During the late 20th Century and early 21st Century, popular fiction genres for television in the United States included domestic comedies, workplace comedies, detective shows and police dramas, Westerns, and science fiction. There were also shows that were set in the US military, which were known as military dramas or military comedies.
Television in the United States was more bland and conformist compared to our world. There were no shows as iconic as I Love Lucy, M*A*S*H, Gunsmoke, Star Trek, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Seinfeld or The Sopranos from our world.
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For my reply, I’m not including the popular US animation television shows or game shows from the late 20th Century and early 21st Century.
During the 1950s, popular US television shows included melodramas like Our Home, The Apartment, Front Window, and Day and Night; comedies like Bugle Call, Johnny Came Back, and The Biggest Band; Westerns like Captain Canyon, Fort Stoneheart, and Lucky Louis; science fiction dramas like Star Pioneers and The United States of Earth.
During the 1960s, popular US television shows included melodramas like Summertime Sun, This Great Home, and Philadelphia Place; comedies like To Reno With Dough, Laughing All The Way, and Three Cheers for Captain Brawn; Westerns like Gold Fields, Union Scouts, and Bud Rock: Caravan Guard; science fiction dramas like Satellite of Liberty, Moon of America, The Iron Butler, and The Neptune Sentinel; police procedurals and crime dramas like Bureau of Justice, Agent Porter, and New York Squad.
During the 1970s, television was the one artistic medium in the United States that was not influenced by the American Nihilist cultural movement, but some of the decade’s cultural cynicism and pessimism was reflected in military comedies like Repair This! and Reveille or science fiction dramas like Dimensional Gate and The Lost Expedition. Other popular US television shows included domestic comedies like Forget-Me-Not, The Wyoming Family and On Our Way; melodramas like Ambulance Chasers and Get It Back; science fiction shows like Stellar Bazaar, Comet Wranglers and Captain and Crew; police procedurals and crime shows like Throwing the Book, The Mighty Force, Squad Supreme and Underworld.
During the 1980s, popular US television shows included melodramas like Club Foreign, City in Shadows, and Victory Alley; military comedies like Private Failure, Summertime March, and Corporal Joint; military dramas like Long Way Home, Together Together and My Bride Back Home; science fiction shows like Alternate Histories, They Conquered, and Our Milky Way; workplace comedies like Lost and Found, Toronto Tony, The Promotion, and Boss of the Joint; police procedurals and crime shows like Down The Town, Bureau of Vengeance, and Righteous Justice. There was also a temporary revival of Westerns on US television in the mid-1980s after the successful remake of the German Western series To The Great Pacific.
During the 1990s, popular US television shows included melodramas like Evenings of Our Dawn, Country Escape, and West by Alberta; domestic comedies like Those Neighbors, King of San Francisco and The Family Barbecue; military comedies like Cruiser Crew Cut, Razor Sharp, and Jim Victory; military dramas like Last Pacific War and Military Hospital; science fiction shows like The Jupiter Destroyer, The Time Musketeers and The Star Empire; police procedurals and crime shows like The Bronx Station, Tom Authority: PI, The Blue Fortress, and Midnight Criuser.
One US show that aired from 1989 to 2000 that defied easy genre classification was Rough Rider, which imagined the administration of a US President modeled on Theodore Roosevelt in a “modern” setting.
Beginning in the 2000s, and continuing into the 2010s, there was an increasing variety in the number of television channels in the United States, though this did not necessarily lead to a concurrent expansion in new genres of fiction in the medium. During the 2000s, popular US television shows included melodramas like Football Hospital, The Immigrants, and Road To Tomorrow; domestic comedies like Prince of San Francisco, Right Side of the Tracks, and Principal Coward; workplace comedies like Lumber and Plumber, Cubicle Cole, and Mailroom; military comedies like Seven Seas, Stratosphere Sonny, and Secure That Perimeter; military dramas like Protect the Nation and Sergeant Samson: All American; science fiction shows like The Infiltrators, The Heart of the Galaxy and The Endless Earths; American Fantasy shows like The Land of Stormalong and Quest for New Concord; police procedurals and crime snd shows like Sheriff in Town, Case Cracked, and Detective Daring.
During the 2010s, popular US television shows included melodramas like Divorce Court, Sea of Cortez, and Brinkman’s Ship; domestic comedies like Lottery Street, John and Jane Zookeeper, and The Family Airship; workplace comedies like Solar City, Year After Year, and The Singing Stockbroker; military comedies like Drill Sergeant Friendly and Rest Assured; military dramas like The Last Regiment and Prepare for Peace; science fiction shows like Star Carrier Orion and Ship of Fools; American Fantasy shows like The Skookum Hunter and The Forest of Fear; police procedurals and crime shows like The Prosecutor, and Bureau of Investigation.