Remembering 'The Cosby Show' (1984-1992)

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Panther, Aug 1, 2020.

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  1. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    At this point, the pennies are probably going straight into the pockets of his team of lawyers.
     
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  2. Panther

    Panther Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tokyo, Japan
    I don't think it's certain or clear that Lennon ever "beat" his wife. I believe Cynthia has vaguely alluded to it happening once only, and John said in the sixties that he had hit his wife once, but then again John tended to be overly-casual about everything and exaggerate what happened (as in the famous 'Lennon Remembers' interview, in which he made everything they did sound worse than it was).

    At least Lennon seemed to draw the line with underage women, something that can't be said of David Bowie, Mick Jagger, etc....
     
  3. Rocker

    Rocker Senior Member

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Very well said.

    I wonder how many SHF members would actually stop listening to the Beatles if it turned out that Paul was a serial killer or child molester?
     
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  4. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Ringo did so as well when drunk apparently. Paul admitted to it in song. Etc...
     
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  5. bamaaudio

    bamaaudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    It's no longer the same show after Cosby's revelations, unfortunately.
     
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  6. The Wanderer

    The Wanderer Seeker of Truth

    Location:
    NYC
    They'd blame the victims.
     
  7. mr. steak

    mr. steak Forum Resident

    Location:
    chandler az
    It's so weird to me that it was still on at the same time as Twin Peaks, The Simpsons and Seinfeld. In my mind this show was pure 80's like Family Ties and over by 89.
     
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  8. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

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    Agreed but IMHO it still aged better than some 90s sitcoms like Family Matters and Full House.
     
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2020
  9. Luvtemps

    Luvtemps Forum Resident

    Location:
    P.G.County,Md.
    I won't turn this into a political thing,but there was another reason Cosby was ruined..I'm not saying he wasn't guilty but not that guilty.
     
  10. Luvtemps

    Luvtemps Forum Resident

    Location:
    P.G.County,Md.
    Rational people???...haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!
     
  11. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Yeah, it really does seem like it'd become a relic by 1990.

    That's why I think it declined so "severely" its last year. As I mentioned earlier, #18 is good, but it's a big drop from the prior seasons.

    Also as noted, I do believe the direct competition from "Simpsons" hurt it some, though I think the drop to #18 was more that the show was out of steam.

    "Simpsons" and "Cosby" were head to head in 1990-91 as well and "Cosby" still got to #5.

    "Cosby" just didn't transition with the times very well. There was also "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" in the 90s, with a hipper look at well-to-do Black families - that made "Cosby" look even more antiquated...
     
  12. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    The reason Cosby "was ruined" is that he raped five dozen women. It's not a mystery, and there's certainly no reason to go looking for other factors.
     
  13. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    I'm sure someone already mentioned it but the "A Touch Of Wonder" episode with Stevie Wonder is one of my favorites just because it's really cool to see Stevie and fun watching him interact with the main cast.
     
  14. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    "I used to be cruel to my woman,
    I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loves...
    Man, I was mean, but I'm changing my scene,
    and I'm doing the best that I can."


    It's fair to say that Lennon was capable of being extremely cruel, cynical, insulting, and temperamental in the first 35 years of his life. But I think he did a huge turnaround in the 1970s and became a much better person over tine. It gives you hope that people can change for the better if they really make the effort.

    Cynthia Lennon's two books on Lennon didn't detail a lot of physical cruelty, but John was certainly psychological cruel and horrible to her during their years together. It's especially sad that she got very little money from their divorce, which I think was extremely unfair.

    Bill Cosby is (was) at a whole different level in terms of evil, cruelty, and criminal levels of violence against women.
     
  15. Panther

    Panther Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tokyo, Japan
    Not really a relic -- it was still the #1 show in the USA in 1990!

    I would say in 1990-91 it was clearly running out of steam (I mean, regardless of its ratings, which were still good), and only by 1991-92 did it seem a bit antiquated. A lot of things were changing then in both black and white popular cultures. But it's the nature of TV programs with kids -- there's a built-in expiry date!
    Yeah, but I would say from today's perspective "Cosby" (the show, obviously, not the guy) looks a lot more timeless than the very-dated Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
     
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  16. Panther

    Panther Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tokyo, Japan
    That's a song and vocal by Paul McCartney.

    Yes, I think based on what Lennon himself has said that it's reasonable to assume he hit his wife once or twice, though I doubt he ever "beat" a woman with all that implies.

    I would not necessarily trust everything Cynthia Lennon wrote in any of her 16 books trying to make money off Lennon's fame.
     
  17. Panther

    Panther Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tokyo, Japan
    Cast in 1984-85
    [​IMG]











    Cast in 1992 (final episode):
    [​IMG]



    [​IMG]
     
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  18. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    It's a song co-written by Lennon and McCartney, and the vocal is both Lennon and McCartney singing together. Lennon himself said that he was responsible for writing those particular lines, and that they were autobiographical (All that ‘I used to be cruel to my woman, I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved’ was me. I was a hitter. I couldn’t express myself and I hit. I fought men and I hit women).

    I believe Cynthia Lennon wrote two books. Considering she only got £100,000 in the divorce settlement, I myself wouldn't begrudge her writing a couple books, myself. I don't think there's any compelling reason to believe there's anything inaccurate in those books.
     
  19. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Even before the claims against Cosby hit the headlines, Fresh Prince was far more popular with a newer generation of kids than the Cosby Show was.

    So if it's dated, it hasn't hurt it's popularity and if the Cosby Show is timeless it hasn't done much for it with a newer generation of viewers.
     
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  20. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Yeah, I know, but I believe Lennon wrote that particular line. (And my apologies to @czeskleba, who made the same comment above.)
     
  21. Panther

    Panther Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tokyo, Japan
    You know this... how?
     
  22. marmalade166

    marmalade166 Sous les pavés, la plage!

    Location:
    Aberdeen, Scotland
    Wow, talk about reverse virtue signalling...

    Has anyone here asked you to apologise for your choices or wagged a finger at you?

    For my part, I am still able to enjoy the work of many artists who have done despicable things (although I do object to Jim Gordon being associated with the likes of Polanski and Spector earlier in the thread, given that the man was/is seriously mentally ill and therefore not responsible for his actions) but there's something about Cosby that's different for me - not sure what that is; maybe how recently it all came out, the number of victims and the 50+years it went on for, his sanctimony and now exposed complete hypocrisy but his work now repels me and something incredibly distasteful

    But hey, that's just me. You do you and I'll do me, we'll write about how we see stuff and how we feel about it and the world will keep on turning and the music will keep on playing :p
     
  23. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Guess you skipped over the "rational people" bit.

    How about I phrase anything like that, then? "Only smart cool people could ever think like I do.";)
     
    Last edited: Aug 7, 2020
  24. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Yeah, I know it was still a hit - I've mentioned that repeatedly.

    My point is that looking back 30 years later, "Cosby Show" looks like a relic for the early 90s.

    And being a relic doesn't mean something can't be a hit. Heck, shows like "Murder She Wrote" and "Matlock" were always relics! :D

    But that wasn't the case then.

    It's like something such as "Laugh In". That looks way more dated now than most of its peers but it was cutting edge back then.

    That was the point: while it might've been more timeless in the long run, "Cosby Show" looked out of touch by the early 90s...
     
  25. Luke The Drifter

    Luke The Drifter Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    In Cynthia's book she said John hit her one time and felt terrible about it. After it happened he promised her it would never happen again, and to his credit it never did. She had no reason to lie about this. Lennon confirms the incident in "Getting Better". Paul even asked him if he wanted it in there, and John insisted.
     
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