Starting in 1984,
The Cosby Show began as a pilot by hopeful former ABC executives to Vanessa and Rudy taught us various ways to be good people. It should be a requirement that Nadya Suleman, Jesse Jackson, Sarah Palin and CEOs of all Fortune 500 companies watch no less than one episode weekly in its entirety.
The reasons for this are basic enough for any five-year-old can understand. If this schedule is maintained, perhaps there is even hope for the worst offenders.
Many things can be said about
The Cosby Show, and many things have. Many opinions and biases have been heaped atop this particular family sitcom. Here are some more.
Family ValuesCliff and Clair taught their children to do the right thing, even when it wasn't the easiest decision. They took the time to explain why lying and cheating was wrong instead of just saying no. There were shows about breaking the rules and breaking the law. All of the Huxtable children were held responsible for their actions, and would be praised for going above and beyond the goals they set for themselves. Even the dating woes of Theo or the packed dance schedules of Vanessa or Denise ended up teaching us a lesson. The Cosby Show went so far as to portray the relationship between generations in a positive light, unlike some of the preceding trailblazers in the sitcom department, namely
All in the Family and
The Jeffersons (both fantastic shows in their own right). The kids listen to the parents and the grandparents without much in the way of yelling.
Education
Cliff was an obstetrician, Clair a lawyer. By the end of the series most of the Cosby kids had graduated college and even helped out a few friends on their way to one form of higher education or another. The base of all informative lectures given by Cliff Huxtable involved no less than three funny faces (see:
Silliness), a dance and a song (see:
Music Appreciation), and a story from back in the day. The importance of education was always stressed. Grades were secondary to doing the best you could. Tests were gone over and homework checked. There was an activity surrounding the education of the Huxtable children as there should be in every household. A lot of parents find it difficult to take ten or fifteen minutes a day to show interest in their own children’s well being. A message to these parents: make the time.
Fiscal ResponsibilityThe pilot episode set the standard for how Cliff Huxtable would teach his children about all matters financial. After getting multiple Ds on his report card, Theo claims to already have the skill set to live like regular people out in the world. Cliff challenges his son’s stupidity by showing him the cost of living. Though Theo claims to be able to get by on cereal and baloney sandwiches, he ends up with zero dollars at the end of the exercise, just like regular people. This episode alone may be the best thing for corporate executives to watch on a loop in their conference rooms. Learning how to live within your means and still getting all of the necessary things in life is something that has slipped through our collective fingers. As a country where the younger you are the more debt you have stacked against you and the less chance you have of getting out clean, fiscal responsibility is the least difficult and most important thing we need to learn.
Woman’s Lib
Clair Huxtable was a partner in her own law firm. Standing on the shoulders of
The Mary Tyler Moore Show and growing into it’s own form,
The Cosby Show helped to expand the way women were seen as a part of the family, not only in a matriarchal sense, but in an earning sense as well. From the episode when all of the men give birth, to having Kenny (Bud) and Rudy battle it out and find out where the middle ground was and why Kenny’s brother was a mouth-foaming idiot, women were continuously shown in a position of power and pride.
Music Appreciation
Guest appearances by Dizzy Gillespie, Stevie Wonder, the Muppets, B.B. King, Mavis Staples, Sammy Davis, Jr.
Music on the living room record player by Count Basie, Miles Davis, Ray Charles, James Moody, Eddie Jefferson, Grover Washington, Jr. and The Manhattan Transfer.
If for no other reason than to expand your own musical awareness, invest some time in jazz. Stretch it out to funk, and sprinkle equal helpings of James Brown and George Clinton. If it teaches us nothing else,
The Cosby Show lets us evaluate jazz on an equal playing field, learning with the Huxtable children about the fine points of music, how it comes together in our ears and how it brings us together in our living rooms.
Diet
Cliff’s predilection toward potato chips and bacon-laced sandwiches was a theme throughout all of the seasons. He was caught several times sneaking pie to work, layering an entire head of lettuce on top and calling it salad. While Clair was a guest panelist for a local show of talking heads, Cliff learned from the wiley Cuban janitor that a bear claw was in fact not a donut; therefore he had not been explicitly warned off them.
Although every now and then Clair catered to his dietary whims, there were often salads and carrot juice laid in front of him at the table. The children were always made to eat a balanced diet which included the occasional extravagant dish like Cliff’s secret chili recipe, anything containing cow tongue, or the classic Caribbean food made for Cliff and Clair’s 27th wedding anniversary by the chef who cooked for them on their honeymoon.
Fashion
Cosby sweaters were only the beginning. Denise helped Theo by sewing a designer shirt that turned out looking more like Picasso on acid. For formal events, the Huxtables were dressed for success. Clair didn’t need to have her breasts parading half out of a tube top like some tabloid shocker. When a suit was worn, it was done with style.
No need to buy any thick-bound magazines slathered with stone faced people wearing evening gowns playing miniature golf ; just flip the channels.
SillinessIf nothing else, TV sitcoms are there to make us laugh. To pull stunts and pop jokes that, even if we see the punch line coming, still cannot help but snort a snot bubble out onto the living room table.
The Cosby Show has embarrassing dancing, silly faces and stretched voices.
If nothing else, humor should teach us the importance of living. It should teach us that everything will work itself out eventually. Humor releases more chemicals in the brain than most prescription meds. Just behind breathing and water, humor is essential to life.
So for all those people in the world with their eyes glazed over watching
American Idol to
Rock of Love Bus; pull yourself out of the haze long enough to realize that those images flashing in front of your face are not going to help you land that new job, or get the girl of your dreams, but
The Cosby Show just may give you better odds.
I'm also currently working on a similar project for 826michigan. It's a robot thing - you wouldn't understand.
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