, their owner Jon and the trouble they get into. And also Orson the Pig and his adventures on a farm with his fellow farm animals.
Style:
not serious, humorous, retro, captivating, feel good ...
Audience:
family outing, kids, pre-teens, preschool
Plot:
goofy hero, cartoon dog, friends, friendship, pets, countryside, dog, superhero, animated dog, farm, cartoon cat, partner ...
Time:
90s, 80s, year 1986
Place:
indiana
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Country: Canada
Duration: 25 min.
TV show
Story:
My Secret Identity was a Canadian television series starring Jerry O'Connell and Derek McGrath. Originally broadcast from October 9, 1988 – May 25, 1991 on CTV in Canada, the series also aired in syndication in the United States. The series ...
Style:
exciting, humorous, semi serious
Audience:
kids, family outing
Plot:
superhero, superhuman powers, high school student, high school, missing person, radiation, family relations, disorder, escapades, heroes, young heroes, undercover ...
Time:
year 1989, 90s, 20th century, 80s, year 1991 ...
Place:
north dakota, usa, canada
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min.
TV show
Story:
Monsters is a syndicated horror anthology series which originally ran from 1988 to 1991 and reran on the Sci-Fi Channel during the 1990s. As of 2011, Monsters airs on NBC Universal's horror/suspense-themed cable channel Chiller in sporadic ...
Style:
anthology, scary, dark comedy, spooky, dark ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
monster, creature, supernatural, supernatural power, irony, apocalypse, magic, nightmare comes true, freak, deadly creature, danger, dark humor ...
Time:
80s, 20th century
Place:
usa
Is relevant?
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: UK, West Germany
Duration: 29 min.
TV show
Story:
Four kids travel to the magical land of Narnia where they must battle an evil queen with the direction of the Lion, Aslan.
Style:
serious, mystical, exciting, offbeat, cult classic ...
Audience:
family outing, kids, pre-teens
Plot:
fantasy world, parallel world, good versus evil, narnia, heroic mission, danger, imaginary, young heroes, getting home, hopes, supernatural, wizards and magicians ...
Time:
1900s, 1940s
Place:
britain
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
TV show
Story:
An unconscious man is washed ashore on the beach of a small French village during a heavy storm. A retired doctor takes care of the unconscious stranger. When the mysterious man recovers, he can't remember a thing...he does not know his name, ...
Style:
exciting, suspenseful, suspense, cult classic, serious ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
amnesia, cia, espionage, memory loss, hitman, assassin, spy, terrorist, conspiracy, identity, heroes, danger ...
Time:
80s
Place:
france, new york, paris france, zurich switzerland
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
The adventures of fictitious gunfighter Ethan Allen Cord, whose sister left her four children in his custody when she died.
Plot:
orphan, farm, child care, wild west, frontier town, old west, uncle niece relationship, brother sister relationship, banker, children, marshal, boy ...
Time:
19th century, 1890s
Place:
california
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 91 min.
TV show
Story:
Jack the Ripper was a 1988 two-part television movie/mini-series portraying a fictionalized account of the hunt for Jack The Ripper, the killer responsible for the Whitechapel murders of 1888. The series coincided with the 100th anniversary of the ...
Style:
serious, atmospheric, suspenseful, tense, detective ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
serial killer, jack the ripper, multiple suspects, murder, mortician, murder of a prostitute, killer, police detective, danger, forensics, psychopath, police ...
Time:
victorian era, 19th century, 1800s, turn of the century, 1880s
Place:
scotland yard, england, london, europe, east end london
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, History, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 251 min.
TV show
Story:
The Murder of Mary Phagan, a 1987 two-part TV miniseries made by Orion Pictures Corporation and distributed by National Broadcasting Company (NBC), is a dramatization of the story of Leo Frank, a factory manager charged and convicted with murdering ...
Style:
realistic, serious, tense, thought provoking, bleak ...
Plot:
courtroom drama, fighting the system, murder, factory, killing spree, serial killer, law, anti semitism, false accusation, murder trial, rivalry, legal action ...
Time:
1910s, edwardian era
Place:
georgia, usa, brooklyn new york city, atlanta georgia
Is relevant?
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Musical, Mystery
Country: USA, Japan, Australia, UK, Taiwan, South Korea, France, Philippines, Thailand, Canada
Duration: 30 min.
TV show
Story:
The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is an American animated children's television series produced by Walt Disney Television that ran from 1988 to 1991, inspired by A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories. It has been released on VHS and ...
Style:
funny, entertaining, colorful, fairy tale, children's story ...
Audience:
kids, family outing, preschool
Plot:
winnie the pooh, cartoon bear, tiger, friendship, friends, parents and children, anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic animal, mental health, surrealism, pig, bear ...
Time:
20th century, 80s, 90s
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min.
TV show
Story:
Ian Struan Dunross is chairman of Struan & Co, the oldest and largest of the British-East Asia trading companies. To the Chinese, that also makes him "Tai-Pan" ("supreme leader") of the "Noble House". ...
Style:
epic, suspense, tense, dark, action adventure ...
Plot:
espionage, business tycoon, scheming, power struggle, betrayal, financial crisis, greed, ambition, cultural conflict, mature, stock market, 007 ...
Place:
china, hong kong, asia
Is relevant?
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story:
Freddy's Nightmares is an American horror anthology series, which aired in syndication from October 1988 until March 1990. A spin-off from the Nightmare on Elm Street series, each story was introduced by Freddy Krueger. This format is ...
Style:
slasher, anthology, suspenseful, atmospheric, bleak ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
serial killer, supernatural, nightmare on elm street, gory, murder, fear, high school, missing person, nightmare comes true, apocalypse, nightmare, strong violent content ...
Time:
80s, 90s
Place:
ohio
Is relevant?
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min.
TV show
Story:
Filled with magic, warmth and friendship, join the adventures of a fun-loving dinosaur and his group of ingenious young friends: Jeremy, Mario, Wally, Heather, Casey and Shades. Pursued by fortune seekers, Denver always finds himself in the middle ...
Style:
retro, anime, lighthearted, colorful, heroic ...
Audience:
kids, family friendly
Plot:
dinosaur, friendship, teenager, skateboard, children, safe, loyalty, talking animal, teamwork, hidden identity, magic, coming of age ...
Time:
80s
Place:
california, los angeles, usa, southern california
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 201 min.
TV show
Story:
Trevor Chaplin teaches woodwork and likes to listen to jazz. Jill Chapman teaches English and wants to help save the planet. They live together and just want a quiet life. Since their last adventure in ('Beiderbecke Tapes, The (1987) (TV)' ...
Style:
comedy drama, period piece, cult classic
Plot:
jazz, friendship, slice of life, everyday life, fish out of water, small town, social commentary, english teacher, working class, parenthood, police, bank robber ...
Time:
80s
Place:
northern england, england
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 312 min.
TV show
Story:
The lives and loves of the men of RAF Hornet Squadron who are transferred to France at the outbreak of World Wat II in September 1939. For the most part the men are competent fliers but there is little action in the first several months. The men ...
Style:
costume drama, serious, realistic, captivating, exciting ...
Plot:
aerial combats, world war two, battles, aviation, luftwaffe, royal air force, warplane, wartime, world war, partner, friends, heroes ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century
Place:
europe
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
