The 1980s was certainly a golden age when it came to television. Some truly great shows were released during the decade of neon spandex and hair big enough that God could almost touch it. However, looking back at the television landscape of the decade through a modern lens, you can't help but ask yourself, "they actually put this on the air?"

While some of the decade's best shows have certainly aged like fine wine, there are others that have turned into milk that has been left out in the sun. They're chunky, it's a bit sour, and they don't go down as easily as they did during their original run. From sitcoms that were built on punchlines that would be frowned upon today, to questionable power dynamics, we decided to dig in the crates to come up with shows from the '80s that have easily passed their expiration date. Without further ado, let's grab the antacid and dive in.

'Growing Pains' (1985–1992)

Image via ABC

When you heard the theme "As Long as We Got Each Other," you knew you were going to be in for a cozy family experience with Growing Pains, or so we thought. Created by Neal Marlens, the show follows the Seaver family, in which the traditional gender roles of a household were swapped, with the father, Jason (Alan Thicke) staying at home to take care of their three children, and the mother, Maggie (Joanna Kerns), going back to work after 15 years of being a stay-at-home mom. During the mid-to-late '80s, Growing Pains was a ratings hit for ABC, and was a staple of the decade's sitcom landscape; but, unlike its contemporaries, there were a number of things behind the scenes that fundamentally altered the show, and not in a good way.

The most obvious was star Kirk Cameron's religious pivot, who, in the later seasons, became a born-again Christian, and he began to demand that the script change to align to his newfound beliefs. All of a sudden, Cameron's Mike went from being a "lovable rebel" to a rigid "holier-than-thou" character that threw off the show's DNA. Then, there was the treatment of Tracey Gold, who portrayed Carol, Mike and Maggie's middle child. In real life, Gold was suffering from anorexia; but the writers continued to write "fat jokes" at the character's expense, which led to her being written out of most of the final season to seek treatment. The later seasons of Growing Pains were less of a cozy re-watch and more of a jarring experience that has aged the show poorly.

‘Small Wonder’ (1985–1989)

Image via Metroland Video Productions

In all honesty, it's actually quite a stretch to call Small Wonder a show that "aged poorly," because it was dated from the moment it premiered in syndication in 1985. Routinely called one of the "worst sitcoms of all-time" by critics, Small Wonder was a show that, in critics' eyes, was doomed to failure from the start. However, television viewers at the time loved the show, and it was a massive hit in syndication. However, looking back on the sitcom now, and the major flaws that were pointed out by critics are crystal clear.

For starters, Small Wonder feels like a show pulled out of the "bargain bin," with bad special effects and uninspired sets that made the show look terrible. Then there was the premise itself, which revolves around V.I.C.I. (Voice Input Child Indenticant), an android who takes the form of a little girl (portrayed by Tiffany Brissette). While Brissette played the part of an emotionless android child well, her monotone delivery gives off a very cold, creepy vibe. Add in the tasteless writing, numerous innuendos with children involved, and how the family treated the android child, and you have a sitcom that is basically spoiled rotten by today's standards. No wonder you can hardly find it on streaming.

'The Dukes of Hazzard' (1979–1985)

Image via CBS

Sometimes, when talking about TV shows that have aged poorly, you have to separate the impact from the intent, which is what we have to do while discussing The Dukes of Hazzard. Created by Gy Waldron, this CBS action comedy premiered in 1979, but it hit its zenith with audiences in the early '80s, where it was constantly ranked as one TV's most viewed shows. The series follows "the Duke Boys," Bo (John Schneider) and Like (Tom Wopat), who constantly evade the corrupt commissioner of Hazzard County, J.D. "Boss" Hogg (Sorrell Brook) in their 1969 Dodge Charger named "The General Lee."

One of the main issues with The Dukes of Hazzard was The General Lee itself, which had the Confederate flag painted on the roof. Back during its original run, the Confederate flag was seen as a symbol of "Southern rebellion" that was divorced from what it really stood for, as a symbol of white supremacy and offensive to African Americans. That alone makes The Dukes of Hazzard quite problematic, but this is where we have to separate the "intent" from the "impact." While most aspects of the show have become extremely dated by today's standards, there is a segment of older television viewers who see The Dukes of Hazzard as harmless escapism that wasn't aiming to offend anybody. While that may be true, the aspects of the show that were harmless back in the '80s — the flag, the cartoonish stereotype of southerners, and the objectification of women — are really problematic in today's culture and have made the show age very poorly.

'Charles in Charge' (1984–1990)

Image via CBS

In 1984, Who's the Boss changed the way we thought of the power structure within the home, with Tony Danza playing the housekeeper, and Judith Light as his boss. While the ABC sitcom has become a beloved classic, the same can't be said about a similar show on CBS, Charles in Charge. Created by Michael Jacobs and Barbara Weisberg, the sitcom stars Scott Baio as a 19-year-old college student who, in a bid to find room and board, becomes a live-in caretaker to three kids in New Jersey. While the premise made sense in the sitcom's first season, when the kids Charles (Baio) took care of were young; but it was in the later seasons that this became problematic, in which Charles was a caretaker for older children, and with the new family having a live-in grandfather, it didn't make any sense as to why Charles was present.

Then there's the disturbing behind-the-scenes allegations that were made against the show's star, with allegations of grooming, assault, and abuse occurring on the set of Charles in Charge. While these are just allegations, and Baio had strongly denied them over the years, they created a permanent dark cloud over the show. Much like Bill Cosby's legal troubles tarnished The Cosby Show's legacy, the allegations against Baio completely ruined the legacy of Charles in Charge, and few viewers look back at the show with nostalgic fondness.

'Mr. Belvedere' (1985–1990)

Image via ABC

For six seasons in the mid-to-late '80s, viewers flocked to the living room to watch a posh English butler struggle to adapt to a suburban American household. Mr. Belvedere, which was adapted from Gwen Davenport's 1947 novel, follows the exploits of Lynn Belvedere (Christopher Hewett), a butler for the Owens family of suburban Pittsburgh. There is no question that Mr. Belvedere was a prime example of "comfort food TV" in the '80s, a sitcom that always played it safe and had that warm and fuzzy moral center. However, the very same tropes that made Mr. Belvedere so comforting and moralistic are what actually dates the sitcom horribly.

Sitcoms in the '80s are well-known for certain episodes that tackle serious issues. The "Very Special Episode" often dealt with themes such as drugs and other social issues at the time. Mr. Belvedere stands out as a sitcom that frequently aired "Very Special Episodes," and while they were seen as progressive at the time, when you re-watch these episodes today, they often come off as extremely preachy and superficial, which terribly dates the show. Also, because Mr. Belvedere played things safe, the sitcom feels very rigid in its tropes, especially when it came to the family the titular character cared for. The Owens family were often portrayed as chaotic and incompetent, the complete opposite to their sophisticated butler. This is where most of the show's comedy was sourced from, but by not allowing the characters to develop, Mr. Belvedere is very much a product of the decade; and as such, has aged quite poorly.

'Family Ties' (1982–1989)

Image via NBC

As we earlier stated with The Dukes of Hazzard, determining how poorly a show has aged comes down to "intent" and "impact," and this can also be extended to the classic NBC sitcom Family Ties. The brainchild of Gary David Goldberg, Family Ties details the changing social shift of the decade, from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and '70s to the conservatism that would dominate the '80s. This was seen in the relationship dynamic between the parents, Steven (Michael Gross) and Elyse (Meredith Baxter) Keaton and their son, Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox). The parents were hippies in the '60s and still retain liberal attitudes, while Alex was a staunch young Republican and held conservative views.

It's within this formula that the "impact" of Family Ties could lead viewers to look back on the family sitcom in a poor light. The central hook, liberal parents trying to understand their conservative children, was a fresh concept during the decade, but it definitely lost its appeal with today's viewers, who don't see any overlap between liberal and conservative politics. It's almost like Family Ties is now a caricature of the political tension between the left and right, with the sitcom treating these differences as domestic squabble rather than ideological battle royale. This wasn't the intent of Family Ties, which aimed to detail the changing culture of the decade, but the impact is far different today, and, as good as this sitcom is, you can't help but notice just how poorly the show has aged.

'Bosom Buddies' (1980–1982)

Image via ABC

In today's TV landscape, shows take a nuanced approach when it comes to how society views gender and identity, but in the early 1980s, gender and identity were ripped for sitcom fodder. However, even from looking at Bosom Buddies through those lenses, this was a comedy that is the definition of spoiled milk. Starring a young Tom Hanks and the late Peter Scolari, Bosom Buddies follows two single men who dress as women in order to live in a hotel for women.

Dressing in drag to "solve" a housing issue was a very weird premise, and using drag as a means to an end is seen as very offensive to today’s audiences. By making the main characters dress in drag as the main punchline, it trivializes the experiences of the LGBTQ+ community and women as a whole. Speaking of, Bosom Buddies relied heavily on an exaggerated portrayal of women. For example, when Hanks and Scolari were in their "female" personas, they were often clumsy and inept, which only reinforced the '80s stereotype that women didn't possess the same "intelligence" as men; and, as a bonus, the show's entire premise of men needing to keep up a "ruse" to infiltrate women's spaces is just downright creepy. While some may see Bosom Buddies as harmless, this sitcom was definitely a misfire.

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Bosom Buddies

TV-PG

Comedy

Release Date

1980 - 1982-00-00

Cast

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• 
  Tom Hanks
• 
  Peter Scolari
• 
  Donna Dixon
• 
  Holland Taylor

Main Genre

Comedy

Seasons

2

Creator(s)

Chris Thompson, Robert L. Boyett, Thomas L. Miller

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