Bill Cosby: He’s the man
Oct 27th, 2009 by David Anderson
Last night, William H. Cosby Jr was honored by his fellow comic artists. The public will be able to see the event on November 4th on PBS.
I think Mr. Cosby is one of the funniest comedians in the English speaking world. He is witty, insightful, hilarious, and filled with sage. He broke barriers with I-Spy where he was an action co-star. He did not play a “black guy”, he played a secret agent. That is not too remarkable today, but in the 1960′s most television shows seemed overly conscious of race on one side or the other. Just being who you were seemed too difficult. Mr. Cosby proved that audiences were ready for it even if the elite were still stuck in the 1860′s.
The Cosby show was about an American family who happened to be black. It was his masterpiece. Americans gathered together and watched every week. In a given minute 34 to 38 percent of Americans would be watching and 60% of television sets on would be tuned into the show. Without a word of profanity, with respect to GOD, and with a healthy respect for education and success, this celebration of family life entertained and inspired a generation of Americans.
Bill Cosby did it his way. He did it with wit and decency. He used comedy to inspire not denigrate. He entertained us to such a level that he has to be rated one of the best America ever produced. All I can say is He’s the man.
I completely agree, David. You describe him very well.
Bill Cosby and I went to the same HS in Philly, although I was a couple of years ahead of him. I did not know him, but he turned out to be a contemporary of mine whom I grew to admire through the years.
In addition to his Cosby show on TV, he was a stand-up comic on tour at the same time, when I had occasion to catch his show in Poughkeepsie, NY in the ’70′s. He actually sat down throughout his one-man show. Tickets were hard to get. The house was packed. It was his routine describing his own childhood. I have never, ever laughed so long so hard in my entire life!
I also enjoyed his The Bill Cosby TV show a lot, as well as I Spy. And now, later in his life, I appreciate his social commentary and activism.
I consider him to be a major figure in my lifetime. I greatly admire ‘the man’, a great man, a genius really, and a Philadelphian who loves Philly sports. It just doesn’t get any better than that!
Well said. The best part is that he is not finished yet.
‘I Spy’ was a great show; I was never able to make it through a full episode of ‘The Cosby Show’…b-o-r-i-n-g.
An incessant laugh-track doesn’t make a show ‘funny.’ Of course, I didn’t think ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show,’ ‘WKRP in Cincinnati,’ ‘MASH’ or ‘Cheers’ were funny, either.
I guess that reveals my tv prejudices; I don’t like blacks, women, newscasters, doctors or Bostonians.
[Joe walks through door, sets down bag of groceries on counter, appearing winded;
Joe: I'm home
Sarah (from upstairs): Did you get butter?
Joe: (looking in the bag and realizing he forgot the butter, but seeing a box of 'buttered' microwave popcorn) [sheepishly] Yeah, there’s butter.
Laugh track (loud): HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Sarah: (entering kitchen in a rush, and examining grocery bag) Where’s the butter for Thanksgiving dinner? (laugh track, moderate..hahaha)
Joe: Well, I thought I’d try grandma’s old fashioned recipe- turkey with popcorn stuffing…
(Laugh track, maximum HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA)
The Cosby Show was so funny that it never used a laugh track in 8 years. They had a live audience. It is okay, you don’t like situation comedy shows. That is why we have 120 primetime programs plus cable.
..it never used a laugh track in 8 years. They had a live audience.
With a ‘LAUGH’ sign in front of the set that flashed at appropriate times. They also had a ‘HUSHED MUTTERING’ sign:
Mike: So, how was your day, Lionel?
Lionel (resignedly): Pretty tough. First, I had to go to the hospital and help them unload food from the co-op. Then, I had to go clean up an alley. After that, I mentored three impoverished Hispanic children. Now, I’m going to work at the plant.
(Door opens, enters) Archie: Hey Dingbat, get me a beer.
Dingbat: Hiiiiii Archie
Archie: Did you know that we walk on two legs because God made the world flat? (LAUGH sign- LOUD)
Mike: Archie…
Archie: Keep your mouth shut, meathead. (LAUGH sign- MODERATE) And furthermore, did you know that FDR- Franklin Delano Roosevelt- was a gay Jew? (HUSHED MUTTERING sign- MEDIUM)
The 80s gave us “dramedy” where portions of comedy were removed and replaced with lightweight emotional stuff – drama, tearjerker, heartwarming, cutesy, whatever. The Cosby Show was a great example of that. And frankly I didn’t watch it.
But cynical as I am, even so I can’t knock it, because so many people did identify with it. Despite the risk of being saccharine, it did appeal to our better natures rather than our worst.
I can’t remember where I heard it, maybe an audio essay on NPR, by a young African American woman who grew up in at-risk circumstances, and she said the Huxtables were the only normal family in her life. OK, I know the Huxtables aren’t normal, but she thought they were, and that’s what she aspired to.