Ten things I learned from watching the entire run of The Cosby Show over the last few months on Netflix streaming:

- Cliff wasn't the only one who wore wild sweaters.

- Seinfeld was celebrated as the "show about nothing," but this show had even less plot. Entire episodes just riffed for twenty minutes on Vanessa fretting over a test or Theo having a crush on a girl, nothing more. My favorite episode mostly just showed the main characters dancing. Who needs plot?

- Something I really appreciated about the writing was that, while the characters were usually nice people, every one of them had an ugly side that came up consistently: Cliff was dishonest and boastful, Clair was sanctimonious, Sondra was overbearing, Denise was fickle, Theo was a sexist pig, Vanessa was selfish, Rudy was bossy, et cetera. None of the characters got to be angels, even the minor recurring guests. It was a smart choice that made the family relatable and plausible, and something that the show's many imitators forgot to replicate.

- The show was blessed with the fortunate casting of little Keshia Knight Pulliam, cute as a button and pretty funny too. Later on in her adolescence, the writers didn't know what to do with her, using Rudy to set up a stupid macho rivalry between Kenny and Stanley (ugh), but that wasn't the actress's fault.

- Speaking of which, the quality of the show really dropped off in the final years, as the cast slowly disintegrated and the network demanded more ratings stunts. Seasons 1-5 were fantastic, but 6-8 slowly morphed into a pathetic attempt to keep the magic going. There's no single shark-jumping moment, but the feeling is palpable.

- A lot of the jokes were clearly improvised. You can spot when Bill Cosby makes his fellow actors crack up with a line that's not in the script. Sometimes they'd just put him on stage with kids and let him go to town.

- I remembered Lisa Bonet's reputation for being difficult to work with, and it showed in the weak episodes leading up to her (second) termination. But I had forgotten that she could actually be pretty funny when she was into the job.

- Watching 200 episodes of an eight-year sitcom, right after watching 120 episodes of the six-year Lost, was not a smart idea. Fatigue set in hard. (Sorry Denise; we tried Babylon 5 and just couldn't stick with it, but we will try again.) I need to find something short to watch before I begin another epic run.

- Child actors are rarely good at delivering lines naturally, but it doesn't matter that they sound scripted if they can still be funny anyway. Raven-Symoné is funny anyway.

- Age didn't stop Bill Cosby or his guest stars from doing lots of great physical comedy. I laughed so much watching this show.


Five Replies to And If You're Not Careful, You Might Learn Something

Jackie Mason | August 21, 2011
[hidden by author request]

Tony Peters | August 21, 2011
my wife and I have thought about re-watching Buffy from the beginning.....

Steve West | August 21, 2011
Brenda is suffering through I, Claudius at my insistence. She says, "This isn't about gladiators like you promised."

Jackie Mason | August 22, 2011
[hidden by author request]

Lori Lancaster | August 22, 2011
[hidden by author request]


Logical Operator

The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »

The News is Scary

Sixth-grader admits stabbing ducks with pencil. Does anyone else read this and think, this kid will grow up to be Jeffrey Dahmer? Vegan parents guilty of murder. Go »

I Can Deflect Staples

Should you call your day a complete wash if your greatest creative achievement was paper fastener nunchucks? Go »

R.I.P. Mom

You were so still in your bed when I could finally sit down beside you, a few hours after the facility notified me that you had died. I hadn't seen you be that peaceful in years, your eyes not scanning the room for clues, your hands not turning over each object in front of you for endlessly repeated examination. I whispered to you the most urgent and most precious things I had to say, the secrets and atonements and wishes foremost on my mind. Go »

Normal Paranormal

This will offend believers in the paranormal, so read at your own peril. Socially, I've tried to keep it a polite secret that I don't believe in any paranormal phenomena, including the everyday sort. Several of my local friends practice feng shui, buy healing magnets, size people up based on their birth signs, and go to dieticians who tell them not to eat foods of certain colors. Go »

Blood Lines

A few weeks ago, I dropped a glass bottle of salad dressing on the kitchen floor, making the house smell like vinaigrette for a day. Today, I stepped on the last errant bit of glass hiding in a crack of tile by the corner. Better my foot than the cat's paw, I guess; I don't lick between my toes. Go »

Crying in Baseball

Kelly and I won tickets to see a Tampa Bay Rays game in a deluxe suite last night. We've been excited about it for weeks, looking forward to a good game, good seats, and good food, all paid except the parking. What we got was a let-down. Go »