Nightline (ABC, 1980- ). From the hostage crisis in Iran (which inspired ABC to start a late-night news program in November 1979) to teary Tammy Faye Bakker, all the decade's major stories were illuminated by Ted Koppel's probing questions. When a crisis is brewing, and even when one isn't, the most indispensable news broadcast on television.
Hill Street Blues (NBC, 1981-87). Though it grew stale and self-important, Steven Bochco's gritty, rambunctious, richly textured look at a big-city police precinct set new standards for TV drama in the '80s.
Late Night with David Letterman (NBC, 1982- ). While waiting for Johnny Carson to retire, Dave went out and reinvented the talk show. After nearly eight years of NBC jokes, stupid pet tricks and Larry ("Bud") Melman, his video fun house is as inventive and fiercely funny as ever.
Jeopardy! (syndicated, 1984- ). TV's most challenging game show was too smart for the '70s: NBC canceled it in 1975 after a decade on the air. But it reappeared triumphantly in a new syndicated version in the '80s. Who says TV is getting dumber?
The Burning Bed (NBC, 1984). Farrah Fawcett, as a battered wife who kills her husband, made everyone forget Charlie's Angels, and director Robert Greenwald gave this TV movie -- a model for scores of ripped-from-the-headlines dramas to follow -- haunting force.
Crime Story (NBC, 1986-88). Producer Michael Mann brought a flashy film-noir style to TV in Miami Vice, then perfected it in this brooding, operatic underworld drama. And Anthony Denison, as gangster Ray Luca, created the TV villain who, along with J.R. Ewing, loomed as the decade's most memorable.
Eyes on the Prize (PBS, 1987). The history of the early civil rights movement recaptured in six compelling hours. Henry Hampton's documentary series, using news footage from the 1950s and '60s and narrated by Julian Bond, was a masterpiece of eloquent reportage.
thirtysomething (ABC, 1987- ). The life and habits of the Yuppius domesticus. Too whiny and self-indulgent, yes, but in its examination of contemporary lives and attitudes, this series starts where other TV dramas leave off.
Tanner '88 (HBO, 1988). In the midst of the decade's most boring presidential campaign, writer Garry Trudeau and director Robert Altman invented their own candidate (played with mealy-mouthed hilarity by Michael Murphy) and concocted a brilliant satire of politics, media, life.
Lonesome Dove (CBS, 1989). Just when the epic mini-series seemed to have bitten the dust, this vivid and lyrical adaptation of Larry McMurtry's novel of a Western cattle drive, led by a grizzled Robert Duvall, brought the genre rousingly back to life. Twenty-nine-and-a-half hours of War and Remembrance put it to sleep again.