Disclaimer: I know this may be a show that as most of you know has a dark circle around it now as what Bill Cosy has done during this time and later on in his life and has got away with some horrific crimes against women. Please understand this is a review of the show and the performances by the rest of the ensemble as the rest of the family cast and extended support actors and actresses did nothing wrong and deserve the highest recognition for the excellent performances they had in the first series and seven other series to follow.
The first season brought some beautiful memories of my childhood watching this show and the example of what was possible for anyone who had a dream and vision to become someone when they grew up The Cosby Show helped nurture what a great family dynamic can be and it also showed that it was not something that was easy to achieve but it offered that it was something that too hard work to attain and being a perfect family there is no such thing there is a perfection in disfunction.
In season 1 of The Cosby Show we meet Cliff Huxtable and Claire Huxtable and their wonderful family starting with Sondra then we have Denise and then Theo, Vanessa and last but not least Rudy Huxtable. The show was based on Cosyb’s family and their life however the show is one of the first tv shows with an all-Black cast and was a show that broke the stereotype glass roof of what a Black aka African American family can portray. The Show had Cliff as a Doctor and Claire as a Lawyer and both of them were highly successful in their professions the show displayed what any family really can be like and what they can achieve with hard work communication, love and support.
In the pilot episode, we meet the family and the topics that they started to tackle were not really strong ones in the first couple of episodes mostly normal family dramas in the first episode we see that Theo brought a poor report card home and this disappointed his mother and not because he got bad grades but as they put it that he did not apply himself and if only Theo applied himself he would do better and pass they did not have expectations of the kids following in the parents’ footsteps.
The second topic of the first episode was about dating and what a strange boy Denise brought home as a date in the first episode as I mentioned above they did not see the potential boyfriends and girlfriends positions as crucial but if they had a good head on their shoulder and could work hand in hand with their children and this topic goes deeper later on in the show in future seasons.
The show did not shy away from discussing important topics either however it did it in a manner that was sensitive to the audience as well because The Cosby Show was aimed towards the whole family audience the second episode dealt with death and how it can affect the youngest in the family and showed how loss can be taught to a five-year-old when Rudy lost her goldfish and Cliff held a funeral in the family bathroom this was thought of nothing at the time but life lessons were told well on in this show however of what was going on behind the scenes.
One of the strong topics that it challenged early on was with Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s character Theo had to deal with drugs and bullying when Theo’s mum found a joint in his school book this was a major topic to discuss back then and how both parents dealt with it back then was great in the way they instantly believed their child a lot of parents would not do that these days, however, it still did not sit well with Theo and he in the episode confronts the bully and the owner of the joint and asks why he put it in Theo’s book and we basically said that the teacher was coming and he had no other place to hide it.
You have to remember that Marijuana back in the ’80s was seen as a bad hard drug and fewer people were educated on it and I am not saying that its a good drug and you should do it or not do it all I am saying is that the education level on the subject has increased and you can make up your own mind. I am still a no on drugs period but being educated on a topic is a good thing so go out and learn about something before you pass judgment.
I will finish off by saying that The Cosby Show is a show that should incite happy childhood memories for viewers that grew up watching the show and if you feel differently that is understandable.
It’s also amazing that for the first season, the show had 24 episodes normally the first season of a show is shorter than the other seasons that come after it.
Although this is a show for anyone to watch due to the nature of what happened in the recent past in regards to Bill Cosby I would advise families to watch the show with their kids and discuss the show and what occurred now and even discuss the subjects that the show would discuss that would be difficult.
Also, a bit of trivia. did you know that Phylicia Rashad and Debbie Allen from Grey’s Anatomy are sisters?
My Rating