Explore 1980s TV Shows

Hey Vern, It's Ernest! is a short lived American children's television program. It aired on Saturday mornings on CBS for one season in 1988. Each episode involved short sketches based around a certain theme or scenario, featuring the popular fictional character Ernest P. Worrell, his unseen friend Vern, and various others. The series was a production of Ernest creator John Cherry's production company, The Emshell Producers' Group, in association with CBS, and was distributed by DIC Entertainment. The series was later rerun on The Family Channel in the early 1990s.

The Adventures of Raggedy Ann and Andy is an American animated television series that aired on CBS from 17 September 1988 to 1 September 1990. Based on the dolls Raggedy Ann and Andy by Johnny Gruelle, the series was produced directly by CBS in honor of the 70th anniversary of the characters. The show was retired in 1990, although CBS aired reruns in August 1991 when Pee-Wee's Playhouse was shelved.

ALF: The Animated Series is an animated cartoon spin-off based on the live-action Sitcom series ALF. It premiered on September 26, 1987 and ran for 26 episodes. ALF Tales was a spinoff from the series that ran on the NBC television network on Saturdays from August 1988 to December 1989. The show had characters from that series play various characters from fairy tales. The fairy tale was usually altered for comedic effect in a manner relational to Fractured Fairy Tales.

Dinosaucers is an animated television series co-produced in the United States and Canada. It was created by DIC Entertainment which has done the overseas animation and in association with Ellipse Programmé and Nelvana. This animated program originally aired in syndication in the USA in 1987 by Coca-Cola Telecommunications. 65 total episodes were made throughout the show's broadcasting, but it only lasted one season during the 1987-1988 television season. The show's first 21 episodes can be purchased individually by episode or as a set from online retailer Amazon.com. There were originally plans by Galoob to release a Dinosaucers toyline, and prototype figures were produced; however, the line was scrapped after the show was canceled. The toys included Stego, Bronto-Thunder, Allo, Bonehead, Plesio, Quackpot, Ankylo, and Genghis Rex.

A teenager from Earth, is brought to another universe known as Videoland to defeat the evil villainess, Mother Brain, as foretold in an Ancient Prophecy.

Blackstar is an American animated television series, a science fantasy story sometimes reported as being inspired by Thundarr the Barbarian. It was produced in 1981 by Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott for Filmation. The series was Filmation's second fantasy epic, the first being tucked in as a segment of Tarzan and Tarzan and the Super 7, The Freedom Force. Blackstar has many notable similarities to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, which was produced shortly afterwards.

Inhumanoids was an animated series and Hasbro toy property in 1986. In the tradition of other Hasbro properties such as Transformers and G.I. Joe, the show was produced by Sunbow and Marvel Productions and animated in Japan by Toei Animation. Inhumanoids tells the story of the scientist-hero group, Earth Corps, as they battle a trio of subterranean monsters called the Inhumanoids with the aid of elemental beings, the Mutores.

Rambo: The Force of Freedom is an animated series based on the character of John Rambo from David Morrell's book First Blood and the subsequent films First Blood and Rambo: First Blood Part II. This series was adapted for television by story editor/head writer Michael Chain and the series even spawned a toy line.

C.O.P.S. is an American animated television series released by DIC Entertainment and Celebrity Home Entertainment. This cartoon, which ran from 1988–1989, used the tag line: "Fighting crime in a future time, protecting Empire City from Big Boss and his gang of crooks". In 1993, the series was shown in reruns on CBS Saturday mornings as CyberCOPS, the name change due to the 1989 debut of the unrelated primetime reality show of the same name. The show was based on Hasbro's 1988 line of action figures called C.O.P.S 'N' Crooks.

Heathcliff knows he is the best cat around! Never have we seen such self-confidence topped off with a heavy dose of vanity, cunning, ruthlessness, and a mischievous love of gags. He cruises and struts down the street and watch out any person, cat, or dog who gets in his way! Although he may terrorize the neighborhood, let an outsider try to push anyone around and he is a veritable tiger of defense. On the other side of town are The Catillac Cats, which typically revolve around leader Riff-Raff's get-rich-quick schemes or searches for food.

Ponyland is the home of all your favorite classic Little Ponies. Together, they live a life of games, songs and harmony with allies like the Bushwoolies and Furbobs. But, occasionally, there are problems in Ponyland and the Little Ponies of Paradise Estate must face evil witches, goblins, Stone Backs, Grundles and more!

Three chipmunk brothers, Alvin, Simon, and Theodore are adopted by human, Dave.

Charlie Chalk is a stop motion animation series produced in 1987 in the United Kingdom by Woodland Animations, from the creators of Postman Pat and the two other children's television programmes that are Gran and Bertha.

Chip and Dale head a small, eccentric group of animal characters who monitor not only the human world, but the animal community as well, solving mysteries wherever they may be. The "Rescue Rangers" take the cases that fall through the cracks.

In 1989 the two most famous plumbers from Brooklyn burst out of the Nintendo game world and onto television screens across America. The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! aired weekday afternoons and brought Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and King Koopa more thrilling adventures as cartoon characters. And if that weren't enough, each episode also contained live-action segments featuring Mario and Luigi running their Brooklyn plumbing shop - all before they were flushed down a drainpipe into the Mushroom World.

The adventures of preteen goth Lydia Deetz and her undead friend Beetlejuice as they explore The Neitherworld, a wacky afterlife realm inhabited by monsters, ghosts, ghouls and zombies.

Byker Grove was a British television series which aired between 1989 and 2006 and was created by Adele Rose. The show was broadcast at 5.10pm after Newsround on CBBC on BBC One. It was aimed at an older teenager and young adult audience, tackling serious and sometimes controversial storylines.

Maid Marian and her Merry Men is a British children's sitcom created and written by Tony Robinson and directed by David Bell. It began in 1989 on BBC One and ran for four series, with the last episode shown in 1994. The show was a partially musical comic retelling of the legend of Robin Hood, placing Maid Marian in the role of leader of the Merry Men, and reducing Robin to an incompetent ex-tailor. The programme was much appreciated by children and adults alike, and has been likened to Blackadder, not only for its historical setting and the presence of Tony Robinson, but also for its comic style. It is more surreal than Blackadder, however, and drops even more anachronisms. Many of the show's cast such as Howard Lew Lewis, Forbes Collins, Ramsay Gilderdale and Patsy Byrne had previously appeared in various episodes of Blackadder alongside Robinson. Like many British children's programmes, there is a lot of social commentary sneakily inserted, as well as witty asides about the Royal family, buses running on time, etc. Many of the plots spoofed or referenced film and television shows including other incarnations of Robin Hood in those mediums.

Superboy is a half-hour live-action television series based on Kal-El's early years as Superboy. It depicted Superboy's adventures during his college years, his meetings with Lex Luthor and his romance with Lana Lang. The series was brought to the screen by executive producers Ilya and Alexander Salkind, who were the producers of the first three Superman movies and the 1984 Supergirl movie.

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.

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 of unexpected adventures!

An American animated children's television series inspired by A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories.

Count Duckula is a vegetarian vampire duck, coming into the world as an accident. Unlike his family and ancestors, he has no bloodlust, as when he was reincarnated, blood was omitted and replaced with ketchup.

The adventures of the last human alive and his friends, stranded three million years into deep space on the mining ship Red Dwarf.