This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2008)

Cosby is an American situation comedy television series broadcast on CBS from September 16, 1996 to April 28, 2000, loosely based on the British sitcom One Foot in the Grave. The program stars Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashād (who previously worked with Cosby in the 1984–1992 sitcom The Cosby Show). Madeline Kahn portrayed their neighbor, Pauline, until her death in 1999.

Synopsis[link]

Cosby portrays grumpy Hilton Lucas, a New York City man forced into early (and unwanted) retirement from his job as an airline customer service agent. His wife Ruth is played by Phylicia Rashād. Initially, Telma Hopkins was cast as Ruth Lucas; however, she was recast after she didn't react well to Cosby's tendency to ad lib.^[1][2] The couple had one daughter, Erica Lucas, 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.^[3] 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, were recreated (albeit with a turtle in this case).^{[citation needed]}

A notable later episode was the fourth season premiere, "My Spy", which broke the fourth wall by having 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 (this is similar to what an earlier sitcom, Barney Miller, did following the death of cast member Jack Soo in the late 1970s).

Cosby premiered to an audience of more than 24.7 million viewers,^[4] but averaged 16 million viewers^[5] 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 and, frustrated by declining ratings and the move, Cosby and CBS executive Leslie Moonves mutually decided to end the series.^[6] The last episode, "The Song Remains the Same," aired on April 28, 2000, and was the 95th episode to be produced and broadcast, drawing just over 7 million viewers.

Cast[link]

• Bill Cosby — Hilton Lucas
• Phylicia Rashad — Ruth Lucas (née Bolling)
• T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh — Erica Lucas
• Doug E. Doug — Griffin Vesey
• Madeline Kahn — Pauline Fox (1996–1999)
• Jurnee Smollett — Jurnee (1998–2000)
• Sinbad — Del (1998–2000)
• Angelo Massagli — Angelo (1997)

Nielsen ratings[link]

Cosby was considered to be a ratings success for CBS, winning it time slot of Monday, 8:00 PM in households and viewers for the first three seasons.^[5]

Episodes[link]

Reruns/syndication[link]

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. TBS shortly thereafter ran reruns of the series for about two years. In March 2010, gmc (formerly Gospel Music Channel) television network began airing the show but removed the show in September. As of October 2011, it is back on the schedule.

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Cosby at the Internet Movie Database
• Cosby at TV.com