The Cosby Show

Despite all the controversy surrounding Bill Cosby, it's undeniable that the Cosby Show is one of the funniest and most important shows to ever come on television. This show redefined what a black family could be on TV and taught important life lessons with each episode.

Just try to ignore the bull surrounding this brilliant show and enjoy it at face value. It's a funny, intelligent show that shouldn't be ignored due to the actions of its star.

As a series, The Cosby Show was groundbreaking, portraying a middle-upper black American family. Definitely not Good Times from the 70s. The writing was memorable, with episodes dealing with the issues that any middle-upper black American family must contend with.

The Cosby Show is one of those few trailblazing programs that grace television screens and leave an indelible mark. A situation comedy featuring a well-off African American family residing in a Brooklyn townhouse, The Cosby Show was also ultimately the brainchild and vehicle of comedian-extraordinare, Bill Cosby. Cosby's stage routine during his later years featured tales of his large family of five children, four girls and one boy, and his beloved wife, Camille, and these stories are translated exceptionally well on the small screen with a wonderful ensemble cast headed by Cosby and Phylicia Rashad (nee Allen).

I'm sure faithful viewers all have their favorite episodes, and we can always reminice in this terrific journey through the life of Bill Cosby through the fictional existence of Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable.

For eight glorious seasons, The Cosby Show ruled the airwaves and our hearts, and luckily, we can still enter this great world on syndication all over the world.

Even though it ended its first network run nearly eight years ago, The Cosby Show continues to make us laugh through reruns on many local stations and cable networks. That is what its legacy really is. It certainly was important, since it rescued the sitcom from oblivion and showed us that African-American families can be just as "normal" as anyone else's. But more than that, it never stopped being funny, has not stopped being funny, and never will stop being funny. It was one of the best sitcoms of its day, and now is one of the best of any day. Bill Cosby was a great comedian, Phylicia Rashad and the kids on the show were all great actors, particularly Malcolm-Jamal Warner, and they all had great chemistry that never diminished in eight years together. Though it did slip a little bit toward the end, the writing and the show itslef never truly did lose their quality. Do you think this show will keep us entertained for years to come? As Theo might say, "No problem!"

I grew up with a crush on Clair, Sandra and Denise (who didn't like Denise?) and most of all I grew up watching him on TV, (it was still running live telecasts when I was born). I really loved the ways that Cliff Huxtable dealt with the kids and I am sure that many parents across America ventured to be more like him and deal with their kids as he did (although it would be nice if we could). The best thing about the show was that while it did show a well-off black family, it was not preachy about the plight of blacks and was woven gently into the plots with humor, with humor you can remember it a lot easier than if someone just preached it at you. It was a vehicle that did in fact continue the "movin' on up" legacy that shows like The Jeffersons and Good Times started but most of all making it about family life and how parents and children relate to each other thus, making it timeless.

Some shows are for a time, but this show most of all, will be on as long as time exists.

For the critics of the show, it was a little ideal and a bit unrealistic for the people who say that I say this: THis is TV but TV is based on real life, and if you sit for 30 minutes in any household, it will be boring as all crap, and more importantly a lot of work goes into creating & writing sitcoms, critics should be writers themselves before they criticize a show, because is too easy to criticize but not to rework it to be accessible as you see it Thank you