October 19, 2023 – The Cosby Show

Happy Throwback Thursday! This week, we’re spotlighting the year 1984, the year The Cosby Show premiered on NBC. It ran from September 1984 to April 1992 and also spawned a spinoff series called A Different World, which broadcast from 1987 to 1993.
In the early 1980s, 2 ABC executives, Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner, left the network to start their own production company. They had overseen popular sitcoms like Mork & Mindy, Three’s Company, and Welcome Back, Kotter, and knew that they needed a big name to get a sitcom to sell for their fledgling company. Bill Cosby had performed stand-up comedy, and award-winning albums, and starred in several TV shows and movies in the 1960s and 70s. But his career had stalled by the 80s. Carsey and Warner were fans of his stand-up and thought it would work perfectly for a sitcom.
Originally, Cosby wanted Cliff and Clair to have blue-collar jobs, with Cliff being a limo driver and Clair an electrician. But his wife convinced him that the characters should be well-off financially, with the mother a lawyer and the father a doctor. Cosby also insisted that the show be taped in New York City, rather than Los Angeles where most other shows filmed.
The Cosby Show is one of three shows that were number one in the Nielsen ratings for 5 consecutive seasons (All in the Family and American Idol are the other 2). It’s also the only scripted TV show with a predominantly African-American cast to top the ratings, and to do so more than once. Cosby became the highest-paid actor on TV, as the show generated $2.5 billion in revenue. Learn more here.