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The Real Ghostbusters (1986)
7.6/10on IMDb
First aired
The best-written cartoon of the toy boom, and the one that rewards grown-up eyes the most. J. Michael Straczynski was chief writer and story editor for its first few seasons, and the scripts are witty and sometimes genuinely chilling, because the show trusted kids to enjoy being scared. Lorenzo Music, the voice of Garfield, played Peter Venkman at first before Dave Coulier took over, and you can hear the shift.
Stick with the early seasons. Once Slimer got top billing in 1988, the show drifted toward simpler, sillier stories.
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The Transformers (1984)
8.0/10on IMDb
First aired
The robots-in-disguise war that every other toy cartoon tried to copy. Peter Cullen created the voice of Optimus Prime in 1984, and that steady, fatherly baritone is still the reason the Autobot leader feels like a character rather than a box on a shelf.
The 98 episodes are uneven, but the arc is the draw for adults: the 1986 movie leaps 20 years ahead to 2005 and reshapes the whole show, so Season 3 plays as a galaxy-spanning adventure instead of the Earth-bound scraps of the first two. Watch the first two seasons, then the movie, then Season 3, in that order.
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ThunderCats (1985)
7.9/10on IMDb
First aired
The best-looking show here. ThunderCats was animated in Japan by Pacific Animation Corporation, and the fluid fights and moody lighting still stand apart from the stiffer American toy cartoons of the era.
Mumm-Ra, the decaying sorcerer in his pyramid, is one of the decade's great villains, and the theme song is still pure hype. With 130 episodes across four seasons, there is plenty of filler, so treat the first season as the main event and sample the rest.
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G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (1983)
7.3/10on IMDb
First aired
The Sunbow original, two miniseries followed by two full seasons, is gloriously bonkers: a huge cast of specialists, Cobra plots involving weather machines and super-soldiers, and laser fire that somehow never hits anyone. That sprawling roster is exactly what made the figures so collectible, and it keeps the show lively now.
The real rewatch treat is the closing safety lessons, short, earnest scenes of kids in peril that end with "And knowing is half the battle!" They are oddly charming and wonderfully quotable.
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Dungeons & Dragons (1983)
8.1/10on IMDb
First aired
The easiest binge on the list: just 27 episodes aired between September 1983 and December 1985, so a long weekend covers all of it. Six friends stuck in a fantasy realm, a cryptic Dungeon Master and the villain Venger give it a darker, more serialized feel than most Saturday-morning fare.
It never got a proper ending on TV. Writer Michael Reaves wrote a finale script, Requiem, that was never produced, though it later turned up as a radio play on a DVD release, which makes a fitting last stop.
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Robotech (1985)
8.5/10on IMDb
First aired
The one for viewers who want real story arcs. Robotech was stitched together from three separate Japanese series to reach the episode count American syndication demanded, opening with the Macross saga, and the result plays as a sweeping three-part space war across 85 episodes.
Its romance and lasting consequences were rare for an afternoon cartoon. The seams between the three source shows do show, especially in the middle stretch, but the first part alone justifies the rewatch.
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He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983)
7.6/10on IMDb
First aired
Filmation made 130 episodes over two seasons, and they look stiffer and cheaper than ThunderCats. What carries them now is Skeletor, a skull-faced schemer whose tantrums at his useless henchmen play as pure comedy to adult ears.
The writing bench was stronger than its reputation, with Paul Dini and J. Michael Straczynski among the contributors. Every episode ends with the cast pointing out the moral of the story, which is either sweet or hilarious depending on your mood.
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987)
7.9/10on IMDb
First aired
Pizza jokes, surfer slang and four brothers with clearly drawn personalities: the 1987 Turtles is the goofiest show on this list, and that is why it still works. The bickering between Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo lands better than the fights, and Shredder and Krang make a gloriously incompetent double act.
It ran from December 1987 until 1996, far longer than its quality held. The early seasons are the ones to watch; by the end, the energy has gone.
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She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985)
6.7/10on IMDb
First aired
He-Man's twin sister got the better premise. Instead of guarding a castle, She-Ra leads the Great Rebellion against Hordak and the Evil Horde, so the stakes feel closer to a war story, and the supporting cast of rebels gives it more warmth than its parent show.
Start with the film The Secret of the Sword, which introduced her and was assembled from the series' first five episodes, though it came out before the series did. After that, the episodes work in any order.
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BraveStarr (1987)
7.1/10on IMDb
First aired
Filmation's final cartoon series is a space Western set on the planet New Texas, with a marshal whose supernatural abilities keep the frontier in line. It is lovingly produced and stranger than you remember, which makes it a fine rediscovery.
One episode is the reason people still talk about it: The Price, an anti-drug story that ends with a boy dead and his mother wailing over him. It is far bleaker than the usual kids' TV of the era, so watch it before showing the series to your own children.
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Voltron: Defender of the Universe (1984)
7.9/10on IMDb
First aired
Five robot lions combining into one giant warrior is still one of the great playground ideas, and the moment it happens never stops being satisfying. Voltron premiered on September 10, 1984, reworked from the Japanese series Beast King GoLion, which is why the action has an anime punch the American shows lacked.
Pick the lion episodes rather than the vehicle team that shared the Voltron name. The formula repeats heavily, so this is a show to dip into rather than watch straight through.
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M.A.S.K. (1985)
7.3/10on IMDb
First aired
The best gimmick of the decade: agents in tricked-out vehicles whose masks, worn as helmets, give them technological powers. Matt Trakker's team against Miles Mayhem's V.E.N.O.M. is a proper spy-versus-spy setup, and the gadget-packed vehicles made it a toy-shelf favorite.
Be warned that the art has aged badly, and Matt's son and his robot pet hog far too much screen time. It ran one full season of 65 episodes plus a short 10-episode second season, so stick with the first.
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The Centurions (1986)
7.6/10on IMDb
First aired
The deep cut for comic-book fans: Jack Kirby and Gil Kane contributed to the design and concepts, and their fingerprints are all over the hardware. A team based on the orbiting Sky Vault station fuses with exo-frame weapon systems, shouting "Power Xtreme!", to fight the cyborg Doc Terror.
Its 65 episodes are straightforward gadget-driven sci-fi with little depth, but the designs and the sheer variety of weapons make it more fun than its obscurity suggests. Dip in for an episode or two at a time.
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Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light (1987)
7.7/10on IMDb
First aired
The one that got away. Visionaries lasted a single season of 13 episodes, and the figures, with their holographic chest stickers, stopped production after a year, so most people only half remember it. The setup is unusually smart: on the planet Prysmos, a solar realignment wrecks a high-tech civilization, and two rival bands of knights rise from the ruins, one honest and one criminal.
It is well animated and beautifully colored, if not always memorable. At 13 episodes it is a short, curious rewatch, ideal for anyone who wants something beyond the usual suspects.
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