Year: 1984-1985
Creators: Ed. Weinberger, Michael Leeson & Bill Cosby
Director: Jay Sandrich
Writers: John Markus (9 episodes), Earl Pomerantz (3), Matt Williams (3), Jerry Ross (2), Elliot Shoenman (2), Matt Robinson (2), Carmen Finestra (2), Michael Leeson (1), Ed. Weinberger (1), Michael Loman (1), Karyl Geld Miller (1), Korby Siamis (1), Winifred Hervey (1), Emily Tracy (1)
Starring: Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad, Lisa Bonet, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Tempestt Bledsoe, Keshia Knight Pulliam
Music: theme by Stu Gardner & Bill Cosby; lots of great music throughout the show
Synopsis: the day to day life of a large family in Brooklyn
Episodes: 24
Network: NBC
How I saw it: on video (used to have on DVD), July 2008, as well as any number of times on television
Subjective Rating: 10/10 (Favorite of my favorites).
Objective Rating:
Best sitcom ever. Best non-muppet comedy show, even. Whenever I find myself watching a TV with cable, the first thing I do is find out which station is currently playing The Cosby Show (after all, at any given time, it will be on somewhere...). I've always figured this reaction of mine is just because it's a safe bet for something pleasant to watch, and better than channel surfing. But after sitting through all of season one and watching it (rather than just having it on), I was amazed by the quality. There's hardly a moment in the show, at least as far as the writing goes, where there's any room for improvement. Every single episode and story is completely original and believable. There's non-stop humor, without anyone ever getting out of character to tell a joke. About a day after watching an episode, we saw the same one on TV. And even though we'd just watched it, I was still completely sucked in an laughing as if I'd never seen it before. And there aren't any bad episodes in the entire season. I don't think I've ever seen another purely episodic show (as opposed to something serial where everything is contributing to a larger story) that I could say that about.
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