Aaron Spelling’s 10 Most High-Profile Series, Ranked (According To IMDb)

Through his 40+ year career in the entertainment business, Aaron Spelling executive produced and was involved in hundreds of television and film projects. And many of them went on to become huge successes, including series that ran for multiple seasons and had lasting pop culture impact and movies that spawned sequels and spin-offs and pulled in huge box office numbers. He managed to have hit shows in pretty much every decade in which he worked, right up to his death. Owning his own production company, Spelling Television, he remains the most prolific TV producer in U.S. history with a total of 218 producing and executive producing credits to his name.

But which shows were his best? From 1959’s Johnny Ringo to 2006’s Split Decision, here are 10 of Spelling’s most high-profile shows, ranked, according to IMDb rating. The low ratings overall, and the shows that rank highest, might totally surprise you.

10 Melrose Place – 5.8

It was a decent follow-up to Beverly Hills, 90210, and while the show didn’t replicate the same level of success, it did manage to last a successful seven seasons.

Featuring an entirely new cast of characters, the primetime soap opera looked at the lives of young adults living in an apartment complex in West Hollywood. Naturally, there were plenty of lies, deceits, infidelity, and drama – the perfect recipe for a primetime soap.

9 The Love Boat – 6.1

Exciting and new, it was. This series with a theme song that was almost as popular as the show itself was set on a luxury cruise ship and chronicled the lives of the captain, crew, and the wealthy passengers.

Mandatory Saturday night viewing for fans in the ’70s and ’80s, it aired for nine seasons and returned with five specials.

8 Dynasty – 6.2

Popular once again among a new generation (and the old) today thanks to a reboot on The CW that is also streaming on Netflix, this late-night soap opera was filled with all of the typical drama, unbelievable storylines, backstabbing, betrayal, and overacting you’d expect from the genre.

And while the reboot is super-popular as well, there was something about the original cast of characters that included Joan Collins, Diahann Carroll, Heather Locklear, and John Forsythe, along with the jaw-dropping twists and turns, that made it memorable. Covering topics of wealth, infidelity, greed, and murder, it was a must-watch for soap fans in the ’80s that aired for nine seasons. The reboot is now in its third season.

7 Beverly Hills, 90210 – 6.3

Anyone who grew up in the ’90s probably watched this series, even if they don’t want to admit it. Dubbed a teen drama, it was ground-breaking at the time for tackling sensitive and controversial topics like drugs, rape, alcoholism, and abuse. And the cast of beautiful people didn’t hurt, either.

Introducing the world to his daughter, Tori Spelling, who was cast as Donna,  it’s the series that proved Spelling hadn’t lost his touch despite decades in the business, and still knew how to reach audiences of prime age.

6 Fantasy Island – 6.5

Known for popularizing the line “Boss, de plane, de plane!” said by actor Herve Villechaize, this fantasy drama was about a mysterious man and his assistant who would grant people wishes on an island…for a price.

The show, which starred Villechaize and Ricardo Montalban, aired for seven seasons in the late ’70s and early ’80s and was revived for a single season in 1998. A horror film was also adapted from the show, released in February 2020. So, it’s concept still lives on, decades later.

5 Charlie’s Angels – 6.5

The concept has been interpreted in several films as well as a reboot series. But it’s the original series that really made its mark for Spelling. Starring Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Jaclyn Smith, it was a show about three kick-ass female agents that was far ahead of its time. In later seasons after Fawcett and Jackson departed, Cheryl Ladd, Shelley Hack, and Tanya Roberts joined the cast.

The reviews were mixed so it’s no surprise this series isn’t the top-rated one from the Hollywood mogul. Nonetheless, it is one of the most memorable.

4 Sunset Beach – 6.8

Another of Spellings’ soap opera series from the ’90s that helped him continue to make a name for himself in the genre, this one was about people living in the Orange County coastal area.

Typical of Spelling shows, everyone was beautiful and the stories were full of drama. It aired for three seasons, strangely short for a Spelling project. But it was credited with helping to draw a younger audience to daytime television, in time slots typically dominated with content for the older crowd.

3 The Mod Squad – 6.9

One of Spelling’s earlier projects, this series aired for five seasons from 1968 to 1973 and was a crime drama about undercover cops who were young and hip. The cast purposely included a white man, woman, and black men to personify the “hip” and rebellious nature of the time when hippie culture was at its peak.

Dubbed a counterculture police series, it earned six Emmy Award nominations through its run.

2 Starsky & Hutch – 7.0

Another series that has been remade, and turned into a movie as well, this action series aired for four seasons in the late ’70s and told the story of two police detectives in California. One of the first cop shows to create the oddball cop partner pairing, David Michael Starsky was streetwise and intense while Kenneth Richard “Hutch” Hutchinson was more reserved and intellectual.

But the supporting characters on the show were arguably just as popular, most notably the jive-talking informant Huggy Bear.

1 Charmed – 7.1

Continuing his successful run in the ’90s, Spelling tied his name to this supernatural fantasy drama, which starred Shannon Doherty, who he worked with on 90210, as well as Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano.

Adding supernatural and sci-fi to his resume, the three played witches with special powers. When you think about it, it was kind of like a modern-day version of Charlie’s Angels, so it’s no wonder Spelling saw potential in Charmed, which ran for eight seasons. It spawned a reboot on The CW, which is gearing up for its third season.

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