'The Cosby Show', starring Bill Cosby who became known as "America's Dad" for his role as Cliff Huxtable, and Phylicia Rashad as Clair Huxtable, debuted on NBC-TV on September 20, 1984.
The series aired from September 20, 1984, to April 30, 1992, on NBC. It focused on the Huxtables, an upper-middle-class African-American family residing in Brooklyn, New York.
The program aired for 201 episodes over eight years, dominating television for five years. Lisa Bonet, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Tempestt Bledsoe, Keisha Knight-Pulliam, and Sabrina Le Beauf were also part of the Huxtable family cast.
Why did 'The Cosby Show' get canceled?
According to a 2017 Forbes estimate, reruns of the show brought in more than $1.5 billion over the course of 20 years. However, as the outcry against Bill Cosby, who was dealing with fresh claims of sexual misbehavior, strengthened in 2014, networks and streaming services started to yank the show, per CNN.
Bill Cosby scandal
Eventually, several women came forward with allegations that Cosby had raped and assaulted them at different points of his career. Some even said he drugged them. Cosby, however, refuted all accusations.
In a 2005 deposition for a legal dispute, Cosby reportedly acknowledged buying seven Quaaludes prescriptions with the intention of giving them to women in an effort to have sex with them.
He denied drugging any of his accusers. In lieu of his deposition, the prosecution had agreed not to press charges.
However, that admission was later utilized to secure his criminal conviction for sexual assault in 2018 in a Montgomery County, Pennsylvania state court.
Following Cosby's completion of three years of his three- to 10-year state prison term, a panel of judges ruled that his confession was unacceptable for his criminal case due to the non-prosecution guarantee and vacated his conviction, per CNN.
Cosby's release was met with online outrage from his accusers and detractors, sparking the controversy that forced broadcasters to pull his old shows as well as those that were in the works with NBC and Netflix.
What records did 'The Cosby Show' set during its run on TV?
'The Cosby Show', which reportedly spent most of the series in the top 20 ratings, was the top-rated television program for five straight seasons. Along with 'All in the Family', it is the only sitcom to hold this title in Nielsen ratings' history.
There were a total of 201 episodes produced.
It was dubbed "TV's biggest hit in the 1980s" and was credited with virtually single-handedly revitalizing the sitcom genre and NBC's ratings fortunes.
Cliff Huxtable, the character, was chosen the "Greatest Television Dad" in 2014.
The show was one of only two in the United States to top the Nielsen ratings for five seasons in a row.
It won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Comedy Program every year it was on the air, with the exception of 1991. It also won three Golden Globes, six of the 29 Emmy Awards it was nominated for, as well as more than 40 additional honors.
Cast of 'The Cosby Show'
The main cast of The Cosby Show includes Bill Cosby as Dr Heathcliff ‘Cliff’ Huxtable, Phylicia Rashad as Clair Huxtable, Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Theo Huxtable, Keshia Knight Pulliam as Rudy Huxtable, Tempestt Bledsoe as Vanessa Huxtable, Sabrina Le Beauf as Sondra Huxtable Tibideaux, Lisa Bonet as Denise Huxtable, Geoffrey Owens as Elvin Tibideaux, Raven-Symone as Olivia Kendall, Joseph C Phillips as Lt Martin Kendall, and Erika Alexander as Pam Tucker.
