Bill Cosby Movies
African-American entertainer Bill Cosby, in his own words, "started out as a child," the son of an eight-dollars-a-day maid and an absentee father. A product of grinding poverty, Cosby escaped his rundown Philadelphia neighborhood by dropping out of high school and joining the navy. He earned his diploma via correspondence course, then earned a football scholarship to Temple University. Working nights as a bartender, Cosby discovered he had the ability to make people laugh, so he temporarily shelved his plans to become an athletics teacher and set out to become a nightclub comedian. Most black comics of the era used the race issue in their act; this didn't quite work for Cosby, but relating humorous reminiscences about himself and his childhood buddies worked beautifully. After numerous TV guest shots and several top-selling, Grammy Award-winning record albums, Cosby was signed by producer Sheldon Leonard to co-star with Robert Culp in a weekly TV espionage series, I Spy. This was an era of acute racial tension; many NBC executives were wary about a black leading man, and quite a few Southern affiliates threatened not to run the show, but Leonard, a street scrapper from way back, refused to back down. I Spy was a hit, earning Cosby an Emmy. As the series progressed, the camaraderie between Cosby and Culp deepened, and by the end of the series, Culp was talking and ad-libbing in the same low-key, offbeat cadence that Cosby had adopted for his club appearances! After I Spy, Cosby signed a sweetheart deal with NBC, which guaranteed him a two-year run on his next program, whether the ratings were good or not. The Bill Cosby Show cast the star as high school coach Chet Kincaid, and was unusual for the time in that it was a sitcom minus a laughtrack. At times it was a sitcom minus laughs as well, but NBC had made its promise, and Cosby did his best. In the '70s he teamed with actor/director Sidney Poitier to make a trio of popular crime/comedy features: Uptown Saturday Night, Let's Do It Again, and A Piece of the Action. Viewers who think of Cosby in terms of one success after another have forgotten such failed 1970s TV projects as The New Bill Cosby Show and Cos. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there was The Cosby Show, the eight-season wonder that single-handedly rescued the sitcom format from oblivion in 1984 and enabled the woebegone NBC network to crack the Number One slot in the ratings week after week. And there were guest spots on the award-winning children's show The Electric Company and Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1969-84) a superlative Saturday morning cartoon show supervised by Cosby that managed to be what is now called "prosocial" without losing any of the fun. He has also been the long-time commercial spokesman for Jell-O. In the fall of 1996 Cosby returned to prime time TV with yet another The Cosby Show sitcom, again set in New York City and co-starring Phylicia Rashad. Although he has been unable to build a successful movie career, Cosby's TV success has made him one of the wealthiest entertainers in the history of the business. Cosby's success is not limited to the entertainment industry, as he returned to school in the '70s and earned a Ph.D. degree in education and has since become a staunch advocate and supporter of education in the Black community, donating time and money to the cause. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1985
Young children learn the basics of language from Bill Cosby. Recommended by the National Education Association, this fun video includes a workbook. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Bill Cosby teaches preschool-aged children about the world around them with methods that are fun and easy in this video which includes two activity books. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Bill Cosby teaches young children--via fun and games--all about numbers in these episodes. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Bill Cosby teaches young children about basic direction and thought processes in this video. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Bill Cosby educates young children about colors and shapes in this fun video with two activity books included. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1985
This educational series, designed for children from 3-6 is hosted by Bill Cosby. Show your children how much fun reading can be and learn the skills needed to prepare for reading. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1984
After winding up its 12-year CBS network run, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (aka The New Fat Albert Show was packaged for daily, off-network syndication. Added to the existing manifest of 60 episodes were 50 new half-hours, many of them dealing with hot-button issues that creator-producer Bill Cosby had been unable to deal with back in the network days. The most famous of these volatile new episodes is "Busted", in which Fat Albert and his friends are innocently involved in a carjacking--whereupon the police teach them a lesson by forcing them to spend a harrowing afternoon behind bars. Based on the then current "Scared Straight" program, this episode contains extremely strong language, and was originally telecast with a live disclaimer from Bill Cosby. Other highlights during the Emmy-nominated syndicated run of Fat Albert include "Watch Thy Neighborhood", in which the kids endeavor to keep their neighborhood safe and sound; "Sinister Stranger", a tense episode involving a kindapper; the self-explanatory "Teenage Mom" and "The Whisky Kids"; "Amiss with Amish", in which the gang doesn't quite know what to make of an Amish boy named Jacob; "Computer Caper", concerning the new dilemma of illegal computer hacking; and "The Runner", in which the kids have a too-close encounter with a young drug runner. On the lighter side, the syndicated version offers such ribtickling episodes as "Cosby's Classic", a half-hour excursion into skewered history; and "The Jinx", wherein our heroes learn not to be dominated by silly superstitions. Also good for a chuckle or two is the series' newest character, a southern-friend law expert known as the Legal Eagle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Cosby
- 1984
Taped at the Troubadour nightclub in Hollywood, California, this video features Bill Cosby, Steve Allen and others in tribute to late comic Lenny Bruce. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
In the first episode of the long-running sitcom The Cosby Show, Brooklyn obstetrician Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby) is asked by his attorney wife, Clair (Phylicia Ayers-Allen), "Why do we have four children?" Though no answer is forthcoming, the fact seems to remain that there are indeed four kids living in the Huxtable's fashionable brownstone: daughters Denise (Lisa Bonet), Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe), and Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam), and son Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner). And yet, sprinkled throughout the early episodes of season one are several references to a fifth child -- who finally shows up in the person of Princeton University student Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf), who makes her first appearance in the tenth telecast episode, appropriately titled "Bon Jour Sondra." (Reportedly, Bill Cosby expanded the original four children alotted to the Huxtables to five so that his TV household would mirror his own: four daughters, one son.) Also making their initial Cosby Show appearances during its first season are Earle Hyman as Cliff's father, Russell Huxtable; Clarice Taylor as Cliff's mom, Anna; and Peter Costa as Rudy's close-mouthed friend, Peter Chiara. And as an added bonus, season one boasts memorable guest appearances by Dizzy Gillespie and Lena Horne. The Cosby Show closed out its first season as the second most popular series in the U.S. Clearly, despite the prognostications of the pundits of the period, the "warm family sitcom" format was not dead -- not on NBC, anyway. As icing on the cake, the program won an Emmy award for Outstanding Comedy Series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad, (more)
- 1984
The premiere episode of The Cosby Show finds obstretrician Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby) and his attorney wife Clair (Phylicia Rashad, billed throughout Season One as Phylicia Ayers-Allen) facing domestic dilemmas from all corners. When Cliff confronts son Theo (Malcolm Jamal-Warner) about his bad report card, the boy flippantly responds that he doesn't care because he hasn't the slightest intention of going to college--whereupon Cliff uses a carefully manipulated pile of monopoly money to show Theo the folly of his ways. Meanwhile, daughter Denise (Lisa Bonet) shocks one and all by bringing home her latest boyfriend (Todd Hollowell), who sports a tattoo and has a police record! Small wonder that, when finally settling into bed at the end of the day, Cliff sighs "I just hope they get out of the house before we die." Longtime Cosby Show fans will notice several significant difference between the pilot episode and the series proper: The Huxtable living room looks different, Clair lapses into Spanish when she gets angry, Theo is referred to throughout as "Teddy", and at one juncture Cliff makes a pointed comment about the fact that he and Clair have only four children (Sabrina Le Beauf as oldest daughter Sondra had not yet been added to the cast). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
The series that literally rescued the moribund situation comedy genre from oblivion, NBC's The Cosby Show made its first appearance on September 20, 1984. By the time its first season was over, the series was the second-highest-rated program in the country, enabling NBC to build a brand-new sitcom empire with such popular offerings as Frasier, Seinfeld, and Friends. Bill Cosby was of course the creator of the series, in concert with the Carsey-Werner Company, whose later efforts included Roseanne, 3rd Rock From the Sun, and That '70s Show. Cosby played the leading character, Dr. Cliff Huxtable, a successful obstetrician who lived in a fashionable Brooklyn townhouse with his attorney wife, Clair (played by Phylicia Ayers-Allen, later billed as Phylicia Rashad). The couple's children included daughters Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf), Denise (Lisa Bonet), Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe), and Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam) and son Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner). Among the many other characters were Cliff's dad, Russell (Earle Hyman), and mom, Anna (Clarice Taylor); Sondra's boyfriend -- and later husband -- Elvin Tibedeaux (Geoffrey Owens); Theo's pal Cockroach (Carl Anthony Payne II); Rudy's friends Peter (Peter Costa) and Kenny (Deon Richmond); Vanessa's boyfriend Dabnis (William Thomas Jr.); Clair's second cousin, Bedford-Stuyvesant refugee Pam Turner (Erika Alexander); and Pam's friends Slida (Mushond Lee), Charmaine (Karen Malina White), and Lance (Allen Payne). Also, after briefly leaving the series to star in her own series, A Different World, Lisa Bonet returned in the role of Denise, then-married to Lt. Martin Kendall (Joseph C. Phillips) and stepmother of Martin's daughter, Olivia (Raven-Symone). Increasing the number of family members were Sondra and Elvin's twin children, Winnie and Nelson, played during the series' final season by Jessica Vaughn and Gary Gray. Unlike many sitcoms with African-American casts, The Cosby Show did not overemphasize its racial aspects, nor did it traffic in stereotypical characters or dialogue. Put simply, the Huxtables could have been any upper-middle-class family of any color, and it was their normality and universality that made the series a hit with viewers from all ethnic groups. The winner of innumerable industry awards, and America's top-rated sitcom for a remarkable five years in a row, The Cosby Show finished its network run on September 17, 1992, and has been a welcome fixture in the syndicated-rerun field ever since. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad, (more)
- 1983
The honors collected by Reading Rainbow include Parent's Choice, National Education Association, and Cine awards, plus numerous Emmys. Designed to draw children into the world of reading, the programs are a blend of books, field trips, and activities related to the featured topic. In Reading Rainbow: Arthur's Eyes, Arthur is hesitant about using his new glasses, and encounters difficulties with his faulty vision. Books reviewed by young students include Through Grandpa's Eyes by Patricia MacLachlan and All the Colors of the Race by Arnold Adoff. ~ Alice Day, All Movie Guide
- 1982
The seventh and final network season of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (or to use its then-official title, The New Fat Albert Show serves up eight new episodes, bringing the total since the series' 1972 debut to sixty half-hours. The first episode of the season is "Se Habla Espanol", in which Fat Albert and his pals are in for a bit of culture shock when they met a kid from Mexico. "The Father" deals with the familiar problem of getting used to a stepdad. "Look before you leap" is the best way to sum up the moral of "Two by Two". "Double Cross" doles out another lesson in tolerance. The fine art of staying within the law despite all temptation not to do so is delineated in "Parking Dog". A teenage runaway gets herself and the gang in hot water in "Little Girl Found." And speaking of water, there's far too much of it in the next episode, "Water We Waiting For?" The final network episode is "Watch That First Step", a compelling tale of a youngster's method of coping with an alcoholic parent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Cosby
Easter is fast approaching, and in this animated primetime special, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids find their efforts to do something nice for Mudfoot thwarted by a practical joke gone horribly awry. The gang is cleaning Mudfoot's place and paying his bills when Rudy plays a prank that quickly backfires. In the aftermath of the botched practical joke, the Cosby kids learn an important life lesson that's sure to stick. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Some critics carped that the star of Bill Cosby, Himself delivered his nearly two-hour monologue while sitting down. "Look how lazy Cos has gotten!" went the complaint. Well, we can tell you that Cosby exudes more energy and charisma from a seated position than most younger comics do while jumping around the room. As an appreciative audience roars with laughter, Cosby holds court on any number of subjects, ranging from childbirth, to his views on substance abuse. Bill Cosby, Himself isn't really a movie, but fans of Cosby (both casual and fervent) will be thoroughly satisfied. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Cosby
The title character, a nasty landlord (Elliott Gould), is killed in a car accident and descends into hell. There he meets the Devil (Bill Cosby), who promises him his life back if he can find three people willing to sell their souls in three months. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elliott Gould, Bill Cosby, (more)
During the 1950s and 1960s, San Francisco's hungry i nightclub (the lower case is not a mistake: that's how the name read on the club's outside wall) was a primary breeding ground for young and hungry comedy talent. The "i" is no longer in existence, but most of its more illustrious alumni are still alive and kicking. Taped in 1981, The hungry i Reunion is comprised of interviews and brief snatches of several classic comic monologues. The star roster includes Mort Sahl, Jonathan Winters, Ronnie Schell, Jackie Vernon and the inimitable Professor Irwin Corey. And just so we won't forget that the "i" was also famous for its folk-singing sessions, the Kingston Trio is on hand to stir up fond baby-boomer memories. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Although the series had been officially retitled The New Fat Albert Show, the nine new episodes offered up during the sixth season have since been incorporated in the syndicated Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids package. The first Season Six offering is "The Secret",in which Fat Albert and his friends try to help a girl get over the shock of learning that she was adopted. The message of the next episode, "The Gunslinger", is short and sweet: Don't play with guns. Likewise pithy is "Don't ignore illness", the moral of the episode "Pain Pain Go Away". What you see isn't always what you get, or so the gang learns, in "The Rainbow." "Easy Pickins'" warns against succumbing to the temptation to steal. Some irresponsible "tagging" gets Albert and his friends in dutch in "Good Old Days". And rounding out the season are brace of cautionary tales about gambling (Heads or Tails") and substance abuse ("Pot of Gold"). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Cosby
- 1980
- R
Preview trailers for movies not coming to a theater near you are collected in this satiric comedy. Loose Shoes is a sketch comedy which takes the form of a series of "coming attractions" for movies that don't happen to exist. The oddball trailers include the Billy Jack parody Billy Jerk Goes to Oz, the family comedy The Shaggy Studio Executive, a ribald Ma and Pa Kettle take-off, a biker film satire called Skateboarders From Hell, a vintage musical short entitled Darktown After Dark, a politically incorrect Charlie Chaplin two-reeler, a Play It Again, Sam goof in which "Duddy Allen" seeks romantic advice from a guy he thinks is the ghost of Clark Gable, and much more. Loose Shoes includes pre-fame performances from Bill Murray, Howard Hesseman, Ed Lauter, and Harry Shearer, while cult favorites Susan Tyrrell, Sid Haig, Jaye P. Morgan, Kinky Friedman, and Van Dyke Parks also appear in the cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lewis Arquette, Danny Dayton, (more)
- 1979
From 1977 to 1979, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids offered not one new episode, instead coasting on reruns of the existing episodes. But as it entered its fifth season in the fall of 1979, the series made up for lost time with eight new half-hour installments. And that's not all: The series had been retitled "The New Fat Albert Show", and a hitherto much-talked-about but unseen character, klutzy superhero The Brown Hornet, had been added to the cast. Next up, Albert has trouble keeping up with a talented terpsichorean in "The Dancer." Then there's #Spare the Rod", in which the gang faces the appalling likelihood that the gang's beloved junkyard will be sold. The poignant "Sweet Sorrow" spotlights a troubled young girl named Roberta, who takes out her anger over her parents' divorce on poor Albert. A school election in which the "race card" is unfairly exploited is the focal point of "Poll Time." "The Mainstream" is the show that everyone has been waiting for: A "battle of the bands" between Albert's junkyard aggregation and a rival band. Then, Dumb Donald finds out that cheating is no solution for academic problems in "Free Ride." And education of a different sort--namely, the birds and the bees--sets the tone of the season finale, "Soft Core". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Cosby
- 1978
In this espionage adventure, a American agent is assigned to head for Rome and retrieve a stolen cache of plutonium. The film is known on video as Secret Agent. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
