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Description: The Cosby Show depicted a close-knit and prosperous African-American family from New York City. Dr. Heathcliff (OB-GYN) and Clair (attorney) Huxtable were a happily married, dual-profession couple with aspirations of raising their 5 children in an uplifting, positive environment. The Cosby Show appeared on NBC from 1984 to 1992, becoming one of the most popular programs in TV history. It was an instant smash hit, holding TV's #1 slot for a record 5 consecutive years and stayed in the Top 20 shows for all eight seasons it was on NBC.Amazon.com: Looking back at season 1 of The Cosby Show, it's easy to forget that momentous history was being made. Not only did this immensely popular sitcom hold the #1 spot among all network TV shows for five consecutive seasons (a record that still stands), but it promoted an evolutionary progression that influenced the entire TV industry from that point forward. African Americans had enjoyed sitcom success in the past (on Julia, The Jeffersons, and Good Times), but the idealized family of Cliff and Clair Huxtable (Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad) represented a new and quietly revolutionary perspective; married for 21 years with five children (one in college, a detail unmentioned in the pilot episode), the Huxtables were happy and successful (he's a doctor, she's a lawyer), and issues of race were almost entirely irrelevant to the show's universal appeal. Making their Thursday-night debut on September 20, 1984, they were conceived by Cosby (as "executive consultant Dr. William H. Cosby Jr., Ed.D."), cocreators Ed. Weinberger and Michael Leeson, and executive producers Tom Werner and Marcy Carsey, with a matter-of-fact approach to upgrading the African American image, built upon Cosby's rubber-faced popularity as a stand-up comedian and rooted in the complete and unbiased integration of the black experience into the American mainstream. More to the point, The Cosby Show was eminently respectable family entertainment, perhaps too squeaky-clean for some tastes, but immediately popular at a time when Eddie Murphy (in Beverly Hills Cop) was honing a more profane image that Cosby disapproved of. The show was also perfectly cast for mass appeal, from the irresistible precociousness of Keshia Knight Pulliam (as the youngest and most charming Huxtable daughter, Rudy) to the stylish adolescence of Lisa Bonet (years before her controversial role in Angel Heart) as 16-year-old Denise; Malcolm-Jamal Warner as outspoken teenager Theo; Tempestt Bledsoe as sensible younger daughter Vanessa; and Sabrina LaBeauf as college student and eventual mother of twins, Sondra. Combined with the effortless chemistry of Cosby and Rashad (credited in Season 1 as Phylicia Ayers Allen), the entire cast forged an easygoing, loosely-rehearsed dynamic that was genuinely familial. Given The Cosby Show's immense popularity, it's deeply regrettable that the exorbitant cost of original music rights resulted in this DVD release of edited episodes that were shortened, with different music cues added, for perpetual syndication. Fans eager to see the original NBC broadcasts were understandably outraged, and this shortcoming should be addressed in DVD releases of subsequent seasons. In truth, the episodes (including "Goodbye, Mr. Fish," a perfect example of the show's universal appeal) are not significantly diminished by the careful editing; for casual fans, the difference is barely worth mentioning. And while the 90-minute bonus feature "The Cosby Show: A Look Back" (a clip show originally broadcast May 19, 2002) suffers from the conspicuous absence of Bonet (who by then had mostly retreated from show business), it duly conveys the long-term value (and moral values) of the series, which singlehandedly restored the fortunes of NBC while embracing familial togetherness that would inform many of the popular sitcoms that followed its noble example. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews:
- Excellent: Just like i imagined...the video was great. I will have lots of hilarious Cosby episodes to watch when i get bored. It's worth the buy.
- Just glad to have the memories!: Frankly, I'm just thankful that I've got easy access to the memories this season inspires without commercial interruptions. Not knowing how many networks air the show (and wondering how many show the full-length renditions), I say, "There's plenty of joy and soul in what's here for everyone!" This collection contains everything I've always enjoyed about the beginning of The Cosby Show, including some pieces I dudn't remember before I found this set. These include great episodes like "Bon Jour Sondra," "Night to Knight" and "One More Time."
I grew up with this show; the pilot first aired when I was four, and my whole family watched the show right until the finale of Season 8. And, Dr. Cosby (yes, he's a doctor of education) proved time and again throughout the series that education is as important to everyone as entertainment.
Of most significance to me in the here-and-now (2008) is the hour-and-a-half documentary from 2005, The Cosby Show: A Look Back. (Even without Lisa Bonet, that special is just that, special.) That DVD, combined with all the memories of the regular series kept me captivated when I first happend onto it. My copy arrived March 11, 2008, and I watched it at least a little bit every day for eight days afterwards. It won't grow old anytime soon.
Also, as a musician, I have a great appreciation for the series score, including all the neat Stu Gardner tidbits with the saxophones and phase-shifted Rhodes piano. If I've got any real interest in Jazz, it largely stems from the music of this show.
Someday, I'll get the coveted Columbia House set. For now, I'm sticking with these. - Cosby Show is our family's favorite: We ordered the Cosby Show to watch together as a family. My wife and I enjoyed this growing up and thought it would be fun.
The Cosby is fantastic! We have three boys (10, 7, and 3) and each of them loved the Cosby Show. Our favorite episode is where Cliff's parents celebrate their 49th Wedding Anniversary and the Huxtables to a lip synch to Ray Charles' (Night Time Is) The Right Time. This was amazing.
Since watching the first season we've also ordered the 2nd and 3rd seasons.
Cliff and Claire have a nack of showing the challenges and joys in rearing children and how to keep their own romance alive.
I highly recommend this season for any family. - Great TV Show: This is a great tv show...i just ordered season 2....my family can not wait for season 2 to come in the mail....
- I love watching the Huxtable family : I loved watching this show when it was first on, and I enjoy watching it again. The Huxtable family is heartwarming, charming, and real.
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