TV's Class of '86: 'L.A. Law,' 'ALF' and other great shows that debuted 40 years ago

The fall of 1986 wasn't just a cause for celebration because the Mets won the World Series — especially if you were a dedicated TV watcher. That season 40 years ago brought viewers many notable shows. In fact, Newsday's longtime TV critic Marvin Kitman was over the moon about what the three networks was presenting (and this would be the last fall for the Big 3; Fox's prime-time lineup would debut in 1987).. For the usually acerbic Kitman, this was a miracle akin to Mookie Wilson's grounder between Bill Buckner's legs.

"There are so many new good TV shows this fall season, I sometimes think I am losing my mind," Kitman wrote. "Or I've died and gone to heaven. The sitcoms are actually funny, the dramas are taut and gripping. Never in my 17 years as a TV critic have the good shows outweighed the bad."

Here are five shows that made the Class of '86 so memorable:

ALF

PLOT: A furry visitor from outer space (ALF=Alien Life Form) who sounded like a Catskills comic, gets adopted, more or less, by a nice suburban family.

WHAT NEWSDAY SAID "My favorite show of the year in any category, gets funnier every week ... ALF, who talks like an old vaudevillian, makes the show seem like The Muppets Meet Danny Rose at the Carnegie Deli for a Pastrami Sandwich. I'm really hooked on it."

WHERE TO WATCH NOW. Tubi, Pluto TV, Roku, Prime Video, Peacock

AMEN

PLOT With "The Jeffersons" canceled, Sherman Hemsley moved on out from the Upper East Side to be born again as a Philadelphia pastor.

WHAT NEWSDAY SAID "Although 'Amen' isn't one of the 'hot' new shows upon which critics' attentions have been focused, ad executives say that it is funny, with an established star, and happens to follow one of last year's top shows, 'The Golden Girls,' in NBC's Saturday lineup.

WHERE TO WATCH YouTube

CRIME STORY

PLOT Set in 1963 Chicago, the drama focused on tough-as-nails Windy City cop Lt. Mike Torello (Dennis Farina) and his Major Crimes Unit as they battled bad guys led by the creepy Ray Luca (Tony Denison).

WHAT NEWSDAY SAID "What makes it good anyway is that the characters are very interesting. There is moral ambivalency in the stories that is true to life. It's tough sometimes to tell the good guys from the bad. That's why police chiefs hated 'Crime Story' so much. They loved old police shows where everything is simplified: The good guys didn't wear both hats."

WHERE TO WATCH Pluto TV, Roku, Prime, Peacock

L.A. LAW

PLOT Yuppie attorneys work, love and backstab at a high-powered Los Angeles firm. A terrific ensemble cast included the then-relatively unknown Jimmy Smits, Blair Underwood and Harry Hamlin.

WHAT NEWSDAY SAID "'L.A. Law' is a realistic (relatively) law show. It's not one of those fill-in-the-numbers dramas. You could call 'Matlock' — the other big law show this year on NBC -- a Southern 'Perry Mason.' But you couldn't call 'L.A. Law' an L.A. 'Perry Mason' It's to Perry what admiralty law is to whiplash cases. My fingers are crossed for it in the ratings." [No need to worry: "L.A. Law" ran for eight seasons and became a genuine water cooler show.]

WHERE TO WATCH Hulu, Disney+

SLEDGE HAMMER!

PLOT OK, you probably don't remember this comedy with David Rasche as a bumbling tough-guy cop who seemed to channel Maxwell Smart more than he did Dirty Harry. The chattering class loved it, regular viewers not so much.

WHAT NEWSDAY SAID "This is the funniest unseen network show in history. This story of a cop who talks to his gun is on opposite 'Dallas' and ''Miami Vice'" So what if it isn't as funny as 'Get Smart.' What is these days? But it is very, very amusing. "

WHERE TO WATCH Pluto TV

Honorable mention: "Designing Women," "Matlock" and "Head of the Class"