TV20 Detroit

The Cosby Show, one of the biggest hits in American television history, dominated Thursday evenings from for eight years on NBC. Focusing on the everyday adventures of an upper-middle-class black family, the series revived a television genre (situation comedy), saved a beleaguered network (NBC), and sparked controversy about race and class in America. The Cosby Show revolved around the day-to-day situations faced by Cliff (Bill Cosby) and Clair Huxtable (Phylicia Rashad) and their five children. This family was unlike other black families previously seen on television in that it was solidly upper-middle-class--the Huxtables lived in a fashionable Flatbush brownstone, the father was a respected obstetrician, and the mother a successful attorney. Theo (Malcolm Jamal-Warner), the only son, was something of an underachiever who enjoyed a special relationship with his father.

The oldest daughter, Sondra (Sabrina LeBeauf), was a college student at prestigious Princeton University. The next daughter in age, Denise (Lisa Bonet), tested her parents' patience with rather eccentric, new-age preoccupations. The two younger daughters, Rudy (Keisha Knight Pulliam) and Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe), were cute preteens who served admirably as foils to Cosby's hilarious child-rearing routines.

As the series continued its eight-year run, the Huxtable brood grew larger and larger as the kids grew up and brought friends, spouses, and extended family members into the group. Cliff and Clair met each challenge with love, humor, and patience, although Cliff's constant refrain was "I just hope they get out of the house before we die."

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