TV Guided: Bronze Age TV- Better, Worse, or Equal?

Redartz:  Recently we were 'riding the retro', and in discussing the shows of the relevant year 1984, there seemed to be several of us less than enthused about the programming of the time. This got me to wondering, given the incredible wealth of classic television during the 70's, and the frequently high quality of tv during the last two decades, was there a slump during the 80's and 90's? This question forms the outline of our discussion today. 

Rather than pontificate at length about my own opinions, I'll just present some evidence (subjective, admittedly) of the programming of these decades and let you all serve as judge and jury. A dozen shows from each decade were selected. All shows represented ranked in the top 20 by Nielsen rating at some point during their respective decade. Granted, there is some overlap in the time frames, but the shows are listed according to the decade generally associated with them. Is there an era or eras that stand above the rest? Was there a decline, or not?  Let's look at the evidence.


1970's


Hawaii Five-O
All in the Family
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Sanford and Son
The Bob Newhart Show
The Waltons 
M*A*S*H
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Rockford Files
Laverne and Shirley
Soap
Mork and Mindy

 1980's

The Love Boat
Magnum, P.I.
Hart to Hart
The A-Team
Newhart
The Cosby Show
Family Ties
Cheers
Miami Vice
Moonlighting
Alf
L.A. Law

 

 

 
















1990s

Rosanne
Designing Women
Home Improvement
Northern Exposure
A Different World
Seinfeld
Frasier
ER
Friends
NYPD Blue
Touched By an Angel
The X-Files

2000s

Law and Order
Everybody Loves Raymond
Survivor
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
The West Wing
American Idol
Without a Trace
Will and Grace
Two and a Half Men
Lost
House
Grey's Anatomy

 


 

 

 


2010s

NCIS
The Big Bang Theory
Criminal Minds
Blue Bloods
Dancing With the Stars
The Mentalist
Castle
The Voice
Modern Family
Scorpion
Bull  
Empire

All right, the data is yours, and now you may put it to use. Which era has the strongest , most entertaining programming? Was there a slump, or is there now? Perhaps it's just different material for different times? Look over the shows; consider the times and your memories, then share your thoughts...