Cosby (TV series)

*Cosby*
Cosby
Genre	Sitcom
Based on	One Foot in the Grave; by David Renwick
Developed by	Dennis Klein
Starring	Bill Cosby; Phylicia Rashad; T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh; Doug E. Doug; Madeline Kahn (1996–1999); Jurnee Smollett (1998–2000); Darien Sills Evans (1999–2000);
Theme music composer	Bill Cosby; Benny Golson;
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	96 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Bill Cosby; Dennis Klein; Norman Steinberg; Tom Straw;
Producers	Marcy Carsey; Joanne Curley-Kerner; Caryn Mandabach; John Rogers; Peter Tortorici; Tom Werner;
Production locations	Kaufman Astoria Studios; Astoria, New York, U.S.
Camera setup	Videotape; Multi-camera
Running time	22 minutes
Production companies	Bill Cosby; Carsey-Werner Productions;
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	September 16, 1996 –; April 28, 2000

Cosby is an American sitcom television series broadcast on CBS from September 16, 1996, until April 28, 2000. The program starred Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad, who had previously worked together in the 1984–1992 NBC sitcom The Cosby Show. Madeline Kahn portrayed their neighbor, Pauline, until her death in 1999. The series is loosely based on the British sitcom One Foot in the Grave airing on BBC from 1990 until 2001. This was also the second and final sitcom that Madeline Kahn made for The Carsey-Werner Company, her first being Oh Madeline (based on the British sitcom Pig in the Middle) in 1983.

Synopsis

Cosby portrayed grumpy Hilton Lucas, a New York City man forced into early retirement from his job as an airline customer service agent. His wife Ruth was 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 portrayed Darien Evans, Erica's fiancé/husband. Jurnee Smollett also joined the cast as 11-year-old Jurnee, whom Hilton adored.

The show was based on the concept from the BBC series One Foot in the Grave, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie. 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, albeit by accident, were recreated (though, in this version, with a turtle).^{[citation needed]}

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's character from that series. 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 and The King of Queens, decided to move the series from Monday to Wednesday and eventually Friday.^{[citation needed]} The moves led to a drop in ratings. At the end of the season, having accumulated enough episodes for the show to enter reruns, Cosby and CBS executive Leslie 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

Season	Episodes	Originally aired
Season	Episodes	First aired	Last aired
1	25	September 16, 1996 (1996-09-16)	May 19, 1997 (1997-05-19)
2	24	September 15, 1997 (1997-09-15)	May 18, 1998 (1998-05-18)
3	25	September 21, 1998 (1998-09-21)	May 17, 1999 (1999-05-17)
4	22	September 29, 1999 (1999-09-29)	April 28, 2000 (2000-04-28)

Cast

Bill Cosby — Hilton Lucas
Phylicia Rashad — Ruth Lucas
T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh — Erica Lucas
Doug E. Doug — Griffin Vesey
Madeline Kahn — Pauline Fox (1996–1999)
Jurnee Smollett — Jurnee (1998–2000)
Darien Sills-Evans — Darien Hall (1998–2000)
Sinbad — Daniel (1998–2000)
Angelo Massagli — Angelo (1997)

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, gmc (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 in January 2015, but was removed from air on July 7, 2015, when records were made public regarding allegations of Cosby's sexual assault against several women.^[1]

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.^[2]

Season	Timeslot (EST)	Episodes	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
1	Monday 8:00 pm (September 16, 1996 – May 19, 1997)	25	#21	16.0^[2]
2	Monday 8:00 pm (September 15, 1997 – May 18, 1998)	24	#28^[3]	13.8^[3]
3	Monday 8:00 pm (September 21, 1998 – May 17, 1999)	25	#35	12.5
4	Wednesday 8:00 pm / Friday 8:30 pm (September 29, 1999 – April 28, 2000)	21	#82^[4]	8.4^[4]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Result	Category	Recipient
1997	BMI Film & TV Awards	Won	BMI TV Music Award	Bill Cosby and Benny Golson
1998	BMI Film & TV Awards	Won	BMI TV Music Award	Bill Cosby and Benny Golson
1997	Emmy Award	Nominated	Outstanding Technical Direction/Camera/Video for a Series	Theodore Ashton, Neal Carlos, Tom Conkright, Stephen A. Jones, Ritch Kenney, Karl Messerschmidt, and J.A. Stuewe Prudden (For pilot episode)
1998	Emmy Award	Won	Outstanding Lighting Direction (Electronic) for a Comedy Series	Alan Walker (For pilot episode)
1997	NAACP Image Awards	Won	Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series	Phylicia Rashad
1997		Won	Outstanding Comedy Series	-
1998		Nominated	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh
			Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series	Doug E. Doug
			Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series	Phylicia Rashad
			Outstanding Comedy Series	-
1999			Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh
			Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series	Doug E. Doug
		Won	Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress	Jurnee Smollett
		Won	Outstanding Comedy Series	-
2000		Nominated	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series	Doug E. Doug
2000		Won	Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress	Jurnee Smollett
1997	People's Choice Awards	Won	Favorite Television New Comedy Series	-
1999	Satellite Awards	Nominated	Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical	Phylicia Rashad
1999	TV Guide Awards	Nominated	Favorite Actor in a Comedy	Bill Cosby
2000			Favorite Actress in a Comedy	Phylicia Rashad
2000			Favorite Actor in a Comedy	Bill Cosby

References

^ Steiner, Amanda Michelle (July 7, 2015). "Bill Cosby reruns pulled from BET's Centric, Bounce TV". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
^ ^a ^b "CBS and Bill Cosby Announce Finale for 'COSBY'". CBS Television. March 24, 2000. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved February 24, 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ ^a ^b "The Final Countdown". Entertainment Weekly Published in issue #434 May 29, 1998. May 29, 1998. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
^ ^a ^b "Top TV Shows For 1999–2000 Season". Variety. Retrieved January 9, 2010.

External links

[1] Steiner, Amanda Michelle (July 7, 2015). "Bill Cosby reruns pulled from BET's Centric, Bounce TV". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 7, 2015.

[finale-2] "CBS and Bill Cosby Announce Finale for 'COSBY'". CBS Television. March 24, 2000. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved February 24, 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[9798season-3] "The Final Countdown". Entertainment Weekly Published in issue #434 May 29, 1998. May 29, 1998. Retrieved January 9, 2010.

[9900season-4] "Top TV Shows For 1999–2000 Season". Variety. Retrieved January 9, 2010.

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v t e Bill Cosby
Filmography Discography In advertising List of awards List of honorary degrees Sexual assault cases
Comedy albums	Bill Cosby Is a Very Funny Fellow...Right! (1963) I Started Out as a Child (1964) Why Is There Air? (1965) Wonderfulness (1966) Revenge (1967) To Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With (1968) 200 M.P.H. (1968) It's True! It's True! (1969) 8:15 12:15 (1969) Sports (1969) Live: Madison Square Garden Center (1970) When I Was a Kid (1971) For Adults Only (1971) Inside the Mind of Bill Cosby (1972) Fat Albert (1973) My Father Confused Me... What Must I Do? What Must I Do? (1977) Bill's Best Friend (1978) Bill Cosby: Himself (1982) Those of You with or Without Children, You'll Understand (1986) Oh, Baby! (1991)
Music albums	Silver Throat: Bill Cosby Sings (1967) Bill Cosby Sings Hooray for the Salvation Army Band! (1968) Badfoot Brown & the Bunions Bradford Funeral & Marching Band (1971) Bill Cosby Talks to Kids About Drugs (1971) Bill Cosby Presents Badfoot Brown & the Bunions Bradford Funeral Marching Band (1972) At Last Bill Cosby Really Sings (1974) Bill Cosby Is Not Himself These Days (1976) Disco Bill (1977) State of Emergency (2009)
Compilations	The Best of Bill Cosby (1969) More of the Best of Bill Cosby (1970) Bill (1973) Down Under (1975)
Singles	"Little Ole Man (Uptight, Everything's Alright)" (1967)
Television	The Bill Cosby Show (1969–71) The New Bill Cosby Show (1972-73) Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972–85) Cos (1976) The Cosby Show (1984–92) A Different World (1987–93) The Cosby Mysteries (1994–95) Cosby (1996–2000) Little Bill (1999–2004) Fatherhood (2004–05)
Stand-up comedy films and specials	Himself (1983) Bill Cosby 77 (unreleased)
Family	Camille Cosby Ennis Cosby Erika Cosby
Related articles	Fatherhood (1986) Pound Cake speech (2004) Tetragrammaton Records Collection of African-American art Andrea Constand lawsuit We Need to Talk About Cosby (2022)