TV shows that were on the air when 'The Simpsons' debuted

“Mr. Belvedere” ended in 1990, but it was still on, culminating in a six-season run. The show focused on the titular butler who was taking care of the house, and family, of George Owens, as played by Hall of Fame baseball announcer Bob Uecker.

Angela Lansbury had a great career, but Jessica Fletcher is her iconic role. She never won an Emmy for “Murder, She Wrote,” but she was nominated 12 times, one for each season. This was in the middle of the run of the show, as Jessica would be solving the unusual amount of murders in her small town all the way until 1996.

Before “The Simpsons” was the defining show of the fledging FOX network, it was “Married…with Children.” The Bundys were different from other sitcom families, as they were boorish and barely tolerated one another. It proved controversial, but that was exactly what FOX wanted as they tried to make a splash.

“The Larry Sanders Show” is Garry Shandling’s iconic work, and a truly great ‘90s show. Before that, though, he had his titular sitcom on Showtime, which ran from 1986 through 1990. Obviously, “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show” was an early show on the subscription network. The title of the show is indicative of the humor, as Shandling’s program was quite meta and often broke the fourth wall.

“21 Jump Street” was a big hit, so much so it inspired a spinoff. “Booker” focused on the character played by Richard Grieco, remembered as the “other guy” from “Jump Street” thanks to the presence of a young Johnny Depp. “Booker” didn’t prove a worthwhile spinoff, though, lasting only for the 1989-90 TV season before getting axed.

“ALF” is quintessentially ‘80s, and that alien puppet was ubiquitous to be sure. The show ended in 1990, but that wasn’t the original intent. Memorably, the last episode of “ALF” ends with ALF being surrounded by government officials who have captured him. The show was supposed to go on, but it got canceled, and that means the goofy sitcom ended on a down note.

If you want to know how different sitcoms were back when “The Simpsons” debuted, look no further than “My Two Dads.” A 12-year-old girl’s mom dies, and then the two men who might be her father decide to adopt her and raise her together. It’s the kind of high-concept sitcom you would get in the 1980s and early 1990s. Notably, one of the dads was played by Paul Reiser.

Beloved by “Simpsons” characters Patty and Selma, MacGyver never found himself in a problem he couldn’t figure his way out of. The handy secret agent (honestly, we had forgotten he was a secret agent) was famed for his ingenuity when it came to, say, blowing up a safe or getting out of a locked room. “MacGyver” was a hit with more than Marge’s sisters, as it ran for seven seasons and 139 episodes.

What if a dad was also a Marine? That’s…basically the entire premise of the sitcom “Major Dad.” He’s a tough guy, but he has three daughters! Hey, it was enough of a premise to last for four seasons, and it debuted only a few months before “The Simpsons” did.

While “The Simpsons” (and “Major Dad”) were debuting, “Newhart” was ending. It ended with quite a bang, though. “Newhart” is a really good sitcom, but it is mostly remembered for its series finale, which revealed (spoiler) that the whole show was a dream had by Bob Hartley, the lead character of “The Bob Newhart Show.”

George H.W. Bush famously had a beef with the Simpsons, feeling families needed to be more like the Waltons. His vice president, Dan Quayle, saved his TV beef for “Murphy Brown.” While Quayle wasn’t a fan, Emmy voters definitely were. Candice Bergen alone won five, yes five, Emmys for playing Murphy.

“Designing Women” was kind of two shows, as there was a significant change in the cast and crew due to behind-the-scenes conflict after the fifth season, which saw Jean Smart and Delta Burke out of the main cast. The final season for Smart and Burke? It aired during the same TV season that “The Simpsons” debuted.

Speaking of shows with cast changes, when “The Hogan Family” debuted, it was called “Valerie,” and it was centered on Valerie Harper as the titular character. After the second season, Harper staged a walkout over a demand for a salary increase, and the network said, “Cool, keep walking.” Harper’s character was killed off, and it became “Valerie’s Family: The Hogan’s” for the third season before becoming “The Hogan Family” for seasons four through six.

“Who’s the Boss?” was still going strong when “The Simpsons” hit the air. It was a classic family sitcom, with Tony Danza playing a single dad and a live-in housekeeper, which feels like a very ‘80s sitcom job. The show lasted for eight seasons and turned Alyssa Milano into a star, so clearly, it worked.

“Happy Days” took a look back at the 1950s through the eyes of teenagers, and then “The Wonder Years” became something of the 1980s version of that, but now the focus was on the late 1960s and early 1970s, basically the Vietnam era. The show featured Kevin Arnold as an adult, with his narration provided by Daniel Stern, looking back at his childhood. Regarding theme songs, “The Wonder Years” is definitely a top choice.

In 1988, Roseanne Barr’s standup persona was transferred into a sitcom that was notable in that it was about a family struggling to make ends meet, and also a family that didn’t always get along perfectly. It was a big hit, and was part of the wave of reboots in the 2010s. However, Barr proved too problematic, so her character was killed off and it became “The Connors,” a show still going.

“Thirtysomething” is about Boomer Yuppies, and if you say “Pass!” right there, we get it. At the time, though, the show felt significant and like it was tapping into something in the zeitgeist. The show ran for four seasons and won 13 total Emmys. It has been forgotten, but at the time, “Thirtysomething” truly made a splash.

“MASH” was “about” Vietnam, but since it was contiguous with the controversial war, it was set during the Korean War to give some space to viewers. “China Beach,” which ran from 1988 through 1991, had enough distance that it didn’t need to do that. It’s explicitly set at an evacuation hospital in Vietnam during the war. Obviously, “China Beach” wasn’t as successful as “MASH,” but it was quite well-received.

Patty and Selma love “MacGyver,” but Grampa Simpson and his compatriots at the Springfield Retirement Castle love “Matlock.” Andy Griffith starred as Ben Matlock, a folksy attorney with quite a knack for winning cases. The show was about done with its run on NBC when “The Simpsons” debuted, but it would move to ABC and run for three more seasons.

A classic family sitcom with a classic TV dad – Alan Thicke as Dr. Jason Seaver, “Growing Pains” was not gimmicky, but it was successful. Notably, in the seventh season “Growing Pains” added a new character in Luke Brower, a teenager without a home who comes to live with the Seavers. He was played by some guy named Leonardo DiCaprio.

Yes, “Doogie Howser” is contemporaneous with the first season of “The Simpsons.” In fact, they both debuted in 1989. Neil Patrick Harris played Doogie, the teenage doctor who keeps a journal on his computer, which was notable as many homes didn’t have computers at the dawn of the ‘90s.

Ah, “Night Court.” Many a wacky misadventure was had in the court of Harry Stone, most of them involving Dan Fielding. John Larroquette won so many Emmys playing Fielding he took his name out of consideration. The show lasted for nine seasons, ending in 1992, but was rebooted in 2023, with only Larroquette returning from the original cast. Sadly, many of the “Night Court” folks had passed by the time of the reboot.

Another show with a fresh reboot, “Quantum Leap” was a sci-fi series that proved quite popular. Scott Bakula’s Sam Beckett would find himself “leaping” through time and into the bodies of different people. It debuted in 1989, ran through 1993, and is considered a “cult favorite” by some.

In 1990, Laura Palmer’s body was found wrapped in plastic. So began the eerie, strange murder mystery brought to us by David Lynch and Mark Frost. “Twin Peaks” was a phenomenon at first, though eventually, it proved too odd for network audiences. It only lasted for two seasons before getting a somewhat self-indulgent reboot on Showtime where Lynch and Frost basically got to do whatever they wanted.

There have been many legal dramas over the years, but during its run, “L.A. Law” was the definitive legal drama. It ran for eight seasons and won Outstanding Drama Series at the Emmys a whopping four times. “L.A. Law” hasn’t had the legacy of some other shows from the era, but it was definitely huge when “The Simpsons” debuted.

Yes, “Dallas” was still on the air when “The Simpsons” hit the airwaves, but it was at the tail-end of its run. The primetime soap ran for a long, long time. We were introduced to the Ewing family in 1978, but “Dallas” would not end until 1991. Its spinoff “Knots Landing” was still on as well, and it would last until 1993, even though it debuted in 1979.

If you were a child in the early ‘90s, maybe you wanted to watch “The Simpsons,” but you may have been stuck watching “Full House” instead. It was definitely a popular family sitcom of the era, replete with the Tanners, Uncle Jesse, Uncle Joey, and Kimmy Gibbler. Was it a good show? No, but it was a popular one.

The Winslow family was swiftly overshadowed in their own show with a child character that was as popular as Bart Simpson. That would be Steve Urkel, a true icon of the 1990s. Bart had plenty of catchphrases, but so did Urkel. They were two of the faces of ’90s television.

They tried. In 1990 they tried. “The Brady Bunch” was a bit hit in the early 1970s, and then there was “The Brady Brides” in 1981. That didn’t work, but they tried again. “The Bradys” featured much of the original cast of “The Brady Bunch,” but people did not have any interest in revisiting the Brady family. It only lasted for six episodes.

Perhaps no show feels more like the 1990s than “Baywatch.” It debuted in 1989 on NBC, but originally it actually failed. After the first season, NBC canceled “Baywatch.” Then, it returned in 1991 in syndication. That first season did not feature some key cast members, including Pam Anderson. “Baywatch” almost didn’t make it, but “The Simpsons” did.