Characters by debut decade
Sitcom characters who debuted in the 1980s
The 1980s were the decade of the comfortable hangout. Viewers pulled up a stool at Cheers in 1982, joined four friends around a Miami kitchen table on The Golden Girls in 1985, and moved in with the Tanners on Full House in 1987.
The decade ended with the first episodes of Seinfeld and Family Matters, so the characters who were there from the start of those shows are listed here too.
25 characters on this list.
Cheers(8)
NBC, 1982 to 1993
- Sam MaloneLeadPlayed by Ted DansonThe charming, womanizing owner and bartender of Cheers, a former Boston Red Sox relief pitcher and recovering alcoholic who runs the Boston bar…
- Carla TortelliMain castPlayed by Rhea PerlmanThe sharp-tongued, superstitious waitress at Cheers, a hardworking single mother of a large and chaotic brood who insults nearly every customer and…
- Cliff ClavinMain castPlayed by John RatzenbergerThe know-it-all Boston mail carrier who sits beside Norm at the Cheers bar, lives with his mother, and has a dubious fact ready for every…
- Diane ChambersMain castPlayed by Shelley LongThe brainy, high-minded graduate student who takes a waitress job at Cheers after her fiance abandons her there…
- Lilith SterninMain castPlayed by Bebe NeuwirthThe icy, brilliant psychiatrist who becomes Frasier Crane's wife on Cheers, the mother of his son Frederick…
- Norm PetersonMain castPlayed by George WendtThe beer-loving, perpetually underemployed regular who occupies the same stool at the end of the Cheers bar every day…
- Rebecca HoweMain castPlayed by Kirstie AlleyThe ambitious, increasingly neurotic corporate manager sent to run Cheers in season six, who spends years fending off Sam's advances while chasing…
- Woody BoydMain castPlayed by Woody HarrelsonThe sweet, gullible farm boy from Hanover, Indiana, who comes to Boston to meet his pen pal Coach and ends up behind the Cheers bar as its second…
The Golden Girls(4)
NBC, 1985 to 1992
- Blanche DevereauxMain castPlayed by Rue McClanahanThe flirtatious, glamorous Southern belle who owns the Miami house, a proud widow from outside Atlanta whose endless romances, vanity…
- Dorothy ZbornakMain castPlayed by Bea ArthurThe sharp-tongued, sensible substitute teacher of the Miami household, a Brooklyn-born divorcee whose deadpan put-downs…
- Rose NylundMain castPlayed by Betty WhiteThe sweet, trusting widow from tiny St. Olaf, Minnesota, whose long, baffling stories about her hometown and innocent misunderstandings make her the…
- Sophia PetrilloMain castPlayed by Estelle GettyDorothy's tiny, blunt, Sicilian-born mother, who moves into the Miami house after her retirement home burns down and becomes the show's sharpest wit…
Full House(6)
ABC, 1987 to 1995
- D.J. TannerMain castPlayed by Candace Cameron BureDanny Tanner's oldest daughter, the responsible big sister of Full House, who grows from a kid sharing a room with baby Michelle into a high school…
- Danny TannerMain castPlayed by Bob SagetThe widowed, neat-freak San Francisco broadcaster who raises his three daughters with help from his brother-in-law Jesse and his best friend Joey…
- Jesse KatsopolisMain castPlayed by John StamosThe leather-jacketed, Elvis-loving rock musician who moves in to help his widowed brother-in-law Danny raise three nieces…
- Joey GladstoneMain castPlayed by Dave CoulierDanny Tanner's goofy childhood best friend, a struggling stand-up comic with a cartoon voice for every occasion…
- Michelle TannerMain castPlayed by Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley OlsenThe adorable youngest Tanner daughter, a baby when Full House begins, who grows into a sassy, scene-stealing grade schooler with a catchphrase for…
- Stephanie TannerMain castPlayed by Jodie SweetinThe sassy, nosy middle Tanner daughter who starts Full House as a chatterbox kindergartner with a zinger for everything and grows into a junior high…
Seinfeld(3)
NBC, 1989 to 1998
- Jerry SeinfeldLeadPlayed by Jerry SeinfeldThe fictional version of comedian Jerry Seinfeld, a neat, observational stand-up living on the Upper West Side who serves as the calm…
- Cosmo KramerMain castPlayed by Michael RichardsJerry's wild-haired neighbor across the hall, who bursts through the door without knocking, eats Jerry's food…
- George CostanzaMain castPlayed by Jason AlexanderJerry's lifelong best friend, a neurotic, cheap, endlessly scheming New Yorker whose lies, job disasters, and doomed romances make him one of the…
Family Matters(4)
ABC, 1989 to 1998
- Steve UrkelMain castPlayed by Jaleel WhiteThe suspendered, thick-glasses-wearing genius next door who was meant to be a minor guest on Family Matters…
- Carl WinslowMain castPlayed by Reginald VelJohnsonThe gruff but loving Chicago police officer at the head of the Winslow family, whose blood pressure rises every time his accident-prone neighbor…
- Eddie WinslowMain castPlayed by Darius McCraryThe Winslows' eldest child, a basketball-loving, girl-chasing slacker who constantly clashes with his police officer father before growing up and…
- Laura WinslowMain castPlayed by Kellie Shanygne WilliamsThe smart, ambitious elder daughter of the Winslow family and the endlessly pursued object of Steve Urkel's affection…
More character lists
By show
- I Love Lucy
- M*A*S*H
- Happy Days
- Cheers
- The Golden Girls
- Full House
- Seinfeld
- Family Matters
- The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
- Frasier
- Friends
- Everybody Loves Raymond
- That '70s Show
- Malcolm in the Middle
- Curb Your Enthusiasm
- Scrubs
- Arrested Development
- The Office
- How I Met Your Mother
- It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
- 30 Rock
- The Big Bang Theory
- Parks and Recreation
- Modern Family
- Community
- New Girl
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine
- Schitt's Creek
- Superstore
- The Good Place
- What We Do in the Shadows
- Ted Lasso
- Abbott Elementary
- Home Improvement