15 Best ABC Shows Of All Time, Ranked

As far as television networks go, ABC is one of the most enduring. One of the so-called “Big Three,” the American Broadcasting Company (dubbed ABC) began operations in the 1940s as a radio network before turning its attention to the burgeoning medium of television. And the rest is history. They’ve been a major player in television ever since, providing audiences with some of the most beloved sitcoms and dramas of each ensuing decade.

Whether its groundbreaking police procedurals or traditional slapstick comedies, ABC has a little bit of everything, which probably explains how they’ve managed to weather ups and downs over the years. Despite the competition from premium networks and streaming services, ABC has kept chugging along, giving audiences an impressive array of stone-cold classics. Here are a few of the very best shows they have to offer, from their earlier days to recent hits.

Following in the footsteps of “ER” (well, kind of — the two shows actually overlapped for a time), “Grey’s Anatomy” took up the mantle of television’s premier series that blended medical emergencies with the frothy personal lives of a hospital’s cast of doctors. It stars Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey, who begins the series as a surgical resident desperate to get out from underneath the shadow of her mother Ellis.

Meredith opens the show by having a one-night stand with a handsome stranger who turns out to be the hotshot surgeon at her new hospital, Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) aka McDreamy, so it’s clear from the very beginning that “Grey’s Anatomy” is always going to tangle its characters’ personal and professional lives. In the years since, “Grey’s Anatomy” has become a television staple, launching its 22nd season in 2025. Although many cast members have come and gone since then, Pompeo remains as a grounding force for the show, cementing its status as one of the best medical dramas on TV.

There have been wild shenanigans going on at the White House practically since the presidential manor was built. So, it makes sense that Shonda Rhimes would give us the compulsively watchable “Scandal,” revolving around crisis management specialist Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington), who just so happens to be in a not-so-secret affair with the president, Fitzgerald Grant III (Tony Goldwyn). The collision between politics and romance lasted for a full seven seasons on ABC. 

During its run on the air, “Scandal” was a frequent contender at the Emmys, earning seven nominations over the years and winning two (both for best guest actor in a drama series, for Dan Bucatinsky and Joe Morton, respectively). After creating “Grey’s Anatomy” and then “Scandal” just a few short years later, showrunner Shonda Rhimes went on to helm several other immensely popular series, giving rise to what is now referred to as “The Shondaverse.”

The basic premise of “Three’s Company” couldn’t even exist today. Basically, the series revolves around two female friends (Janet Wood and Chrissy Snow, played by Joyce DeWitt and Suzanne Somers, respectively) who invite Jack (John Ritter) to move into their spare bedroom after their roommate leaves them in the lurch. But there’s a hitch: Their landlord refuses to allow unmarried men and women to live together. Undeterred, they quickly find a solution. Jack pretends to be gay, assuaging their landlord’s moral crisis and leading to an endless series of extremely 1970s hijinks. 

Although Somers left the show after the fifth season, “Three’s Company” remained a television juggernaut for an additional three seasons and launched not one but two spin-off series.

The family sitcom that spawned about a million catchphrases (many of which were carried on into its sequel series, “Fuller House”), “Full House” may be incredibly twee, but it’s also undeniably likable. It focuses on the Tanner family in the aftermath of a tragedy: After his wife dies in a drunk-driving accident, Danny Tanner (Bob Saget) has to raise their three daughters by himself. Or rather, with the aid of his brother-in-law Jesse (John Stamos) and his best friend Joey (Dave Coulier), who both move in to Danny’s sprawling San Francisco home to help out. 

Together, these adults and three little girls (played by Candace Cameron Bure, Jodie Sweetin, Mary-Kate Olsen, and Ashley Olsen, the latter two just nine months old when they joined the production) create a makeshift but deeply loving family. It follows the classic sitcom structure where no problem exists that can’t be solved in under 26 minutes, and for a generation of viewers, it was the ultimate comfort television. Its unique brand of kitschy, wholesome warmth made it a hit for eight seasons on ABC, running from 1987 to 1995.

It’s not always easy for coming-of-age series to feel authentic or honest. Sometimes the writers are too far removed from their own youth to be able to capture what it felt like to be a kid or teenager in a very specific moment in time. That’s not a problem that faced “The Wonder Years,” though — from beginning to end, it’s a pure nostalgia machine, taking viewers back to their own childhoods … even if they didn’t grow up in the 1960s like the characters on the show. 

The show casts its eye on Kevin Arnold (played by Fred Savage), who looks back on his youth via voiceover narration courtesy of Daniel Stern. It blends universal teen experiences, like Kevin’s first love with Winnie Cooper (Danica McKellar), with larger societal issues that were occurring at the time the show takes place. And since the show was popular enough to earn it a fairly long series run, we had the unique opportunity to watch all of the young characters grow up on screen in real time.

There’s a certain element of wish fulfillment baked into “MacGyver.” He’s the ultimate aspirational figure — we all wish we could have a cool head in a crisis and figure out the solutions to all of our problems with a paperclip and a stick of sugar-free gum. But alas, that’s strictly MacGyver’s forte. 

Played by Richard Dean Anderson, Angus “Mac” MacGyver is a certified genius who works as an agent for the Phoenix Foundation, and he’s unique in the world of action television for his commitment to resolving issues as non-violently as possible. “MacGyver” was on the air for seven seasons, and was popular enough to earn itself not just a 2016 prequel series starring Lucas Till as the young MacGyver (which itself ran for five seasons before being canceled in 2021), but also an SNL-style parody film “MacGruber” with Will Forte in the lead role. There are tougher action heroes out there, but few are as undeniably cool as MacGyver.

Coming-of-age stories rarely come more thoughtful and honest than “My So-Called Life,” which captured the high school experience of a teenage girl better than almost any other television series we can think of. It stars a young Claire Danes as Angela Chase, an introverted 15-year-old who is doing her best to make it through her teen years unscathed. 

The ordinary trials and tribulations of her day-to-day life were instantly relatable to young viewers. Although “My So-Called Life” was canceled after one season, it remains one of ABC’s most critically beloved series and lingers on in audiences’ memories as a top-tier teen drama. It also introduced America to a young Jared Leto. The eventual “Morbius” star played Angela’s doe-eyed lunkhead boyfriend Jordan Catalano and — contrary to what the Oscars would have us believe – Jordan is the true zenith of Leto’s career.

It takes a special kind of show to take the documentary format that made “The Office” such a hit and blend it with a classic family sitcom for the new millennium, but somehow “Modern Family” managed to hit the mark.

Patriarch Jay (Ed O’Neill) has his fiery (and much younger) Columbian wife Gloria (Sofia Vergara) and her old-soul son Manny (Rico Rodriguez), while his adult children have families of their own: Claire (Julie Bowen) and her husband Phil (Ty Burrell) have their hands full with three children, and Mitch (Jesse Ferguson) and his partner Cam (Eric Stonestreet) begin the series with their adoption of a Vietnamese baby, Lily. The relationships between these various families are often fraught with comedic misunderstandings, but the deep undercurrent of love and affection in spite of their various issues made “Modern Family” a hit. It ran for a total of 11 seasons and earned 22 Emmy Awards during its time on the air.

“NYPD Blue” is one of the best cop procedurals of all time, giving viewers a mostly realistic look at the world of policing New York City in the mid-1990s. And until “Grey’s Anatomy” came on the scene, it carried the honor of being ABC’s longest-running series — it was on the air from 1993 to 2005, encompassing an impressive 12 seasons.

“NYPD Blue” occasionally courted controversy: Its pilot included nudity in a sex scene between John Kelly (David Caruso) and Janice Licalsi (Amy Brenneman), hardly the norm for network television, and that was just a taste of things to come. But its commitment to realism — whether that meant language, sexuality, or an honest approach to real-life problems like addiction — made it an undeniable presence throughout the 1990s and beyond. It’s one of the only procedurals that can go toe-to-toe against the massively sprawling “Law & Order” franchise.

You know how these days, J.J. Abrams is known for his “mystery box” storytelling approach? It was born back in the 2000s with “Lost,” one of ABC’s most ambitious forays into science fiction television and a show that Abrams was able to put his unique touches on. In the aftermath of a catastrophic plane crash, a group of survivors find themselves on a strange, seemingly uninhabited island. And aside from all the trauma, things are just … well, weird. The island is mysterious and unsettling, some of the people who made it off the plane are suspicious, to say the least, and nothing is ever quite what it seems. 

Almost immediately, “Lost” became must-watch television at the tail-end of an era when people still had watercooler conversations about the episodes that aired the previous night. Although the show’s conclusions sometimes failed to live up to the potential of its set-ups, most viewers were entirely sold on the unique brand of strange and unusual “Lost” brought to the table. It ended up running for six seasons and remains to this day one of the most inventive original shows in television history.

Shows that take place in a school setting have been bread-and-butter programming for network television practically since the medium was invented. But with “Abbott Elementary,” we felt like we were seeing it for the very first time. Set in a struggling urban school in Philadelphia, it follows the misadventures of an idealistic young teacher (played by show creator Quinta Brunson). 

Although “Abbott Elementary” is a sitcom with a warm sense of humor, it also pulls no punches about the reality of public school education in the 21st century. But its authenticity — combined with stellar performances from its talented ensemble cast, each of whom grow on audiences with every passing minute of screentime — is what has made it so popular. In the few short years since it began airing on ABC, it’s amassed an impressive collection of industry trophies, including Emmys for writing and lead actress (both Brunson) and best supporting actress in a comedy (Sheryl Lee Ralph).

Everyone knows that “The Flintstones” are a cornerstone of classic animation. But it’s hard to overstate how genuinely innovative the series was when it first aired in 1960. A playful take on the traditional family sitcom set in the Stone Age (the Flintstones are, after all, a modern Stone Age family — it even says so in the song), the show even aired it during primetime at a point in history when animated series were relegated to more kid-friendly timeslots.

Although this era was defined by a fascination with atomic energy and all things tech-heavy, “The Flintstones” found success by going in the opposite direction, albeit with inventive visual gags to recreate modern conveniences using dinosaurs. By taking mid-century archetypes and shooting them back to prehistory, the show created something fresh and exciting.

Sure, controversy may have marred Roseanne’s return to the small screen in the 2010s, but that doesn’t take away from the very real merits of the original series. Unlike other sitcom families of its day, who were mostly led by white-collar professionals leading middle to upper-middle class lives, the Conners were solidly working class. “Roseanne” reflected a type of family that many Americans were more able to recognize, from the parenting style of Roseanne and Dan (Roseanne Barr and John Goodman, respectively) to the financial and social issues they faced.

In 2018, 21 years since the initial series went off the air, “Roseanne” was brought back for a 10th season. It was first canceled and then massively retooled after Roseanne Barr courted outrage after racist posts on Twitter, finally being brought back as “The Conners” sans its now radioactive matriarch. But audiences still proved their affection for the family: “The Conners” ran for an additional seven seasons, even without its original namesake included in the production.

Something like “Happy Days” is practically a once-in-a-generation success, something that has audiences in a stranglehold not just while it’s on the air, but for decades after. It taps into wholesome, nostalgic Americana as it follows the everyday adventures of a Midwestern teen, Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard), and his friends during the late 1950s. 

With its good-natured sense of humor and the breakout performance by Henry Winkler as Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli, “Happy Days” was a beloved property on ABC, eventually generating several spin-offs, the most famous of which were “Laverne & Shirley” and “Mork & Mindy.” By the time its 11 seasons came to an end in 1984, “Happy Days” wasn’t just a show, it was an institution — Fonzie’s iconic leather jacket is even on permanent display in the Smithsonian.

Television networks have a tendency to play things very safe when it comes to their programming. While streamers and premium channels may have the luxury of cultivating prestige series that take a while to catch on or appeal to niche audiences, networks like ABC have a financial incentive to stick to shows that will cast the widest possible net of viewers. So in a lot of ways, it’s incredible that something as abstract and experimental and just plain weird as “Twin Peaks” ever wound up on ABC in the first place. But David Lynch and Mark Frost’s dark Americana dreamscape ultimately become one of the best shows the network ever aired.

The series begins with a simple mystery: Who killed Laura Palmer? Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle Maclachlan) is sent to the sleepy town of Twin Peaks in the Pacific Northwest to investigate, but what he uncovers is almost impossible to quantify. What starts off as a crime drama evolves into something more complex and metaphysical. “Twin Peaks” remains a landmark piece of television that audiences are still theorizing about today, and its initial two seasons received a follow-up series, “Twin Peaks: The Return,” in 2017, this time airing on Showtime rather than ABC.