The Cosby Show

An Analysis of The Cosby Show

When Bill Cosby returned to television in the mid 1980 's , many were skeptical in regards to the show being successful . Cosby 's previous television show in the 1970 's bombed and the comedian was relegated to (lucrative ) TV commercials for years . Could Cosby carry a program History shows the answer was yes and , in addition to being a ratings success , the Cosby show was designed to present a positive supportive image of the family unit to young people

The concept of the family has been repeatedly

portrayed as dysfunctional in the media . With The Cosby Show , there was a strong sense of family unity that existed within the framework of the program . While the series kept a generally lighthearted tone and avoided all the clichy trappings sitcoms fall devolve into such as when a B Grade Celebrity makes a guest appearance on the show and the cast makes fools of themselves , et al the program did have a serious them that existed . That theme was that family unity will eliminate all of life 's problems . On the surface , such a theme appears to be simplistic and unrealistic , but the program was not designed as a drama . It was a situational comedy aimed at kids with the purpose of teaching moral lessons to a young audience through humor

As Cliff Huxtable , Bill Cosby was provided a conduit to deliver his old stand up routine through the character he was playing . The family and friends theme exists in Cosby 's old stand up humor showing that the theme of family unity has been a long time convention for Cosby However , the main question here is does this theme translate well into a situational comedy

An Analysis of The Cosby Show Pg . 2

The Cosby Show succeeded despite the fact that the program 's genre situational comedy , is a highly devolved genre . That is to say , at one time , situation comedies contained a wide variety of comedic styles including pathos , physical comedy and satire . Eventually , sitcoms became a half hour of one liners ' strung together throughout the course of the half hour running time . At one time , sitcoms each had their own identity . Now , there are interchangeable featuring the very tired set up /punch line ' conventions that have ruined the genre

The Cosby Show avoided these trappings as it was never a program that relied solely on one liners and banal set up /punch line conventions Most of the humor that was used for The Cosby Show involved a mix of pathos and physical comedy where interactions between the characters (both physical and verbal ) were not presented in the quick , rushed trite manner . Themes (both dramatic and comedic ) played throughout the episodes and , as a result , the viewer was drawn into the episodes as opposed to watching from a detached environment in to soak in the occasionally funny line or , more frequently , a constant barrage of unfunny lines appearing with rapid frequency in to...