JUST-COS When did The Cosby Show appear on TV and who joined the Huxtable Family with Bill Cosby and Lisa Bonet?
A huge ratings success and the first popular sitcom with a predominantly black cast, it was based on the life of infamous star Bill Cosby. Here are the details…
What is The Cosby Show, when does it take place and what is it about?
The Cosby Show is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from September 1984 to April 1992.
It spans eight episodes and each episode is about 25 minutes long.
The show – which attracts up to 30 million viewers per episode – follows the lives of the Huxtable family, a successful Brooklyn couple and their five children.
Although humorous, the sitcom also tackled serious topics such as teenage pregnancy and dyslexia, and Cosby emphasized that he wanted the show to be “educational”.
Many critics also praised the positive portrayal of a black family for breaking down racial stereotypes, inspiring other shows such as In Living Color, 227 and The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air.
Who plays the Huxtable family?
Comedian Bill Cosby, 80, plays dad Clifford, an obstetrician and jazz trombonist, and his wife Clair, a lawyer, played by Phylicia Rashad.
Their children are Sondra (Sabrina La Baeuf), Denise (Lisa Bonet), Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner), Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe) and Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam).
What role did Bill Cosby play in making the show?
After reaching the peak of his fame in the 1970s, film and television star Cosby’s career seemed to be on the wane by 1984.
But two fans of his stand-up comedy happened to have their own major television production company.
They asked Cosby along with two writers to create a show based on his stand-up routine, which in turn drew inspiration from Cosby’s family life with wife Camille.
Cosby confirmed the show would be filmed in New York rather than Los Angeles, and also composed the show’s theme tune, Kiss Me, with Stu Gardner.
What else do we know about The Cosby Show?
Whitney Houston almost accepted a role on the show as eldest daughter Huxtable Sondra, but decided against it due to time constraints.
The character of Dr Hibbert in The Simpsons is a parody of Clifford Huxtable, inspired by the fact that the Fox cartoon was scheduled opposite the NBC comedy on Thursday nights.
The Cosby Show also spawned a comedy spinoff in 1987 called A Different World, which initially followed the Huxtables’ second daughter Denise through college life.
When the actress who played Denise, Lisa Bonet, became pregnant, the show was revamped to include other new characters and ran until 1993.
But Lisa’s pregnancy caused major tension between her and Cosby, and she was fired from the main show in 1991.
Malcolm Jamal-Warner, who plays Clifford’s son Theo, has said that the show’s legacy has been “tarnished” by the sexual assault allegations leveled against Cosby.
Since Cosby’s accusers and their stories began to emerge, repeats of The Cosby Show have been removed from most US networks.
