Information About ™The Cosby Show |
''The Cosby Show'' is an American Television Sitcom starring Bill Cosby , first broadcast on September 20 , 1984 and ran for eight seasons on the NBC Television network, until April 30 , 1992 . OVERVIEW The show focused on the Huxtable family, an upper-middle class family living in a . 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 See Also: List of The Cosby Show characters
EPISODES See Also: 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. 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, making it one of the few television series to use multiple versions of the same theme song in the course of a series. Bobby McFerrin 's version (fourth season) features only him overdubbing all the vocal parts, snapping fingers and imitating horn section sound. 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. The original season seven opening, with modifications, was used in the eighth and final season. 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: SYNDICATION Ratings in syndication for Cosby 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 thoght that the Cosby Show would be an exception. Viacom began selling the syndication rights for Cosby 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 Cosby. 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
Golden Globe Awards
Awards nominated Emmy Awards
Golden Globe Awards
CRITICISMS In a 1992 book, authors , 1992. ISBN 0813314194 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. {Link without Title} Magna Pacific {Link without Title} 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." ''A DIFFERENT WORLD'' See Also: A Different World (TV series) ''The Cosby Show'' 's producers created a Spin-off series called ''A Different World'' for actress Lisa Bonet, who played Denise, 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''. SEE ALSO
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