Cosby Show, The

Starring Bill Cosby, The Cosby Show is a television situation comedy that aired on NBC between September 20, 1984, and April 30, 1992. During its eight seasons, the show centered on the day-to-day events of the Huxtable family in Brooklyn Heights, New York. Featuring an affluent African American family, the show raised various questions about appropriate portrayals of African Americans on television. It was a show about the American Dream. The Huxtable family concerned itself with few issues and concerns that most families, both black and nonblack, had to worry about. The family's fundamental value was love. Race did not matter. It was an affluent and upwardly mobile family. Its audiences seem to have considered the show a 30-minute escape from reality and a way to experience temporary utopia.

The show is considered one of the most popular programs of the 1980s. It was based on Bill Cosby's stand-up comedy. Television critics argue that The Cosby Show opened a door to two genres of television programs. On the one hand, it enabled shows about African Americans to be more acceptable in the American television industry. Programs such as In Living Color and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air appeared during the succeeding period. On the other hand, it popularized shows on family life, frequently a not-so-eventful life of a family. Home Improvement and Everybody Loves Raymond fall into this category. Of the eight seasons it was on air, The Cosby Show was ranked number one by the Nielsen ratings for five consecutive years.

The show's protagonist is Bill Cosby acting in the role of Cliff Huxtable, the father of the family. He is an obstetrician, married to his wife, Claire. Claire is an attorney. They have five children: Sondra (age 18), Denise (15), Theodore (13), Vanessa (11), and Rudy (5). Although many of the family events and issues the show captured were comical and uneventful, the show also discussed many of the current topics, including teenage pregnancy, dyslexia, drug use, parenting, and others. However, it is notable that the show is characterized by its lack of struggles. Although many African American families in the 1980s continued to suffer from poverty, lack of housing, racism, and other forms of dispossessment, the Huxtable family was distanced from them. For example, when Theo's notebook accidentally falls off the kitchen table to reveal his possession of marijuana, Theo explains to his parents that it does not belong to him, and they believe him. Still not convinced that his parents trust him fully, Theo goes on to bring his friend to whom the marijuana belongs. Situations such as this illustrate that the Huxtables are an exceptional family whom social malaise does not concern.

Bill Cosby in February 2011. Cosby began his career as a stand-up comic, landing his first acting role in 1960. He later starred in The Cosby Show, which reached number one in the Nielsen ratings for five straight years and aired for eight seasons.

Furthermore, the show rarely discusses the matter of race. For a program whose cast and characters were predominantly African American, this was a rarity. Most other similar shows, such as The Jeffersons, mention race very frequently. When The Cosby Show refers to American racial politics, it is often in relation to the civil rights movement. The show underscores the values of artistic works by African Americans such as James [Page 589]Brown, Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, and others. One of the few examples of the show referring to African American racial politics includes the picture of Martin Luther King, Jr., in Sondra's bedroom and King's “I Have a Dream” speech appearing on the television in the family's living room. Although critics agree that these are relatively implicit signs of the show giving recognition to the struggles of civil rights and African American leaders for the affluent lifestyle that the family is leading, the show also seems to underestimate the reality of racial dynamics in the country.

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