List of The Cosby Show episodes
The episodes for the NBC television sitcom The Cosby Show aired from September 20, 1984 to April 30, 1992. There were 201 episodes and an outtakes special produced and aired, spanning eight seasons.
Series overview
Episodes
Season 1 (1984–85)
- This season's opening credits features the Huxtable family playing sports in Central Park. Two versions of the show's theme song are used in this sequence. A long version of the show's theme is heard in the first and another episode, but a shortened version with a few bars taken out and with a different, though similar, style is used for the rest of the season. The show's theme, titled "Kiss Me", was composed by Stu Gardner and Bill Cosby.
- Sabrina LeBeauf appears in four episodes.
- The pilot, production code 0101, was taped in May 1984.
- Season one production began in July 1984, with the first taped episode being Goodbye Mr. Goldfish, #0102 on August 1, 1984.
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Season 2 (1985–86)
For this season, the opening credits changed from the Huxtables in the park to a gray room with the cast dancing. The song was changed for the first time keeping the show's theme signature and featured a sort of jazz tone. Each cast member, in descending age of their characters, dances alongside Cosby as his/her name is shown in the credits. Bill Cosby is seen at the end of the credits "dancing" to the music as the production credits appear and at the end, he quickly turns his head and looks into the camera before the sequence fades to black. Two versions of this theme were also used. Much like the season one theme, both versions of season two's theme song were completely different in sound than the other. The long version featured more of a synth beat than the short. Midway through the season, following her marriage to NBC sportscaster Ahmad Rashād, Phylicia Ayers-Allen's name in the opening credits is changed to "Phylicia Rashād". Producer Caryn Sneider's credit was also changed to read "Produced by Caryn Sneider Mandabach."| No. in series | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Production code |
Season 3 (1986–87)
- This season's opening sequence featured the cast dancing to Latin jazz in a gray/blue room. Once again, Bill Cosby is seen at the end of the credits dancing to the music as the production credits appear and at the end, he quickly turns his head and looks into the camera before the sequence fades to black. Two versions of this theme were used. However, the season three theme's long version had some parts cut, instead of a differently composed version of that theme.
- Phylicia Rashād was pregnant throughout much of this season, so the crew hid her stomach for most of the season, using such devices as staging the character standing behind the kitchen counter or lying in bed under the covers.
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Season 4 (1987–88)
This season's opening sequence features the cast dancing to a vocal jazz rendition of the theme performed by Bobby McFerrin. Bill Cosby is seen at the end of the credits dancing to the music as the producer credits appear and at the end, he quickly turns his head, takes off his top hat and looks into the camera before the sequence cuts to black. Unlike the first three seasons, the opening credits featured the cast wearing some formal 1930s-style clothing with Cosby wearing a top hat and tails, Tempestt Bledsoe wearing a Navy uniform similar to what performers would wear when performing to the troops in the USO. Malcolm-Jamal Warner wore a business suit and is seen looking at his watch then starts tapping his feet, etc. Geoffrey Owens is introduced to the regular cast by Cosby leading him into Sabrina LeBeauf's credit scene, symbolizing Heathcliff Huxtable "giving away" his daughter Sondra to her new husband. Before the producer credits appear, Cosby is briefly seen holding a picture of Lisa Bonet. Bonet does not appear as a regular this season, having departed for the spinoff series, A Different World.| No. in series | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Production code |
Season 5 (1988–89)
The opening sequence in this season features the cast in Caribbean-style clothing dancing on a veranda to an orchestral version of Kiss Me arranged by James DePreist, and performed by the Oregon Symphony Orchestra. This opening credit sequence, choreographed by Geoffrey Holder, is the only one during the series' entire run that featured the whole cast dancing together. The first seven episodes feature a closing theme version of this orchestration. This version is identical to the one used to open the show. The remaining fifteen episodes closed with a funk/jazz version of the theme.| No. in series | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Production code |
Season 6 (1989–90)
In the opening sequence for seasons 6 and 7, the cast danced on a stage with a backdrop that displayed the marquee of the Apollo Theater in Harlem. A classical jazz arrangement of "Kiss Me," featuring Craig Handy on saxophone, was used for the theme, which sounds similar to "Shotgun" by Junior Walker and the All-Stars. When the credits end, instead of looking at the camera, Cosby walks off the stage and comments, "This is the best elevator music I've ever heard!" This line was cut out of the credits when they were re-used the following year.| No. in series | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Production code |
Season 7 (1990–91)
- This season's credit sequence originally was to use a mural entitled "Street of Dreams," painted by inner-city youth from the Creative Arts Workshop in Harlem, for the opening credits. The producers wound up discarding the idea when their lawyers said that in order to use the mural, they would have to get permission from all 63 young artists first. Instead, the show developed its own mural which combined some of the elements and used many of the colors of the actual one. The owners of the mural threatened to sue and denounced the show for ripping off the children. Carsey-Werner tried to negotiate a settlement with Creative Arts Workshop, but Bill Cosby decided to replace the theme with season six's opening credits. Only four episodes featured the original opening credits. In all other episodes in first-run, and in all repeats as well as in syndication, only the replaced sequence was used. Lisa Bonet and Joseph C. Phillips were in the credits still but they only appeared in less than a handful of episodes during the season. New cast member Erika Alexander was featured in the original season seven sequence, but only her name and role are both listed in the replacement sequence. The spoken phrase "This is the best elevator music I've ever heard!" was removed as well in the intro, except for one episode in 1991.
- Throughout this season, Cosby was often seen wearing a small black button with the letters "SD Jr." – as a tribute to Sammy Davis, Jr., who died in May 1990.
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Season 8 (1991–92)
- The mural inspired by "Street of Dreams", originally painted by inner-city youth from the Creative Arts Workshop in Harlem, was finally used full-time in season eight. The cast now danced in the sequence to a hip-hop blend that featured Lester Bowie on trumpet. The scenes of Bonet and Phillips in the original opening sequence were removed. After the controversy from the previous season, the producers gave recognition to the painters of the original mural in the closing credits. Malcolm-Jamal Warner wore glasses in this set of opening credits, but not in any episodes. At the end of the sequence, like he did in other seasons, Cosby turns his head and looks into the camera. A few episodes from season seven used this opening, albeit with Lisa Bonet and Joseph C. Philips in the opening credits, and at the end of the sequence, Bill Cosby would walk off and say, "Yo, chill out! Don't put your face in the mud, Pally!".
- The final episode "And So We Commence" features an extended sequence, with clips of each cast member dancing from the opening credits of every season.
- A running gag throughout this season involves the house's front doorbell, which malfunctions in a variety of bizarre ways despite Cliff's attempts to fix it.
- The finale was taped on Friday, March 6, 1992, under production codes 0823 and 0824.
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