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The Cosby Show

 
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The Cosby Show

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Plot

The series that literally rescued the moribund situation comedy genre from oblivion, NBC's The Cosby Show made its first appearance on September 20, 1984. By the time its first season was over, the series was the second-highest-rated program in the country, enabling NBC to build a brand-new sitcom empire with such popular offerings as Frasier, Seinfeld, and Friends. Bill Cosby was of course the creator of the series, in concert with the Carsey-Werner Company, whose later efforts included Roseanne, 3rd Rock From the Sun, and That '70s Show. Cosby played the leading character, Dr. Cliff Huxtable, a successful obstetrician who lived in a fashionable Brooklyn townhouse with his attorney wife, Clair (played by Phylicia Ayers-Allen, later billed as Phylicia Rashad). The couple's children included daughters Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf), Denise (Lisa Bonet), Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe), and Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam) and son Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner). Among the many other characters were Cliff's dad, Russell (Earle Hyman), and mom, Anna (Clarice Taylor); Sondra's boyfriend -- and later husband -- Elvin Tibedeaux (Geoffrey Owens); Theo's pal Cockroach (Carl Anthony Payne II); Rudy's friends Peter (Peter Costa) and Kenny (Deon Richmond); Vanessa's boyfriend Dabnis (William Thomas Jr.); Clair's second cousin, Bedford-Stuyvesant refugee Pam Turner (Erika Alexander); and Pam's friends Slida (Mushond Lee), Charmaine (Karen Malina White), and Lance (Allen Payne). Also, after briefly leaving the series to star in her own series, A Different World, Lisa Bonet returned in the role of Denise, then-married to Lt. Martin Kendall (Joseph C. Phillips) and stepmother of Martin's daughter, Olivia (Raven-Symone). Increasing the number of family members were Sondra and Elvin's twin children, Winnie and Nelson, played during the series' final season by Jessica Vaughn and Gary Gray. Unlike many sitcoms with African-American casts, The Cosby Show did not overemphasize its racial aspects, nor did it traffic in stereotypical characters or dialogue. Put simply, the Huxtables could have been any upper-middle-class family of any color, and it was their normality and universality that made the series a hit with viewers from all ethnic groups. The winner of innumerable industry awards, and America's top-rated sitcom for a remarkable five years in a row, The Cosby Show finished its network run on September 17, 1992, and has been a welcome fixture in the syndicated-rerun field ever since. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Cast

Tempestt Bledsoe - Vanessa Huxtable; Keshia Knight Pulliam - Rudy Huxtable; Earle Hyman - Russell Huxtable; Clarice Taylor - Anna Huxtbale; Peter Costa - Peter Chiara; Geoffrey Owens - Elvin Tibedeaux; Deon Richmond - Kenny; Carl Anthony Payne II - Cockroach; Troy Winbush - Denny; Joseph C. Phillips - Lt. Martin Kendall; Raven Symone - Olivia Kendall; Erika Alexander - Pam Tucker; William Thomas, Jr. - Dabnis Brickey

Credit

Bill Cosby - Executive Producer, Marcy Carsey - Executive Producer, Tom Werner - Executive Producer, Earl Pomerantz - Executive Producer, Bernie Kukoff - Executive Producer, Janet Leahy - Executive Producer, Elliot Shoenman - Executive Producer, Bill Cosby - Composer (Music Score), Stu Gardner - Composer (Music Score), Bill Cosby - Show Creator

Episodes

The Cosby Show: Season 01 (1984)
In the first episode of the long-running sitcom The Cosby Show, Brooklyn obstetrician Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby) is asked by his attorney wife, Clair (Phylicia Ayers-Allen), "Why do we have four children?" Though no answer is forthcoming, the fact seems to remain that there are indeed four kids living in the Huxtable's fashionable brownstone: daughters Denise (Lisa Bonet), Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe), and Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam), and son Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner). And yet, sprinkled throughout the early episodes of season one are several references to a fifth child -- who finally shows up in the person of Princeton University student Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf), who makes her first appearance in the tenth telecast episode, appropriately titled "Bon Jour Sondra." (Reportedly, Bill Cosby expanded the original four children alotted to the Huxtables to five so that his TV household would mirror his own: four daughters, one son.) Also making their initial Cosby Show appearances during its first season are Earle Hyman as Cliff's father, Russell Huxtable; Clarice Taylor as Cliff's mom, Anna; and Peter Costa as Rudy's close-mouthed friend, Peter Chiara. And as an added bonus, season one boasts memorable guest appearances by Dizzy Gillespie and Lena Horne. The Cosby Show closed out its first season as the second most popular series in the U.S. Clearly, despite the prognostications of the pundits of the period, the "warm family sitcom" format was not dead -- not on NBC, anyway. As icing on the cake, the program won an Emmy award for Outstanding Comedy Series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
The Cosby Show: Season 02 (1985)
Season two of The Cosby Show begins with all six members of the Huxtable family of Brooklyn present and accounted for: obstetrician Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby); his attorney wife, Clair (Phylicia Rashad); their daughters, Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf, previously recurring and now a regular), Denise (Lisa Bonet), Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe), and Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam); and son Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner), whose oft-repeated "No problem!" has by now become a national catchphrase. This season is distinguished by "Happy Anniversary," an episode cited by many sources (including TV Guide) as one of the best TV half-hours ever (how could it be any less, with the entire Huxtable family lip-synching to Ray Charles' "The Night Time Is the Right Time"?) Also, in the episode "Cliff in Love," Geoffrey Owens makes his first series appearance as Elvin Tibideaux, Sondra Huxtable's future husband -- and, ironically, Joseph C. Phillips, who would later portray Denise's husband Martin Kendall, is seen in the same episode in the role of Darryl Marchamp, Elvin's rival for Sondra's affections! And a later installment, "Theo and Cockroach," introduces Carl Anthony Payne II as Theo's pal Walter "Cockroach" Bradley, a character heretofore unseen and only talked about. (Incidentally, this is the same episode in which series regular Phylicia Ayers-Allen officially changes her screen billing to her married name, Phylicia Rashad). Now the number one-rated series in America -- a status it would maintain for the next five years! -- The Cosby Show was also the winner of an Emmy award for Best Editing. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
The Cosby Show: Season 03 (1986)
The Cosby Show enters its third season as America's most-watched television series -- and would continue to enjoy this lofty honor for four seasons to come. The basic cast of characters remains the same as in season two, headed by Bill Cosby as Brooklyn obstetrician Cliff Huxtable, Phylicia Rashad (formerly Phylicia Ayers-Allen) as Cliff's attorney wife, Clair. Oldest daughter Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf), still attending Princeton University, is now seriously dating Elvin Thibedeaux (Geoffrey Owens); second daughter Denise (Lisa Bonet) has graduated from high school and is attending Hillman College, alma mater of her father and grandfather; middle daughter Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe) and son Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) are still in high school, with Theo hanging out more than ever with his pal Cockroach (Carl Anthony Payne II); and youngest daughter Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam) has a new school friend named Kenny (Deon Richmond). Sharp-eyed fans may notice that Clair Huxtable is spending an inordinate amount of time standing behind tables and desks, and wearing heavy coats. The reason, of course, is that actress Phylicia Rashad was pregnant -- and her character Clair was not. Additionally, quite a few seemingly fleeting characters show up in the episodes depicting Denise's life at Hillman. Several of these characters would become regulars in the fall of 1987, when Lisa Bonet departed The Cosby Show to star in the spin-off series A Different World. Of the season's many excellent episodes, special attention should be paid to "Bald and Beautiful," which reunites Bill Cosby with his former I Spy co-star Robert Culp (and trivia buffs will get a kick out of Culp's character name: Kelly Scott). Season three ends as Sondra Huxtable prepares to leave the family nest and become the wife of loyal Elvin Tibideaux. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
The Cosby Show: Season 04 (1987)
Most of the familiar characters established during the first three seasons of The Cosby Show are still in attendance as the series launches its fourth season: obstetrician Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby), his attorney wife, Clair (Phylicia Rashad), daughters Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf), Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe), and Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam), and son Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner). Conspicuous by her absence is daughter Denise (Lisa Bonet), whose adventures at Hillman College are this season being enacted on the character's own sitcom, A Different World. Denise does, however, make a few return appearances in such episodes as "Home for the Weekend." Also, oldest daughter Sondra isn't around much any more, since she is now the wife of Elvin Tibideaux (Geoffrey Owens, who has become a regular cast member). Conversely, one actor makes four very prominent appearances in the role of Theo's pal Smitty: that actor is Adam Sandler, several years removed from his Saturday Night Live and motion-picture superstardom. Still the number one-rated TV show in America, The Cosby Show would manage to hold on to this status for the next two years. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
The Cosby Show: Season 05 (1988)
America's number one-rated series for three years running, The Cosby Show manages to hold on to this lofty status throughout its fifth season on the air. Bill Cosby is of course back as obstetrician Cliff Huxtable, as is Phylicia Rashad as Cliff's attorney wife, Clair. Three of the five Huxtable children are still being seen on a regular basis: Tempestt Bledsoe as Vanessa, Keshia Knight Pulliam as Rudy, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Theo. Also back after a year's hiatus as star of the spin-off series A Different World is Lisa Bonet as daughter Denise, though the actress' pregnancy would severely curtail her appearances this season. Likewise, oldest daughter Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf), now the wife of Elvin Tibideaux (Geoffrey Owens) and the mother of twins Nelson and Winnie (born in an hour-long episode, originally aired November 10, 1988), is only seen on a sporadic basis. Season five is distinguished by the fact that Theo has graduated from college and is attending New York University for graduate school, while Denise has dropped out of Hillman College and is preparing to journey to Africa as a photographer's assistant (a plot development which neatly coincides with Lisa Bonet's maternity leave). Likewise worth more than a passing nod is the episode "If the Dress Fits, Wear It," which features appearances by series regular Phylicia Rashad's sister Debbie Allen and husband Ahmad Rashad. And in the episode "No Way, Baby," Sammy Davis Jr. makes one of his last TV appearances as a cranky old cuss named Ray Palomino (Davis earned an Emmy nomination for his performance). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
The Cosby Show: Season 06 (1989)
The sixth season of The Cosby Show marks the full-time return of actress Lisa Bonet in the role of Denise Huxtable, second of four daughters of obstetrician Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby) and his attorney wife, Clair (Phylicia Rashad). Bonet had been on maternity leave throughout much of season five, so it was explained that Denise had gone to Africa to work as a photographer's assistant. Now she's back, with a new husband in tow, Navy lieutenant Martin Kendall (played by new series regular Joseph C. Phillips). But wait, there's more: Denise is now also the stepmother of Martin's three-year-old daughter, Olivia (played by another new regular, Raven-Symone). Though the Kendalls move to Rhode Island, the Brooklyn-dwelling Huxtable parents remain in very close contact -- as they do with their other married daughter, Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf), now living with her husband, Elvin (Geoffrey Owens) and their twin children, Nelson and Winnie (played in one episode -- and only in one episode -- by Clayton Griggs and Domonique Reynolds). As for the other Huxtable kids, Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam) and Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe) are still living at home, while college student Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) has moved into a tiny apartment. The Cosby Show remained firmly in the number-one ratings slot throughout season six -- though it was tied with another sitcom from the Carsey-Werner factory, Roseanne. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
The Cosby Show: Season 07 (1990)
So here are the conditions that prevail as The Cosby Show enters its seventh season. Obstetrician Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby) and his attorney wife, Clair (Phylicia Rashad) are still happily married, still living in the upscale Brooklyn brownstone that also serves as Cliff's office. Their youngest daughter, Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam), is the only one of the couple's five children still living at home: both daughters Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf) and Denise (Lisa Bonet) are married and raising families; son Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) is attending New York College and living near campus in a tiny apartment; and daughter Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe) had graduated from high school a year earlier, and is about to start her freshman year at Lincoln University. This season, the series' humor, which has usually been at a gentle middle-American level, takes on a sharper and sometimes more caustic edge with the introduction of several new characters from the tough Bed-Stuy section of Brooklyn. In the episode "Period of Adjustment," 17-year-old Pam Turner (Erika Alexander), Clair Huxtable's second cousin once removed, moves out of her inner-city neighborhood when her mom leaves for California to take care of a sick relative, and moves into the Huxtable home. Also coming along for the ride -- at least on an occasional drop-in basis -- are Pam's neighborhood pals Slide (Mushond Lee), Charmaine (Karen Malina White), and Lance (Allen Payne). For the first time in five years, The Cosby Show was not America's top-rated series during season seven. However, it did manage a respectable fifth place -- ironically, just below its spin-off series, A Different World. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
The Cosby Show: Season 08 (1991)
The eighth and final season of The Cosby Show opens with a shocker for obstetrician Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby) and his attorney wife, Clair (Phylicia Rashad). It seems that the couple's daughter Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe), who'd graduated from high school a year early and has been attending Lincoln University since the beginning of season seven, has for the past six months been engaged to the university's maintenance man Dabnis Brickley (William Thomas Jr.) -- who is a dozen years older than she! At first, Cliff and Clair are cold to Dabnis, suspecting his motives, but before long the level-headed working man wins their confidence and respect. In addition to William Thomas Jr., child actors Gary Gray and Jessica Vaughn join the cast as Nelson and Winnie Tibideaux, the twin children of Cliff and Clair's oldest daughter, Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf), and her husband, Elvin (Geoffrey Owens). (The twins had previously been played by other children in one-shot appearances; now they can qualify as "regulars.") Absent this season is Lisa Bonet as the Huxtables' daughter Denise, and (except for one episode) Joseph C. Phillips as her husband, Naval lieutenant Martin Kendall; it is explained that the Kendalls have moved to Singapore, where Martin has been stationed -- and that because of Navy rules and regulations, their daughter, Olivia (Raven-Symone), must stay behind with Cliff and Clair. Of the remaining Huxtable children, youngest daughter Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam) is still at home, and Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) is still attending college, living near campus. Also, the Huxtable household remains the temporary domicile of 18-year-old Pam Turner (Erika Alexander), Clair's second cousin once removed, who keeps in close contact with her friends from her old Bedford-Stuyvestant neighborhood, and is now contemplated a college career herself. The series' now-legendary final episode is an hour-long affair honoring Theo's graduation from college, ending with Cliff and Clair acknowledging the presence of the studio audience for the first (and last) time in The Cosby Show's eight-year history. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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The Cosby Show

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The Cosby Show
Cosby Show - Logo.png
The Cosby Show logo used for six of the series' eight seasons
Format Sitcom
Created by Ed. Weinberger
Michael Leeson
Bill Cosby
Starring Bill Cosby
Phylicia Rashād
Lisa Bonet
Malcolm-Jamal Warner
Tempestt Bledsoe
Keshia Knight Pulliam
Sabrina Le Beauf
Geoffrey Owens
Joseph C. Phillips
Raven-Symoné
Erika Alexander
Theme music composer Stu Gardner &
Bill Cosby
Opening theme "Kiss Me"; performed by:
Bobby McFerrin (season 4),
Oregon Symphony (season 5),
Craig Handy (seasons 6–7),
Lester Bowie (season 8)
Ending theme "Kiss Me" (instrumental)
(various orchestrations used as main theme was remixed)
Country of origin United States
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 8
No. of episodes 197 (201 in syndication)
(List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Marcy Carsey
Tom Werner
Bernie Kukoff (season 7)
Janet Leahy (season 8)
Location(s) Brooklyn, New York (setting)
Kaufman-Astoria Studios,
New York City (taping location)
Camera setup Videotape; Multi-camera
Running time 24–25 minutes (1984–1988)
23–24 minutes (1988–1991)
22–23 minutes (1991–1992)
Production company(s) Carsey-Werner Productions
Viacom Productions
Distributor Viacom Enterprises (1988–1995)
Paramount Domestic Television (1995–1997)
Carsey-Werner Distribution (1997–present)
Broadcast
Original channel NBC
Picture format 480i (SDTV)
Original run September 20, 1984 – April 30, 1992
Chronology
Related shows A Different World (1987–1993)

The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on the Huxtable family, an affluent African-American family living in Brooklyn, New York.

According to TV Guide, the show "was TV's biggest hit in the 1980s, and almost single-handedly revived the sitcom genre and NBC's ratings fortunes".[1] Originally, the show had been pitched to ABC, which rejected it.[1] Entertainment Weekly stated that The Cosby Show helped to make possible a larger variety of shows based on blacks, from In Living Color to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.[2] The Cosby Show was based on comedy routines in Cosby's standup act, which were based on his family life. Other sitcoms, such as Home Improvement and Everybody Loves Raymond, would later follow that pattern. The show spawned the spin-off A Different World, which ran for six seasons from 1987 to 1993.

As of 2011, The Cosby Show is the third-longest running U.S. comedy with a predominantly black cast, surpassed only by The Jeffersons and Family Matters. The show had 197 episodes (201 in syndication).

Contents

History

In the early 1980s, Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner, two former executives at ABC, left the network to start their own production company. At ABC, they had overseen sitcoms such as Mork & Mindy, Three's Company and Welcome Back, Kotter.

The two decided in order to get a sitcom to sell for their fledgling company, they needed a big name behind it. Bill Cosby, who during the 1970s starred in two failed sitcoms, produced award-winning stand-up comedy albums, and had roles in several different films, was relatively quiet during the early 1980s.

Outside of his work on his cartoon series Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, he was doing little in the fields of film and television. The two watched his stand-up comedy film, Bill Cosby: Himself. They loved the routine and decided they wanted to build a television series around a comedian's subject material which, with Cosby, was observations of life and family.

After meeting with them, Cosby returned to Carsey and Werner with his own ideas: the family would be blue-collared, with a stay-at-home mother and a limousine driving father with two sons and two daughters.

Carsey and Werner were convinced by Cosby later on, as a change of heart to make the family well-off financially, by making the mother a lawyer and the father a doctor. Therefore, with both parents in lucrative and challenging fields, the focus of the show would be Cosby's comedic material from his stand-up routines.

During its original run at NBC, it was one of five successful sitcoms on the network that featured predominately African-American casts. The other sitcoms were 227 (1985–1990), Amen (1986–1991), Cosby Show spin-off A Different World (1987–1993), and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990–1996).

Overview

The show focused on the Huxtable family, an affluent African-American family living in a brownstone in Brooklyn Heights, New York, at 10 Stigwood Avenue.[3] The patriarch was Heathcliff "Cliff" Huxtable, an obstetrician, son of a prominent jazz trombonist. The matriarch was his wife, attorney Clair Huxtable née Hanks. The two characters were then followed by their five children, four daughters and one son; Sondra, Denise, Theodore (Theo for short), Vanessa and Rudy. Despite its comedic tone, the show sometimes involved serious subjects, such as son Theo's experiences dealing with dyslexia, inspired by Cosby's son Ennis, who was also dyslexic. Teenage pregnancy was also a topic when Denise's friend, played by Lela Rochon, became pregnant.

The cast of The Cosby Show in 1989

Cosby had an unusually high level of creative control over the show. He wanted the program to be educational, reflecting his own background in education. He also insisted that the program be taped in New York City instead of Los Angeles, where most television programs were taped. The Huxtable home exterior was filmed at 10 St. Luke's Place[4] near 7th Avenue in Manhattan's Greenwich Village.

The earliest episodes of the series were videotaped at NBC's Brooklyn studios (now owned by JC Studios). The network later sold that building, and production moved to the Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens.

Although the cast and characters were predominantly African-American, the program was unusual in that issues of race were rarely mentioned when compared to other situation comedies of the time, such as The Jeffersons. However, The Cosby Show had African-American themes, such as the Civil Rights Movement, and it frequently promoted African-American and African culture represented by artists and musicians such as Jacob Lawrence, Miles Davis, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Lena Horne, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and Miriam Makeba. The show's spin-off, A Different World dealt with issues of race more often.

The series finale aired during the race-related 1992 Los Angeles riots, with Cosby quoted in media at the time pleading for peace.[5]

Cast

Main article: List of The Cosby Show characters

Episodes

Main article: List of The Cosby Show episodes

Pilot

The Cosby Show pilot episode uses the same title sequence as the rest of the first season, and is widely regarded as the 'first episode'. However, it is notable for a number of differences from the remainder of the series.

In the pilot, the Huxtables have only four children. Following the pilot, the Huxtables have five children, with the addition of their eldest daughter, Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf), who is mentioned in episode 6 and appears first in episode 10. The character was created when Bill Cosby wanted the show to express the accomplishment of successfully raising a child (i.e., a college graduate). Whitney Houston was considered for the role of Sondra Huxtable.[6] Sabrina LeBeauf almost missed out on the role because she is only 10 years younger (b. 1958) than Phylicia Rashād (b. 1948), who played her mother.

Bill Cosby's character is called "Clifford" in the early episodes of the first season (as evidenced by his name plate on the exterior of the Huxtable home). His name was later switched to "Heathcliff". Additionally, Vanessa refers to Theo as "Teddy" twice in the dining room scene.

The interior of the Huxtables' home features an entirely different living room from subsequent episodes, and different color schemes in the dining room and the master bedroom. Throughout the remainder of the series, the dining room is reserved for more formal occasions.

Opening credits

The show's theme music, "Kiss Me", was composed by Stu Gardner and Bill Cosby. Seven versions of this theme were used during the run of the series, making it one of the few television series to use multiple versions of the same theme song over the course of a series.

Due to legal complications regarding the background mural, the season seven opening was replaced with the one from the previous season. The original season seven opening, with slight modifications, was used in the eighth and final season.

To open the series' final episode (which was 60 minutes in length), an entirely new version of Kiss Me was used, while the credits featured clips from the openings from the previous seasons (excluding season one).

Reception

The show was noted for portraying only a certain portion of the African-American population.[7] Conversely, it was praised for breaking traditional racial stereotypes, portraying African-Americans who were educated and successful.

Broadcast history and ratings

The Cosby Show aired on Thursdays at 8:00pm for all eight seasons.

The Cosby Show is one of three television programs (All in the Family and American Idol being the others) that was #1 in the Nielsen ratings for 5 consecutive seasons.[8]

Season Season Premiere Season Finale TV Season Ranking Households
(in millions)
1st September 20, 1984 May 9, 1985 1984–1985 #3[9] 20.546 (24.2 rating)[9]
2nd September 26, 1985 May 15, 1986 1985–1986 #1[10] 28.948 (33.7 rating)[10]
3rd September 25, 1986 May 7, 1987 1986–1987 #1[11] 30.503 (34.9 rating)[11]
4th September 24, 1987 April 28, 1988 1987–1988 #1[12] 30.503 (34.4 rating)[12]
5th October 6, 1988 May 11, 1989 1988–1989 #1[13] 23.14 (25.6 rating)[13]
6th September 24, 1989 May 3, 1990 1989–1990 #1 (tie with Roseanne)[14] 21.27 (23.1 rating)[14]
7th September 20, 1990 May 2, 1991 1990–1991 #5[15] 15.92 (17.1 rating)[15]
8th September 19, 1991 April 30, 1992 1991–1992 #18[16] 13.81 (16.13 rating)[16]

Reruns/syndication

Carsey-Werner Distribution handles domestic and international distribution of the series, and has done so since 1997. In the United States, The Cosby Show began its television syndication run in September 1988 in broadcast syndication, shortly before the show's fifth season premiere, and was at the time distributed by Viacom; many stations that carried the series were Big Three network affiliates, though since the mid-1990s, the show has largely begun airing on independent stations and minor network affiliates.

Dallas-based KTVT (now a CBS owned-and-operated station), carried the series during the early 1990s, until that station dropped its status as an independent station and regional cable superstation in 1995. TBS, then a national cable superstation at the time it debuted on the channel, began carrying the series in 1999 and ran it for almost a decade. Fellow superstation WGN America began carrying the series shortly after, and continued to until September 2010. Nick at Nite began airing reruns of the series in March 2002. Sister network TV Land began airing reruns in 2004, however unlike most series that have aired on sister channel Nick at Nite before moving to TV Land in the past and since then, up until September 2010, The Cosby Show was carried on both Nick at Nite and TV Land.

As of September 27, 2010, Centric airs the series. Malaysia's national tv broadcast channel RTM TV2 also airs the series as does Canada's Crossroads Television System. In 2011, Netflix added the entire series to instant stream, and in 2012 the series was removed.

Spin-off

Main article: A Different World (TV series)

The Cosby Show's producers created a spin-off series called A Different World that was built around the "Denise" character (portrayed by actress Lisa Bonet), the second of the Huxtables' four daughters. Initially, the new program dealt with Denise's life at Hillman College, the fictional historically black college from which her father, mother, and paternal grandfather had graduated. Denise was written out of A Different World after its inaugural season, due to Bonet's pregnancy, and the following season was revamped, with the addition of director Debbie Allen and new characters. Denise later became a recurring character on The Cosby Show for seasons four and five, and a regular again in seasons six and seven.

Awards, nominations and honors

Awards won

Emmy Awards

  • Outstanding Comedy Series (1985)
  • Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series (1984) Michael J. Leeson and Ed. Weinberger

Golden Globe Awards

  • Best TV Series—Comedy (1985)
  • Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series—Comedy Bill Cosby (1985–86) 2 wins

NAACP Image Awards

  • Outstanding Comedy Series (1988)
  • Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series Bill Cosby (1989, 1993) 2 wins
  • Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series Phylicia Rashād (1988, 1989) 2 wins

People's Choice Awards

  • Favorite New TV Comedy Program (1985)
  • Favorite TV Comedy Program (1985–1989) 5 wins
  • Favorite TV Comedy Series (1990, 1992) 2 wins
  • All-Time Favorite TV Program (1989)
  • Favorite Male Program in a New TV Program Bill Cosby (1985)
  • Favorite Female Program in a New TV Program Phylicia Rashād (1985)
  • Favorite Male TV Performer Bill Cosby (1986–1992) 7 wins
  • Favorite Female TV Performer Phylicia Rashād (1989)
  • Favorite All-Around Male Entertainer Bill Cosby (1986–1988, 1990–1991) 5 wins
  • Favorite All-Around Male Star Bill Cosby (1989)
  • Favorite Young TV Performer Keshia Knight Pulliam (1988)

Awards nominated

Emmy Awards

  • Outstanding Comedy Series (1986–87) 2 nominations
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Phylicia Rashād (1985–86) 2 nominations
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Lisa Bonet (1986)
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Keshia Knight Pulliam (1986)
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Malcolm-Jamal Warner (1986)

Golden Globe Awards

  • Best TV Series-Comedy (1986–87) 2 nominations
  • Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series-Comedy Bill Cosby (1987)

Honors

  • In 1997, TV Guide ranked the episode "Happy Anniversary" #54 on their list of the 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.[17]
  • In 1999, Entertainment Weekly placed The Cosby Show's debut at #24 in its list of the "100 Greatest Moments in Television".[18]
  • In 2002, TV Guide placed The Cosby Show at #28 in its list of the 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.[19]
  • In 2004 TV Guide ranked Cliff Huxtable number 1 on its 50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time list.[20]
  • In 2007, Time magazine placed the show on its unranked list of "100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME".[21]
  • In 2007, USA Today's web site ranked the show as #8 in its list of the "top 25 TV moments of the past quarter century".[22]
  • In 2008, in the 1000th issue of Entertainment Weekly, Cliff Huxtable was selected as the Dad for "The Perfect TV Family."[23]
  • Bravo ranked Cliff Huxtable #44 on its list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.[24]

Albums

Two albums were produced that included various theme and background music from the show. The albums were presented by longtime Cosby collaborator Stu Gardner. They were:

  • A House Full of Love: Music from The Cosby Show (1986)
  • Total Happiness (Music from the Bill Cosby Show, Vol. II) (1987)

DVD releases

All eight seasons of The Cosby Show have been released on DVD in Region 1. Seasons one and two were released by UrbanWorks which was subsequently acquired by First Look Studios, who then released the remaining six seasons. Seasons one and two contain special features including a 90-minute retrospective documentary entitled "The Cosby Show: A Look Back" which aired on NBC in 2002. It contains interviews with cast members, bloopers, deleted scenes and audition footage. In 2010, First Look Studios filed bankruptcy and all its assets were subsequently acquired by Millennium Entertainment who also took over distribution of The Cosby Show DVD releases.

In Region 4, Magna Pacific has released all eight seasons on DVD in Australia and New Zealand. The first two seasons have similar artwork to the North American copies, although season two is red rather than blue. Each Australasian cover also features the tagline "In a house full of love, there is always room for more".

Universal Pictures UK has released seasons 1–4 in Region 2 (UK).

DVD title Ep # Release dates
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
Season 1 24 August 2, 2005[25] May 19, 2008 October 4, 2006[26]
Season 2 25 March 7, 2006[27] Aug 25, 2008 February 7, 2007[28]
Season 3 25 June 5, 2007[29] Oct 13, 2008 April 4, 2007[30]
Season 4 24 June 5, 2007[31] Feb 9, 2009 November 7, 2007[32]
Season 5 25 November 6, 2007[33] March 5, 2008[34]
Season 6 25 November 6, 2007[35] July 9, 2008[25]
Season 7 26 April 8, 2008[36] January 13, 2010[37]
Season 8 24 April 8, 2008[38] January 13, 2010[39]
25th Anniversary
Commemorative Edition		 197 November 11, 2008[40]

Note: The Region 1 release of season one contains the edited versions of the episodes aired in syndication. However, all subsequent DVD releases (including the complete series set) contain the original, uncut broadcast versions. It is unknown if season one will be re-released with the original uncut episodes. The complete series set has been discontinued due to complaints about the packaging.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ a b "Cosby Show: TV Guide News". TVGuide.com. http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/cosby/cast/100456. Retrieved 2007-09-23. 
  2. ^ "The Cosby Show's Last Laugh". Entertainment Weekly's EW.com. Time, Inc.. May 1, 1992. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,310369_2,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-28. "The show that changed forever the way black families are portrayed on television, the show that paved the way for a rainbow of African-American sensibilities on TV from In Living Color to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is getting razzed these days by The Simpsons," 
  3. ^ "Cosby's Last 'Show'". Entertainment Weekly's EW.com. Time, Inc.. May 3, 1996. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,292346,00.html. Retrieved 2009-04-02. 
  4. ^ "TV Show Buildings At A Glance". http://www.tvacres.com/locations.htm. Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
  5. ^ Bay Weekly: This Weeks Feature Stories, accessed April 20, 2010[dead link]
  6. ^ "The Cosby Show: 1984–1992". People. June 26, 2000. http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20131615,00.html. Retrieved 2010-11-19. 
  7. ^ "TV's Black World Turns—But Stays Unreal". The New York Times. November 12, 1989. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/12/arts/tv-s-black-world-turns-but-stays-unreal.html?pagewanted=4. Retrieved 2010-11-09. 
  8. ^ http://www.classictvhits.com/trivia.php?showid=176
  9. ^ a b "TV Ratings: 1984–1985". ClassicTVHits.com. http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/1984.htm. Retrieved 02-12-2010. 
  10. ^ a b "TV Ratings: 1985–1986". ClassicTVHits.com. http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/1985.htm. Retrieved 02-12-2010. 
  11. ^ a b "TV Ratings: 1986–1987". ClassicTVHits.com. http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/1986.htm. Retrieved 02-12-2010. 
  12. ^ a b "TV Ratings: 1986–1987". ClassicTVHits.com. http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/1987.htm. Retrieved 02-12-2010. 
  13. ^ a b "TV Ratings: 1988–1989". ClassicTVHits.com. http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/1988.htm. Retrieved 02-12-2010. 
  14. ^ a b "TV Ratings: 1987–1988". ClassicTVHits.com. http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/1989.htm. Retrieved 02-12-2010. 
  15. ^ a b "TV Ratings: 1990–1991". ClassicTVHits.com. http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/1990.htm. Retrieved 02-12-2010. 
  16. ^ a b "TV Ratings: 1991–1992". ClassicTVHits.com. http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/1991.htm. Retrieved 02-12-2010. 
  17. ^ "Special Collector's Issue: 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time". TV Guide (June 28-July 4). 1997. 
  18. ^ "The Top 100 Moments In Television". Entertainment Weekly. February 19, 1999. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,274575,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-22. 
  19. ^ "TV Guide Names Top 50 Shows". CBS News. April 26, 2002. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/04/26/entertainment/main507388.shtml. Retrieved 2007-10-06. 
  20. ^ TV Guide Guide to TV. Barnes and Noble. 2004. pp. 536. ISBN 0-7607-1. 
  21. ^ "The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME". Time magazine. http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/completelist/0,,1651341,00.html. Retrieved 2007-09-25. 
  22. ^ "Did you see that?". USATODAY.com. May 14, 2007. http://www.usatoday.com/life/top25-television.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-27. 
  23. ^ "TV: Breaking Down the List," Entertainment Weekly," #999/1000 June 27 & July 4, 2008, 56.
  24. ^ "The 100 Greatest TV Characters". Bravo. Archived from the original on 2007-10-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20071015070449/http://www.bravotv.com/The_100_Greatest_TV_Characters/index.shtml. Retrieved 2010-04-15. 
  25. ^ a b The Cosby Show – Season 1
  26. ^ The Cosby Show – Season 1
  27. ^ The Cosby Show – Season 2
  28. ^ The Cosby Show – Season 2
  29. ^ The Cosby Show – Season 3
  30. ^ The Cosby Show – Season 3
  31. ^ The Cosby Show – Season 4
  32. ^ The Cosby Show – Season 4
  33. ^ The Cosby Show – Season 5
  34. ^ The Cosby Show – Season 5
  35. ^ The Cosby Show – Season 6
  36. ^ The Cosby Show – Season 7
  37. ^ The Cosby Show – Season 6
  38. ^ The Cosby Show – Season 8
  39. ^ The Cosby Show – Season 8
  40. ^ "First Look Provides More Info About Complete Series, Including Extended List of Extras". TVShowsOnDVD.com. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=10305. Retrieved 2008-08-12. 

External links

The Cosby Show
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1980s debuts
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Upcoming
Bill Cosby
Comedy albums
Music albums
Compilations
Singles
  • "Little Ol' Man (Uptight—Everything's Alright)" (1967)
  • "Grover Henson Feels Forgotten" (1970)
  • "I Luv Myself Better Than I Luv Myself" (1976)
  • "Yes, Yes, Yes" (1976)
Television

The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1976) · The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1977) · All in the Family (1978) · Taxi (1979) · Taxi (1980) · Taxi (1981) · Barney Miller (1982) · Cheers (1983) · Cheers (1984) · The Cosby Show (1985) · The Golden Girls (1986) · The Golden Girls (1987) · The Wonder Years (1988) · Cheers (1989) · Murphy Brown (1990) · Cheers (1991) · Murphy Brown (1992) · Seinfeld (1993) · Frasier (1994) · Frasier (1995) · Frasier (1996) · Frasier (1997) · Frasier (1998) · Ally McBeal (1999) · Will & Grace (2000)
Nielsen Media Research top-rated United States network television show
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80–1: Dallas · 81–2: Dallas · 82–3: 60 Minutes · 83–4: Dallas · 84–5: Dynasty · 85–6: The Cosby Show · 86–7: The Cosby Show · 87–8: The Cosby Show · 88–9: The Cosby Show · 89–90: Roseanne
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