Cosby Show, The
The Cosby Show was an award winning family comedy that ran from 1984 to 1992. The premise of the show revolved around the daily goings on of a well-to-do African-American family, the Huxtables, who never seemed to go to work but had plenty of money. The show was a major hit and is considered by many to be the best show to come out of the 1980’s. The show starred Billy Cosby as Dr. Heathcliff “Cliff” Huxtable, Phylicia Rashad as Clair Huxtable, Lisa Bonet as Denise Huxtable, Malcom-Jamal Warnter as Theo Huxtable, Tempest Bledso as Vanessa Huxtable, Keshia Knight Pulliam as Rudy Huxtable, and Sabrina Le Beauf as Sondra Huxtable. It is worth mentioning that another 80’s series, titled A Different World, was a spin-off of this show. It featured the life of Denise Huxtable as she went off to college.
The Cosby Show was primarily based on the comedy routines of Bill Cosby, which just happened to be based on events from Cosby’s real family. The Cosby family was an African-American upper class family that lived in Brooklyn Heights, NY. Cliff (Cosby) was an obstetrician, and his wife Clair (Rashad) was an attorney. With their four daughters and one son, most of the episodes were very lighthearted and fun, dealing with humorous situations the family found themselves in. From time to time, the family would deal with serious issues like teen pregnancy and child abuse, but these were few and far between.