You can watch the video, but to save you time, here's their Top 10

• Shogun

• The Thornbirds

• North And South

• The Winds of War

• V

• Lonesome Dove

• The Blue And The Gray

• Masada

• Rich Man, Poor Man

• Roots

As acknowledged in the video, Roots was originally aired in the 70's.

Question - What of these is your favorite mini-series from the 1980's? Is there one that's not mentioned you feel should be?

I think I watched The Thornbirds, V and Roots. Can't say any of them were a favorite. If I have to pick one, it's Roots. Saw the original as well as read the book.

Roots, being from the 70’s, doesn’t belong on this list.

I’m torn to choose between V and Lonesome Dove for what I would say is the best of the decade. And they left off V: The Final Battle.

I don’t recall enough about North and South but I remember The Blue and the Gray well. It was great, even with the weird Stacy Keach as a Pinkerton with psychic tendencies.

I’ll have to watch it again some time.

On 8/31/2026 at 6:45 PM, Chris said:

Roots, being from the 70’s, doesn’t belong on this list.

I’m torn to choose between V and Lonesome Dove for what I would say is the best of the decade. And they left off V: The Final Battle.

I don’t recall enough about North and South but I remember The Blue and the Gray well. It was great, even with the weird Stacy Keach as a Pinkerton with psychic tendencies.

I’ll have to watch it again some time.

i liked the civil war ones, V was close second, i honestly dont think ive ever watched Lonesome Dove

I'm not sure why, but I guess I missed the mini-series popularity of the 80s.

I remember Roots....but didn't catch the whole thing on its first run since my family hadn't made a 'must see' appointment to watch it in its entirety.

I remember commercials for Rich Man Poor Man, and didn't realize it was classified as a mini-series. Just a regular TV series that seemed to run considerably longer than the 6-8 episodes that I'd think of as "mini". It was also in the 70s (not 80s) so I was still a little kid with more interest in action and fantasy than gritty adult drama,

By the early 80s, as a teenager, I wasn't home every evening to watch Prime Time with the parents....and with only one TV, my folks were more likely to watch the more strictly historical ones than the dramas. So I'm sure they watched the ones about wars....but when I was home, I considered "history" more as a school subject than entertainment. LOL

I remember wanting to watch V when it came out....but had an evening job and no VCR. That's another one that I thought was just a short-lived regular TV series that ran a few "seasons".

1 hour ago, MsKreed said:

I remember wanting to watch V when it came out....but had an evening job and no VCR. That's another one that I thought was just a short-lived regular TV series that ran a few "seasons".

There WAS a series that picked up after The Final Battle but it was pretty bad overall.