5 Classic 1980s TV Shows You Can Stream Today: 'Cheers' and More

This week, Watch With Us has decided to look back at some of our favorite shows of the 1980s.

If you're still only beholden to modern television, you don't yet know what delights await you in the 1980s.

The fact is that some of the best TV shows ever made came out in the '80s. The seminal Cheers and Taxi, and the iconic Star Trek saga, The Next Generation.

The Watch With Us team has put together our five favorite '80s shows and where you can watch them right now.

‘Cheers' - Hulu

The galactic explorations of the crew aboard the USS Enterprise-D take center stage in this second live-action series in the Star Trek franchise. Nearly a century after Captain Kirk (William Shatner) finished his original five-year mission, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) now carries on Kirk's legacy as he explores brave new worlds with his eclectic crew, including Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton).

The massive success of Star Trek: The Next Generation brought with it not just an all-new generation of viewers into the Star Trek fandom, but also helped to lay the groundwork for the subsequent spinoff shows that have continued on for the past few decades. It is still frequently considered one of the best TV shows of all time, praised for its well-written, intellectual sci-fi stories and terrific ensemble cast.

‘Moonlighting' - Hulu

Former model Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd) is scammed out of her money by her accountant and finds herself bankrupt and out of work. In an unconventional way to try to make money again, she opens up a private detective agency. Maddie partners herself up with a snarky P.I. named David Addison (Bruce Willis), and together the mismatched pair investigates cases at the Blue Moon Detective Agency - while also slowly falling in love.

Moonlighting served as the breakout role for Willis and helped to restart Shepherd's career. It was also groundbreaking at the time for its ambitious combination of comedy, drama, mystery and romance; an atypical genre-mashup for a TV show back then, that was also notable for its deployment of fourth-wall breaking. In fact, Moonlighting is still considered one of television's first successful "dramedies."

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This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 2:30 AM.