Original subtitles

There was nothing bigger to me than the Cosby Show and being in front of that

TV. I loved going to work.

I'm walking down the street and people stop me and they walk up to me and they

say, I grew up with you.

The Cosbys was everybody's dad.

I idolized the guy and so did every guest star on the show.

I'm an actor who comes from the comedy school of Bill Cosby.

It was all I knew.

It was my childhood.

It was a thrill to see it every week because those of us who have lived this

real life know that we are just regular folks doing regular things.

And what they did was brought that home to us every week in our living rooms.

He never plays a race card. He never deals a profanity card. He never stoops

the base level.

And I love that. I tell you that that is so difficult to do and keep you on the

floor. We're here to say goodbye.

To a cherished friend, Lamont Goldfish.

I always felt safe with him around.

I brought you in this world, and I'll take you out.

If you do, you die.

Don't move.

Why don't you two go and get a job and get out of my house?

But

I'd

like my punishment.

Before I go to bed.

Thank you.

All right.

Have a sit down.

Welcome, welcome, welcome to the show.

I guess if someone asked what was it about, what is it about, how did it

about, it was because I was confused.

When I became a parent, I had certain thoughts.

And things didn't go according to the thoughts.

You would think that a person having been a child would understand how to

But it really doesn't work that way.

When we put together a family, the husband, the wife, they

start out their lives to become these great people.

And they become great people, and then they ruin it.

They decide to have, and then you've got to go through things. You've got to go

through teaching things. You would think that a young person that you're

feeding, clothing, taking, saving the life of, would believe you

every once in a while when you gave them some information.

Not so, said the brown turtle.

I just want you to understand, there's nothing here except a whole bunch of

That's all. And I know some of you are jealous because this is going on in your

home and you're not even being paid.

I didn't get through the days.

working the bill without cracking up. Buenos dias!

There's no way you couldn't laugh at somebody who did the things that he did.

Go on!

You have to leave it open and catch the funny.

That's what Mr. Cosby says.

The script is your roadmap.

But the funny things that happen are really

interactions that can't be split.

Bill didn't like to over -rehearse. Bill just wanted to know basically what the

scenes were about, and he would fill in.

He didn't want to get too well rehearsed, so we only rehearsed for one

If something is not working, then he's going to have to live, you know, and

change it in order to make it work.

And the really fantastic thing is that that keeps it fresh. You never know

what's going to happen. It's a little bit scary sometimes, yes.

Dad, you are undermining everything that Elvin and I believe in.

I understand, Sandra. I deserve everything.

I just might as well...

I'm a clean man.

The fun thing for us is if he went to left field, we had to go to left field

with him.

I don't deserve to let you come closer.

I will hooverize you.

And anybody else that comes near me, do you understand?

It was always fun to walk down onto the Cosby show set and to see things

that didn't appear in the script.

And a great example would be, say, Cliff cooking dinner. You'd write in the

script, Cliff is preparing dinner. And you walk down on the set, and he was

doing Julia Child.

And you really don't have to worry about TV just yet.

To work with that kind of spontaneity, to not know what he would do next.

I put the key in the ignition, turned the thing, and it went...

But it has not started

up yet. The car has not started up yet.

So I pressed down on the gas, and you think I'm lying.

I loved all the episodes where we got to play someone outside of our regular

character. Miss Griswold, could you come here for a moment, please?

What do you want? I'm busy.

This young man needs a loan, and I do recommend we give it to him. No.

But Mrs.

Griswold... No!

Why not?

You have nothing!

Welcome to Amanda's Fun at the City.

talks and nobody walks if you like it you touch it if you break it you buy it

you don't see it we don't have it but we will get it now what can i do for you

it was sort of a life lesson through comedy and through um just kind of going

outrageous and overboard to prove a point

And that was that anything can happen.

Could you count funnier? I can't laugh.

He used to have the Brian and Sona Morris sisters.

Say that.

Brian and Sona Morris. No, no. The Brian and Sona Morris fitness sisters.

Keisha was always amazing because when we first started, Keisha couldn't read.

Brian.

Sona. Yes.

Sona. Mrs.

Mrs.

up the mountain across the sea before you got to the end. But that was just

of the, you know, joy of what we did.

One time he was doing a scene with Keisha and she didn't respond.

And so I stopped it and I said, Keisha, you want to take a look at the script?

She said, well, if you tell Mr.

Crosby to stop taking my lines, I'd know what to say.

Three, two, touch your line.

You look terrible.

No, it's too late. You're wasting our money.

Well, he was probably the worst at keeping it together because their scenes

so ripe for Bill to go in and just go nuts.

Was that you?

You want to sell some meat hooks, some sneakers, some barro barro?

If he saw you being able to keep your composure, he'd turn it up another

Dad, can you ask me?

Is that all you want to ask me, Dr. Hustable?

The thing that would always inevitably get us going is when he would break.

And sometimes you see him, and he's trying to hold on, and he just starts

laughing, and you just start laughing.

The atmosphere on set was always, it was comfortable, it was relaxed, it was

creative, it was fast -paced, it was fun.

All I know is we left that theater humming the songs and feeling fine,

we, Chris?

Humming the what?

Songs.

There's so much room to have

fun if you're doing the work.

For

all

its success, the Cosby show almost didn't happen. When Marcy and I

pitched it to the networks, After developing the idea with Bill, it was

summarily passed on by all three networks.

Are you telling me that I'm not too bright?

Almost single -handedly, Bill Cosby and the Cosby Show revived the fortunes of

NBC. It was the number one television show for five straight seasons.

The record's still unmatched.

What's your name?

Keisha. Keisha.

And how old are you, Keisha?

I'm five years old.

Do you know when you'll be six, Keisha?

Next year.

Next year.

Who are you looking at over there? No, who are you looking at?

Who are you looking at there?

That's me.

That's Keisha, right.

How can you make me on the TV?

A very wise person once said, A loving family stays together and

moves together.

But if you could sneak out on the kids, go.

You know, it really, really moves me to see this entire family here.

Because we can each take a bag.

have to do it up or over exaggerate just by itself it is hilarious and that's

what the Cosby show did they kept it simple oh you've come back for the

huh no I want some privacy you want to talk to Lamont by yourself no I

want to use the bathroom it was a time when people could gather on Thursday and

anybody could watch the show it wasn't there wasn't a target audience

Like trash.

The show's greatest strength and greatest contribution was that it was so

universal. It was just about family. It wasn't a black family. It was a family.

Flowers. They're for Sandra.

Is she here?

Yes.

May I see her?

Sure.

Today?

about parents dealing with raising their kids at its heart, and kids dealing

with raising their parents, and siblings relating to each other, and that's

something that we all know.

Mom, Dad, we can't sleep because Rudy thinks she heard the wolfman growling in

our closet.

I told her there wasn't such a thing, but she doesn't believe me. Would you

her? There is no wolfman growling in your closet.

There is no wolfman growling in your closet.

Uh -huh.

Anybody got any other bright ideas?

Everybody on the set really made it fun for me, and they just embraced me into

their family. And I realized, I'm on a television show. This is cool. You know,

as a three -year -old, you're like, I'm ready. What's going on? Where are the

lollipops? What's my lines? I'm ready to go.

I can't buy them anything.

I'm broke.

What happened to all your money?

I don't know.

I bought some bubble gum.

Father knows best.

Leave it to Beaver, the Brady Bunch. And I think for the 80s, Cosby represented

that for America and for the world at large.

Hey, I know.

You know what?

What's she going to say?

And it's under control.

So no problem.

The Huxtables were so incredible, people couldn't believe they were real.

And I think part of the reason people couldn't believe they were real was not

just because they were so loving, but because it was the first time you'd seen

an African -American family portrayed in this light of truth.

That's my girl.

You have to understand, dear, that love hurts.

There was nothing formulaic about the way parents would behave with

children, except that there were certain things that were never going to happen.

A child was never going to be struck.

It might be threatened.

Son, your mother asked me to come up here and kill you.

I have got a nerve to walk in there and grab that child by her arms and shake

her.

And children were never going to be disregarded.

Think of all the wonderful things five -year -olds can do.

You can tie your own shoelaces.

You can dial the phone.

You can go to kindergarten.

Last year, you couldn't do any of that.

Because I was nothing.

You were never nothing.

You just weren't five.

Five now.

And now you can do things that you could never do before.

So what do you think about that?

Yay, five.

Yay, five.

Mommy, how old are you?

Old.

Yay, old.

I think the most important thing that you saw were parents and kids talking.

You just didn't see that for a long time on television.

All the kids were smart.

and, you know, telling their parents off and slamming doors. And the parents are

like, I'm so frustrated. I don't know what to do with this child.

That's all crap.

Make your point.

If you weren't a doctor, I wouldn't love you less because you're my dad.

And so instead of acting disappointed because I'm not like you,

maybe you can just accept who I am and love me anyway.

Because I'm your son.

It was just wonderful.

Any other show, the music would have started.

You know, the father would have come over to the son and they would have

and it would have been beautiful.

Theo, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life.

No wonder you get D's in everything.

I'm not a parent, but I know. tons of parents who have said those exact words

their kids. Now, I'm telling you, you are going to try as hard as you can.

And you're going to do it because I said so.

I am your father. I brought you in this world, and I'll take you out.

Now, son, come here.

Come here.

Now listen to me.

I just want you to do the best you can.

That's all.

I'll try, Dad. Yeah. I really will. All right.

I love you.

Yeah, Dad. Huh? I know. Yeah.

And maybe your mother loves you, too.

Cosby worked so well and why the Huxtables came off so loving toward each

was because we all, as a cast, genuinely liked each other.

There's nothing like watching Bill and Felicia on screen.

I mean, there's nothing like it. They have a chemistry that's just, you

create it again if you tried.

The 22 years I've been married to you have been the happiest one day at a time

I've ever had in my life.

the way you beg.

We could read Macbeth. We could snuggle up under the covers and read Macbeth and

it could take all night.

Really?

And I'll be Lady Macbeth.

And I'll be the Big Bad Wolf.

I think that Cliff and Claire Huxtable are without question the most romantic

couple in the history of television.

A loving family is a family that has unconditional love and that the Cosby

is able to show that on all different levels.

Let's just remember this is how we got the children.

Everybody tuned in because it was just a good show. It was a good show and it

was funny. You know, they had to fly brownstone.

Mr. Huxtable had to fly sweaters. His wife was fine.

He had kids that looked good.

Lisa Bonet, oh good God, everybody was in love with her.

I mean, there was no bringing a boyfriend over and just having, you

just say, okay, when you bring her home, okay, good night.

Did you tell Denise she could go out on a date tonight?

Yes, I did.

Well, have you seen the boy?

Yes, I have.

Well, how ugly is he?

And he enjoyed the terror, you know, that we knew it was coming.

You were in a parked car with my daughter.

Yes, sir.

Were you that close in the car?

Uh -huh.

Where are you?

Oh, no way, sir.

Children are basically bad

people.

Children are people who are selfish, greedy, and they will do whatever

they can to get what they want.

And one of the worst things about being a parent is you find out that yelling

means nothing.

They are the only people who can yell and get what they want.

We are very fortunate to have the children, Cliff.

Otherwise, we would never know the joy of leaving them at home.

Let's not go back.

You mean tomorrow?

I mean forever.

No, I'm serious.

Let them have the house, and we'll stay here. And what we'll do is maybe we'll

call them when we get old.

Yes.

Who had control of the household?

I guess it's a toss -up.

I'm definitely thinking with the kids.

What's going on in there?

Come on, stop.

Stop. Look, the two of you.

That's enough. That's enough. Now stop.

Denise and Vanessa, I said you better stop.

Cliff, are you all right?

They took me out.

Kids know how to get what they want.

you know, be in charge, but I don't think that maybe he was ever quite in

charge. Come here.

Come here.

Here, here, here.

See, see, there is there. This is here. Come here.

He understood his children well enough. And, of course, he was a kid once, too.

He wasn't above becoming like a kid.

No putting your finger in your nose.

No putting your finger in your nose. And pull out something.

Rudy, you go and you help Mommy in the kitchen, please.

Vanessa, go help Mom in the kitchen.

Do I have to say now?

in control of the Huxtable household. There was no question about it. She was

the boss.

She's having low taste, dear.

This pie is for your mom and dad after dinner.

My folks will not notice. They did the last time.

How? Because when we cut into it, it was hollow.

Rudy, why are you in that dress?

Rudy, I told you specifically to take that dress and put it back in the trunk.

Now you are asking for it.

Daddy told me to wear it.

Don't try to use your father against me, okay?

Because he has no idea about such things.

Claire always let Cliff think that he was running the show, but we all knew

Claire was really running the show.

Now, your father and I have given you every advantage in this world, and what

you do? Well, it's like I told you. Don't answer me when I'm asking you

questions. Keep your mouth shut.

You think I'm talking just to hear myself?

funny being able to handle any situation with humor.

Okay, here we go.

I didn't know they were up to it.

Dad,

who everyone would want to have on the block.

Bravo.

Bravo.

Fantastic.

It seemed like so much fun.

I think

Cliff being such a great father was a bit of a mixed blessing that backfired

on him.

He was such a great father that no one ever really wanted to leave his house.

They kept coming back with twins.

and husbands and children they had acquired and fiancés and boyfriends and,

yes, they kept coming back.

Hey, Mom. Hey. Hey, Dad.

What's all the luggage for, man? You're not moving back in here, are you?

Theo had moved out.

Theo was back.

So I think that reflects the dilemma that a

loving parent...

goes through. Your kid leaves and your kid needs to come back.

You really don't want this kid back in your house, but what you gonna do?

So you guys are saying I can't move back in? I think you're getting close to it.

You mean you're gonna send me out there without a home in the cold and the rain?

The same cycle went through each and every child. They'd leave, then they'd

back, and they'd stay.

And he was like, you might be leaving now, little girl, but you'll be back.

You've seen people who have tried to leave, and they didn't leave.

Scientists call it a vacuum effect.

And this is where people really try to leave this house, but they keep getting

sucked back in.

don't know what they were really expecting now you and i have been beaten

time we've gone to battle and i'm telling you now darling i'm old

and you're old too claire and

i think that you and i should just get on up and get out of here

get in the car and and just go

Let them have the house, honey.

They kept coming back because it was comfortable, because it was a nice

household, and because they knew the bottom line, no matter how annoyed

might be.

There was a lot of love.

Yeah, so they kept coming back.

I'd like to introduce you to the woman who had full control of the home.

Dear, will you please come out?

You hear your name called. You are called Dad.

And then follows, can I?

And then have.

Have. Can I, Dad, please? Can I have?

And it's always very, very important.

And there's no time.

You have to now.

When I need, I have to have. And, of course, as a parent, prices have

So then that gives you the right to give a dissertation on what things cost.

And that's when you know you're winning because you look at the kid while you're

talking and it's very glassy -eyed.

And then there's lying.

Oh, yes.

Yes. Yes, there's lying.

And the children weren't the only ones who lied.

Yes. Sometimes the lying... Anyway, get him back to the

begging part.

No, no.

Come on. Every time somebody... You know what?

I did not have children so you all could change my name to Dead Kenai.

Daddy Kenai.

How's work?

That child isn't good at begging. I'm saying that you have to be good at

when you're little. That's about all you have. You don't have any money. You

don't have a job.

So you have to beg.

Can I keep him, please?

Please, please, please.

Can we have him, please?

Take $30 and get yourself a nice $30 shirt.

Could you make it $35?

I could make it nothing.

The kids thought they were slick.

They're always going to find a way to talk their way around, you know, getting

what they want.

And it never worked.

Denise, leave it up to Dad.

You see, when it comes to something we want, Dad always comes through for us.

Theo?

Yeah, Dad. No.

No shampoos in Rudy's eyes, and she wouldn't let me rinse it off like Mom

to, and now Rudy might be blinded for life.

If she is him, get a dog.

I think Vanessa really tried to reason and made some wonderful arguments, which

you really couldn't really argue with her. To the average 16 -year -old,

allowance is one -tenth of one percent of the average family income.

But you and dad make more than the average salary.

So if my allowance were raised to one -tenth of one percent of that, I could

financially independent.

You know, I don't think Olivia lied and begged. I just think she gave a look and

she got what she wanted.

What makes you think you're going to get a pony for your birthday?

Well, last year, I wanted a tropical. Yeah. I got it. Right. This year, I want

pony.

Well, I don't know about all that, see, because last year I wanted a Maserati

for my birthday, and Mrs. Huxtable wouldn't let me have one.

Well, if you tell Daddy and Denise that I want a pony, I'll tell Mrs. Huxtable

that you want a Mr. Aggie.

I think that they manipulated each other definitely because they had the same

personality. She was three years old and he was a more mature person. But, you

know, deep down, they both were like, you know, I'm going to get you. I'm

to get you. Mrs.

Huxtable is tough.

You understand?

Yeah. And she doesn't care about, you know, little cute faces.

So I'll be Mrs. Huxtable. Okay. Okay, I'm sitting here.

Mrs. Huxtable?

Yes, darling.

What's the matter, my little Olivia?

Can Dr. Huxtable have a Mr.

Raggy please?

Oh, you look so cute and so sad, honey, but the answer is no.

See, you gotta, you gotta come at, I'm telling you, she's tough. Come on, you

gotta go lower.

Life box.

Sometimes he would break the rule.

You broke my mug.

See, I tried. I see what you tried to do with all this old tired looking glue

all clumped up in here together like this.

Pieces missing, all chipped up glue on the inside of the cup. I did that on

purpose. Why?

So that you would think that one of the children did it.

And Dr. Huxtable, who left the juicer plugged into the electrical socket with

the top off?

Are you telling me the truth?

No. That was the ultimate offense, lying.

Some of the greatest lies ever told by your kids. No big deal.

I forgot.

I'll pay you back later.

It was like that when I found it. I swear, Mom, Dad, it was like that when I

found it. I think everybody was guilty of it a little bit here and there.

And to different degrees.

I don't want to get into trouble.

If dad asks what happened, we'll just say you fell off the bed.

Which is sort of true because you bounced off the bed right after you hit

wall.

I didn't plan to put the makeup on when I went to school.

I mean, I was just talking to Rebecca and all of a sudden I had this stuff on

face. It was like pimple insanity.

Susan and Danielle are going to a real special event tomorrow night and they

invited me to come.

Oh.

It's a place in a village on 14th Street off Union Square.

It's called The Exchange.

The Cultural Exchange.

It's a teen Bible club. And there's going to be... I'm not sure if any

of the Huxtable kids were really great liars.

They all kept getting into trouble.

I did it.

I'm sorry.

And I should be punished.

We know it, we accept, and you will be.

How do you know what that punishment is?

Did Rudy tell you about that machine in the basement?

Look at this. One thing that I cannot abide is when someone is lying, and Theo

is not telling us the whole truth, and I'm going to find him out. He wants to

treated like an adult?

Okay, I'll treat him like he's an adult.

What are you going to do?

You will see.

Hey, I'm an adult. You can tell me.

Dad, you know, even had to fib a little bit to hide something that he didn't

want, you know, someone to know about.

Cliff still had a boyish part of his character.

He was always getting into trouble.

I don't think that Dr. Huff's double practice would be too tough. Keep an eye

out now.

He did it.

Where did this cake come from?

He was the first one to go into the kitchen and get what he couldn't have

then try to manipulate everybody to get it and sneak his way to having what he

wanted. Cliff, are you eating a sausage sandwich?

Dear Slate, go back to sleep.

Where have you been?

All my life.

We'd like to show you a photograph of the heart of a person who has spent a

lifetime consuming fatty foods.

Notice the abnormal amounts of fatty deposits on the...

lying fat.

When we wrote the sandwiches into a show once, I found out that we would

actually send an assistant to a special place in Philadelphia.

What Bill didn't know is that whenever the writers really wanted one of these

sandwiches, we'd write it into the show.

At one point, I think, when he started maybe putting on a little weight, the

word came down to the writers, no more sandwiches.

Three, two, who are you?

Theodore Hoxton. I'm in your geography class.

The best bloopers are Malcolm's bloopers.

Hey, Dr.

Morgan. How you doing? All right. Have you ever met Theo?

And I had to

pin this.

this little flower on him, you know.

I couldn't get the darn flower to stay.

I want you to go out there and read that speech as if you had written it

yourself. Make me and your father very proud.

I kept pinning the thing and it kept falling off.

Make me and your dad proud.

Okay?

Let's go. Let's go.

So I guess... around the six takers so i just got so frustrated i tried jay i

said the line and pinned the thing and it looked like it was gonna fall and i

put my hand right up like this and the audience was screaming

because everybody knew what had happened

You were laughing when I made a mistake.

And I appreciate that you not do that. I'm sorry.

Where's my kiss?

And so, I forgot my line.

I mean, he's human, man. So it was great to watch him lose composure.

Well, there were things that we actually did behind the scenes that no one will

ever know.

Guitar. Skiing. Tennis.

Ballet.

When you do a television series based on family, you can stay in that house

just so long before even you get tired of seeing the same people.

And so we began to bring some folks into the house.

Kenny, Came in, and the thing I love about Kenny is, I don't know if he was

love with Rudy.

You know, I don't know how he, she had no teeth.

And of course, B .B. King came by, Dizzy Gillespie, and people would say,

listen, how did all those people get in your house? Well, the answer is very

simple. They came by.

I'm Claire, I'm Denise's mother. I'm Sandra,

Denise's older sister.

Alvin, Sandra's husband.

Francine, Alvin's mother.

Nick, the father of everything. Grandma Anna.

Her husband, Grandpa Russell on Cliff's side. Cliff is my husband, Denise's

father. You always wanted to be related to this family. I remember those were

the moments.

You always wanted to be related.

You always wanted to be invited over to the crib for dinner.

Hi, Janet.

Hi, Vanessa.

Because I think it is. I think that we're the ones whose dreams are going to

come true for us.

What's the other cat's name?

Malcolm's boy.

My real name is Walter, but I prefer Cockroach.

Cockroach. We really wanted Cockroach's job.

Okay, this is unbelievable.

You guys come up with the craziest things to do here. I love this house.

Who is this?

This is Bud.

Rudy and Bud.

If you were married to me, would you go to Boston?

First of all, I'm not going to marry you.

You would if I told you to.

It was just hilarious because they had two kids having such grown up

conversations. You have to earn my love.

A man doesn't have to earn love. A woman gives it to him automatically.

Not this woman.

What Kenny did for the show was everyone looked at the kids. It's so perfect and

so family. And I think what he provided for the show was.

That alter ego.

My brother always said, when you leave a woman, don't look back.

My brother says, a man doesn't want to see a woman doing a man's job unless

she's wearing a bathing suit.

One of the things that was funny was to come up with a character like Elvin or

like Kenny, who seemed very free about having like dinosaur era rules

about men and women.

One job I'm not confused about.

What do you mean?

It's a man's job.

What's a man's job?

Opening a jar when a woman can't do it.

Really? I didn't know that.

My hands must be a little slippery.

Thank you.

He's a macho nerd. He's a strange mixture of male chauvinist and insecure

intellectual.

Well, let me try.

No, Sandra, I can do it.

No, come on, Elvin. Sandra, I think I'm perfectly okay.

And I think that Elvin is what made that whole, it completed

my role.

on the show, and it completed much of the family.

Bill also liked to have people act on the show who'd never acted before.

Peter, my man!

Well, how are you doing?

Peter running out of the house was basically what we'd do with him all the

He never said a word. He'd just run out of the house.

I realized I got a little bit over my head and too deep a little bit, so I had

to get out of there.

Whenever he'd do his thing, he'd always be running. I'm going to blow over and

I'll come back.

Peter was so funny.

He was just such a cute kid.

You just had to look at Peter, watch the back of Peter's head as he ran out, and

it was just comedy.

And part of that was because Peter would never remember his lines.

Oh, Peter, that's no problem going to the dentist.

Why don't you want to go?

Okay.

I think this was Adam Sandler's first television appearance.

In fact, Adam could be the only character on the Cosby show to ever

Yiddish word.

When I tell Roxanne there's no helicopter, she is going to plot.

It really did make my parents feel comfortable with the fact that I was an

actor. And they were like, well, the kid got on the Cosby show all right.

Is this the hospital resident?

That's Naomi Campbell.

Hey, Theo was in love with her.

A lot of people.

or made a name for themselves now.

Started out on Cosby. Mark's going to major in at Central State.

There were a lot of celebrity guests, darn.

What does eyeliner have to do with the birthing process? That's all I want to

know.

You are birthed me, so you shall have.

It was sort of like a who's who. You know, you'd walk into that dressing room

and you never knew who was going to be sitting there. You know who's

responsible? The magic of...

And we always had fun with guests, always.

Stevie Wonder, when we sing with Stevie Wonder, I mean, that's just

unbelievable.

Vanessa, that's a pretty name.

Thank you, sir.

You're welcome, madam.

Lena Horne was amazing.

Look at this beautiful family.

To be as young as I was and, you know, find her.

So sexy.

The one who's my favorite was Sammy Davis Jr. because he had a Pac -Man

in his room. And that's all you need to be my friend. May I say that it's a

stunning outfit.

Thank you.

I loved when Jessica Leslie came on the show.

I think that music and art was really important to Mr. Cosby, and so that was

really great, I think, not only for us, the exposure to all of those people and

to see who his friends were, but also to an American audience.

I gave you a brand new car.

But you said you wanted Cadillac.

It took me years after that to actually appreciate being on screen with B .B.

King playing behind you. I know jazz musicians right now that would kill

themselves to do that.

I'll let you live in my penthouse.

And you said it was a shack because I gave you seven children.

We would get the script on Monday, and I'm reading through, and we get towards

the end, and it says, you know, Elvin imitates Cliff, and I'm like, oh, excuse

me, really?

I don't do an imitation of Bill Cosby.

By Thursday, you know, I worked on it all week, you know, and Thursday, I had

do it. I am your father, if it was not for...

Teacher dancing on your face.

One of the things that Bill said he wanted a wife who could speak Spanish.

When she would just lose it, she would just start speaking in Spanish.

Felicia walked in the door, and I just... knew how wonderful she was going

be. So finally I said, do you speak Spanish?

Do you speak Spanish?

I always thought that was a really wonderful character element that

unfortunately didn't stay, and I don't know why.

Well, what happens when a force of rational meets a force of irrational?

The strongest person, either the irrational or the rational one, will

And if you run these clips, you will see how our strength works against their

strength. They are the irrational people, and we be rational.

I delivered so many babies. After a while, the babies I delivered started

babies.

I come out of the hospital, go to get my car, and the three babies that I

delivered stole my car.

I don't think a black family had ever been shown on television economically at

this level.

The husband was a doctor and the wife was a lawyer. Mr. Cosby wanted his wife

be intelligent and accomplished.

I have an invoice here which states that the serial number on the rebuilt engine

is RN7294938. Is that correct?

If that's what it says, then that was the number on the engine.

Your Honor, I'd like to submit this invoice as Exhibit A.

She's sharp.

Not bad looking either.

He delighted.

In her intelligence.

He delighted in her wit.

He marveled at that. He loved that about her. So you leave me with no choice.

Here. What's this?

Summons? Brilliant.

You were charged with the telling of half -truth and other crimes against

parents.

Magnificent.

He knew how to prod you along by using that sense of humor. I think he was

strict. He was very stern, strict, because he had very high expectations.

You're going to start school.

Learning, the mind, education.

Aren't you excited?

I'm excited. No, no, get excited, my boy. Come on.

Excited? Say you're excited.

I'm excited. Let me see you get excited.

I'm excited.

Stand up.

respond at any given moment to what this child is going through or what's

happened when you step out the door in the morning. You don't know what's going

to happen. And so we threw a lot of curveballs at them. We got married. So

talking about what we're going to do.

Now, even if you don't want to go to college, I'm talking to her about going

college. This child has to say that she is married.

Who said that?

I got married, you know, tied the knot.

Among the millions of lessons that

we've all learned from The Cosby Show is you can't have five children and have

peace.

Dad would lose his cool when, again, it was such really those ordinary stupid

things that kids do, and you expect more out of them.

Well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well.

Leave it alone!

I'm engaged.

To do what?

What is the trouble?

Dad, I need to... No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Stop it!

Ooh, you're in big trouble now.

Hey, hey!

She did it! Now, what is the problem? She tried to take the broom away from

I'm really not... She's got dust in my eyes! Shut up! Hey!

We did many episodes where he just wanted to be alone, have a day off, read

paper, you know, fall asleep on the couch.

Hi, Rudy.

Hi.

Why did you do this?

I wanted to see if Daddy could look like a woman.

Cliff.

Cliff.

Hey, how you doing?

I'm fine.

What are you laughing at?

Cliff, you are so beautiful.

And you're beautiful, too.

If you are really beautiful, go to the mirror and look.

So here he had these children who were underachievers, and yet they had parents

who were successful.

So it was always Cliff's theme with them that, look at what we do. We work hard,

we're disciplined, and that's why we have all this.

But it was a lesson the kids didn't get that easily.

I'm not going to medical school.

Huh? I've decided not to go. I don't want to be a doctor.

I don't understand.

I'd like to open my own wilderness door.

Isn't that exciting?

No, I think it stinks.

And I'll tell you why it stinks, Pally. We need to talk. No, no, we're not going

to talk because I want to tell him why it stinks. Yes, but we need to meet in

the kitchen first.

Mom would lose her cool, I think, when we would do something that we didn't

really live up to, our full potential, or something that, you know,

her, or something that was just really plain stupid, you know, that someone

should know better.

Mom? Yes? I'm not going to law school.

What?

I decided not to go to law school.

Sandra, what are you saying?

You have always wanted to go to law school. You've never talked about

else. I changed my mind. Change it back.

After all the money we spent sending you to Princeton, Sandra, you owe us $79

,648 .22.

And I want my money now.

I'm not going anywhere till I get my money.

constant struggle between parent and child in a sense that if you didn't keep

close enough eye on your kids they could bring the whole family down what i

gave her away this is denise's answering service

okay i'm a father okay so don't wait for the beat now you got something to say

the courtroom all day and I've not slept for nights. And the last thing I need

is to babysit two little yelling twins.

That is the dumbest thing I ever heard.

From my point of view, the Cosby sweaters were definitely the flavor.

The great diversionary tactic for a waistline that's not 34 anymore.

He knew how to wear the sweater well, where I was kind of goofy looking.

I got laughed at a lot. He had to be the best sweater model ever in the history

of sweater models.

I couldn't wait to get my hand -me -down.

We'll go all the way back.

In time, and I'm sure you will find some parents who will say to the children,

turn that noise down.

I don't care if they're just singing out loud, no radio, no TV. Turn it down.

And then eventually you will have children and your children will be too

and you'll say the same thing that you promised you would never say to your

children if you had some children.

Which means that every generation will sooner or later lie to itself.

Oh, take a look, check it out, huh?

You got some old favorites there.

Old Yeller again?

Well, it gets better, dear, the more you see it. Don't you like the part where

he goes... I realized, my goodness, this show is going to have great appeal

to a wide spectrum of people because the kids saw what they wanted to see and

the adults saw what they wanted to see.

Dad. Let me explain something.

No, don't explain. I don't want to explain.

Nine -year -olds today aren't like when you were nine. Corny things were

invented.

Like stories about dogs.

It's a new age, Dad.

Get with it.

Music was a part of life.

He likes salsa.

He likes the blues.

He loves jazz.

Now listen to me.

Justine, Justine.

below zero.

The wind is blowing fierce.

You're freezing and you're cold and the only person who can open that door for

you is Justine.

construction music, though.

That's what he called the music that the children were listening to. He called

it construction music.

You know,

Dan, if you just gave this music a chance, you might get into it. Really?

what a thrill.

Yeah, if you just listen to what he's trying to say.

What is he trying to say?

that the world is closed.

The world is closed.

The world is closed.

Could they open it up and let it out?

They all, you know, were learning that at the same time and going through their

childhood again. Oh, let me hold you. I say, countrymen. Oh, let me hold you.

We would often during the week listen to what the kids were really saying and

doing in between takes and when they were just goofing around.

And a lot of language would come from just really observing.

What are you doing?

Kid killing.

Chili down or cool back or whatever these people say.

Existential, my brother. Not to mention pregnant.

I'm bugging.

I have no idea what you're talking about.

The 80s period was just corny.

There's no way I'm wearing this. Christine's going to laugh at me. Think

the clothes and the hair.

We want it to look like that.

We said this is how we want to look.

As far as Sabrina, we picked our own clothes. That's funny. That's completely

not true. I had to put some stuff on. I really was not feeling.

Oh! Pretty soon, everybody will be dressing weird and changing their

every other day.

Hello, Daddy.

Do it.

I like it.

Wear it when I'm dead.

I think that the grandparents were there to show a sense of history and to keep

a sense of perspective.

That's a pretty hat, Grandma.

Thank you. That was high fashion back then.

Especially if you were a hipster. What's that?

A hipster was someone who knew the latest dances and the latest things and

the latest clothes.

We could straighten up and fly right.

Are you hip to the job?

Solid. Then slip me some skin.

They are learning from us, and we are learning from them.

They are learning history, and we are learning change.

One of the episodes I'll never forget.

Theo has the earring, and Heathcliff's not too happy about that.

What really happened to your ears, son?

I walked into a door. Oh, come on. I heard that old walked -into -a -door

from your dad back in 49.

Okay, Grandpa.

I got my ear pierced. On purpose?

And then Heathcliff remembers that he used to conk his hair because that day

that was the style. You know, the guys were cool.

This man, a future doctor, had it poured

slowly over his head.

But what happened?

Burned all my hair.

Wasn't that that?

He was a little like that girl.

Well, whatever happened to her?

She's in the kitchen now.

Mom, you burned all the hair off your head for mom?

I had a tattoo.

I went to get a tattoo when I was coating Anna and in love with her. He

what? When I heard what Russell had done, I was enormously flattered.

Until I saw my name was misspelled.

The three huckstable men.

Scar chest, skinhead, and holding the load.

Starting with Grandma, Grandpa.

We followed in the perfect footsteps of Mom and Dad.

I'm hunting, it's happening. It is, really? I saw the top of the head.

She was the prettiest little top of the head I ever saw.

Whose top of the head did it look like?

I mean, I remember the birth episode.

There was a scene that was not written.

No, I'm not going to be blaming anyone. I'm just, I'm looking forward to every

day that I'm going to get to spend with them. Yeah, that's so wonderful.

Spoken just like a woman whose children are only 45 minutes old.

And he says, we're going to just do this scene. He says, just go along with me.

You know how much I love you.

Yeah. But I just also want to say how much I've loved having you as a father.

Am I going somewhere? No, no.

I only hope and pray that I can do as good a job with my children as you've

with yours.

Well, I'll tell you something.

It's impossible.

And I think for all the children, we had these great expectations for us, and we

wanted to live up to them.

Because it was such a close -knit community and environment within the

Cliff and Claire were able to bridge the generation gap.

And having all that extended family, the grandparents, so many generations

around together supporting is very important.

I am your grandfather. This is the first time we've had a chance.

I am your grand...

Help me out. What are we looking at?

Disguised pregnancy is very interesting.

Why are these bags blocking her?

Stop it.

It's amazing how creative people become.

There was a thing that I played behind a giant teddy bear for no apparent reason

whatsoever.

The kitchen counter was raised about four or five inches, and

there was a hole cut in the mattress in the master bedroom.

And I would fit down into the hole so as to disguise the pregnant belly that I

had.

Ladies and gentlemen, baby stomach.

Next week we have a car in here.

So you see, it's right there.

That's a very interesting question, where they are.

They're probably still wandering around that old studio.

Ooh, Cliff and Claire Hospital, Charlotte, down in the island.

They have done everything they needed to do in New York, and they are gone.

They have bought their little home. They have a nice resort down there. They

don't have a lot of bedrooms because they don't expect a lot of visitors.

I think Vanessa probably would have left college, and she would have eventually

moved back into the house.

Olivia became a rock star.

She just seems like the one who always had money. Denise?

She might be living in a trailer camp. Who knows?

I think Rudy's the first one who left the house and didn't come back.

Rudy is a vice president of a bank.

Theo has a master's in education.

And he will undoubtedly...

go on to become chancellor of the schools in New York City.

They live in Palm Beach.

They live in a nice brown zone in the village. They have nine children.

They're two perfect children.

Cliff and Claire are actually living there with them now, out of revenge.

As an actor, one of the things that I cherish most is being able to

do perform a work that is meaningful, that has lasting

meaning for people who see it.

The Cosby Show was exceptional with its strong points.

Intelligence, honesty, respect for its audience,

truth of character, reality of relationships.

And the strongest point of all, subtlety.

We didn't have to wave banners, beat drums, sing songs, make great speeches

about who we were.

It was obvious.

It was obvious in the art that hung on the walls.

It was obvious in the music that we listened to, the music that the children

listened to, in our personalized story.

of historical events.

And in presenting ourselves in this way, we were able to give people in

this country and the world a broader perspective of what American culture

really is.

Divert.

Now at 600.

$600. Against you, sir. Will you say $700?

$700 now.

$800 I have. Still the lady's bid at $800. Will you say $900?

$900 in front. Now $1 ,000.

$1 ,000 I have over here. Hey, that's my daddy's picture.

Well, I have $1 ,000 and a young lady who loves her daddy. Will you say $1

I think what he was trying to do is just really, on a subliminal level, expand

the horizons of everyone.

If you sit and you watch the shows, it's there. It's either going to come up in

conversation, it's going to come up in music, it's going to come up, it's going

to be on our walls, it's going to be in a shot.

My name is Noam House.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Do you have a cold?

That is my name in Xhosa.

Oh,

very interesting name.

My name is Olivia.

In Xhosa, that would be Oliso.

And in delivering this truth to the audience, it really opened doors to

understanding.

And it introduced cultural realism.

In primetime television.

What really happened besides the heat and the singing?

Theo, I'll tell you what you should put in that paper.

I remember we were doing a script about the march to Washington.

And I just happened to mention, which was true, that I was on the march.

Me too. The mood of that day. Oh, Theo, it was so friendly. Yes,

it was.

People we didn't know at all.

waving to each other like they were old friends.

We were old friends by the time we walked from the parking lot to the gate

The writers, they even came over and thanked me for telling them my

One of the criticisms being that the hostables did not accurately reflect

life. That reflects a quite limited viewpoint on who we are as black people.

Vanessa, what happened?

Two girls at school were picking on me.

What did they do to you?

They started saying nasty things like stuck up rich girl.

I told them they better not say it again. And the next thing I know, we're

rolling around on the floor. You took both of them on?

Well, I didn't mean to. It just happened.

All right.

None of this would have happened if we weren't so rich.

Let me get something straight, okay?

Your mother and I are rich.

You have nothing.

It had such a wide range of what black life is about, and it gets to a point

where it's not even about black.

Well, I think the significance of the Cosby Show is that it let the world know

that, Black folks are just like everybody else. We feel, we think, we

hurt. And it was funny.

Who is it?

No, no, no. When I say, who is it? It doesn't mean for you to come in.

When I say, who is it? And you say, who it is.

And I think America, after a while, stopped looking at it as a black family,

just looked at them as a family.

And I think that was a big step forward.

One day when an elderly Sicilian -American woman came up to me and said,

love your show.

Your show, it reminds me so much of my family.

It was this Sicilian -American woman saying that.

That was...

That had a great impact on me. I realized then, and since then many

important the show was.

The Cosby Show, like All in the Family and I Love Lucy, was history -breaking.

They were funny, truthful, and people related to them.

We built a show around Bill's philosophy.

Universal in its message that we are all alike when it comes to dealing with

parenthood and children.

In my first meeting with him, he said, and I mean all six foot three of him

the cigar, he said, this is how it's going to be.

And what he talked about was the fact that we were going to have a really well

-integrated set and that the majority of the people working on the show would be

African -Americans, and that is what happened.

Bill Cosby changed the culture of television forever.

Got scared when I yelled, didn't you, sir?

Okay, here we go.

You're all right.

I definitely have one favorite scene. There's a scene when the anniversary of

the parents, and they're singing, and everybody's, like, lip -syncing.

The funniest

part was... Peter Knight Pulliam. He couldn't have been more than four

or five years old.

And when it got to that point, baby!

And the funny thing, looking back, I'm

singing such a grown -up adult verse.

And it was nothing Rudy had ever known or experienced. But she would have

thought that this little girl knew the pangs of love.

Bill Cosby and the Cosby Show. It truly, truly was historic.

I think that it changed not only television, but it changed the way

people in many ways, as crazy as it sounds, viewed African -American people.

There were newspaper articles on little black kids who said they wanted to be a

doctor.

And you ask them why, and they said because Dr.

Huxtable is a doctor.

The final episode was Theo's

graduation. Well, at the end of the episode, Cliff and Claire were in the

room, and the music was playing, and he asked her to dance.

And Bill whispered in my ear, I'm going to dance you right out of this studio.

I think one of the beautiful things about the way that show ended, you see

and Claire walk off the set, out of the studio doors. They walk past the

audience, past the camera, past the crew.

I just thought it was such a classic farewell.

It was one of the most amazing moments in my life.

And walking out of that door for the last time.

Well, it was the happiest time of my entire life, so I figured, well,

happens now has got to go down.

It's like the house you grew up in. I mean, you know, these people I'd known

whole childhood.

You know, I saw them more than I saw my own family a lot of times.

For eight years, we genuinely loved each other. There was a sincere rapport that

we have that is, anyone would tell you, is quite rare.

I was so used to being with these people every day for like three years, and

then it's just gone.

I'm most proud of being part of monumental television history.

You know, there are only four other Cosby kids on earth.

Because you had a lot of impact on a lot of different people's lives across this

world.

It was an experience that parallels really no other.

Simply put, truthfully stated, the whole thing was wonderful.

I just want all of you people to understand something. I never had to

worry.

because I had a catcher.

So I could go off and I could do a one and a half and triple thing and then all

I had to do was put my hands out and she'd go back.

She was there. She was right there.

And she envied Mrs.

Cosby. And she always tried to never do anything that

would go off. and she would say to me something, well, would Mrs.

Cosby do this? And it became kind of troublesome.

But the beauty of working with a woman with the intelligence, the passion, and

the knowledge, and then to watch no nominations for anything.

When you put it up on what you're looking at now,

She doesn't need it.

You can't have it! Why do we have four children? Stop it!

What's going on here? Nothing. Really? What do you want, Rudy?

If you know something, tell me.

I'll be telling you, Tamara.

Give me some time.

Give me some time.

Give me some time.

If you don't, I'll spit in your eye.

No, you behave. No, no, you behave. No, you, you, you behave.

How do you do? I'm Dr. Huxtapoo.

We had a great night tonight and we thank you for joining us.

It's been fabulous.

Good night.