Investigating the Return of ‘80s Comfort TV
'Matlock' and 'High Potential' are top priority cases.
Hi WNVM-ers,
First, a big welcome to our new subscribers, and a sincere thank you to everyone who’s been reading and supporting us along the way.
It's Fawnia here this week, and I investigate (sorry) why this season’s popular TV shows and my much-needed comfort watches, like “Matlock” and “High Potential,” have roots in ‘80s TV favorites, like “Magnum, P.I.” and, yes, “Miami Vice.” This was fun, as I do consider myself a TV expert — if not just based on how much of my life I’ve dedicated to sitting in front of a screen. (It's actually my job, too.) I also had a great time speaking with some seriously legit experts, including J.D. McCoy’s dad, Joe, from “Friday Night Lights” — I mean, D.W. Moffett, SCAD Chair, film and television.
And, in news, a “Bill and Ted” reunion and your favorite midlife hate-watch is coming back in May.
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Private Eyes, I’m Watching You
Why ‘80s-style mystery shows are providing much-needed comfort TV right now
By Fawnia
As an only child growing up in the ‘80s, I found comfort in my stuffies, my parents, and my heroes: the detectives on my favorite TV mystery shows.
Each week, I’d watch small-screen sleuths solve one-off cases per episode, similar to the gritty “Law & Order”-y procedurals of the late-’90s and today. But, in the lighter, cynicism-free ‘80s shows, the investigators had interesting backstories and soap-y relationships that invited me back into their aspirational, yet reassuring, worlds each week. Sometimes an overarching mystery throughout the season spiced things up, too.
I enjoyed model-turned-investigator Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) and snarky PI David’s (Bruce Willis) spicy will-they-or-won’t-they energy in “Moonlighting.” I also tuned in for “Magnum, P.I.”’s (Tom Selleck) Hawaiian bromance with fellow Vietnam vet T.C. (Roger Mosely), and that whole thing with his wife Michelle (Marta DuBois) returning from the dead.
Fast forward to 2025, when I’m in need of some serious TV therapy, and there's a profusion of shows with that specifically-‘80s formula, whimsical crime-solving vibes, and homes on — what’s that? — network TV: “High Potential,” Matlock,” “Elsbeth,” “Will Trent,” and I’m including “Doctor Odyssey” for the ridiculous weekly medical conundrums (and Don Johnson briefly resurrecting Sonny Crockett to make an arrest on international waters). If I need more, there's also Leighton Meester’s sibling investigator duo “Good Cop/Bad Cop,” Morris Chestnut’s Sherlock Holmes-offshoot, “Watson,” and Natasha Lyonne’s “Columbo”-esque “Poker Face,” also featuring a very-‘80s roll-out of A-list guest stars, which returns to NBC-adjacent Peacock on May 8. I feel like I should be circling each show’s episode listing in a weekly print issue of TV Guide.
“There's comfort in that. People just want to see something that is cozy; that's familiar and they know what to expect,” says entertainment journalist and “Golden Girls” fan Candice Frederick.
“Those shows work well because the audience is old for the most part, and so they're familiar with that format,” says award-winning journalist Rick Ellis, founder and managing editor of AllYourScreens.com, and Too Much TV on Substack. (Ouch, Rick!) “They've been watching that format their entire life, so that mystery thing is very familiar. It's comfort TV for them.”
Well, I’m not the only one who’s on the hunt for a cozy case to close. “High Potential” ended its debut season with series-high ratings amongst age 18 to 49 viewers. “Matlock,” the gender-flipped Kathy Bates-starring reboot of the Andy Griffith one, is the most watched series on CBS — also with notably high ratings within that coveted demo that encompasses Generations X to Z. The studios didn’t provide a detailed age breakdown when I asked, but we can all take a pretty clear guess as to which cohorts are watching alongside me.
But why are there so many ‘80s-style detective shows right now, and what makes them so appealing to multiple generations?
Intriguing Fashion
As a Midwestern suburbs-bound dreamer — only children are in their heads a lot — these shows let me briefly live a glamorous, adventurous life in far-flung places, like Los Angeles, home to “Remington Steele” and “Charlie’s Angels” reruns, and, of course, Miami, filled with pastel suits, so many sequins, and ‘80s power shoulders. I know I sound like a broken record, but “Miami Vice,” and its style, did change the face of television.
These days, I happily immerse myself in the twisty mysteries of Atlanta-based “Will Trent,” while also taking in the eye-candy wardrobes — especially the sparkling-lamé disco outfits in the recent psychedelics-induced dream sequence of the titular highly observant GBI Special Agent (Ramón Rodríguez). In sun-soaked L.A. on “High Potential,” Morgan Gillory (Kaitlin Olsen) deciphers complex puzzles, and outsmarts the perps, in wild animal-print faux-fur coats, leather mini-skirts and impractically-high heels. In bustling New York City, Chicago transplant “Elsbeth” (Carrie Preston) tracks down the culprits with her unconventional detecting skills — and vibrant wardrobe of bows, feathers, wild patterns, and furry bucket hats.
“The shows have some space for levity— and fashion1, as well,” says Frederick. “Elsbeth is quirky and bouncing all over the place, but also really smart. You can laugh at her, but also respect her. I think that is directly from a ‘Miami Vice’ or a ‘Hunter,’ even.” (Wow, that’s a deep cut. I used to watch that show, too.)
Reagan-Era Rerun
Our year of the lord 2025 really does feel like a dystopian déjà vu of the “Knight Rider” and “Simon & Simon”* decade: a Hollywood personality in the White House, tanking stock market, possible recession, new Cold War, public health crises (emphasis on plural), income inequality … I could go on.
“Look at what people are facing when they open up Google News in the morning, and then look at what people were looking at in the ‘80s, with Reagan throwing everybody out of mental hospitals,” says veteran actor and SCAD Chair, film and television, D.W. Moffett, who started out with guest roles on “The Equalizer” and “Miami Vice.”
But, unlike the largely politically-agnostic ‘80s shows, today’s storylines do wade into socio-political and cultural issues. Matlock’s big bad is big pharma and the opioid crisis (or rooting out which lawyer at Jacobson Moore hid documents that could have stopped it). In “Elsbeth,” NYPD Captain Wagner (Wendell Pierce) respects gender pronouns; uplifts a diverse staff; apologizes, after some introspection, for judging a female detective’s polyamorous lifestyle; and gives a toxic, misogynistic male cop some satisfying comeuppance. Feels comfy and cozy to me!
“I think there is a harsh reality right now, so entertainment is doing what it does best; just to divert us from our own lives, and give us a moment's respite from the barrage of reality,” says Moffett.
Dream Teams
With a packed viewing schedule, I sometimes forget what crime happened on which show — like was the jewelry heist on “Elsbeth” or “Doctor Odyssey”? (Both, actually, like the throuples.) But I always remember the camaraderie amongst the endearing characters. “Will Trent”’s APD detectives Angie Polaski (Erika Christensen) and Ormewood2 (Jake McLaughlin) giddily breaking down the plot of “Alias” to Will and his unflappable partner Faith (Iantha Richardson) will forever bring me joy. (It was integral to the case, OK? “She wears a different wig in every episode.”)
I realized the other day that I’ve always loved these detective shows because of the tight, and honestly, heartwarming, team dynamic that rarely exists in real life — at a micro and definitely not at a macro level. The motley crews of crime-solvers are literally ride-or-die for each other — getting drinks together off-the-clock, spending holidays in each other’s homes, and even becoming odd couple roomies (see: “Elsbeth” and “Will Trent”). The benevolent captains and lieutenants have a strong moral code and will take the fall to protect their people.
“Seeing people getting along from all different walks of life with a common goal, and they each have each other's back, and a crusty old boss who really loves you deep inside,” says Moffett, emphasizing the attraction of the tried-and-true format.
Armchair Detectives
Frederick compares crime-solving heroes, like Elsbeth Tascioni, who’s an attorney essentially babysitting the NYPD, and genius cleaner-turned-LAPD consultant Morgan on “High Potential,” to astute mystery author Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) on the iconic “Murder She Wrote.”
“[Jessica Fletcher] is somebody who just is really good at solving crimes, but not an actual detective,” says Frederick. “She was just wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery.”
The concept is universal and evergreen (see also Agatha Christie’s “Miss Marple”), and speaks to the innate outsider in all of us. Amongst the usually bumbling professionals, Jessica Fletcher and co. are always the smartest ones in the room and triumph over their detractors — which feels especially gratifying when it feels like we’re just yelling into the void these days. They’re also our conduit, as fellow amateur detectives, into the riveting crime at hand.
“[So viewers think], ‘It can be just like me!’” says Frederick. “Somebody who just has an interest and has a knack for it.”
Undercover Youngs
Just like Gen Z “discovering” ‘80s pop music and capri pants, maybe they’ve also uncovered the throwback cozy mystery format, and make up a decent portion of that “Matlock” and “High Potential” 18 to 49 demo — when they’re not watching “Euphoria,” “The Last of Us,” or the 1980s as depicted on “Stranger Things.”
“For younger viewers watching [these shows], there's almost this nostalgia,” says Ellis. “It's different than what else is on TV, like, ‘Oh. This is kind of nice.’” That does track with Zoomers pining for the pre-Internet ‘90s that they romanticize as a carefree, simpler utopia. (It wasn’t.)
“There's the ‘I want a super trendy water bottle or makeup product,’ but at the same time, they want culture that is less complicated and almost old school,” continues Ellis. “It’s really interesting for me to watch because it's like, ‘I want this $120 pair of socks, but I also want to watch ‘Hunter.’”
*Correction: I earlier confused the 1979 show “Hart to Hart,” with “Simon and Simon,” which ran from 1981 to 1989.
We are two Gen X journalists who celebrate people of our generation doing cool things, as well as analyze all the '80s and '90s nostalgia in current pop culture, fashion, and beauty. Read more stories like this one here!
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Costume designers: Daniel Lawson for “Elsbeth,” Sandra Burns for “High Potential,” and Mary Jane Fort for “Will Trent.”
Ormewood had a real hard pivot from surly philanderer to cuddly comic relief in “Will Trent” season three and I’m not mad about it! Thoughts?
I watched the first season of Poker Face a while back. It felt like it was an homage to the early aughts USA shows like Psych and Monk which always felt like they had 80's detective show DNA.
One of my favorite editions of WNM, ever!!