The A Team

In this sitcom based on Christine Houston's play about the lives of black women residing in an apartment building in 1950s Chicago, Illinois. Marla Gibbs, who first shot to stardom for playing Florence Johnston, the sarcastic housekeeper to Louise and George Jefferson on The Jeffersons (1975), got her own series. Gibbs starred as tart-tongued Mary Jenkins. Her husband Lester (Hal Williams) was a construction worker and they had a teenage daughter, Brenda (Regina King). Pearl Shay (Helen Martin) was an annoying but open-minded neighbor who gossiped with Mary, and Rose Lee Holloway (Alaina Reed-Hall) was Mary's best friend, who lived in the building with her daughter Tiffany (Kia Goodwin) and was sympathetic to the neighbors. The landlord died in the pilot episode and Rose took his place until season four. Attractive, sassy vamp Sandra Clark (Jackée Harry) showed up later in the show's run.

Brothers Brian and Joe Hackett attempt to run an airline on the New England island of Nantucket while surrounded by their various wacky friends and employees.

Judge Harold T. Stone presides over "Night Court", a court which deals with petty crimes which can be dealt with in a dime-a-dozen manner. Invariably, the cases appearing before the court are bizarre, but that's ok because Judge Stone is not your regular judge. He's assisted by a motley crew of clerks and District Attorneys who often create as much chaos as the criminals they bring in for trial.

This teenage sitcom is named after its main character, likable schoolgirl Blossom Russo. It centers around her life at school and at home, where she lives with her single father, charming musician Nick Russo, who tries hard to be an exemplary parent, and her two elder brothers, the cool Anthony, the eldest, and sweet but rather weak and naive Joey. Her best friend, Six LeMeure, who is educationally neglected at her home and thus is almost always around at the Russos as well as at school, is the voice of mischief and thus often her partner in crime.

The post-retirement season is suddenly disrupted for football player George Papadapolis and his wife Katherine when Webster, the orphaned son of a former teammate, moves in. Laughter, and life lessons, in every episode.

Barney Miller is the kind of cop we'd all like to run into. He is always sensible. He maintains order over a squad room of detectives who gamble for a hobby, get hit on by anything in skirts, go to renaissance philosophy conventions for fun, and would really prefer to be writing. Nearly all of the action takes place in the squad room where the citizens and criminals are brought in to complicate the mix.

A group of girls attending a boarding school experience the joys and the trials of adolescence under the guiding hand of housemother Edna Garrett, the Drummonds' maid on Diff'rent Strokes. Later in the series, she is promoted to school dietitian, and four of the girls move into new quarters above the cafeteria. She eventually leaves the school and opens her own business, with help from the girls.

It's hard enough to raise a kid nowadays but when you have to cope with THESE kids, things tend to get out of hand! Dr Seaver, a psychologist and his wife Maggie Seaver, a journalist, try to do their best raising their family and although their kids, Mike, Ben, Carol and Crissie, cause them endless problems, they manage to keep the family close together. As long as they got each other, nothing else matters...

Roger, Rerun and Dwayne are three buddies growing up in Los Angeles. The three of them always have a penchant for getting into mischief and trying to find ways of getting rich quick. Almost always the trio's schemes wind up getting them into trouble and it is up to Roger's mother to get them out of it. Also, half of the time, the boys get into trouble because of Roger's bratty sister Dee.

"Empty Nest" is set in Miami and tells of the day to day misadventures of a widowed pediatrician named Harry Weston and his two adult daughters, Barbara and Carol, who have come back to live with him after failed marriages. Much of the humor is derived from Barbara and Carol's ongoing attempts, and failure to find the perfect partner, and leave the "nest" once again. There is also their skirt-chasing next door neighbor, Charlie Dietz, and Harry's southern nurse, Laverne Todd, who is unique for her unbelievable Hickory stories.

Thelma Harper and her spinster sister Fran open their home to Thelma's recently-divorced son Vinton and his teenage daughter and son, Sonja and Buzz. It's quite an adjustment for everyone, especially the cranky, argumentative Thelma, especially when Vinton becomes interested in pretty, sexy neighbor Naomi and marries her and moves her into Thelma's house.

Frank Lambert is a construction worker and a single father of 3 kids: J.T., Alicia "Al", and Brendan. Carol Foster, a beautician, also has 3 children: Dana, Karen, and Mark. After Frank and Carol run into each other on vacation and spontaneously get married, they and their children (who appeared to have known and hated each other) have to learn to live together and love each other. It's not easy, but they are trying to do this step by step.

Louie De Palma is a cantankerous, acerbic taxi dispatcher in New York City. He tries to maintain order over a collection of varied and strange characters who drive for him. As he bullies and insults them from the safety of his "cage," they form a special bond among themselves, becoming friends and supporting each other through the inevitable trials and tribulations of life.

The story of young Ricky Stratton and his millionaire father, Edward, who lives very much like a young boy himself, in a house filled floor to ceiling with toys. Still, Edward takes raising Ricky seriously, and tries to avoid spoiling him while still letting him enjoy his childhood.

Light television comedy about family man Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor. The show's humor often revolved around cars, toys, tools, hardware shops, garages, fix-it-up projects, and similar themes.

"The Cosby Show" centers on the lives of the Huxtables: obstetrician Cliff and his lawyer wife Claire, their daughters Sondra, Denise, Vanessa and Rudy, and son Theo. Based on the standup comedy of Bill Cosby, the show focused on his observations of family life. Although based on comedy, the series also addresses some more serious topics, such as learning disabilities and teen pregnancy.

Popular 1980s sitcom based on the Gwen Davenport novel "Belvedere," which in turn was thrice adapted to the big screen. Like its earlier novel and big-screen brethren, "Mr. Belvedere" featured British butler Lynn Belvedere, who takes a job as a live-in nanny for a typical American family and records their everyday experiences in his diary for future use in writing a novel. In the 1985 small-screen version, the Owens family served as that "typical American family" and the source of fodder for Belvedere, who had previously worked as a gentry for Winston Churchill and had connections to British royalty. Family patriarch George (played by sportscaster Bob Uecker) was, in an example of art imitating life, a sportswriter; the matriarch was Marsha, a law student. The couple, who had settled in suburban Pittsburgh, had three children: awkward teenager Kevin; precocious, easily-embarrassed Heather; and mischievous prankster Wesley. George was initially uncomfortable hiring the worldly Belvedere but eventually came to appreciate the Englishman's friendship (as well as his expert culinary skills). Unlike his older siblings, Wesley never seemed to get along with Belvedere, but even he came to appreciate the British native's regularly-dispensed advice. Each episode ended with Belvedere writing in his journal, giving the show's moral while putting everything into perspective. In later years, Marsha graduated from law school and got her first job, and Kevin and Heather graduated from high school and entered college. The 1985 small-screen adaptation of "Mr. Belvedere" marked the end of a long succession of unsuccessful attempts to bring Davenport's novel to television; the three earlier pilots were made in the 1950s (soon after the final big-screen movie) and 1960s.

The Golden Girls is based on the lives and interactions of four older women who have all been divorced/widowed, and are now roommates. Dorothy's main goal during the series is to find a companion she can relate to while her mother Sophia adds her comical outlook and frequent "Picture This" stories. Rose's St. Olaf-ness makes her a little corny but lovable. One thing that changes nearly every episode is whom Blanche is courting.