The Cosby Show
The cast of The Cosby Show in 1989.
Created by	Ed. Weinberger Michael J. Leeson William Cosby Jr., Ed.D.
Starring	Bill Cosby Phylicia Rashād Sabrina Le Beauf (1985-92) Lisa Bonet (1984-87, 1989-91) Malcolm-Jamal Warner Tempestt Bledsoe Keshia Knight Pulliam Geoffrey Owens (1985-92) Joseph C. Phillips (1989-91) Raven-Symoné (1989-92) Erika Alexander (1990-92)
Opening theme	"Kiss Me" - written by Stu Gardner & Bill Cosby performed by: Bobby McFerrin (Season 4) Oregon Symphony (Season 5) Craig Handy (Seasons 6-7) Lester Bowie (Season 8)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	201 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	24 minutes (per episode)
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Original run	September 20, 1984 – April 30, 1992
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The Cosby Show is an American television sitcom starring Bill Cosby, first airing on September 20, 1984 and running for eight seasons on the NBC television network, until April 30, 1992. 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] Entertainment Weekly stated that The Cosby Show helped to make possible a larger variety of African-American shows, from In Living Color to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.^[2]

The Cosby Show has been praised as one of television's best shows. In 2002, TV Guide placed it at #28 in its list of the 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.^[3] In 2007, Time Magazine placed the show on its unranked list of "100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME".^[4] Also 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".^[5]

Overview

The show focused on the Huxtable family, an upper-middle class family living in a Brownstone in Brooklyn, New York at 10 Stigwood Avenue.^[6] The patriarch was the very playful, humorous, and fun-loving Heathcliff "Cliff" Huxtable, an obstetrician. The matriarch was his just as playful, yet very eloquent, elegant, and assertive wife, attorney Clair Hanks Huxtable. Together, the duo presided over a raucous, yet loving, household. The show involved the usual difficulties of children growing up such as son Theo's experiences of dealing with dyslexia which was based on Cosby's real-life child Ennis who was dyslexic.

Bill Cosby, who had an unusually great deal of creative control over the show, wanted the program to be educational as well as entertaining, reflecting Cosby's own background in education. He also insisted that the program be taped in New York City rather than Los Angeles, where most television programs were taped.

The series was originally videotaped at what was then NBC's studio facilities in the Midwood section of Brooklyn, New York. Disputes between NBC and series director Jay Sandrich eventually forced the series' move to the Kaufman Astoria Studios in the New York City borough of Queens.

Cast

Main article: List of The Cosby Show characters

• Bill Cosby as Heathcliff "Cliff" Huxtable
• Phylicia Rashād as Clair Olivia Hanks-Huxtable
• Sabrina Le Beauf as Sondra Huxtable-Tibideaux (1985-92, recurring previously)
• Geoffrey Owens as Elvin Tibideaux (1987-92, recurring previously)
• Lisa Bonet as Denise Huxtable-Kendall (1984-87, 1989-91)
• Joseph C. Phillips as Martin Kendall (1989-91)
• Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Theodore Aloysius "Theo" Huxtable
• Tempestt Bledsoe as Vanessa Huxtable
• Erika Alexander as Pam Tucker (1990-92)*
• Keshia Knight Pulliam as Rudith Lillian "Rudy" Huxtable
• Raven-Symoné as Olivia Kendall (1989-92)

Episodes

Main article: List of The Cosby Show episodes

Pilot

The Cosby Show Pilot 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. The show had been originally pitched to ABC, which rejected it.^[1]

In the pilot therefore, the Huxtables have only four children. During an early scene, an exasperated Clair asks Cliff, "Why did we have four children?" to which he responds "because we did not want five". Following the pilot, the Huxtables have five children, with the addition of their eldest daughter, Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf). Although she first appears midway through the first season, she is mentioned in episodes prior to this, as being the eldest daughter who is attending college. Sondra was created when Bill Cosby wanted the show to express the accomplishment of successfully raising a child (eg: a college graduate). Whitney Houston was considered for the role of Sondra Huxtable. Sabrina Le Beauf almost missed out on the role, because she is only 10 years younger (b. 1958) than Phylicia Rashad (b. 1948), who played her mother, Clair Huxtable, on the show.

Bill Cosby's character is called Clifford in the pilot (as also evidenced by his name plate on the exterior of the Huxtable home). His name was later switched to Heathcliff. Also, Theodore is referred to as "Teddy" by Clair and Vanessa, as opposed to "Theo." This also happens in another episode early in the first season.

While reference is made to Clair being a lawyer, she is in fact portrayed as a stereotypical housewife and matriarch in the pilot, spending much of it exasperated and in an apron. In subsequent episodes, the household duties and parental responsibilities are shared more evenly between her and Heathcliff.

The interior of the Cosby house features a different dining and living room from subsequent episodes. Throughout the remainder of the series, the dining room is reserved for more formal occasions.

During a scene where Cliff challenges Theo on his poor grades, he exclaims "damn right!" - making this the one of only two swear-words to be used in the series. A flashback of this scene appears in the series finale.

Opening credits

The show's theme music is called "Kiss Me," composed by Stu Gardner and Bill Cosby. Seven versions of this theme (one theme per season, with the exception of the sixth and seventh season where all was the same) were used during the run of the series.

The season seven opening credits were originally those that were ultimately used in season eight. Due to legal complications regarding the background mural, the season seven opening was changed to the previous season's opening.

Ratings

The Cosby Show is one of two television shows (All in the Family being the other) that has been number 1 in the Nielsen Ratings for 5 consecutive TV seasons.

The ratings for each season, at the end of the season, were:

Season	Ratings Rank
1984-1985	#3
1985-1986	#1
1986-1987	#1
1987-1988	#1
1988-1989	#1
1989-1990	#1 (tied with Roseanne)
1990-1991	#5
1991-1992	#18

Syndication

Ratings in syndication for The Cosby Show were a big disappointment. Normally, it had been thought that black sitcoms do not test as well in syndication as white sitcoms. But with the extremely high ratings of the network run, it was thought that The Cosby Show would be an exception. Viacom began selling the syndication rights for The Cosby Show in 1986 for five runs per week beginning in October of 1988. In New York City, WOR-TV (now WWOR) put in a record high bid outbidding higher rated rivals like WNYW Fox 5 and WPIX. This set the tone for unusually high bids for the other markets. This show was not only extremely expensive but there was also a minute of national barter ads that had to be run as well. KCOP 13 won the bid in Los Angeles and WFLD 32 won the show in Chicago. Then something unusual happened. VHF stationswith NBC, CBS, or ABC began bidding on the show. Stations like WCAU 10 (then CBS now NBC) Philadelphia, KPIX 5 San Francisco (CBS), 5 WCVB Boston (ABC), 11 WPXI Pittsburgh (NBC), 4 WTVJ (CBS) (now NBC on 6) Miami, 7 KIRO Seattle (CBS), among many others would win the rights for the show. In markets like Detroit, Dallas, Houston, Cleveland, and a couple others, leading independents or Fox Affiliates would win the rights for the show.

Beginning in October of 1988, the show was offered five days a week and in most markets ran in the 4 PM, 5 PM, or 6 PM hour. The show was expected to be top rated in its time slots but was in third place or even lower in most markets. In Boston, the show rated so low on WCVB, that the station began running its five runs on the weekend wherever they could fit it in. Oprah Winfrey moved into the 4 PM time slot after that and is still run there today.

By 1990, stations wanted out of their contract to run The Cosby Show. In many markets, it was sold second hand at a loss to the number 2 or even number 3 independent station where ratings were still mediocre. In 1991, the show was offered on a cash basis at a much lower rate. The show continues to air in syndication in some markets during the morning or afternoon hours. It's also offered on Nick-at-Nite as well as TBS. Still, while the show has fair ratings, its not nearly as dominant as it was during its network run. In fact reruns of the show were only mediocre while new episodes still aired on NBC

Awards and nominations

Awards won

Emmy Awards

• Outstanding Comedy Series (1985)
• Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series (1984) Michael J. Leeson and Ed. Weinberger
• Justin Bukartek Lifetime Achievement Award

Golden Globe Awards

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

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)

Criticisms

In a 1992 book, authors Sut Jhally and Justin Lewis use the results of an audience study to argue that the Cosby Show obscured the issues of class and race and reinforced the idea that African Americans have only themselves to blame if they don't succeed in society.^[7]

DVD releases

Seasons 1 and 2 have been released by Urbanworks until First Look Entertainment acquired Urbanworks in early 2006. Future seasons of The Cosby Show are planned to be released by First Look Entertainment along with A Different World in 2007. Seasons 3 and 4 have been released by First Look Entertainment on June 5, 2007. [1]

Magna Pacific [2] have released seasons one through three of The Cosby Show on DVD in Australia and New Zealand, with similar artwork to the American copies, although season 2 is red rather than blue. Each Australasian cover also features the tagline "In a house full of love, there is always room for more."

DVD Name	Region 1 Release	Region 4 Release	Ep #
Season 1	August 2, 2005	October 4, 2006	24
Season 2	March 7 2006	February 7 2007	25
Season 3	June 5, 2007	April 4, 2007	25
Season 4	June 5, 2007	November 7, 2007	24
Season 5	November 6, 2007	TBA	25
Season 6	November 6, 2007	TBA	25
Season 7	TBA	TBA	26
Season 8	TBA	TBA	24

A Different World

Main article: A Different World (TV series)

The Cosby Show 's producers created a spin-off series called A Different World centered around the character Denise (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 the series 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 in The Cosby Show for Seasons 4-5 and a regular again in Seasons 6-7. Bonet was initially fired from her role as Denise Huxtable after the 1986 season due to her appearance in the film Angel Heart. When she threatened legal action, the spin-off was made as compensation in 1987.

International variations

In the Italian version of the show, the family name is not Huxtable but Robinson. The whole show is named I Robinson.

References

External links

• Official Bill Cosby Site
• The Cosby Show at CarseyWerner.net
• The Cosby Show at the Encyclopedia of Television
• The Cosby Show at meeVee