Weinberger and Michael J. Leeson) and starring Bill Cosby that originally aired on NBC from September 20, 1984, to April 30, 1992, with a total of 201 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons, including an outtakes special.

The series was followed by a spin-off, titled A Different World, which ran from September 24, 1987 to July 9, 1993, with a total of six seasons consisting of 144 episodes.

It launched the extended cast into stardom and Cosby, having already had a successful career on TV, films and stand-up, became the highest paid actor on television.

Despite its comedic tone, the show sometimes involves serious subjects, like Theo's experiences dealing with dyslexia,[9] inspired by Cosby's dyslexic son, Ennis.

The character was created when Bill Cosby wanted the show to express the accomplishment of successfully raising a child who had graduated from college.

[14] Bill Cosby originally wanted Vanessa Williams to play the part of Sondra due to her college education and background in theater arts.

In the early 1980s, Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner, two former executives at ABC, left the network to start their own production company: Carsey-Werner.

Bill Cosby had performed stand-up comedy with award-winning albums and starred in several genres in TV and film in the 1960s and 70s, but his career had become more static by the early 1980s.

[20] With advice from his wife Camille Cosby, though, the concept was changed so that the family was well-off financially, with the mother a lawyer and the father a physician.

King, Stevie Wonder, Sammy Davis Jr., Lena Horne, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and Miriam Makeba.

[37] Another main cast member pregnancy, that of Bonet, almost caused the actress to be fired, especially coming in the wake of appearing in the film Angel Heart, which contained explicit sexual scenes with actor Mickey Rourke.

[45][46] However, it was criticized by others, including Henry Louis Gates Jr., for allowing white audiences to think that racism and poverty were problems of the past.

Phylicia Rashad claimed that when she met Nelson Mandela, he told her that he "is eternally grateful for the show and its influence on Apartheid and us Black people.

"[47] As a result of the Bill Cosby sexual assault cases, Malcolm-Jamal Warner has stated that the show's legacy is "tarnished".

[51] In its first season, the show was the beginning of a Thursday NBC schedule that was followed by Family Ties, Cheers, Night Court, and Hill Street Blues.

[52] The Cosby Show is one of three television programs (All in the Family and American Idol being the others) that were number one in the Nielsen ratings for five consecutive seasons.

[citation needed] Fort Worth, Texas–based independent station KTVT carried the series until 1995, when it ceased operating as a regional cable superstation and became an affiliate of CBS.

Viacom's Nick at Nite began airing reruns of the series in March 2002, and its sister network TV Land began airing reruns in 2004, making The Cosby Show one of the few series that were shown on both Nick at Nite and TV Land at the same time.

[73][74] "Episodes have been pulled immediately for the foreseeable future ... TV Land even removed references to The Cosby Show from its website on Wednesday afternoon as the scandal accelerated."

[76] Bounce TV resumed airing the series in December 2016[77] but pulled the show on April 26, 2018 — the day Cosby was convicted of sexual assault.

[citation needed] The Cosby Show's producers created a spin-off series called A Different World that was built around the "Denise" character (portrayed by actress Lisa Bonet), the second of the Huxtables' four daughters.

Seasons One and Two contain special features, including the ninety minute retrospective documentary entitled The Cosby Show: A Look Back, which aired on NBC in May 2002.

In December 2010, First Look Studios filed bankruptcy, and all its assets were subsequently acquired by Millennium Entertainment, who also took over distribution of The Cosby Show DVD releases.

However, all subsequent DVD releases (including the complete series set) contain the original, uncut broadcast versions.