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The Cosby Show
- 964 statements
- 189 feature instances
- 196 referencing feature instances
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The Cosby Show | |
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The Cosby Show | comment |
'80s Dom Com co-created by and starring Bill Cosby that anchored NBC's Thursday-night lineup from 1984 to 1992. The show was loosely based around some of Cosby's best-known standup routines, which were in turn based around his real-life family. Here, he stars as lovable obstetrician Heathcliff "Cliff" Huxtable, alongside his gorgeous lawyer wife Clair (Phylicia Rashad), and their five children, ranging in age from college to preschool (as of the first season): Sondra (Sabrina LeBeauf), Denise (Lisa Bonet), Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner), Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe), and Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam).Featured a rare inverted Chuck Cunningham Syndrome — in the opening episode, the parents have the exchange, "Why do we have four children?" "Because we did not want five!", but it's later revealed that they do indeed have five children. In later seasons, when Rudy had outgrown Cosby's trademark "kids do the darndest things!" gags, the show introduced a Cousin Oliver in the form of Denise's stepdaughter Olivia, played by Raven-Symoné.In most important respects, The Cosby Show was one of the most successful examples of the genre, dominating the ratings in the '80s (it was the top-rated show for five years in a row). It was heartwarming and likely to end in An Aesopnote Sometimes fair, sometimes not. if not a full-on Golden Moment.The show is still notable for being one of the earliest successful TV series to center on well-to-do African-Americans, without making an issue of (though not ignoring) their race. In fact, they considered the key part of the premise being that Cliff and Clair were college-educated and practiced prestigious trades, where most other sitcoms (white or black cast) were blue-collar in nature.Spawned a popular college-themed spinoff, A Different World, in 1987. Not to be confused with Bill Cosby's earlier TV outing in the nearly-identically named series The Bill Cosby Show, or his much later series Cosby (which reunited him with co-star Phylicia Rashad). | |
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The Cosby Show | isPartOf |
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The Cosby Show / int_1328fd9d | type |
Parenting the Husband | |
The Cosby Show / int_1328fd9d | comment |
Parenting the Husband: Averted. While Cliff did have moments of being a Bumbling Dad, and Clair was portrayed as more practical than Cliff, she was not necessarily morally superior to him. There were a few times Clair was shown as clearly being in the wrong. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_1439161f | type |
Heroic BSoD | |
The Cosby Show / int_1439161f | comment |
Heroic BSoD: In "Mrs. Westlake" in season 2, Theo describes his very hard math test, then talks about how, the last time he saw Cockroach, the poor guy couldn't even get out of his chair and was and muttering, "I never made it past number three..." Clair gets one in Season 6, prompting Cliff to send her on a mountain retreat. Cliff is also noted to have a minor one after every time he has to deal with Mrs. Minifield in season 8. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_16178c64 | type |
Gratuitous Spanish | |
The Cosby Show / int_16178c64 | comment |
Gratuitous Spanish: Clair will occasionally display her ability to speak Spanish, which is treated as a big deal. Meta example with a hint of irony: When Phylicia Rashad was auditioning for her role, the director asked if she spoke Spanish. She then went on a long spiel in Spanish and ended it with saying, "No big deal." Cliff attempts this in one episode and fails miserably. "Rice y con zapatos," anyone? So he just listens for his name. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_170128e9 | type |
Right Behind Me | |
The Cosby Show / int_170128e9 | comment |
Right Behind Me: When Elvin stays over and borrows a pair of Cliff's pajamas, he starts acting and talking like Cliff for fun, who walks in on him from behind in the middle of it. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_170128e9 | |
The Cosby Show / int_171b1206 | type |
Men Can't Keep House | |
The Cosby Show / int_171b1206 | comment |
Men Can't Keep House: Averted. As mentioned under Lethal Chef Cliff is actually a fairly good cook, he also helps out with household chores and cleaning. In fact, we see that his time as a sailor made him a perfectionist in this area. The kids have learned to dread his use of naval terms, because it means they're going to have to do chores under his critical eye. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_171b1206 | |
The Cosby Show / int_1777688d | type |
Genre Savvy | |
The Cosby Show / int_1777688d | comment |
Genre Savvy: Played for laughs when Vanessa begins noticing similarities between current affairs and old movies she's been watching- even though there's no real connection. Both Clair and Pam have a knack for predicting the twists in romance movies they watch. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_1777688d | |
The Cosby Show / int_18d15922 | type |
Title Drop | |
The Cosby Show / int_18d15922 | comment |
Title Drop: Only for a different show when Clair talks to Denise about how college is A Different World. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_18d15922 | |
The Cosby Show / int_1996752 | type |
Long-Lost Uncle Aesop | |
The Cosby Show / int_1996752 | comment |
Long-Lost Uncle Aesop: In the second season episode "Close To Home", Samuel E. Wright (AKA the voice of Sebastian the Crab) guest stars as a friend of Cliff's; his daughter has a drug problem. We never hear from the friend or get any updates on the daughter after this episode. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_1996752 | |
The Cosby Show / int_1a6e27a9 | type |
Hide and No Seek | |
The Cosby Show / int_1a6e27a9 | comment |
Hide and No Seek: In one episode, Cliff sends Olivia upstairs to find his slippers because he doesn't want to play with her. He then tells her to find his yellow robe. However, Olivia becomes wise to his game because Rudy tells her that she's being tricked. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_1a6e27a9 | |
The Cosby Show / int_1b65dfad | type |
The Cameo | |
The Cosby Show / int_1b65dfad | comment |
The Cameo: Quite a few, including Sammy Davis Jr., Dizzy Gillespie, B.B. King, Robert Culp (Bill Cosby's co-star on I Spy), Rita Moreno (Bill Cosby's cast mate on The Electric Company (1971)), Lena Horne, and Stevie Wonder. See Muppet Cameo below for another example. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_1b65dfad | |
The Cosby Show / int_1ba17583 | type |
The Ghost | |
The Cosby Show / int_1ba17583 | comment |
The Ghost: Kenny's older brother who gives him very sexist advice on women, or just bad advice in general. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_1ba17583 | |
The Cosby Show / int_1c3d047e | type |
The Rival | |
The Cosby Show / int_1c3d047e | comment |
Cliff and The Rival Dr. Harmon as well when they decide to work together. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_1c3d047e | |
The Cosby Show / int_1c445e86 | type |
Poor Communication Kills | |
The Cosby Show / int_1c445e86 | comment |
Poor Communication Kills: The reason behind all of the conflict in the Season 7 episode The Last Barbeque when Martin says no to having a stripper at his overdue bachelor party and Denise thought he was sarcastically saying yes. It gets worse and affects the whole family. The source of Theo's angst about Cockroach taking the spot on Dance Mania when he expected Cockroach to insist that he take it. In "Elvin Pays For Dinner", where Elvin genuinely doesn't realize that Sondra repeatedly telling him that it's okay if he has dinner with an ex actually means that she doesn't want him to go out, and ends up equally genuinely confused as to why she's so angry with him when he gets home. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_1c445e86 | |
The Cosby Show / int_1e7487cd | type |
Breaking the Fourth Wall | |
The Cosby Show / int_1e7487cd | comment |
Breaking the Fourth Wall: Done by Olivia and Clair after Clair demonstrates a majorette's baton twirling routine and Olivia says, "Look, Mrs. Huxtable, those people over there love you!" Clair turns to the audience and says, "They do!" At the conclusion of the series finale, Cliff and Clair dance off the set. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_1e7487cd | |
The Cosby Show / int_20314beb | type |
Cousin Oliver | |
The Cosby Show / int_20314beb | comment |
Cousin Oliver: Olivia. Later, Cousin Pam. Much older than most examples of this trope, but she clearly serves the same purpose. Even with the original Cosby kids—later season episodes focused on Rudy and her friends far more than previously, and grandkids Winnie and Nelson got more screentime also. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_20314beb | |
The Cosby Show / int_22cf536c | type |
Chekhov's Gun | |
The Cosby Show / int_22cf536c | comment |
Chekhov's Gun: The joy buzzer in the season 3 episode where Elvin and Sondra announce their engagement. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_22cf536c | |
The Cosby Show / int_237404cc | type |
Ironic Echo | |
The Cosby Show / int_237404cc | comment |
Ironic Echo: Russel and his friend Homer try to psyche Cliff and Dr. Foster out before their Pinochle game by scaring away the "buzzards" circling around the latter pair's heads. After Dr. Foster helps Cliff turn the tables in one trick, Cliff starts flapping his arms like a buzzard and hones in on both Russel and Homer. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_237404cc | |
The Cosby Show / int_243eeb00 | type |
Don't Do Anything I Wouldn't Do | |
The Cosby Show / int_243eeb00 | comment |
Don't Do Anything I Wouldn't Do: When Theo is about to head out to his Senior Prom he assures Cliff "I won't do anything you wouldn't do." Cliff responds, "Just remember: I married my prom date." | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_243eeb00 | |
The Cosby Show / int_25bc8511 | type |
Generation Xerox | |
The Cosby Show / int_25bc8511 | comment |
Generation Xerox: Cliff and Clair Huxtable, doctor and lawyer by trade. Elvin and Sondra Tibideaux, doctor and lawyer in training. There's no doubt that Theo gained his Big Eater habits from Cliff's example. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_25bc8511 | |
The Cosby Show / int_27a047a6 | type |
Unto Us a Son and Daughter Are Born | |
The Cosby Show / int_27a047a6 | comment |
Unto Us a Son and Daughter Are Born: Sondra and Elvin's children (Nelson and Winnie.) | |
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The Cosby Show / int_27a047a6 | |
The Cosby Show / int_28a5213a | type |
Small Name, Big Ego | |
The Cosby Show / int_28a5213a | comment |
Small Name, Big Ego: Cliff honestly believes that he is the most distinguished graduate to ever come out of Hillman College. Vanessa has a moment when she thinks the tryouts for drum major were redone because people saw how good she was and protested. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_28a5213a | |
The Cosby Show / int_28ceeb9d | type |
Muppet Cameo | |
The Cosby Show / int_28ceeb9d | comment |
Muppet Cameo: Gonzo, Sweetums, and several other Muppets (including Leon and Digit from The Jim Henson Hour) turn up to add to the trouble in "Cliff's Nightmare". | |
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The Cosby Show / int_28ceeb9d | |
The Cosby Show / int_2b5ea43c | type |
Bland-Name Product | |
The Cosby Show / int_2b5ea43c | comment |
Bland-Name Product: In the episode where Olivia and her friend introduce Russel to video games, they ask if he has a "Game Guy" when he describes an old favorite of his that can be played any time, any place. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_2b5ea43c | |
The Cosby Show / int_2f5790f5 | type |
I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine | |
The Cosby Show / int_2f5790f5 | comment |
I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine: Robert Culp, Bill Cosby's I Spy co-star, guest-starred in "Bald and Beautiful" as Cliff's navy buddy Scott Kelly. His character was named after both of their characters from the show. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_2f5790f5 | |
The Cosby Show / int_2f62653b | type |
Borrowed Catchphrase | |
The Cosby Show / int_2f62653b | comment |
Borrowed Catchphrase: In "Play It Again, Russell" Cliff tells Clair she's "looooooking gooood". This was a nod Freddie Prinze, who used the phrase on Chico and the Man. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_2f62653b | |
The Cosby Show / int_35ae6a23 | type |
Lethal Chef | |
The Cosby Show / int_35ae6a23 | comment |
Lethal Chef: Played with but ultimately subverted with Cliff. He's a very good cook, but it's his ingredient choices that often scare people away. Elvin starts out as one, but he gets better. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_35ae6a23 | |
The Cosby Show / int_362bdb30 | type |
Out-Gambitted | |
The Cosby Show / int_362bdb30 | comment |
Out-Gambitted: Clair gets sick of Cliff changing the channel on the TV on her, so she takes the batteries out of the remote. Only Cliff has a second remote ready. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_362bdb30 | |
The Cosby Show / int_36400864 | type |
Catharsis Factor | |
The Cosby Show / int_36400864 | comment |
Catharsis Factor: In-Universe, when Theo goes to visit Vanessa and Rudy after they get exiled to the basement in season 5, he tells them, "After all of the trouble you two have gotten me into over the years, I can't tell you how good seeing you like this makes me feel right now." | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_36400864 | |
The Cosby Show / int_372bc105 | type |
Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism | |
The Cosby Show / int_372bc105 | comment |
Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: The show managed the very rare feat of being on the very pinnacle of the idealistic side without being barf-inducing or narmish. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_372bc105 | |
The Cosby Show / int_38958f33 | type |
Black and Nerdy | |
The Cosby Show / int_38958f33 | comment |
Black and Nerdy: Elvin. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_38958f33 | |
The Cosby Show / int_38b98a5e | type |
Dancing Theme | |
The Cosby Show / int_38b98a5e | comment |
Dancing Theme: Except for season one. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_38b98a5e | |
The Cosby Show / int_38bb862f | type |
Don't You Dare Pity Me! | |
The Cosby Show / int_38bb862f | comment |
Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Clair does not like the idea of needing to accept help from and rely on other people when she needs a hand. After breaking her toe, she refuses to use a cane and endangers herself by hopping up the stairs. When she needs to lose weight by going on a diet, she does all of her exercising in secret and snaps at Cliff several times when it makes her miserable. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_38bb862f | |
The Cosby Show / int_38d02d44 | type |
Batman Gambit | |
The Cosby Show / int_38d02d44 | comment |
Batman Gambit: The most appropriate trope for how the family sets Theo up for his "real world" experience in season 2. After Cliff breaks Clair's mug, he intentionally does a shoddy repair job with glue and try to hide it, because he knew she would have accused one of the children and not believed them when they denied it. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_38d02d44 | |
The Cosby Show / int_3b113b7 | type |
Character Development | |
The Cosby Show / int_3b113b7 | comment |
Character Development: By the end of the series it's very easy to see just how much Sondra, Elvin and Theo have matured. The series almost Book Ends this: The first episode features the memorable scene of Cliff reprimanding Theo for bad grades and that he will never go to college at the rate he's going. The Series Finale features his graduation from college with plans of becoming a teacher himself. (As a Lampshade Hanging of this, while sitting in the audience for the graduation, Cliff thinks back to that first episode scene.) Denise also gets a serious upgrade over the course of season 6 and into 7. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_3b113b7 | |
The Cosby Show / int_3c0a4666 | type |
Noodle Incident | |
The Cosby Show / int_3c0a4666 | comment |
Noodle Incident: Played straight in Clair constantly reminding Cliff of his escapades as a teenager that are never elaborated on for the audience, most especially with Eunice Chantille. In one early episode Theo apparently has one in order to blackmail Denise. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_3c0a4666 | |
The Cosby Show / int_401d4116 | type |
Broken Aesop | |
The Cosby Show / int_401d4116 | comment |
Broken Aesop: This exchange from a Season 1 episode: | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_401d4116 | |
The Cosby Show / int_40c57041 | type |
Manipulative Bastard | |
The Cosby Show / int_40c57041 | comment |
Manipulative Bastard: Vanessa has one for a boyfriend, Jeremy in Season 5 as he does not respect her wishes and gets her to do things that are against her parents' wishes. When she gets caught in the web of lies that result, Cliff and Clair have words with Jeremy about the matter, and he seems to get the message, and promises to do better. Vanessa continues to date him for a while longer until she catches him cheating on her. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_40c57041 | |
The Cosby Show / int_40cc0c7e | type |
Bittersweet Ending | |
The Cosby Show / int_40cc0c7e | comment |
Bittersweet Ending: The conclusion to Season 7's two-parter has Pam decide to not get intimate with her boyfriend (who she later dumps) and avoid the risk of Teen Pregnancy. As the episode closes out, Cliff gets a call from one of his patients who is going into labor, can't get a ride to the hospital, and has to take a taxi. The way Cliff speaks after hanging up the phone illustrates this is just the latest of such cases he's seen. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_40cc0c7e | |
The Cosby Show / int_413e6726 | type |
Deliberately Cute Child | |
The Cosby Show / int_413e6726 | comment |
Deliberately Cute Child: Rudy, later Olivia. Lampshaded in a parody of the show in an episode of Tiny Toon Adventures. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_413e6726 | |
The Cosby Show / int_41c08e5 | type |
Establishing Series Moment | |
The Cosby Show / int_41c08e5 | comment |
Establishing Series Moment: The first episode has Cliff confront Theo over his poor grades while Theo tries arguing he doesn't need an education and has an inspired bit with where his money will go while living as a bus driver. "You plan on having a girlfriend?" "Oh yeah!" [takes the rest of his money] Theo's overall argument demonstrates his intelligence by how their love for each other doesn't depend on college degrees and received applause by the audience. Cliff nods politely, then says, "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life! It's no wonder you get D's in everything!" and that, being a kid, Theo doesn't get to negotiate with his father on the matter. (A moment later, Cliff tells Theo that he loves him, and doesn't expect perfection from Theo, just honest effort) | |
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The Cosby Show / int_41c08e5 | |
The Cosby Show / int_4413d368 | type |
Standardized Sitcom Housing | |
The Cosby Show / int_4413d368 | comment |
Standardized Sitcom Housing: Front door on the right, back door on left, Check. Oddly enough, the set also has a window upstage with a view of the sky, despite every single exterior shot being of a building cheek-by jowl with the one next door. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_4413d368 | |
The Cosby Show / int_443b78cd | type |
Tranquil Fury | |
The Cosby Show / int_443b78cd | comment |
Tranquil Fury: The only time you ever saw Cliff fly off the handle was in one of the early 1st season episodes with Theo. Other than that, he pretty much remained calm on the outside whenever one of his kids did something insane. But he often reacted in this manner. Best emphasized after he learns about Vanessa's antics in "Off to see the Wretched" as he very calmly explains, after jumping eight feet, "Add another three, because when we see Vanessa, that's how far away from her I will have to be." In the end, he just simply tells her, "Do yourself a favor and go to bed" in an eerily calm tone, in clear contrast to Clair when she finally loses it and literally has to shout at Vanessa to make her go to bed. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_443b78cd | |
The Cosby Show / int_4548bae | type |
Teen Pregnancy | |
The Cosby Show / int_4548bae | comment |
Teen Pregnancy: The driving force behind the plot of Season 7's two-parter. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_46f464b | type |
Well, Excuse Me, Princess! | |
The Cosby Show / int_46f464b | comment |
Well, Excuse Me, Princess!: Sondra towards Elvin in Season 2. Especially when she gets mad at him for never getting mad himself! | |
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The Cosby Show / int_46f464b | |
The Cosby Show / int_4781adbb | type |
Jerk with a Heart of Gold | |
The Cosby Show / int_4781adbb | comment |
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Kenny is a good friend to Rudy. He's also very sleazy and fairly sexist. These two facts are mutually exclusive. He tries to be a Toxic Friend Influence if Rudy wasn't too sharp to listen to the things he says, usually at least. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_4781adbb | |
The Cosby Show / int_479f9ad0 | type |
Characterization Marches On | |
The Cosby Show / int_479f9ad0 | comment |
Characterization Marches On: Denise Huxtable went from a fashion forward, very popular teenager to a granolaish, hippie, step mother with no clue what she was doing with her life, to a pregnant wife who seemed like she was finally starting to get her act together. While all the characters matured, the changes in her character in particular were quite noticeable. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_4aaffbd5 | type |
I Never Said It Was Poison | |
The Cosby Show / int_4aaffbd5 | comment |
I Never Said It Was Poison: How Clair manages to figure out that Cliff was the one who broke her favorite mug and attempted a sloppy repair job to fool her into blaming one of the kids, only he blurted out the fact it was hidden "way back" in the cupboard when only the one who hid it there would have known that was the case. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_4aaffbd5 | |
The Cosby Show / int_4b279eb6 | type |
Buy or Get Lost | |
The Cosby Show / int_4b279eb6 | comment |
Buy or Get Lost: In the episode where the Huxtables show Theo "the real world", Theo walks into Furniture City (a shop run by Clair in one of the house's rooms). The saleslady says that Furniture City accepts personal checks and all major credit cards. When Theo confesses that he doesn't have either of those, she answers coolly that he's going to leave Furniture City. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_4b279eb6 | |
The Cosby Show / int_4c961994 | type |
Acquired Situational Narcissism | |
The Cosby Show / int_4c961994 | comment |
Acquired Situational Narcissism: Theo gets his 15 minutes of fame after accidentally fishing up the dead body of a gangster and lets it go to his head. Vanessa quickly calls him out on the fact that he didn't actually do anything other than get lucky. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_4c961994 | |
The Cosby Show / int_4cb1efdc | type |
Troublemaking New Pet | |
The Cosby Show / int_4cb1efdc | comment |
Troublemaking New Pet: Downplayed, but Rudy gets a taste of this when she and Peter take in a lost dog from off the street and have to take care of it until they find the owner. After the dog is returned, Cliff suggests to Rudy that they get a dog once she's a bit older. However, she has since lost interest after a harsh dose of how much work goes into taking care of a dog. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_4cb1efdc | |
The Cosby Show / int_4d3a3884 | type |
Copiously Credited Creator | |
The Cosby Show / int_4d3a3884 | comment |
Copiously Credited Creator: Bill Cosby in The Cosby Show: Created by Ed. Weinberger & Michael Leeson and William Cosby, Jr., Ed.D.; Theme by Stu Gardner & Bill Cosby; Executive Consultant: William H. Cosby, Jr.; A Carsey Werner production in association with Bill Cosby. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_4d3a3884 | |
The Cosby Show / int_4d422f71 | type |
Throw It In! | |
The Cosby Show / int_4d422f71 | comment |
Throw It In!: In universe. Clair and the girls are pulling a prank on Cliff, by making him think they're preparing a surprise birthday dinner for him when Theo- who was left out of the preparations due to his inability to keep it from his father- walks in unannounced. However, before they can tell a confused Theo to leave, Cliff is heard entering the living room and they start the joke, making Cliff think they're preparing his favorite foods. Theo catches on to the prank and joins them without missing a beat. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_4d422f71 | |
The Cosby Show / int_4e07ef21 | type |
Acid Reflux Nightmare | |
The Cosby Show / int_4e07ef21 | comment |
Acid Reflux Nightmare: Both of the All Just a Dream episodes in Season 6 are the result of Cliff eating something he shouldn't right before bed, to the point that Clair warns him about it in the second example. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_4e07ef21 | |
The Cosby Show / int_4e7c4536 | type |
Wham Line | |
The Cosby Show / int_4e7c4536 | comment |
Wham Line: When one of Cliff's good friends has a bit of a breakdown in front of him, Cliff takes him aside to talk about it. The friend reveals that his daughter's been battling a drug addiction and it's tearing his family apart. When Cliff is having dinner with his Navy buddy, Scott Kelly who is known for his short temper, Scott explains to the waiter that his order is wrong. After the waiter leaves, Cliff commends him for handling that calmly and asks why he decided to curb his anger. The response: "I had to. I had a heart attack." Sondra and Elvin's doctor drops one for their parents after the birth of their children: "I'm pleased to announce you are the grandparents of a baby boy! [Beat] And a girl!" | |
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The Cosby Show / int_4e7c4536 | |
The Cosby Show / int_4eaa9b84 | type |
Author Tract | |
The Cosby Show / int_4eaa9b84 | comment |
Author Tract: Over decades of public speaking, Cosby made it abundantly clear that he believed that black parents were not setting high enough expectations on their children. In the pilot episode of the show, Cliff and Theo have a long conversation about Theo's poor scholastic performance. Theo begs his father to accept that he will get low grades and work menial jobs, but Cliff unequivocally refuses, saying that he expects Theo to try harder. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_4eaa9b84 | |
The Cosby Show / int_4ec4c5ab | type |
Harsher in Hindsight | |
The Cosby Show / int_4ec4c5ab | comment |
Harsher in Hindsight: In-universe example. Theo's poor grades are a focal point of earlier seasons and even lead to a classic example of Stupidest Thing I've Ever Heard when he tries to make excuses for it, especially since they appear to be due more to laziness rather than a lack of intelligence. In a later season, it is discovered that Theo has dyslexia. Suddenly his academic struggles make perfect sense and Cliff and Clair look pretty bad for berating him. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_4ec4c5ab | |
The Cosby Show / int_4f4372e9 | type |
Early-Installment Weirdness | |
The Cosby Show / int_4f4372e9 | comment |
Early-Installment Weirdness: While the basic formula of the show remained the same through the whole series, it took Clair a good number of episodes in season one to finalize her look. Compared to the rest of the series, half of the house looks completely different in the pilot. And even after that, there are several episodes where there are steps leading into the house from the foyer that eventually disappear. The name plate on the door to their house, Cliff's office, etc., reads "Clifford Huxtable". His name later became "Heathcliff". Clair, when she was really upset, would start speaking in Spanish. Cosby admitted in interviews that this was inspired by Ricky Ricardo on I Love Lucy doing the same thing. However, this trait was dropped very early in season 1, though Clair is still shown to speak fluent Spanish throughout the series. Vanessa's original nickname for Theo was, "Teddie." It didn't last beyond early season 1. Sondra did not exist in the pilot, introduced halfway through the first season. This is reflected in the following exchange between Cliff and Clair: In early episodes, Vanessa was played as a sort-of girl genius, but the further she got into puberty, the more air-headed she seemed to get (see Love Makes You Stupid). Also lampshaded by both Clair and Vanessa herself in later seasons. See also, "you look familiar" as Joseph C. Phillips made a one-off appearance as a date for Sondra years before playing Martin. The first season's opening segment was the only one not to feature the cast members dancing. Cliff Huxtable's trademark sweaters didn't become a thing until Season 2. Cliff was much more of a strict disciplinary in season 1. By season 2, much of this role fell to Clair, with Cliff still discipling the children, but not nearly as strict or stern about it. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_4f4372e9 | |
The Cosby Show / int_4fb23aa8 | type |
I Have This Friend | |
The Cosby Show / int_4fb23aa8 | comment |
I Have This Friend: Subverted. In one episode, Denise says she has a friend with a medical issue. Cliff jokingly expects it to be Denise, but there really is a friend who is scared of what might be wrong and is absolutely insistent her parents not know about this. Instead of an STD or anything like that, it's just a minor bladder infection, but she still waited four weeks to go to any adult for help. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_4fb23aa8 | |
The Cosby Show / int_50b05d30 | type |
Disproportionate Retribution | |
The Cosby Show / int_50b05d30 | comment |
Disproportionate Retribution: Cliff reminds Clair of one time Clair loaned some Tupperware containers to a neighbor who lost them. When the neighbor offered replacement containers, Clair took them out to the driveway and ran them over with her car because she was still angry about the originals being lost. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_50b05d30 | |
The Cosby Show / int_5313c266 | type |
Bookends | |
The Cosby Show / int_5313c266 | comment |
The series almost Book Ends this: The first episode features the memorable scene of Cliff reprimanding Theo for bad grades and that he will never go to college at the rate he's going. The Series Finale features his graduation from college with plans of becoming a teacher himself. (As a Lampshade Hanging of this, while sitting in the audience for the graduation, Cliff thinks back to that first episode scene.) | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_5313c266 | |
The Cosby Show / int_53224e46 | type |
Bookends | |
The Cosby Show / int_53224e46 | comment |
Bookends: The series starts with Cliff warning Theo that he won't get into college with his terrible grades and ends with Cliff flashing back to that very same conversation—at Theo's college graduation. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_53224e46 | |
The Cosby Show / int_541094dc | type |
School Is for Losers | |
The Cosby Show / int_541094dc | comment |
School Is for Losers: Theo's friend Cockroach had this attitude, and it sometimes rubs off on to Theo. In one episode, he says he doesn't need to study because he's got a cushy job waiting for him running the family junkyard. Cliff asks him how is he going to weigh the scrap if he can't count. Cockroach says he has a foreman to do that. Cliff then asks how he is going to do the books if he can't count, and Cockroach replies he has an accountant to do that. Cliff then declares that he is going to go broke. Cockroach asks why, and Cliff says that if his foreman can count, and his accountant can count, but he can't, then he is going to go broke. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_541094dc | |
The Cosby Show / int_5535bb82 | type |
Centipede's Dilemma | |
The Cosby Show / int_5535bb82 | comment |
Centipede's Dilemma: Explored when Clair breaks her toe and Cliff has to show her how to hold the cane in conjunction with her natural walking rhythm. | |
The Cosby Show / int_5535bb82 | featureApplicability |
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The Cosby Show / int_5535bb82 | |
The Cosby Show / int_5860c090 | type |
Sitcom Arch-Nemesis | |
The Cosby Show / int_5860c090 | comment |
Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Dr. Harmon is introduced in season 4 and becomes Cliff's for the rest of the series as they are constantly trying to one-up each other in who can be manlier- despite coming off as looking ridiculous to everyone else. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_5860c090 | |
The Cosby Show / int_5b9cf82b | type |
Education Mama | |
The Cosby Show / int_5b9cf82b | comment |
Education Mama: And (especially...) Education Papa as Cliff and Clair repeatedly stressed the importance of a good education for their kids and would often spare no expense in making sure they got one. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_5b9cf82b | |
The Cosby Show / int_5cbb2384 | type |
G-Rated Sex | |
The Cosby Show / int_5cbb2384 | comment |
G-Rated Sex: Cliff and Clair would share many moments of affection that would lead to "going upstairs." Given that they had five children, it is fair to assume they had a healthy and active love life. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_5cbb2384 | |
The Cosby Show / int_5d3e7c6 | type |
Kangaroo Court | |
The Cosby Show / int_5d3e7c6 | comment |
Kangaroo Court: Clair sets one up to get Theo to confess to telling half-truths over a recent incident. | |
The Cosby Show / int_5d3e7c6 | featureApplicability |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_5d3e7c6 | |
The Cosby Show / int_5f680b9a | type |
Fake Crossover | |
The Cosby Show / int_5f680b9a | comment |
There are two dream-based episodes during the 1989-90 season. "The Night the Spores Landed" has all of the men get pregnant. "Cliff's Nightmare" includes a Fake Crossover with The Jim Henson Hour and an Or Was It a Dream? ending. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_5f680b9a | |
The Cosby Show / int_5f6c6cc1 | type |
Can't Get Away with Nuthin' | |
The Cosby Show / int_5f6c6cc1 | comment |
Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Several episodes, as Clair looked for inconsistencies and oddities in her children's behavior like a hawk. Most notable examples: "Theogate": When Theo comes rushing into the house to eat supper after coming home later from a cross-country meet. Theo tries to bluff several explanations until a family court is convened and Clair asks some tough questions. When it is revealed that she and Cliff got a call from the principal summoning them to the school to talk about an unstated matter involving Theo, he eventually confesses that he had violated a team rule and was kicked off the team; he and another teammate had cruelly made fun of a waitress at the restaurant the team had stopped at, and the coach immediately ushered the team out of the restaurant. "Off To See the Wretched": The episode where Vanessa and her friends conspire to travel unchaperoned to a rock concert out-of-state, under the guise of staying overnight at a friend's house. The whole thing comes unraveled when a news bulletin announces an industrial fire threatening the friend's house and that the girls were unaccounted for, and Clair learns of other details that really make her blow her stack. "Theo's Dirty Laundry": When a pair of his girlfriend's laundry becomes mixed up in Theo's and Cliff finds it, it reveals that behind their backs he and the girlfriend had been co-habitating together (to save money) rather than Theo living in an apartment the parents were paying rent for. Again, tough questions reveal the truth. In "A Double Lit Candle Can Cause A Meltdown", Cliff and Clair are already clearly suspicious of Rudy's lies regarding a club she and her friends want to go to (she claims it's a teen Bible club when it's actually a 16-and over dance club, and they're only 13), to the point that they can barely hide their amusement at her pitiful story. The night goes terribly for the girls and by the time they get home, it's capped off with them learning that their parents already knew and that they're all being punished with having to spend their Saturdays volunteering at a retirement home for the next six months. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_5f6c6cc1 | |
The Cosby Show / int_5fcedca | type |
Big Eater | |
The Cosby Show / int_5fcedca | comment |
There's no doubt that Theo gained his Big Eater habits from Cliff's example. | |
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1.0 | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_5fcedca | |
The Cosby Show / int_60af5e4 | type |
Stupidest Thing I've Ever Heard | |
The Cosby Show / int_60af5e4 | comment |
Stupidest Thing I've Ever Heard: Played literally in the very first episode when Theo makes excuses for his poor grades and Cliff blasts him for it. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_60af5e4 | |
The Cosby Show / int_6375f746 | type |
Drill Sergeant Nasty | |
The Cosby Show / int_6375f746 | comment |
Drill Sergeant Nasty: The aerobics instructor who Clair hires as her personal trainer in one season 5 episode has a reputation as this, but she actually ends up as more of a Reasonable Authority Figure as the episode progresses once she realizes Clair is serious in her effort to lose weight; she still runs her ragged but is very supportive and encouraging as time passes. Theo paints his math teacher in the 2nd season as this, but upon actually meeting her it's revealed she is a strict, challenging teacher who doesn't want her students to squander their educational opportunities and also reveals that Theo had been genuinely learning from her. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_6375f746 | |
The Cosby Show / int_644eca71 | type |
Rich Bitch | |
The Cosby Show / int_644eca71 | comment |
Rich Bitch: Vanessa is accused of being one in one episode, leading to her getting into a fight. Subverted when Clair and Cliff make it very clear to her that she is not rich | |
The Cosby Show / int_644eca71 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
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1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_644eca71 | |
The Cosby Show / int_6627695f | type |
Author Appeal | |
The Cosby Show / int_6627695f | comment |
Author Appeal: Cosby is a huge fan of the blues and jazz, which is why several artists ended up on the show (see Celebrity Cameo). | |
The Cosby Show / int_6627695f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_6627695f | |
The Cosby Show / int_69681e01 | type |
Big Brother Instinct | |
The Cosby Show / int_69681e01 | comment |
Big Brother Instinct: Having four sisters, Theo exhibits this fairly often, even though two of them are older than he is. | |
The Cosby Show / int_69681e01 | featureApplicability |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_69681e01 | |
The Cosby Show / int_6a1cbf28 | type |
Rebellious Princess | |
The Cosby Show / int_6a1cbf28 | comment |
Rebellious Princess: While not a princess, Vanessa becomes the most rebellious of the children. So much so that it feels like she starts getting cold feet about her engagement after her family starts to approve of it. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_6a1cbf28 | |
The Cosby Show / int_6b05b601 | type |
Jerkass Has a Point | |
The Cosby Show / int_6b05b601 | comment |
Jerkass Has a Point: In one episode, Elvin and Sondra are supposed to go out to eat with two of Elvin's female friends from college, but Sondra pulls out at the last minute to work on her law school application. When Elvin offers to stay at home with her Sondra insists that he go. He checks in with her several times to ensure that she's not upset. Sondra tells him she's fine, only to get angry later (especially because the dinner goes late and Elvin pays for it, which is a polite thing to do when someone visits). She takes out her bad mood on everyone around her until Clair bluntly tells her that she has no reason to be upset because she was dishonest with Elvin in the first place—he gave her several opportunities to tell him not to go or at least share how she was feeling, but she ignored them. It's not exactly a kind thing to say, but Sondra ultimately realizes that Clair is right and apologizes. | |
The Cosby Show / int_6b05b601 | featureApplicability |
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The Cosby Show / int_6b05b601 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_6b05b601 | |
The Cosby Show / int_6b3c357e | type |
Ivy League for Everyone | |
The Cosby Show / int_6b3c357e | comment |
Ivy League for Everyone: While Sondra did go to Princeton University, it's averted for Denise (who goes to Hillman, drops out, then later goes to Medgar Evers College), Theo (who ends up at NYU, which is still an elite school), and Vanessa (who attends Lincoln University in Pennsylvania). | |
The Cosby Show / int_6b3c357e | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_6b3c357e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_6b3c357e | |
The Cosby Show / int_6d9bc945 | type |
Babies Ever After | |
The Cosby Show / int_6d9bc945 | comment |
Babies Ever After: In the series finale, the family receives a phone call from Denise informing them that she's pregnant. | |
The Cosby Show / int_6d9bc945 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_6d9bc945 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_6d9bc945 | |
The Cosby Show / int_7280652a | type |
Panicky Expectant Father | |
The Cosby Show / int_7280652a | comment |
Panicky Expectant Father: Elvin plays this to a T in the two-parter where Sondra gives birth to their twins. | |
The Cosby Show / int_7280652a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_7280652a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_7280652a | |
The Cosby Show / int_72852a93 | type |
Henpecked Husband | |
The Cosby Show / int_72852a93 | comment |
Henpecked Husband: Cosby of course. Elvin too, most notably in the episode where he innocently goes to dinner with two girls that he once knew—at Sondra's insistence and over his own insistence that he NOT go out without Sondra. When he gets home, Sondra won't speak to him when he comes home one hour late and tells her that he paid the cheque. Elvin ends up completely bewildered as to why Sondra's so angry with him. In the episode "Last Barbecue," where Theo wants to hire a stripper for Martin's belated bachelor party, ALL the husbands are a little hen-pecked. | |
The Cosby Show / int_72852a93 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_72852a93 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_72852a93 | |
The Cosby Show / int_7286e96d | type |
Idiot Ball | |
The Cosby Show / int_7286e96d | comment |
Idiot Ball: Early on, Cliff tells Theo not to let whoever is at the door in the house- unless it's a pregnant woman in labor- because he's tired. Said visitor is Russel, who Theo sends away because of a Literal-Minded interpretation of Cliff's order. When Cliff finds out, he replies with- In Season 6, after Vanessa's misadventures in Baltimore, Clair mercilessly calls her out on her idiocy. In Season 1, Theo gets his ear pierced to impress a girl he likes, but it's a botched job and becomes infected. Cliff hopes that Russel will punish the boy, but instead Russel talks about how Cliff tried to wax his head for a girl (Clair!) and ended up burning it all off. Then Anna shares the story of how Russel tried to get her name tattooed on her chest, but said "Ada" instead because of a cold (and Ada happened to be the name of Anna's rival), and later had to have it removed. The Huxtable women comment that the men in their lives are idiotic for doing such ridiculous things. In one episode, one of Vanessa's friends smokes in her room and they get caught by Theo, who tells her about a time when Cliff yelled and him and Cockroach so loud that the paint almost fell off the walls when he caught them smoking. When Vanessa talks to Cliff about it, he's not angry with her for not smoking herself and trying to stop the friend, then tells her what Theo didn't: He and Cockroach nearly burned the house down trying to hide the still-lit cigarettes under the bed (on a carpeted floor) and claimed the cigarette smoke coming from their mouths was due to "really hot beef jerky." | |
The Cosby Show / int_7286e96d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_7286e96d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_7286e96d | |
The Cosby Show / int_73a7d1b3 | type |
Radish Cure | |
The Cosby Show / int_73a7d1b3 | comment |
Radish Cure: Cliff and Clair do it when Rudy complains about not being allowed to stay up late, choose her own clothes, etc. They agree to let her stay up as late as she likes. The end result though, after Rudy is allowed to stay up late: She ends up falling asleep in class and throughout the day. | |
The Cosby Show / int_73a7d1b3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_73a7d1b3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_73a7d1b3 | |
The Cosby Show / int_754df088 | type |
Put on a Bus | |
The Cosby Show / int_754df088 | comment |
Put on a Bus: Denise, twice. The first came as a fallout due to her appearance in Angel Heart, and clashing with Bill Cosby. In order to get her out of his hair, she got moved to spinoff A Different World. Ironically, she quickly dropped out of that show as well (arguably, for the better). | |
The Cosby Show / int_754df088 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_754df088 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_754df088 | |
The Cosby Show / int_762b9223 | type |
Played for Laughs | |
The Cosby Show / int_762b9223 | comment |
Played for Laughs in Season 2's "Close to Home" when Cliff offers to help his friend's daughter with her drug problem, breaking the tension in an otherwise downhearted moment. | |
The Cosby Show / int_762b9223 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_762b9223 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_762b9223 | |
The Cosby Show / int_76a5eaf8 | type |
Spotlight-Stealing Squad | |
The Cosby Show / int_76a5eaf8 | comment |
Spotlight-Stealing Squad: He's never named, but Denise's friend in the Jitterbug Break episode shows off some awesome dance moves. Seasons 7 and 8 put more emphasis on Pam and Rudy's social circles. Once Lance becomes a regular character along with Pam and her group in seasons 7 and 8 it's hard to find a single scene where he doesn't deliver a hilarious line. Olivia, to the point where the series lampshaded it. Olivia was pretty obviously meant to bring back the Cosby-with-cute-kids antics of the earlier seasons that had been missing more and more as Rudy grew up. She and Cliff started having so many scenes together that it was almost like she was his child instead of his step-granddaughter. | |
The Cosby Show / int_76a5eaf8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_76a5eaf8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_76a5eaf8 | |
The Cosby Show / int_779009b5 | type |
Beware the Quiet Ones | |
The Cosby Show / int_779009b5 | comment |
Beware the Quiet Ones: Vanessa believes this applies to a woman in Sondra and Elvin's first apartment complex as she once saw a horror movie where a similar woman ended up being Ax-Crazy. | |
The Cosby Show / int_779009b5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_779009b5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_779009b5 | |
The Cosby Show / int_786bf97f | type |
Real Life Writes the Plot | |
The Cosby Show / int_786bf97f | comment |
Real Life Writes the Plot: All five of the Huxtable children were loosely based on Cosby's real life kids, with Theo most-closely mirroring Cosby's late son, Ennis. Vanessa attended summer school to graduate high school early between seasons 6 and 7 so Tempestt Bledsoe could attend college in real life and reduce her number of appearances. Cliff's love of hoagies came about due to the crew loving hoagies from a particular sandwich shop. So hoagies were written into the script whenever the crew wanted said sandwiches. But, combined with a dose of realism, that came to an end when Bill started gaining a lot of weight because of them. | |
The Cosby Show / int_786bf97f | featureApplicability |
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The Cosby Show / int_786bf97f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_786bf97f | |
The Cosby Show / int_7870735b | type |
From Bad to Worse | |
The Cosby Show / int_7870735b | comment |
To elaborate: Their car gets stolen, a con artist steals their tickets, a pickpocket steals their remaining money to leave them stranded in Baltimore, and then she has to face Clair. Facing Clair is probably the best example of From Bad to Worse in the show's history, as the normally mild-mannered Clair loses her gourd. | |
The Cosby Show / int_7870735b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_7870735b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_7870735b | |
The Cosby Show / int_78c5ce7e | type |
Screw the Rules, I Make Them! | |
The Cosby Show / int_78c5ce7e | comment |
Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: Many of the causes of Rudy's arguments with her friends is that she always changes the rules of the games they play in order to make sure she always wins. | |
The Cosby Show / int_78c5ce7e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_78c5ce7e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_78c5ce7e | |
The Cosby Show / int_7a3dd888 | type |
Real Men Wear Pink | |
The Cosby Show / int_7a3dd888 | comment |
Real Men Wear Pink: Cliff has a lot of pink outfits in season 1. | |
The Cosby Show / int_7a3dd888 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_7a3dd888 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_7a3dd888 | |
The Cosby Show / int_7c14d0f2 | type |
Rejected Apology | |
The Cosby Show / int_7c14d0f2 | comment |
Rejected Apology: In "Off To See the Wretched," to say that Vanessa's repeated attempts to say "I'm sorry" don't work would be a huge understatement. Clair, in fact, becomes unnerved at the final attempt, telling Vanessa, "For all I know you're lying to us right now! GO TO BED!!!" | |
The Cosby Show / int_7c14d0f2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_7c14d0f2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_7c14d0f2 | |
The Cosby Show / int_7d89315b | type |
"The Reason You Suck" Speech | |
The Cosby Show / int_7d89315b | comment |
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Cliff delivers a few throughout the series: After Clair breaks her toe and spends the episode being petty and stubborn about it, Cliff reiterates the trouble she caused as a result and says she owes him an apology when all he wanted to do was help her. At the end of "If the Dress Fits," Cliff calls Clair out for her having been incredibly short-tempered at everyone while trying to lose weight. | |
The Cosby Show / int_7d89315b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_7d89315b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_7d89315b | |
The Cosby Show / int_7d914cb9 | type |
WellDoneDaughterGirl | |
The Cosby Show / int_7d914cb9 | comment |
"Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: Olivia's mother, Paula, who threw away her own desires to please her parents, up to and including getting married and having a baby until she realized just how much it was suffocating her. | |
The Cosby Show / int_7d914cb9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_7d914cb9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_7d914cb9 | |
The Cosby Show / int_7f760614 | type |
The Silent Bob | |
The Cosby Show / int_7f760614 | comment |
The Silent Bob: Peter Chiara, Rudy's friend from across the street. He has more lines in the episode "A Girl and her Dog" than all of his other episodes combined. His younger brother Paul, who only appears twice, is the exact opposite. | |
The Cosby Show / int_7f760614 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_7f760614 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_7f760614 | |
The Cosby Show / int_7fff034b | type |
Kent Brockman News | |
The Cosby Show / int_7fff034b | comment |
Kent Brockman News: A reporter named Harriet Waters shows up to interview Theo after a fishing trip in which he accidentally hooks the corpse of a murdered mobster. Even more applicable is the newspaper that severely inflated the events of the story earlier in the episode. | |
The Cosby Show / int_7fff034b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_7fff034b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_7fff034b | |
The Cosby Show / int_808cbaeb | type |
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking | |
The Cosby Show / int_808cbaeb | comment |
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: When Theo's friend Denny gives his girlfriend a stolen watch that he recovered from the street, he has to tell the truth about the story at the police station after she's arrested. It doesn't go well. | |
The Cosby Show / int_808cbaeb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_808cbaeb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_808cbaeb | |
The Cosby Show / int_80b5924 | type |
Left Hanging | |
The Cosby Show / int_80b5924 | comment |
Left Hanging: We never find out what Vanessa's final punishment was in "Off to See the Wretched". | |
The Cosby Show / int_80b5924 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_80b5924 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_80b5924 | |
The Cosby Show / int_823c6e3e | type |
Large Ham | |
The Cosby Show / int_823c6e3e | comment |
Large Ham: Jade, girlfriend of Theo's friend Dennis and a drama student: "If truth shall be my companion in the FUHLAAMES...so be it!" Just don't call her a ham to her face. | |
The Cosby Show / int_823c6e3e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_823c6e3e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_823c6e3e | |
The Cosby Show / int_8593b49 | type |
Twerp Sweating | |
The Cosby Show / int_8593b49 | comment |
Twerp Sweating: One onscreen example where Cliff grills one of Vanessa's boyfriends who basically took her to Makeout Point after curfew. Denise mentions in a later episode that Cliff was prone to doing this with a 4-foot bucknife in his hand. | |
The Cosby Show / int_8593b49 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_8593b49 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_8593b49 | |
The Cosby Show / int_8687f945 | type |
What Were You Thinking? | |
The Cosby Show / int_8687f945 | comment |
What Were You Thinking?: Directly invoked by Cliff in one of the few exchanges he has with Vanessa while Clair is tearing her a new one in "Off to See the Wretched." | |
The Cosby Show / int_8687f945 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_8687f945 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_8687f945 | |
The Cosby Show / int_86bbf6b5 | type |
Newscaster Cameo | |
The Cosby Show / int_86bbf6b5 | comment |
Newscaster Cameo: Explains the setup of the All Just a Dream episode "The Night the Spores Landed", in which the men end up pregnant. Unlike most examples, a real newscaster provides the voiceover (in this case, John Palmer, then the longtime newsreader on Today). Also, a couple of times Ahmad Rashad is heard doing sportscasts (also a Shout-Out as Ahmad was Phylicia Rashad's husband at the time). | |
The Cosby Show / int_86bbf6b5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_86bbf6b5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_86bbf6b5 | |
The Cosby Show / int_86daf505 | type |
Parental Bonus | |
The Cosby Show / int_86daf505 | comment |
Parental Bonus: Elvin being unable to find the words to describe how wonderful his and Sondra's honeymoon was and Cliff telling him to not talk about it in front of the children. He gets another one in Season 8 when, fearing that he and Sondra could die at the same time if they always stayed together, they should do everything separately including sleeping in different rooms. He quickly changes his mind on that one because, "Some things are worth dying for." | |
The Cosby Show / int_86daf505 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_86daf505 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_86daf505 | |
The Cosby Show / int_8776162d | type |
Because I Said So | |
The Cosby Show / int_8776162d | comment |
Because I Said So: The crowning moment came right off the bat, in Season 1, Episode 1 – Cliff calling out Theo for his continued poor academic performance at school. This was in response to Theo's misguided speech about accepting him for who he was, bad grades and all. If Theo was hoping to enlighten his father (there was the requisite applause), he was quickly corrected when Cliff told him "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life!," then continued, "I am your father! I brought you into this world, and I'll take you out!" before telling him, in no uncertain terms, he expected him to try harder, in essence, "because I said so." | |
The Cosby Show / int_8776162d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_8776162d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_8776162d | |
The Cosby Show / int_8797239c | type |
Bait-and-Switch | |
The Cosby Show / int_8797239c | comment |
Bait-and-Switch: Done by Rudy In-Universe when she's writing a fantasy story with characters based on people she knows and Vanessa tells her she doesn't want to be an evil, ugly old witch. Later on when the story is read out loud for the family, "Vanessa" is introduced as a witch, but then clarified to be a good witch. | |
The Cosby Show / int_8797239c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_8797239c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_8797239c | |
The Cosby Show / int_89a600c0 | type |
The Eponymous Show | |
The Cosby Show / int_89a600c0 | comment |
The Eponymous Show | |
The Cosby Show / int_89a600c0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_89a600c0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_89a600c0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_8cf6aa | type |
Literal Metaphor | |
The Cosby Show / int_8cf6aa | comment |
Literal Metaphor: In the season 2 episode "The Card Game", when Cliff invites one of his old college professors over for a card game, he explains one of the rules: that the expression "rubbing" involves actual rubbing of the head. | |
The Cosby Show / int_8cf6aa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_8cf6aa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_8cf6aa | |
The Cosby Show / int_8d0785d5 | type |
Didn't Think This Through | |
The Cosby Show / int_8d0785d5 | comment |
Didn't Think This Through: In "Off to See the Wretched", everything than can go wrong with the girls' scheme does, including their parents discovering what they've done. As Clair points out in her rant, "Did you really think four of you could go careening off into the night and not one adult would find out about it?!" Speaking of which, Clair is the angriest that we've ever seen her- to almost frightening levels- and she is still that way at the episode's conclusion while Vanessa isn't sulking or pouting, but in tears. It doesn't help that this is just the latest of screw-ups by Vanessa, and indeed, it's the final straw, as Clair finishes up her rant by declaring, "You have proven to us that you cannot be trusted. It's going to be a long time before we even think of trusting you again." Vanessa does apologize, but it doesn't fix things. Right after the lecture is done, she tries apologizing again and uses the "This won't happen again," line, but Clair shuts her down with this: One episode has Theo get kicked out of his apartment when he and his friends decide to emulate Cliff's cleaning methods he told them about in a story: Dumping buckets of soapy water on the floor and sliding around on sponges. This ultimately resulted in a lot of water damage to their apartment and the one below. In "A Double Lit Candle Can Cause A Meltdown", Rudy fails to notice that her parents are clearly not believing her story—telling them that she and her friends are going to a Bible club rather than a teen dance club (which they're too young for, being 13 rather than 16), and pays dearly—aside from having a miserable evening, the three of them are severely punished when they return home. | |
The Cosby Show / int_8d0785d5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_8d0785d5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_8d0785d5 | |
The Cosby Show / int_94f3791a | type |
Furniture Assembly Gag | |
The Cosby Show / int_94f3791a | comment |
Furniture Assembly Gag: Clair hosts a baby shower at the Huxtable house. To keep Cliff busy, she has him and Theo try to assemble a piece of furniture. They quickly run into trouble when it turns out the instructions are in French which Theo barely reads. (He translates two instructions as "Pound your ankle into slot A" and "Put your mother on a horse.") After the shower ends, Cliff reveals that they weren't able to complete the project and Clair gives him the English instructions. | |
The Cosby Show / int_94f3791a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_94f3791a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_94f3791a | |
The Cosby Show / int_96b89043 | type |
Not So Above It All | |
The Cosby Show / int_96b89043 | comment |
Not So Above It All: Clair tells Denise and Theo to calm down over being excited about meeting Stevie Wonder. The minute they're out of sight, she starts shrieking and screaming the same way they were. | |
The Cosby Show / int_96b89043 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_96b89043 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_96b89043 | |
The Cosby Show / int_96dea090 | type |
D.I.Y. Disaster | |
The Cosby Show / int_96dea090 | comment |
D.I.Y. Disaster: Cliff has never successfully repaired anything in the house on the first try. His attempt at the dishwasher in season 1 can be considered Epic Fail while many other off-screen ones are used against him as a Noodle Incident reminder. Subverted in that he does finally fix the doorbell at the very end of the final episode...after an entire season's worth of bizarre malfunctions, including nasty shocks to Kenny and Clair. He tries to fix a loose tile in the bathroom, only to make a sloppy mess of it and have a dozen others fall off within seconds. The cause turns out to be a leaky water pipe. Clair believes that she has managed to fix the toaster while following the instructions from one of Cliff's books... | |
The Cosby Show / int_96dea090 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
The Cosby Show / int_96dea090 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_96dea090 | |
The Cosby Show / int_973d220f | type |
Never My Fault | |
The Cosby Show / int_973d220f | comment |
Never My Fault: Cliff. When he asks Elvin what his kids say about him, one of the responses is that he never admits his own mistakes. Clair is even worse than Cliff, mainly because she gets away with it. The driving force between the longtime feud between Jake and his longtime friend Stanley as the two of them had been involved in a minor car accident and neither would accept responsibility for it. During the resolution, Stanley confesses that he had planned to apologize right away, but an argument with his wife had left him in a very bad mood and, when seeing Jake angry, he felt he had to win at least one argument that day. | |
The Cosby Show / int_973d220f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_973d220f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_973d220f | |
The Cosby Show / int_9acd7704 | type |
Dom Com | |
The Cosby Show / int_9acd7704 | comment |
Dom Com: It was the #1 Sitcom for 5 years running. | |
The Cosby Show / int_9acd7704 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_9acd7704 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_9acd7704 | |
The Cosby Show / int_9b5207cd | type |
WEstern | |
The Cosby Show / int_9b5207cd | comment |
Western: Cliff is an unabashed fan of the (fictional) Six Guns to Glory, starring (the equally fictional) Colt Kirby. | |
The Cosby Show / int_9b5207cd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_9b5207cd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_9b5207cd | |
The Cosby Show / int_9cbf01d6 | type |
Stay in the Kitchen | |
The Cosby Show / int_9cbf01d6 | comment |
Stay in the Kitchen: Elvin has this attitude in his first few appearances. Though he's usually treated as a Butt-Monkey because of it, especially by Clair. Kenny's never-seen brother also seems to dispense "wisdom" of this sort. | |
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Made of Iron | |
The Cosby Show / int_9d17b859 | comment |
Made of Iron: Cliff's neighbor Jeff Engels relates a time how, when he was nine years old, he fell out of his treehouse, landed on his head on a concrete pavement, the treehouse collapsed and fell on top of him, and it was still a better experience than giving birth. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_9dab0a6e | type |
Continuity Nod | |
The Cosby Show / int_9dab0a6e | comment |
Continuity Nod: In one seventh-season episode, Vanessa refers to her father's scaring a boyfriend off with an object lesson involving apples; and in another, Rudy mentions Theo's object lesson with Monopoly money from the pilot. Averted at the same time since Vanessa continued to see him even after that object lesson but broke up with him after catching him with another girl. Several other subtle ones exist over the course of the show. One example is Cliff mentioning a chair he broke in Elvin and Sondra's apartment in season 4 when he visits it again in season 5. There's one in season 6 that doubles as a Brick Joke: Cliff gives Olivia a hint about where her birthday present is hidden that makes absolutely no sense. Several episodes later, she pulls the same thing on him. In season 4, Cliff mentions he has a suede tool belt. In season 8, he gives it to Dabnis. In a second-season episode that revolves around Clair's sister getting engaged, Vanessa fantasizes about her dream wedding. Denise calls traditional wedding ceremonies "primitive" and says that she'd rather have a small wedding ceremony in the living room of the house. In season 6 Denise comes home after getting married in a village in Africa, and the family stages a mock ceremony in the living room so that Cliff can have the chance to give Denise away to Martin. In "Cliff's Nightmare", Clair warns Cliff about eating a hoagie before going to bed, reminding him of the events of "The Day The Spores Landed"—"The last time you ate one of those before you went to bed, you dreamed you gave birth to a 7-foot hoagie and a bottle of soda." | |
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The Cosby Show / int_9dd2cbc2 | type |
CloudCuckooLander | |
The Cosby Show / int_9dd2cbc2 | comment |
Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Denise seems to have become this after her return to the show. In season 8 there's Mrs. Minnifield. She needs to be seen to be believed. Robert becomes one over the course of his appearances on the show from seasons 2-4. Vanessa begins to show signs of being one through her roundabout ways of revealing she has cold feet about her engagement in the final season. Just what is an "Emotional map?" The Tibideauxs' neighbor Bob. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_9dd2cbc2 | |
The Cosby Show / int_a188ac4b | type |
Overly Long Gag | |
The Cosby Show / int_a188ac4b | comment |
Overly Long Gag: Not very many, but perhaps the worst offender is when Cliff tempts Clair with multiple birthday cakes on her 46th birthday. Every clip show shows the entirety of the Monopoly money scene from the pilot, making it more of an Overly Used Gag. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_a1b74f5d | type |
And That's Terrible | |
The Cosby Show / int_a1b74f5d | comment |
And That's Terrible: Cliff's sarcastic reaction to Clair's complaints about what the city is doing in the Season 2 episode The Dentist. And it's not that he doesn't care, he just wants to sleep. Played Straight in another season 2 episode when Elvin "accidentally" drops his inedible cake on the floor so Clair doesn't have to eat it. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_a4b32bef | type |
Would Rather Suffer | |
The Cosby Show / int_a4b32bef | comment |
Would Rather Suffer: The regular actors ended up acting out a storybook scene from a story Rudy wrote, where an evil henchman makes romantic advances on the good song leader, and she rejects him: | |
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The Cosby Show / int_a4c37cbe | type |
Mood Whiplash | |
The Cosby Show / int_a4c37cbe | comment |
Mood Whiplash: Played for Laughs in Season 2's "Close to Home" when Cliff offers to help his friend's daughter with her drug problem, breaking the tension in an otherwise downhearted moment. Done again by Cliff in Season 2's "Denise's Decision" when Denise is moved to tears by the letter that Cliff and Clair read to her after making the titular decision. While Clair hugs Denise, Cliff lightens up the atmosphere by suddenly turning to Theo to hug him instead while shouting, "My son!" | |
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The Cosby Show / int_a4c37cbe | |
The Cosby Show / int_a4ef135d | type |
Preemptive "Shut Up" | |
The Cosby Show / int_a4ef135d | comment |
Preemptive "Shut Up": Done by both Cliff and Clair when they get angry enough. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_a4ef135d | |
The Cosby Show / int_a70223 | type |
Karma Houdini | |
The Cosby Show / int_a70223 | comment |
Karma Houdini: Subverted every single time one of the kids tries to hide something from the parents as they always get caught. Vanessa is the best example because Karma catches up with her and her friends numerous times when they try to go to a concert by The Wretched. To elaborate: Their car gets stolen, a con artist steals their tickets, a pickpocket steals their remaining money to leave them stranded in Baltimore, and then she has to face Clair. Facing Clair is probably the best example of From Bad to Worse in the show's history, as the normally mild-mannered Clair loses her gourd. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_a70223 | |
The Cosby Show / int_aaece264 | type |
Rousing Speech | |
The Cosby Show / int_aaece264 | comment |
Rousing Speech: Subverted. The first episode has this occur when Cliff is listening to Theo try to justify his poor grades with a typical sitcom "Why can't you love me the way I am?" speech. When Theo's finished, Cliff stands up, walks over to him and says: Long story short, the speech does not work and Cliff insists that Theo needs to put effort into his studies for a good future. The payoff happens in the series finale when Theo graduates from college. | |
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Or Was It a Dream? | |
The Cosby Show / int_ac36578e | comment |
Or Was It a Dream?: In "Cliff's Nightmare", Cliff has an encounter with talking (Muppet) food in the fridge after waking up from his Acid Reflux Nightmare. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_ac36578e | |
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Oh, Crap! | |
The Cosby Show / int_ad1db87c | comment |
Oh, Crap!: Theo's face just screams this when he sees just how badly the people at his "colloquy" have destroyed the house. His quote is, appropriately enough, "I'm dead." Theo is the master of this trope over the course of the whole show. Other examples include his reactions to his friends seeing him in the shirt Denise made, seeing his math teacher change her appearance to what she looks like in class, walking in on two girls who like him while half-dressed, realizing he'd just been scammed, and many others in episodes where he's a major part of the plot and said plot involves him getting into some kind of trouble. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_ad641426 | type |
Trademark Favorite Food | |
The Cosby Show / int_ad641426 | comment |
Trademark Favorite Food: Cliff and hoagies. Clair loves Spanish and Caribbean food. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_ad641426 | |
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Deadpan Snarker | |
The Cosby Show / int_ae3d6438 | comment |
Deadpan Snarker: Cliff and Sondra are the primary examples. (Well, this is Bill Cosby, after all.) Dr. Foster as well, especially in his first episode. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_ae3d6438 | |
The Cosby Show / int_aed65980 | type |
All for Nothing | |
The Cosby Show / int_aed65980 | comment |
All for Nothing: Vanessa and her friends scheme to sneak out to Baltimore for a rock concert, only to have their car and money stolen on the way and then get tricked out of their tickets at the venue. By the time they make it home, their parents have found out, leaving them with nothing to show for the whole miserable night. Rudy and her friends have a similarly miserable experience when they lie to their parents to go to a 16-and over teen dance club (they were only 13), with their parents already knowing what they were up to. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_aed65980 | |
The Cosby Show / int_b01abe4f | type |
Catchphrase | |
The Cosby Show / int_b01abe4f | comment |
Catchphrase: Several were attempted: "Bacon burger dog!" and "I zrbtt you!" Only Kenny really got one that lasted with, "My brother says-". Two of David Langston Smyrl's characters can easily be remembered by their, "Well, hello, Mrs. Huxtable." Rudy always tends to say, "Awww, man." when she's told to do something she doesn't want to do. One that came close for Clair was, "Let the record show-!" Cliff would yell "gotcha!" whenever he pulled a prank or a joke on someone. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_b01abe4f | |
The Cosby Show / int_b0485a20 | type |
Ditzy Genius | |
The Cosby Show / int_b0485a20 | comment |
Ditzy Genius: Cliff is a successful doctor, being the first obstetrician to win his hospital's Surgeon of the Year award. He gives excellent life advice and in his youth was a gifted athlete. He's also a Cloud Cuckoo Lander, whose monologues lead off to the wildest tangents. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_b06bbf4b | type |
Be Careful What You Wish For | |
The Cosby Show / int_b06bbf4b | comment |
Be Careful What You Wish For: Explains in part how Sondra showed up. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_b06bbf4b | |
The Cosby Show / int_b1dde8fd | type |
Loophole Abuse | |
The Cosby Show / int_b1dde8fd | comment |
Loophole Abuse: When Clair is filming a TV show, she requests the janitor keep an eye on Cliff to keep him from eating the donuts in the dressing room. However, there are more pastries than just donuts on the plate so both men dig in with the realization, "That is not a donut!" | |
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The Cosby Show / int_b21ddb6b | type |
Content Warnings | |
The Cosby Show / int_b21ddb6b | comment |
Content Warnings: Played with; The Slumber Party episode opens with Keshia Knight Pulliam saying (in voiceover) that the episode in question is meant for kids. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_b21ddb6b | |
The Cosby Show / int_b24ce4b2 | type |
Rearrange the Song | |
The Cosby Show / int_b24ce4b2 | comment |
Rearrange the Song: The theme tune changed arrangements in every season except the 7th. To wit: Season 1's was full of 80's synth brass. (Also the only intro not to feature the actors dancing in some fashion.) Season 2's was jazzier, with a heavy slap bass line. Season 3's was Latin-influenced. Season 4's was an A Cappella jazz version performed by Bobby McFerrin. Season 5's was an orchestral piece performed by the Oregon Symphony. Season 6-7's was a smooth saxophone jazz version by Craig Handy (ending with Cos saying "This is the best elevator music I've ever heard" in season 6). Season 8's was a New Jack Swing version with Lester Bowie on trumpet. (Originally intended as the Season 7 opener, with Cos saying "Yo! Chill out! Don't stick your face in the mud, pally." Shelved due to legal issues over the mural used as a backdrop for the actors.) | |
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The Cosby Show / int_b4eff8a8 | type |
Epic Fail | |
The Cosby Show / int_b4eff8a8 | comment |
Cliff attempts this in one episode and fails miserably. "Rice y con zapatos," anyone? So he just listens for his name. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_b4eff8a8 | |
The Cosby Show / int_b53077b3 | type |
Take That! | |
The Cosby Show / int_b53077b3 | comment |
Take That!: In the latter part of its run, the show battled with The Simpsons for the Thursday night 8:00 pm time slot. In one episode, Olivia approaches Cliff wearing a Bart Simpson mask, and he tells her to take it off. At the time, The Simpsons was still considered a crass children's show. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_b58c51d8 | type |
My Beloved Smother | |
The Cosby Show / int_b58c51d8 | comment |
My Beloved Smother: Played for laughs in "I'm In With the In Crowd" when Theo talks about Vanessa getting drunk because she broke under the pressure placed on them by the parents to work hard and do well in their educational pursuits. Played straight with Paula, Olivia's mother, and her parents who would not let Paula make her own life decisions. After years of doing things according to her parent's wishes, including getting married and having a child, she finally broke free. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_b645829b | type |
||
The Cosby Show / int_b645829b | comment |
"Stop Having Fun" Guys: In-universe examples being Cliff and Dr. Harmon, in an episode of Season 7 centered around a pinochle tournament. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_b645829b | |
The Cosby Show / int_b6cebad3 | type |
Double Standard | |
The Cosby Show / int_b6cebad3 | comment |
Double Standard: While no one equaled Theo for stepping in it with his words, sometimes his sisters did do or say things that at least approached his level. Yet nowhere in the series it is even discussed pulling a lesson prank on any of them like Theo's 'real world' lesson. One example that averts this is Vanessa. After sneaking out at night to be with her boyfriend, coming home an hour late, and lying about the whole thing while also dragging Rudy into it, Clair grounds her for at least a month. That's one of the harshest declared punishment dished out to any of the children on the show (Cliff's "appliance probation" was longer, but didn't last), topped by them making Rudy and her friends spend their Saturdays for the next six months volunteering at a retirement home as punishment for sneaking out to a dance club. Vanessa's punishment for her "Wretched" adventure was never declared on air. In the episode where Theo was found to be dyslexic, there was a scene where Vanessa called out the parents' treatment of Theo over the years. It was mostly played for laughs. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_b6cebad3 | |
The Cosby Show / int_b7920c43 | type |
Lost in Translation | |
The Cosby Show / int_b7920c43 | comment |
Lost in Translation: In the Italian dub, the surname "Huxtable" has been adapted into "Robison". The show itself is titled "I Robinson" (The Robinsons) in Italy. The characters' first names remained unaltered. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_b7920c43 | |
The Cosby Show / int_b8e3f20a | type |
Demoted to Extra | |
The Cosby Show / int_b8e3f20a | comment |
Demoted to Extra: Tempestt Bledsoe wanted to leave the program after season 6 to attend college. Bill Cosby, a huge proponent of education, agreed to a reduced role so she could remain on the show and attend college at the same time. It's why Vanessa's role on the show was significantly reduced in seasons 7 and 8. Denise and Martin pretty much become this in season 7. In season 8, Martin appears in only one episode, while Denise appears in the series finale, but off screen via a phone call that she is pregnant. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_b8e3f20a | |
The Cosby Show / int_ba236071 | type |
It Makes Sense in Context | |
The Cosby Show / int_ba236071 | comment |
It happens to Cliff himself when he gets pregnant in "The Day the Spores Landed" and initially gives birth to an enormous hoagie. A few seconds later, he feels more labor pains and follows up by delivering a bottle of soda. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_ba236071 | |
The Cosby Show / int_bb18a227 | type |
It's All About Me | |
The Cosby Show / int_bb18a227 | comment |
It's All About Me: Vanessa is the biggest offender throughout the entire series as she's constantly called out for her selfishness. The best example comes in season 6 when Clair is on the verge of a nervous breakdown and Vanessa constantly pesters her for money for a new CD, considering it life-threatening if she doesn't get it and not even considering what she's doing to Clair. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_bb18a227 | |
The Cosby Show / int_bc6c6c90 | type |
Drop-In Character | |
The Cosby Show / int_bc6c6c90 | comment |
Drop-In Character: Several, the most notably being Cockroach, Peter (early seasons) and eventually Kenny. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_bc6c6c90 | |
The Cosby Show / int_bc74ef27 | type |
Berserk Button | |
The Cosby Show / int_bc74ef27 | comment |
Berserk Button: Never under any circumstances let Clair catch you in a web of lies: being an attorney she's also an expert at unraveling them and trying to further cover them up only makes things worse. Phylicia Rashad stated that Clair only truly got angry at one of the children when she feels they've squandered their potential. Sondra's not going to law school to open a wilderness store and Denise's getting married to a navy man who already has one kid are the crowning examples. Clair also had a low tolerance for her children deliberately going behind her back to do things she specifically told them not to. The most famous example was Season 6's "Off to See the Wretched," where Vanessa lies to her parents by not telling them that the rock concert she and her friends were going to was out-of-state, instead of in the city like Cliff and Clair assumed. Things unravel quickly, and when Clair brings her daughter into the house that night, she really lets her have it. (Cliff remains calm during his wife's verbal rampage, but is clearly also very angry.) Earlier that same season, she also is upset with Theo when she realizes he moved in with his girlfriend (purportedly to save money), contrary to an earlier rental agreement they had made, and kicks him out of the house. By Season 8, when it's Rudy's turn to enter the rebellious teen stage, she's equally displeased when she and her friends lie so as to sneak into a 16-and over teen club (they were only 13). Don't say that Cliff would kick one of his children out of the house. When Denise tells him that she assumed he would kick her out if she dropped out of college, it's one of the only times in the show that we see him truly angry. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_bc74ef27 | |
The Cosby Show / int_beb932ca | type |
Big Applesauce | |
The Cosby Show / int_beb932ca | comment |
Big Applesauce: The vast majority of the series takes place in New York and the majority of that time is at the Huxtable's home in Brooklyn Heights. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_beb932ca | |
The Cosby Show / int_bec0417c | type |
Happily Married | |
The Cosby Show / int_bec0417c | comment |
Happily Married: Cliff and Clair, Cliff's parents, Clair's parents, and for the most part, Elvin and Sondra and Denise and Martin. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_bec0417c | |
The Cosby Show / int_c1317135 | type |
Make-Out Point | |
The Cosby Show / int_c1317135 | comment |
One onscreen example where Cliff grills one of Vanessa's boyfriends who basically took her to Makeout Point after curfew. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_c1317135 | |
The Cosby Show / int_c1e6c92c | type |
UnluckyChildhoodFriend | |
The Cosby Show / int_c1e6c92c | comment |
Unlucky Childhood Friend: Kenny to Rudy, once she starts dating. It takes him quite a while to get over it. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_c1e6c92c | |
The Cosby Show / int_c2cedc1c | type |
Big "NO!" | |
The Cosby Show / int_c2cedc1c | comment |
Big "NO!": Vanessa, after she learns she has a pimple that she can't easily cover up with a headband and dashes up the stairs. Also done by Rudy and her friends when Cliff pretends(?) to ditch them after the Vaudeville show. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_c33ba0a8 | type |
Chuck Cunningham Syndrome | |
The Cosby Show / int_c33ba0a8 | comment |
Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Theo's best friend Walter "Cockroach" Bradley appeared frequently during the first half of the series, was very close to the family, and even started to get some individual development ("An Early Spring"), then abruptly stopped appearing without explanation. The episode after his final appearance is even focused on Theo and Cockroach's gang of friends' locker room antics, which Cockroach would normally have been present for. Word still has it that his actor, Carl Anthony Payne II, refused to cut his hair as per Bill Cosby's wishes (the kids all changed hairstyles regularly throughout the series) and was eventually fired or left the show as a result. Sad stuff. And the haircut in question, that was apparently worth leaving the cast of what was currently the most beloved show on television? Snip.◊ Rudy's friend and neighbor Peter also went poof after the first episode of season 6 and was never mentioned again. He did appear in one last appearance in a season 8 episode, but had no dialogue and wasn't referred to by name. Anyone remember Vanessa's best friend, Janet, from the first few seasons? She appears once or twice per season for most of the series. Her final appearance is in season 6. However, this was in the infamous "Wretched" episode, after which none of Vanessa's friends are ever seen again. Many viewers floated the possibility that as part of their punishment, their parents forbade them from being friends anymore. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_c3b7fe77 | type |
Ear-Piercing Plot | |
The Cosby Show / int_c3b7fe77 | comment |
Ear-Piercing Plot: In "Independence Day", Theo gets his ear pierced to impress a girl without telling his parents, only for the piercing to become infected. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_c3b7fe77 | |
The Cosby Show / int_c435ec5d | type |
Aesop Amnesia | |
The Cosby Show / int_c435ec5d | comment |
Aesop Amnesia: Several of the kids never seem to remember just how bad the repercussions are when it comes to lying to Clair. Cliff seems to never learn that lesson either. (See Never My Fault below). | |
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The Cosby Show / int_c435ec5d | |
The Cosby Show / int_c56b5de7 | type |
Mis-blamed | |
The Cosby Show / int_c56b5de7 | comment |
Misblamed: One of the few aversions to Never My Fault below is that Cliff is blamed for Theo getting thrown out of his apartment in Season 6's "Surf's Up," but Cliff only told a story. Theo and his friends were the ones who got the idea to copy the event and ended up damaging their apartment. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_c56b5de7 | |
The Cosby Show / int_c5f0119c | type |
Insane Troll Logic | |
The Cosby Show / int_c5f0119c | comment |
Insane Troll Logic: Cliff calls Rudy out on this when she skips out on tap dance lessons for a school presentation by arguing that learning the steps and doing poorly in the performance would sully the family name. Cliff asks her how skipping practice entirely and making an utter fool of herself when the time came would be any better. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_c5f0119c | |
The Cosby Show / int_c6b75b76 | type |
A cappella | |
The Cosby Show / int_c6b75b76 | comment |
Season 4's was an A Cappella jazz version performed by Bobby McFerrin. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_c6b75b76 | |
The Cosby Show / int_c75df49a | type |
Shout-Out | |
The Cosby Show / int_c75df49a | comment |
Shout-Out: The name of Vanessa's fiance in Season 8 is Dabnis, which is "Sinbad" backwards. Quite possibly named after the comedian of the same name and one of Bill Cosby's good friends. Sinbad himself was a guest star as a car salesman in an earlier season and later became one of the stars of the Spin-Off series A Different World. Another example of this involves Cliff's old Navy pal, Scott Kelly in the Season 3 episode, "Bald and Beautiful." The role was played by Robert Culp, Cosby's longtime friend and former co-star in I Spy. In addition, in another Season 3 episode, "You Only Hurt the One You Love", the story partially revolved around Mrs. Granger, one of Cliff's co-workers at the hospital where he works. The role was played by Rita Moreno, whom co-starred with Cosby in The Electric Company (1971). In Season 7, Cliff can be see wearing a button that says "SD Jr." in memory of Sammy Davis Jr. who guest starred in one Season 5 episode and had recently died at the time. In the episode where Theo wants a Gordon Gartrelle shirt, here's Cliff: "No fourteen-year-old boy should have a $95 shirt unless he's on stage with his four brothers." Gordon Gartrelle was also the name of one of the show's writers and producers. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_c75df49a | |
The Cosby Show / int_c7f294da | type |
Large and in Charge | |
The Cosby Show / int_c7f294da | comment |
Large and in Charge: Cliff's great-grandfather is described as such. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_c7f294da | |
The Cosby Show / int_c868a42a | type |
Freudian Excuse | |
The Cosby Show / int_c868a42a | comment |
Freudian Excuse: Discussed. Cliff's kids believe the reason he won't allow pets in the house is because he once accidentally sat on his pet finch, Charlie, as a kid. Cliff's given reason is the kids have proven time and time again they aren't responsible enough to take care of pets and he wants to protect the pets from them. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_c868a42a | |
The Cosby Show / int_cd3a9a0f | type |
Only One Finds It Fun | |
The Cosby Show / int_cd3a9a0f | comment |
Only One Finds It Fun: A comedian tells jokes to Cliff, Rudy and a bunch of other kids. Cliff is the only one who laughs. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_cd3a9a0f | |
The Cosby Show / int_cfbdf361 | type |
Surprise Multiple Birth | |
The Cosby Show / int_cfbdf361 | comment |
Surprise Multiple Birth: Discussed in one episode where Cliff is at work and tells his assistant about one of their regulars who had been in the delivery room eight times before. When Sondra gets pregnant, the extended family and audience are led to believe she's only carrying one. It isn't until the birth episode that their doctor drops this line on the grandparents (and audience): "I'm happy to announce that you are the grandparents of a healthy boy! Beat And a girl!" It happens to Cliff himself when he gets pregnant in "The Day the Spores Landed" and initially gives birth to an enormous hoagie. A few seconds later, he feels more labor pains and follows up by delivering a bottle of soda. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_cfbdf361 | |
The Cosby Show / int_d0bf8a6d | type |
No Periods, Period | |
The Cosby Show / int_d0bf8a6d | comment |
No Periods, Period: With the exception of one Very Special Episode centered on Rudy starting hers and another that had Clair beginning menopause, played ridiculously straight, considering this was a house chock full of women. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_d0bf8a6d | |
The Cosby Show / int_d1111c08 | type |
Palm-Fist Tap | |
The Cosby Show / int_d1111c08 | comment |
Palm-Fist Tap: One of Eddie (a one-shot boyfriend for Denise in Season 2)'s mannerisms. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_d1111c08 | |
The Cosby Show / int_d16786a8 | type |
Anchovies Are Abhorrent | |
The Cosby Show / int_d16786a8 | comment |
Anchovies Are Abhorrent: Clair and her partner at the law firm order a pizza one night. The partner loves anchovies, Clair does not. Being lawyers, they manage to negotiate; the anchovies will not come into contact with any part of the pizza until it arrives, kept in a sealed, separate container. They draw the line at Clair's suggestion of the anchovies being delivered in a separate car. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_d16786a8 | |
The Cosby Show / int_d397657d | type |
Hoist by His Own Petard | |
The Cosby Show / int_d397657d | comment |
Hoist by His Own Petard: Cliff is a very impulsive shopper when it comes to appliances, so every time he goes shopping for one at the local store, Clair tends to call ahead to tell the owner not to sell him any more than what he said he was going to buy. Cliff finds a way to get around it and spend even more money than originally planned because Clair made the call. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_d397657d | |
The Cosby Show / int_d39e327f | type |
What the Hell, Hero? | |
The Cosby Show / int_d39e327f | comment |
What the Hell, Hero?: Given to Sondra by the audience(!) when they boo her after she attempts to make Elvin angry by saying she doesn't care enough for him to work through their current problems. It's the only time the audience boos a scene in the whole series, and well-deserved. Sondra gets another one in-universe in the episode where she allows Elvin to go out to dinner with an old girlfriend—after he specifically said he felt uncomfortable going without her and repeatedly insisted that he shouldn't do it. When he goes out anyway (again, after much protesting), stays late, and pays the check, Sondra becomes furious and won't talk to him. Later, when she complains to Clair and expects a sympathetic ear, her mother instead uses this trope, pointing out that Sondra created the problem by not being honest about her feelings in the first place, and therefore has no one to blame but herself. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_d39e327f | |
The Cosby Show / int_d442f9d1 | type |
ToiletHumor | |
The Cosby Show / int_d442f9d1 | comment |
Toilet Humor: Used only once when Cliff predicts how a little kid would react to seeing the batter for Denise's "health" food. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_d442f9d1 | |
The Cosby Show / int_d52d28b6 | type |
Hypocrite | |
The Cosby Show / int_d52d28b6 | comment |
Hypocrite: There are several examples of hypocrisy throughout the series, though a lot of it is well intentioned or at least comedic. Some examples: The season 2 episode "Halloween"- Cliff doesn't want to go trick or treating with Rudy, calling it "Begging". Clair points out that... "Vanessa's Bad Grade" - Vanessa asks Denise several times if she can borrow her sweater for the school dance, to which Denise refuses. Vanessa ends up taking the sweater without permission, which causes an all out brawl between the two. After separating the girls, Cliff discovers several items of his clothing in Denise's wardrobe and Vanessa's room, which were taken without permission (though Vanessa claims that she got his socks from Sondra). "Theo and Cockroach" - Theo and Cockroach use a study guide to prepare for a test on Macbeth without reading the actual play itself. Theo does okay, as his study guide covered half of the questions on the test. To get Theo to actually read the play, Clair very smugly tells him that she will give him a test on Macbeth Acts 1-5 and that he's not to leave the house until he is finished. When Theo leaves to get started, Clair reveals that she only remembers a couple of passages and begs Cliff to read half of the play with her to help her prepare. The biggest example by far is Clair in Season 5's "If the Dress Fits, Wear It" wherein she finds out she needs to lose some weight to fit into a dress and complains to her dressmaker about how much she's nagged Cliff to take his diets seriously and, in previous episodes, she's had the entire family keep an eye on him to stop him from eating what he likes. She swears her dressmaker to secrecy (though Cliff does overhear but opts to not say anything about knowing) and enters a demanding exercise regimen and strict diet by herself without telling anyone. She ends up suffering from major cramps, tries to sneak eating the wrong food (and only stops because she gets caught), doesn't ask for any kind of help or support from her family (as she's trying to keep it secret) and ends up with a very short fuse throughout that in-episode week- but is only shown taking it out on Cliff. At the end of the episode, Cliff is more angry with her during the final scene than he is with anyone in the whole series and his anger is only diffused because her hard work succeeded. However, she does not apologize to anyone for her behavior. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_d52d28b6 | |
The Cosby Show / int_d7fc9fd0 | type |
Vitriolic Best Buds | |
The Cosby Show / int_d7fc9fd0 | comment |
Vitriolic Best Buds: Cliff and Sanford "Tailwind" Turner love to talk smack to each other, but they respect each other's talents as runners. Cliff and The Rival Dr. Harmon as well when they decide to work together. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_d7fc9fd0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_d9ee7048 | type |
Spin-Off | |
The Cosby Show / int_d9ee7048 | comment |
The name of Vanessa's fiance in Season 8 is Dabnis, which is "Sinbad" backwards. Quite possibly named after the comedian of the same name and one of Bill Cosby's good friends. Sinbad himself was a guest star as a car salesman in an earlier season and later became one of the stars of the Spin-Off series A Different World. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_d9ee7048 | |
The Cosby Show / int_dc579c91 | type |
Contrived Coincidence | |
The Cosby Show / int_dc579c91 | comment |
In Season 1, Theo gets his ear pierced to impress a girl he likes, but it's a botched job and becomes infected. Cliff hopes that Russel will punish the boy, but instead Russel talks about how Cliff tried to wax his head for a girl (Clair!) and ended up burning it all off. Then Anna shares the story of how Russel tried to get her name tattooed on her chest, but said "Ada" instead because of a cold (and Ada happened to be the name of Anna's rival), and later had to have it removed. The Huxtable women comment that the men in their lives are idiotic for doing such ridiculous things. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_dc579c91 | |
The Cosby Show / int_dca70c44 | type |
Reasonable Authority Figure | |
The Cosby Show / int_dca70c44 | comment |
The aerobics instructor who Clair hires as her personal trainer in one season 5 episode has a reputation as this, but she actually ends up as more of a Reasonable Authority Figure as the episode progresses once she realizes Clair is serious in her effort to lose weight; she still runs her ragged but is very supportive and encouraging as time passes. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_dca70c44 | |
The Cosby Show / int_e2a41c3b | type |
Literal-Minded | |
The Cosby Show / int_e2a41c3b | comment |
Early on, Cliff tells Theo not to let whoever is at the door in the house- unless it's a pregnant woman in labor- because he's tired. Said visitor is Russel, who Theo sends away because of a Literal-Minded interpretation of Cliff's order. When Cliff finds out, he replies with- | |
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The Cosby Show / int_e2a41c3b | |
The Cosby Show / int_e30c7674 | type |
Sliding Scale of Beauty | |
The Cosby Show / int_e30c7674 | comment |
Sliding Scale of Beauty: The unseen waitress that Theo and Cockroach made fun of at the fast food restaurant in "Theogate," which resulted in them being kicked off the track team. The waitress was obese (to a point where she was anywhere from Flawed Average or Normally Ugly to Lovecraftian), and Theo and Cockroach – perhaps disappointed that an attractive waitress was waiting on other customers and not them – made jokes about her, causing her to run off in tears. Theo learns a tough lesson and is made to apologize. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_e4a8945d | type |
Dads Can't Cook | |
The Cosby Show / int_e4a8945d | comment |
Dads Can't Cook: Averted in that Cliff is an excellent cook. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_e4d079c1 | type |
Greek Chorus | |
The Cosby Show / int_e4d079c1 | comment |
Another involving a night full of dreams for Rudy in which Olivia gets preferential treatment up to eleven (e.g. when covering the walls with crayon, Cliff and Clair gush about her artistic ability), complete with a Supremes-esque Greek Chorus played by actresses whose regular characters don't appear in that episode (Vanessa, Pam and Charmaine). | |
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The Cosby Show / int_e4d079c1 | |
The Cosby Show / int_e5406b1b | type |
Beat | |
The Cosby Show / int_e5406b1b | comment |
Sondra and Elvin's doctor drops one for their parents after the birth of their children: "I'm pleased to announce you are the grandparents of a baby boy! [Beat] And a girl!" | |
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The Cosby Show / int_e5406b1b | |
The Cosby Show / int_e83f211c | type |
O.O.C. Is Serious Business | |
The Cosby Show / int_e83f211c | comment |
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Near the end of the episode where Sondra and Elvin get engaged, Cliff's loud "Shut! Up!" to Clair leaves her with a completely befuddled expression that just screams, "You've never acted like this before." | |
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The Cosby Show / int_e83f211c | |
The Cosby Show / int_ea85d6ea | type |
All Just a Dream | |
The Cosby Show / int_ea85d6ea | comment |
All Just a Dream: There are two dream-based episodes during the 1989-90 season. "The Night the Spores Landed" has all of the men get pregnant. "Cliff's Nightmare" includes a Fake Crossover with The Jim Henson Hour and an Or Was It a Dream? ending. Subverted in the first episode in Season 4 where Cliff thinks this is the case for Sondra and Elvin's shocking announcement. He is, of course, dead wrong. Another involving a night full of dreams for Rudy in which Olivia gets preferential treatment up to eleven (e.g. when covering the walls with crayon, Cliff and Clair gush about her artistic ability), complete with a Supremes-esque Greek Chorus played by actresses whose regular characters don't appear in that episode (Vanessa, Pam and Charmaine). | |
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-0.3 | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_ea85d6ea | |
The Cosby Show / int_f09afb0 | type |
Digging Yourself Deeper | |
The Cosby Show / int_f09afb0 | comment |
Digging Yourself Deeper: At the end of "Off to See the Wretched," Clair has spent several minutes chewing out Vanessa for her stupidity. When Vanessa finally gets a chance to speak, she asks for her punishment before going to bed. The nerve Vanessa has of treating the situation so lightly causes Clair to nearly lunge at her, requiring Cliff to hold Clair back. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_f09afb0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_f4b1129f | type |
Anger Born of Worry | |
The Cosby Show / int_f4b1129f | comment |
Anger Born of Worry: Clair's infamous rant at Vanessa "Off To See The Wretched" was largely about how because of her lies, Clair assumed she was dying in a fire. | |
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The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_f4b1129f | |
The Cosby Show / int_f8600b | type |
Cool Big Sis | |
The Cosby Show / int_f8600b | comment |
Cool Big Sis: Sondra. She's the only one of the older siblings who never get tormented or teased by the younger ones. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_f8600b | |
The Cosby Show / int_f9f2c33 | type |
Running Gag | |
The Cosby Show / int_f9f2c33 | comment |
Running Gag: Several. Some interspersed over the whole show, some limited to various seasons. In Season 8, for example, Cliff kept trying to fix the broken front doorbell only to have it malfunction in bizarre ways; he got it right in the series finale at last.. Peter running out of the house whenever something bad happens. In the first two seasons, Denise would always offer to help Theo with certain things (piercing his ear, making a shirt, etc.), which would inevitability backfire. Denise's fashion choices in the first three seasons would always puzzle Cliff. Cliff teasing the boys that would come over to date his daughters. The broken doorbell in Season 8. The on again/off again relationship between Vanessa and Dabnis during Season 8. Cliff attempting to eat junk food, and either stopped by Clair, or Theo eating the food before he has a chance. Cliff attempting to fix something in the house, before making it worse. During the second half of the show, Russel increasingly made connections between Elvis and modern-day events. Any time the script said, "Cliff is cooking dinner," Bill would play the scene in different ways. In Season 1, Cliff would often pick up a baseball bat and jokingly contemplate using it whenever he had to confront one of the children about something, but usually Clair would shoot him a look and he'd put it down. In Season 2, Clair would put Cliff in a headlock anytime he couldn't remember anything about the details of their early relationship. Early seasons have Cliff's unusual ingredient choices whenever he cooks. Later seasons have Cliff's tendencies to tell stories that don't go anywhere. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_f9f2c33 | |
The Cosby Show / int_fb4c41b4 | type |
"Friends" Rent Control | |
The Cosby Show / int_fb4c41b4 | comment |
"Friends" Rent Control: Averted. Cliff is a doctor, Clair is a lawyer, and can easily afford their large beautiful home, although it still seems like a stretch that they can afford college tuition for all of their children. On the flip side, yet in the same vein, recent college graduates Sondra and Elvin live in a crappy apartment and can only afford a new one with help from their parents and don't move into a house until Elvin begins his medical residency. It's also possible that some of the kids received scholarships and other financial aid. Sondra is depicted as bright; Denise is a legacy at her (fictional) college and doesn't get her first "D" until she starts to attend (plus she drops out after only one year). So while it would still be a big expense, it's feasible. | |
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The Cosby Show / int_fb4c41b4 | |
The Cosby Show / int_fbd285b7 | type |
Comically Missing the Point | |
The Cosby Show / int_fbd285b7 | comment |
Comically Missing the Point: Mr. Lucas the handyman compares his job with the medical profession because, "They both work with their hands, spend years in training, and wear beepers." | |
The Cosby Show / int_fbd285b7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_fbd285b7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_fbd285b7 | |
The Cosby Show / int_fe0330fb | type |
Brick Joke | |
The Cosby Show / int_fe0330fb | comment |
There's one in season 6 that doubles as a Brick Joke: Cliff gives Olivia a hint about where her birthday present is hidden that makes absolutely no sense. Several episodes later, she pulls the same thing on him. | |
The Cosby Show / int_fe0330fb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_fe0330fb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_fe0330fb | |
The Cosby Show / int_name | type |
ItemName | |
The Cosby Show / int_name | comment |
||
The Cosby Show / int_name | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show / int_name | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Cosby Show | hasFeature |
The Cosby Show / int_name | |
The Cosby Show / int_name | itemName |
The Cosby Show |
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