15 Best TV Shows Of The 1970s, Ranked

The 1970s were a decade of upheaval, dawning in the wake of America's Civil Rights Movement and the war in Vietnam. That turmoil was reflected on television screens, where the quaintness of shows like "Gilligan's Island" and "I Dream of Jeannie" — jejune shows that ruled the airwaves — was waning, paving the way for shows that told more serious stories, often exploring the social and political issues of the day.

Whether it was raucously funny comedies, heartfelt dramas, or action-packed adventures, television in the 1970s saw just as much change as viewers could see from their windows. The best of the best ran the gamut, opening up doors once as new genres emerged, and other shows gradually evolved into something different. But more than anything, the 1970s featured some of the best shows ever made, including classic sitcoms, dramatic war stories, and shows that birthed franchises that are still thriving today, in some form. Think you know which classic series tops our list of best TV shows of the 1970s? Read on to find out!

The 1970s saw a rise in shows centered on powerful women, and that includes the 1976 franchise-launching pop culture smash "Charlie's Angels," though nobody knew thought about it at the time. Led by a trio who became overnight superstars (Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, and Jaclyn Smith, who was the only cast member to remain for the entire series), "Charlie's Angels" blended action, adventure, and scantily-clad ladies into a classic.

The series centers on a detective agency run by an unseen figure named Charlie (voiced by John Forsythe), who recruits a group of women to serve as his agents precisely because everyone underestimates them. Together, the Angels solve all manner of crimes, taking down villainous gun runners, mobsters, and terrorists. But more than being just another action series, "Charlie's Angels" was downright fun, with colorful characters and over-the-top stories that influenced the genre for years to come. It was a phenomenon, and it also coined the term "jiggle television" for its use of buxom female heroes. 

• Cast: Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith, Kate Jackson, Cheryl Ladd
• Creator: Ivan Goff, Ben Roberts
• Number of Seasons: 5
• IMDb Score: 6.6
• Where to Watch: Tubi, PlutoTV, Roku Channel

Arguably the most famous family sitcom of all time, "The Brady Bunch" was one of the first shows to focus on a mixed family, with both parents on their second marriage. The iconic opening jingle tells the story: Two single parents, each with three kids, find love and merge their families into a bigger household — and that means endless opportunities for antics and sibling misadventures.

A wholesome series that still found a way to tell some serious stories about growing up, "The Brady Bunch" didn't have the lengthy run of other shows on this list, but its legacy is as long as any of them. Popular in reruns for decades, the series spawned several short-lived spin-offs — including "The Brady Bunch Variety Hour" in 1976 — and two big-screen remakes in the 1990s.

• Cast: Florence Henderson, Maureen McCormick, Eve Plumb
• Creator: Sherwood Schwartz
• Number of Seasons: 5
• IMDb Score: 6.8
• Where to Watch: PlutoTV, Paramount+

Action-adventure shows of the 1970s saw big changes, adding fast-paced car chases and stirring shoot-outs that felt like something out of bigger-budgeted movies. One of the best of that bunch is "Starsky and Hutch," a different kind of cop show that was led by a pair of cavalier detectives. Sometimes they seemed as more like the outlaws they were after than officers of the law.

Bucking the trends most cop shows TV were famous for at the time, "Starsky and Hutch" paired the swaggering David Starsky (Paul Michael Glaser) with brooding New York cop Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson (David Soul). Their odd couple dynamic made for playful, action-packed TV that turned a tried-and-true detective show formula on its head, delivering gut-punching action and thrilling adventure stories full of American gumption. The series got a big-screen remake in 2004, and kicked off another series of remake rumors in 2023, this time with a big twist. 

• Cast: David Soul, Paul Michael Glaser, Antonio Fargas
• Creator: William Blinn
• Number of Seasons:
• IMDb Score: 7.0
• Where to Watch: Tubi

After the success of Adam West's "Batman," the 1970s saw a boom in superheroes. "Wonder Woman" and "The Incredible Hulk" took the potential of comic book adventures to new heights. The best superhero adventure series of the time wasn't based on a comic book, though, but a novel by Martin Caidin called "Cyborg." It became the Lee Majors classic, "The Six Million Dollar Man."

A blueprint for later stories like "RoboCop," "The Six Million Dollar Man" starred Majors as astronaut Steve Austin, who is so injured in a crash that he's only given one chance to live: He has his body reconstructed using cutting edge technology, with robotic replacement parts that give him superhuman strength and extraordinary speed. The upgrades turn him into a one-man army. The series was a massive hit for good reason, with a first-rate superhero adventure. Majors, one of the last living stars of the show, remains an icon today. 

• Cast: Lee Majors, Richard Anderson, Martin E. Brooks
• Creator: Martin Caidin (novel)
• Number of Seasons: 5
• IMDb Score: 7.1
• Where to Watch: Peacock

Sitcoms were a television staple for a long time, but nearly all of them were about white, suburban, middle-class families. That changed in the 1970s, with some of the best sitcoms of the decade focusing on African American families. The movement was led by "Good Times," the 1974 series from the iconic producer Norman Lear. "Good Times" partially spun out of another series, "Maude," itself a spin-off of "All in the Family." 

"Good Times" wasn't just a show beloved by families across the country and racial lines, though — it was also part of a growing trend in comedy, exploring serious issues that affected minority communities. Led by Esther Rolle and John Amos as husband-and-wife duo Florida and James Evans, "Good Times" focused on an ordinary Black family and their friends living in the inner-city housing projects in Chicago. The series' focus on social issues, like racism and poverty, demonstrated that sitcoms could be more than just cheap laughs, offering up important things to say during a turbulent time in America. 

• Cast: Esther Rolle, John Amos, Ja'Net DuBois, James Walker
• Creators: Eric Monte, Mike Evans, Norman Lear
• Number of Seasons: 6
• IMDb Score: 7.4
• Where to Watch: Peacock

Depending on how you look at it, "Happy Days" could be considered an '80s show as much as is a '70s one, owing to a run that crossed a decade. Launching in 1974, the series is a throwback, set in the more innocent era of the 1950s. It revolved around the nostalgic ideal of an average family, the Cunninghams: Parents Howard (Tom Bosely) and Marion (Marion Ross), and their teens, Richie (Ron Howard) and Joanie (Erin Moran) — not to mention the iconic greaser, Arthur 'Fonzie' Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler).

With Winkler transforming into the cast break-out as the Fonz, "Happy Days" was a hit the likes of which TV had rarely seen. A juggernaut in the ratings, "Happy Days" led to more spin-offs than you probably realized, which included the likes of "Laverne & Shirley," Robin Williams' "Mork & Mindy," and more than one animated series. A cultural phenomenon, its worst moments also coined the term "jumping the shark."

• Cast: Ron Howard, Marion Ross, Henry Winkler, Tom Bosley
• Creator: Garry Marshall
• Number of Seasons: 11
• IMDb Score: 7.4
• Where to Watch: Paramount+, Pluto TV

Unlike most of the '70s best shows, "The Jeffersons" isn't the parent series to a franchise — it's a spin-off itself, growing out of "All in the Family." It hit the air in 1974, the same year as "Good Times," and focused on George and Louise Jefferson, who had been neighbors of "Family" stars Archie and Edith Bunker. Unlike "Good Times," "The Jeffersons" wasn't about a poor family in the projects, but an upper-class African-American family living in the borough of Queens in New York City.

The show's stellar ensemble cast is headlined by all-time great Sherman Helmsley as George Jefferson, the irascible husband to the kindhearted but strong-willed Louise (Isabel Sanford). Their antagonistic but loving relationship was the stuff of sitcom legend, while the show's mix of slapstick farce and exploration of serious issues made it a stand-out of the '70s. It's a series that holds up today, sometimes as relevant as ever.

• Cast: Isabel Sanford, Sherman Helmsley, Roxie Roker, Marla Gibbs
• Creators: Don Nicholl, Michael Ross, Bernard West
• Number of Seasons: 11
• IMDb Score: 7.5
• Where to Watch: PlutoTV, Tubi

When it comes to wacky, slapstick comedies, there are few TV shows that can compare to the madcap antics of "Three's Company." The series, debuting in 1977, ran into the mid-1980s, but it solidly remains the quintessential '70s comedy with its raunchy laughs and zany situations. 

Hardly politically correct (even then), "Three's Company" chronicles the misadventures of the lustful, chauvinistic Jack Tripper (John Ritter), who finds himself living with two beautiful women, Janet (Joyce DeWitt) and Chrissie (Suzanne Somers). To sway his conservative, grumpy landlord, Ralph Furley (Don Knotts), into allowing him to stay, Jack passes himself off as a gay man while trying to repeatedly romance both of his roommates.

"Three's Company" remains a memorable, top-notch comedy, even if it hasn't aged all that well. Unfortunately, co-star Suzanne Somers got greedy and then got fired, leading to replacement actresses Jenilee Harrison and Priscilla Barnes joining the series later in its run.

• Cast: John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt, Suzanne Somers, Don Knotts
• Creators: Don Nichol, Michael Ross, Bernard West
• Number of Seasons: 8
• IMDb Score: 7.5
• Where to Watch: PlutoTV, Peacock

Sitcoms in the 1970s were notable for their exploration of serious social issues and stories that weren't always bright and sunny. But that doesn't mean that the decade didn't see its share of shows that entertained in a more classic fashion, with uplifting stories featuring (actual) traditional family values like kindness, and a sense of innocence. "The Little House on the Prairie" is the perfect example.

Starring Michael Landon as the family patriarch, "The Little House on the Prairie" is based on a series of 1930s children's novels by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The show, like the books, are a semi-autobiographical story about her family, who moved to the unsettled region of the American West in the late 1800s. Melissa Gilbert stars in the series as little Laura Ingalls, who, along with the rest of her family, starts a new life on the prairie. Set in Minnesota, the Big Sky Ranch at California's Simi Valley doubled for the bucolic Walnut Grove.

• Cast: Michael Landon, Melissa Gilbert, Karen Grassley, Richard Lindsay Greenbush
• Creator: Blanche Harnalis
• Number of Seasons: 9
• IMDb Score: 7.5
• Where to Watch: Peacock, Amazon Prime

While "The Jeffersons" was a spin-off of "All in the Family," the 1972 series "Sanford and Son" is often seen as a rival of Norman Lear's classic. Generally regarded as one of the most important sitcoms in history, though not the first major series to feature Black Americans (that was "Amos & Andy"), "Sanford and Son" was also developed by Lear. Like "All in the Family," it also centered its stories on a grumpy old man. This time, it was legendary comedian Redd Foxx as the elder Sanford patriarch, Fred, and Demond Wilson as his son Lamont. 

The show's eponymous duo are junk dealers in the lower-class Watts neighborhood of 1970s Los Angeles, making it ripe for stories about current events. It bounced from social problems to political issues, and the cast never shied away from a difficult discussion. It was even more famous for its boundary-pushing, off-color humor that allowed Foxx to run wild, cracking up audiences all across the country.

• Cast: Redd Foxx, Demond Wilson, LaWanda Page, Don Bexley
• Creator: Norman Lear
• Number of Seasons: 6
• IMDb Score: 7.9
• Where to Watch: PlutoTV, Tubi, Peacock

While many shows were changing the rules, some shows, like "Little House on the Prairie" and "The Waltons," stuck to what worked for decades. When it comes to detective shows, it was "The Rockford Files" that continued the tradition of straight-laced investigators solving crimes and locking up crooks.

"The Rockford Files" hails from the minds of producers Roy Huggins and Stephen J. Cannell, creators of the 1967 Western series, "Maverick," and they enlisted that series hero, James Garner, to play their new hero, Detective Jim Rockford. Rockford isn't your ordinary lawman, as he once served time in prison himself. That was the result of a wrongful conviction, which motivates him to seek justice with unique fervor. Assisting him are Joe Santos as LAPD officer Dennis Becker and Noah Beery Jr. as Rockford's father. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but "The Rockford Files" is a classic detective series. It's the best one that the 70s had — proving that being old-fashioned still works.

• Cast: James Garner, Noah Beery Jr., Joe Santos
• Creator: Roy Huggins, Stephen J. Cannell
• Number of Seasons: 6
• IMDb Score: 8.2
• Where to Watch: Roku Channel, Amazon Prime

In the 1950s, "I Love Lucy" blazed a trail for women in sitcoms. Two decades later, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" did it again, this time centering its story on an married woman in the workplace. Moore, who rose to fame in "The Dick Van Dyke Show," got her own series in 1970. She plays a TV producer named Mary Richards, who moves to the big city for a new job.

A small town gal in a big city, working in a man's world, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" used comedy to raise big questions about sexism, gender, and the role of women in the workforce. But it was also incredibly funny, with a strong supporting cast that included Ed Asner as Mary's boss, Lou Grant, and best friend Rhoda (Valerie Harper) — both of whom earned own spin-offs. 

"The Mary Tyler Moore Show" broke new ground, paving the way for workplace comedies about strong women. Today there even more sitcoms about women working in television, but "30 Rock" and "Murphy Brown" especially owe "Mary Tyler Moore a debt.

• Cast: Mary Tyler Moore, Gavin McLeod, Ed Asner, Ted Knight, Valerie Harper
• Creator: James L. Brooks, Allan Burns
• Number of Seasons: 7
• IMDb Score: 8.3
• Where to Watch: Amazon Prime (paid subscription)

A decade after creating a cop series called "The Deputy," producer Normal Lear created one of the most influential TV shows ever made: "All in the Family," a series that altered the face of situational comedies forever. Like many before it, "All in the Family" revolved around a nuclear American family, but they were unlike the kinds of ordinary folks that home viewers were used to.

Led by the openly racist and always bitter Archie (Carroll O'Connor) and his constantly fed-up wife Edith (Jean Stapleton), the Bunkers weren't always happy together. Their relationship with college-aged daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers) is contentious thanks to her husband, Mike (Rob Reiner), who, as a left-wing hippie, is everything Archie hates. What could have been trite or offensive, with Lear behind the proverbial wheel, becomes a powerful series that addresses weighty topics without pulling punches.

• Cast: Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers
• Creator: Norman Lear
• Number of Seasons: 9
• IMDb Score: 8.4
• Where to Watch: Tubi, Hulu

The variety show was a popular format for decades of television, with Ed Sullivan and Red Skelton hosting shows that dominated the airwaves. The format was mostly dead in the '80s, but in the 1970s, "The Carol Burnett Show" gave the genre its greatest hurrah. Burnett had made a name for herself on "The Gary Moore Show," but when she got her own series, she became a household name and a TV superstar.

Mixing sketch comedy, musical numbers, stand-up comedy, and anything else these comedians could toss into the pot, "The Carol Burnett Show" debuted in 1967 and ran nearly all the way through the 1970s, entertaining audiences of all ages. Comics like Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, and Dick Van Dyke supported the titular star, while legendary, big-name guests like Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Rita Hayworth made the series a must-watch week after week — because you never knew what kind of hilarity you'd see next.

• Cast: Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Lyle Waggoner
• Creator: Carol Burnett
• Number of Seasons: 11
• IMDb Score: 8.7
• Where to Watch: Tubi, Roku Channel

No show in the 1970s tackled serious subjects better — or with more incisive political commentary — than "M*A*S*H." It's a series with the most unlikely setting for a comedy: war-torn Korea in the '50s, when American forces aided the South Koreans in their fight with their northern neighbors.

A comedy-drama with a vociferously anti-war message, "M*A*S*H" wasn't really about the Korean War. It used its period setting to explore the conflict in Vietnam (if not all wars in history) that was raging while the series was on the air. Even with its timely social and political messaging, "M*A*S*H" was also a grandly funny show, with eccentric characters that used wild humor as an anesthetic for its grim stories. One of the most celebrated and universally loved TV shows of all time, there's no doubt it's the best TV of the '70s. It is also, simply, one of the best TV shows ever made.

• Cast: Alan Alda, Loretta Switt, Jamie Farr, Harry Morgan
• Creator: Larry Gelbart
• Number of Seasons: 11
• IMDb Score: 8.5
• Where to Watch: Hulu