The Cosby Show

Created by Bill Cosby, Ed. Weinberger, Michael J. Leeson · 1984–1992 · English

With Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad, Malcolm-Jamal Warner

Seasons · 0 of 3 watched

Season 1 · 1984
Season 2 · 1985
Season 3 · 1986

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What it is

Cliff Huxtable, an obstetrician, and his wife Clair, a lawyer, bring up five children in a Brooklyn Heights brownstone. The comedy is domestic and gentle, drawn from Cosby's stand-up about family life: Cliff's teasing and lectures, Theo's struggles at school, Denise's fashions, small Rudy, and the parents' united front against every teenage scheme.

Why it matters

Number one for five straight seasons, it pulled the sitcom out of a slump and lifted NBC to first place, and its affluent Black professional family opened the way for later Black-led hits. It won the Emmy for comedy series in its first season.

Watching it

Recommended: Seasons 1–3

Length: about 27 hours for those.

Where to watch

Streaming on

Philo

In the US, as of 28 October 2026. Streaming data from JustWatch.

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Influenced1

Responds to it
Married... with Children · Michael G. Moye, Ron Leavitt · 1987–1997
Its working title was Not the Cosbys, and it set out to mock the warm family sitcoms of the mid-1980s that Cosby led.
Wikipedia, Married... with Children, Development

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