The Cosby Show: Season 02  (1985)

Theatrical Release Information:
The Cosby Show: Season 02

Season two of The Cosby Show begins with all six members of the Huxtable family of Brooklyn present and accounted for: obstetrician Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby); his attorney wife, Clair (Phylicia Rashad); their daughters, Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf, previously recurring and now a regular), Denise (Lisa Bonet), Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe), and Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam); and son Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner), whose oft-repeated "No problem!" has by now become a national catchphrase. This season is distinguished by "Happy Anniversary," an episode cited by many sources (including TV Guide) as one of the best TV half-hours ever (how could it be any less, with the entire Huxtable family lip-synching to Ray Charles' "The Night Time Is the Right Time"?) Also, in the episode "Cliff in Love," Geoffrey Owens makes his first series appearance as Elvin Tibideaux, Sondra Huxtable's future husband -- and, ironically, Joseph C. Phillips, who would later portray Denise's husband Martin Kendall, is seen in the same episode in the role of Darryl Marchamp, Elvin's rival for Sondra's affections! And a later installment, "Theo and Cockroach," introduces Carl Anthony Payne II as Theo's pal Walter "Cockroach" Bradley, a character heretofore unseen and only talked about. (Incidentally, this is the same episode in which series regular Phylicia Ayers-Allen officially changes her screen billing to her married name, Phylicia Rashad). Now the number one-rated series in America -- a status it would maintain for the next five years! -- The Cosby Show was also the winner of an Emmy award for Best Editing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide