''Cosby'' is an American television

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

that aired on CBS from September 16, 1996, to April 28, 2000. The program starred

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American retired comedian, actor, and media personality. Often cited as a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry, Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy ...

(in his final series) and Phylicia Rashad, who had previously worked together in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

sitcom ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom created by (along with Ed. Weinberger and Michael J. Leeson) and starring Bill Cosby that originally aired on NBC from September 20, 1984, to April 30, 1992, with a total of 201 half-hour e ...

'' (1984–1992).

Madeline Kahn Madeline Gail Kahn (''née'' Wolfson; September 29, 1942 – December 3, 1999) was an American actress, comedian, and singer. She was known for her comedic roles in films directed by Peter Bogdanovich and Mel Brooks, including '' What's Up, Doc ...

portrayed their neighborly friend, Pauline, until her death in 1999. The show was adapted from the British sitcom ''

One Foot in the Grave ''One Foot in the Grave'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom written by David Renwick. There were six series (each consisting of six half-hour episodes) and seven Christmas specials over a period of ten years from early 1990 to late ...

''.

Premise

Set at the corner of 33rd Ave and 1539 Blake St. in Astoria, Queens, Cosby portrayed grumpy Hilton Lucas, a

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

man forced into early retirement from his job as an airline customer service agent. His wife Ruth was again played by Phylicia Rashad. Initially, Telma Hopkins was cast as Ruth Lucas; however, she was recast after she reacted poorly to Cosby's tendency to ad lib. The couple had one daughter, Erica Lucas, initially portrayed by Audra McDonald and later portrayed by T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh. Doug E. Doug played Griffin Vesey, a foster son the Lucas family took in when he was younger. Griffin occasionally tried to win Erica's affections, but they decided just to remain friends when in the fourth and final season,

Darien Sills-Evans Darien Evans, better known by his stage name, Darien Sills-Evans, is an American actor, writer, comedian, and director. He is best known for Darien in '' Cosby'' (1998-2000), Dr. Fields in '' Third Watch'' (2002-2005) and Andrew in '' The Recep ...

portrayed Darien Evans, Erica's

fiancé An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''f ...

husband A husband is a man involved in a marital relationship, commonly referred to as a spouse. The specific rights, responsibilities, and societal status attributed to a husband can vary significantly across different cultures and historical perio ...

Jurnee Smollett Jurnee Diana Smollett (born October 1, 1986) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress appearing on television sitcoms, including '' On Our Own'' (1994–1995) and ''Full House'' (1992–1994). She gained greater recognition ...

also joined the cast as 11-year-old Jurnee, whom Hilton adored. The show was based on the concept from the BBC series ''

'', starring Richard Wilson and

Annette Crosbie Annette Crosbie (born 12 February 1934) is a Scottish actress.Annette Crosbie fi ...

. David Renwick, the creator and writer of ''One Foot in the Grave'', was listed as a consultant of ''Cosby''. ''One Foot in the Grave'' was notable for containing dark humor for a mainstream sitcom. The tone was significantly lightened for ''Cosby'', although certain controversial scenes, such as a scene in which the lead character incinerates a live

tortoise Tortoises ( ) are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin for "tortoise"). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like o ...

, albeit by accident, were recreated. When the show was under development for CBS, it's working title was ''Not Dead Yet'' ( not to be confused with the short-lived 2023-2024 ABC sitcom of the same name respectively), featuring Glenn Plummer as Griffin Vessey and Audra McDonald as Erica Lucas. Madeline Kahn and Phylicia Rashad were the only cast members to survive the pilot episode. The unaired theme by

Benny Golson Benny Golson (January 25, 1929 – September 21, 2024) was an American bebop and hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He came to prominence with the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, more as a writer than a p ...

was recorded as a jazz standard while congas and harmonica were later added for the uptempo salsa mix. Telma Hopkins auditioned for the role of Ruth Lucas and won. However, she was replaced shortly before filming the pilot. A notable later episode was the fourth-season premiere, "My Spy", which showed Hilton watching an episode of '' I Spy'' (the 1960s series in which Cosby co-starred) and then dreaming an adventure with

Robert Culp Robert Martin Culp (August 16, 1930 – March 24, 2010) was an American actor and screenwriter widely known for his work in television. Culp earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on ''I Spy (1965 TV series), I Spy'' ( ...

's character from that series; the episode ends with a brief dream sequence in which Rashad dreams she is playing her previous character from ''

''. The same season also presented an episode entitled "Loving Madeline" which featured the standard opening credits for the series but was in fact a tribute to Kahn featuring the cast members out of character discussing the recently deceased actress, punctuated by clips from past episodes. ''Cosby'' premiered to an audience of more than 24.7 million viewers, but averaged 16 million viewers during the course of the season. As the series progressed, ratings shrank and CBS, fresh with new hit comedies in ''

Everybody Loves Raymond ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' is an American television sitcom created by Philip Rosenthal that aired on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005, with a total of 210 episodes spanning nine seasons. It was produced by Where's Lunch and Wor ...

'' and ''

The King of Queens ''The King of Queens'' is an American television sitcom that ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007, with a total of 207 half-hour episodes spanning nine seasons. The series was created by Michael J. Weithorn and David Litt, who al ...

'', decided to move the series from Monday to Wednesday, then to the Friday night death slot. The moves led to a drop in ratings. At the end of the fourth season, having accumulated 96 episodes, Cosby and CBS executive Les Moonves mutually decided to end the series. The last episode, "The Song Remains the Same", aired on April 28, 2000, and was the 96th episode to be produced and broadcast, drawing just over 7 million viewers.

Episodes

Cast

Main

— Hilton Lucas * Phylicia Rashad — Ruth Lucas * T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh — Erica Lucas * Doug E. Doug — Griffin Vesey *

— Pauline Fox *

— Jurnee (season 3; recurring season 2) *

— Darien Hall (seasons 3–4)

Recurring

*Angelo Massagli — Angelo (season 2) * Sinbad — Daniel (season 3)

Reruns/syndication

The series was distributed by Carsey-Werner Distribution for broadcast syndication for the 2000–2001 television season, where it ran until the fall of 2004; after that point it was offered in low-cost barter arrangements. TBS shortly thereafter ran reruns of the series for about two years. In March 2010,

Up TV UP TV (stylized as UPtv; formerly GMC TV and originally Gospel Music Channel) is an American basic cable television network that was founded to have a focus on gospel music. It has expanded into family-friendly original movies, series, and specia ...

(the current UP Network) began airing the show, but as a family network with religious ownership, removed some episodes and edited some content in episodes to meet the network's mores. It began to air on

Bounce TV Bounce TV is an American digital terrestrial television, digital broadcast television network owned by Scripps Networks, a subsidiary of E. W. Scripps Company. It launched on September 26, 2011, and was promoted as "the first 24/7 digital multic ...

in January 2015, but was removed from air on July 7, 2015, when records were made public regarding Bill Cosby's sexual assault cases. Two seasons are available through Hoopla. All 4 seasons are listed for streaming on Amazon Prime but not currently available for actual streaming.

Nielsen ratings

''Cosby'' was considered to be a ratings success for CBS, winning its time slot of Monday, 8:00 PM in households and viewers for the first three seasons.

References

External links

''Cosby'' @ CBS' Official WebsiteCarsey-Werner ''Cosby''
* * {{Navboxes , title = Awards for ''Cosby'' , list = {{NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Comedy Series {{People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Comedy 1990s American black sitcoms 1990s American multi-camera sitcoms 2000s American multi-camera sitcoms 1996 American television series debuts 2000s American black sitcoms 2000 American television series endings American television series based on British television series American English-language television shows Television series about families Television series by Carsey-Werner Productions Television series created by Bill Cosby Television shows filmed in New York City Television shows set in New York City CBS sitcoms