The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, first airing on September 20, 1984 and running for eight seasons on the NBC television network, until April 30, 1992.
The show focused on the Huxtable family, an upper-middle class African-American family living in Brooklyn, New York.
The patriarch was Heathcliff "Cliff" Huxtable, an obstetrician. The matriarch was his wife, attorney Clair Huxtable née Hanks.
Despite its comedic tone, the show sometimes involved serious subjects, such as son Theo's experiences dealing with dyslexia, inspired by Cosby's child Ennis, who was also dyslexic.
Teenage pregnancy was also a topic when Denise's friend, played by Lela Rochon, became pregnant.
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 rather than Los Angeles, where most television programs were taped.
The earliest episodes of the series were videotaped at NBC's Studio One facility in Brooklyn.
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 Cosby Show 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 series finale aired during the race-related 1992 Los Angeles riots, with Cosby quoted in media at the time pleading for peace.
Cliff In Love
How Ugly Is He?
If The Dress Fits, Wear It
Call of the Wild
Cosby Show episodelist
1 Pilot 2 Mr. Fish 3 Bad Dreams 4 Is That My Boy? 5 A Shirt Story 6 Breaking With Tradition 7 Cosby ShowOne More Time 8 Play It Again, Vanessa 9 How Ugly Is He? 10 Bon Jour Sondra 11 You're Not a Mother Night 12 Rudy's Sick 13 Father's Day 14 Independence Day 15 Physician of the Year 16 Jitterbug Break 17 Theo and the Joint 18 Vanessa's New Class 19 Clair's Case 20 Back to the Track, Jack 21 The Younger Woman 22 Slumber Party 23 Mr. Quiet 24 Cliff's Birthday 25 First Day of School 26 The Juicer 27 Happy Anniversary 28 Cliff in Love 29 Theo and the Older Woman 30 Cosby Show Halloween 31 Rudy Suits Up 32 Denise Drives 33 Clair's Sister 34 Clair's Toe 35 Denise's Friend 36 Mrs. Westlake 37 The Auction 38 Vanessa's Bad Grade 39 Theo and Cockroach 40 The Dentist 41 Play It Again, Russell 42 A Touch of Wonder 43 Full House 44 Close to Home 45 An Early Spring 46 Theo's Holiday 47 The Card Game 48 Off to the Races 49 Denise's Decision 50 Bring 'em Back Alive 51 Food for Thought 52 Golden Anniversary 53 Man Talk 54 Mother, May I? 55 The March 56 Theo's Flight 57 Vanessa's Rich 58 Denise Gets a D 59 A Girl and Her Dog 60 Cosby Show War Stories 61 Cliff in Charge 62 Monster Man Huxtable 63 Rudy Spends the Night 64 Say Hello to a Good Buy 65 Denise Gets an Opinion 66 Calling Doctor Huxtable 67 You Only Hurt the One You Love 68 The Shower 69 Cliff's 50th Birthday 70 I Know That You Know 71 Andalusian Flu 72 Bald and Beautiful 73 Planning Parenthood 74 Hillman 75 Call of the Wild 76 Theogate 77 It's Not Easy Being Green 78 Cliff's Mistake 79 Shakespeare 80 That's Not What I Said 81 Autumn Gifts 82 Looking Back (1) 83 Looking Back (2) 84 Where's Rudy? 85 Dance Mania 86 The Locker Room 87 The Show Must Go On 88 Bookworm 89 Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star 90 The Visit 91 The Drum Major 92 Waterworks 93 Once Upon a Time 94 Petanque 95 Trust Me 96 Home for the Weekend 97 The Prom 98 Gone Fishin' 99 Together Again and Again 100 The Physical 101 Rudy's All-Nighter 102 Move It 103 Out of Brooklyn 104 The Birth (1) 105 The Birth (2) 106 Cyranoise de Bergington 107 How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall 108 If the Dress Fits, Wear It 109 Is There a Hamster in the House? 110 Truth or Consequences 111 Cliff Babysits 112 Mrs. Huxtable Goes to Kindergarten 113 The Lost Weekend 114 No Way, Baby 115 Can I Say Something, Please? 116 The Dead End Kids Meet Dr. Lotus 117 The Boys of Winter 118 It Comes and It Goes 119 Theo's Women 120 Birthday Blues 121 A Room With No View 122 What He Did for Love 123 Day of the Locusts 124 57 Varieties 125 Denise: The Saga Continues 126 Surf's Up 127 I'm 'In' With the 'In' Crowd 128 Denise Kendall: Navy Wife 129 Theo's Gift 130 Denise Kendall: Babysitter 131 Shall We Dance 132 The Day the Spores Landed 133 Cliff's Wet Adventure 134 Grampy and Nu-Nu Visit the Huxtables 135 Cliff la Dolce 136 Getting to Know You 137 Elvin Pays for Dinner 138 Cliff's Nightmare 139 Denise Kendall: Singles Counselor 140 The Birthday Party 141 Not Everybody Loves the Blues 142 Rudy's Walk on the Wild Side 143 Mr. Sandman 144 Isn't It Romantic? 145 Theo's Dirty Laundry 146 What's It All About?147 Off to See the Wretched 148 The Moves 149 Live and Learn 150 The Storyteller 151 Same Time Next Year 152 Bird in the Hand 153 The Last Barbecue 154 Period of Adjustment 155 It's All in the Game 156 Getting the Story 157 Just Thinking About It (1) 158 Just Thinking About It (2) 159 The Infantry Has Landed 160 You Can Go Home Again 161 It's a Boy 162 Clair's Liberation 163 It's Your Move 164 Theo's Final Final 165 Attack of the Killer B's 166 Total Control 167 Adventures in Babysitting 168 27 and Still Cooking 169 The Return of the Clairettes 170 No More Mr. Nice Guy 171 Home Remedies 172 Nightmare on Stigwood Avenue 173 There's Still No Joy in Mudville 174 Cliff and Jake 175 Theo and the Kids (1) 176 Theo and the Kids (2) 177 With This Ring? 178 There's No Place Like This Home 179 Particles in Motion 180 Pam Applies to College 181 Warning: A Double-Lit Candle Can Cause a Meltdown 182 It's Apparent to Everyone 183 The Iceman Bricketh 184 Olivia's Field Trip 185 For Men Only 186 Olivia Comes Out of the Closet 187 Two Is a Crowd 188 Clair's Place 189 Theo's Future 190 The Price Is Wrong 191 Bring Me the Lip Gloss of Deirdre Arpelle 192 Eat, Drink and Be Wary 193 The Getaway 194 Cliff Gets Jilted 195 Cliff and Theo Come Clean 196 Clair's Reunion 197 Rudy's Retreat 198 You Can't Stop the Music 199 Some Gifts Aren't Deductible 200 Cosby Show And So We Commence (1) 201 Cosby Show And So We Commence (2)
