Anniversary Story

The Cosby Show: An Iconic American Television Family Celebrates 30th Anniversary

Mayeesa Mitchell

Photo: NBC
The cast of The Cosby Show in 1990.

It jump-started the career of actresses Keisha Knight Pulliam and Raven-Symone. It paved the way for shows like "A Different World," "Family Matters,"  "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and "Moesha."  Most importantly, it changed America's perception of African-American families. 

"The Cosby Show," which ran for eight seasons from 1984 to 1992, allowed America to enter into the lives of an upper-middle class family from Brooklyn, N.Y.. exactly 30 years ago this September. When America gathered in front of the television on Thursday nights, they were in for lots of laughs, great advice and a unique portrayal of African-American lives that had never been broadcast before.

"In addition to helping Americans to see African-American families in a new and appropriate light, the show also gave Americans a weekly lesson in soul, turning folks onto African-American music, culture, arts and folkways," Judy Isaksen, High Point University professor of  media and pop culture, said Wednesday.

The half-hour sitcom featured stand-up comedian and the show's creator Bill Cosby as Cliff Huxtable, a doctor with a love for colorful sweaters and unhealthy hoagies. His wife, Clair Huxtable (Phylicia Rashad), was a lawyer who always knew just what to say when her children were going through a hard time or needed to be disciplined.

They had five children: Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf), who aspired to be an attorney; Denise (Lisa Bonet), a free spirit who eventually attended Hillman College; Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner), a girl-crazed teenager who tended to find trouble; Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe), a pre-teen whose job seemed to be fighting with her younger sister and Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam), whose sassy wit helped her keep up with her older siblings.

Malcolm Jamal Warner, better known as Theo on "The Cosby Show," believes that the show accomplished something that was rare and special in terms of avoiding stereotypes.

"Mr. Cosby wanted to do a show not about an upper-middle-class black family, but an upper-middle-class family that happened to be black," Warner said in an interview with NPR. "Though it sounds like semantics, they're very different approaches."

Not surprisingly, the show's rare way of depicting a black family without focusing on their blackness is exactly what keeps it relevant today.

Photo: NBC
"The Cosby Show" cast reunite on "The Today Show"
for the show's 25th Anniversary.

The show began syndication as early as 1988 — right before season five aired.  Throughout the '90s, reruns of the early episodes were shown on the three biggest networks. The syndication continued into the early 2000s, with episodes being shown on Nick at Nite and TV Land. This eventually led to the entire series being placed on Netflix and even more recently Hulu Plus for instant streaming.

As second, third and now fourth generations get hooked on the wit and humor of this sitcom, there is no doubt that it stands as an American icon that transcends time.  

According to Walner Dort, a 19-year-old student attending New Jersey Institute of Technology, watching "The Cosby Show" was the first time he got to see a middle class black family on television.

Now that he's watched almost every episode, he can't help but pick favorites.

"My favorite character is Clair Huxtable," Dort said. "She was a powerful woman with a confident personality but was also very caring. When she spoke, you felt like she knew what she was talking about, no matter what the topic was."

The unfortunate fact is that now, even 30 years after "The Cosby Show" aired, there's no show on air that portrays African Americans the same way.

Turning on the television today leads you to shows like "Everybody Hates Chris" (which is now in syndication), "Tyler Perry's House of Payne," and BET's "Reed Between The Lines."

While these shows all tell the stories of black families, they all focus on their blackness, telling viewers that they are different because of their taste in music, fashion and the way they choose to raise their children — something "The Cosby Show" never did.

But we do have a more realistic approach to watching an iconic family who happens to be black portray exactly what "The Cosby Show" stood for on a daily basis. That family is the Obamas.

Cosby will tell you that his television sitcom is not what paved the way for this iconic family. Rather it was the legacy that the show left behind that helped America to embrace them.

"I would not be surprised with the comfort level of people looking at a family and not being afraid of them, not holding them to some strange old thoughts of a nation," Cosby said in a New York Times interview. "It's what people have done with themselves by watching the show and believing in it."



Sidebar

FIVE FAVORITE "COSBY SHOW" EPISODES:

5) A Full House - Known for one scene: Denise's friend from Jamaica enjoying the music channel "I said 'Ay Man! Ay Man!'"
4) A Touch of Wonder - Denise's car crashes into Stevie Wonder's Limo and he serenades her as a result
3) A Shirt Story - Denise attempts to recreate a Gordon Gartrell shirt for Theo and fails miserably
2) Happy Anniversary - In honor of Cliff's parents wedding anniversary, the family performs a musical piece and Rudy steals the spotlight
1) Theo's Holiday - The family creates the "Real World Apartments" to show Theo what it takes to make it in the real world