The Co-Opting of the Cosby Legacy

Photo: Parade Magazine

The Cosby Show debuted thirty years ago, and it was the definitive show of my childhood and adolescence.  In 1984, when the first episode premiered, I was an awkward elementary school student. I can recall believing that I was smart but being preoccupied with the thought that my nose and teeth were too big for my face.  And let's not even get started on my hair issues . . .

Circa 1984

I remember watching The Cosby Show with my family after dinner every Thursday evening.  The show came on at 8:00 so my brother and I had to go to bed immediately after it went off.  It was difficult to fall asleep after watching such vibrant and engaging images of people who looked like us. This was different from watching George Jefferson, or Arnold and Willis.  We didn't live in a penthouse on the Upper East Side, and our father was definitely not Mr. Drummond.

Who can forget the Gordon Gartrell episode?

Years later I can still see my mother laughing until she cried when Denise attempted to make Theo a designer shirt.  In the show,  Theo ran out of his room yelling "my arms are the same size, why aren't my sleeves?!?" We all fell out laughing.  I remember relating to Vanessa's awkwardness and desire to please, but really wanting to be Denise.  I lived vicariously through her rebellious, free-spirited existence.  She was exactly what I wanted to be; confident and unselfconscious.

Didn't we all want to be Denise?

When I transitioned into middle-school, I can recall being flattered when people compared my family to the Huxtables.   In high-school,  I remember having heated debates, with both blacks and whites, about whether the show was 'realistic'.  By the time I got to college I had become critical of the sitcom that I once lived for.   I can recall writing a paper in which I argued that The Cosby Show's popularity was due to the fact that it allowed whites to believe that racism no longer existed.  I asserted that the existence of a black family with a doctor and lawyer as parents, allowed white viewers to believe that blacks who were not as successful as The Huxtables only had themselves to blame.  I resented the fact that racism was never explicitly addressed on the show.

I felt this way until recently when I read the  "The Eternal Paternal" in The New Yorker.  The article, which references the biography of Cosby written by Mark Whitaker,  reminded me that The Cosby Show was a comedy.  Race is a serious topic, and racism should never be considered entertainment (at least not in prime time).

Over the years,  I have tried to share my love of The Cosby Show with my students during recess and Summer School.  They never thought that it was as funny as I thought they should have.  I would sit on the edge of my seat anticipating their reaction to a big joke, but I was always be disappointed.  My theory is that they were immune to humor that was not at the expense of others.  Or perhaps in the Obama Era the Huxtables do not seem all that impressive.

Recently, I've realized that there are  several shows on television that are trying to capitalize on the popularity of The Cosby Show by copying shallow aspects of it.  For example, in the opening montage of the last season of TI and Tiny: The Family Hustle the family dances around in an "homage" to The Cosby Show.  Remember when we used to anticipate the start of a new season to see how the Huxtables were going to change up the intro? Well, things have certainly changed . . .

Definitely not Claire Huxtable (Photo: VH1)

Another show that borrows from Cosby is the hilarious and underrated Chrisley Knows Best.  In the first season of the show Todd and his wife Julie end every episode in bed talking and being romantic just as Cliff and Claire did.  In both shows it is clear that the intimate relationship between the parents is crucial to the positive family dynamic.

Photo: The Daily News

Unfortunately, even though TI and Tiny: The Family Hustle and Chrisley Knows Best were created thirty years after The Cosby Show neither represents progress. In both shows the fathers are the primary breadwinners.  In both shows the men take the lead in transmitting values to their sons and daughters.  What producers of these shows fail to understand is that The Cosby Show was not about patriarchy.  Cliff and Claire were equals in terms of their financial contributions to their family. They were equal caretakers.   In fact, Cliff was often the parent who was most often affectionate and playful with the children.  The legacy of The Cosby Show is that the way in which it challenged the assumptions that Americans had about both race and gender.  I can't wait to share it with Chloe; hopefully she'll think that it's as funny and empowering as I did.