The impact that Bill Cosby forged as Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable, the esteemed patriarch of a upwardly mobile household cannot really be quantified. Besides his proclivity for Coogi-esque sweaters, his hilarious dancing exploits to open up the show and the laughs that he and the large cast drew, Cosby brought a level of intelligence, cultural consciousness and pride that was conspicuously absent from any other black sitcom ever, sans “The Jeffersons.” Since then, Cosby, who got his real doctorate degree in education from Temple University, has since produced the “The Cosby Mysteries,” “Cosby,” hosted “Kids Say the Darndest Things,” and currently does the show “Obkb,” where America’s favorite dad interviews kids across the country. He has not fared as well in theaters, unfortunately, as Ghost Dad was a box office disaster and few remember The Meteor Man and Jack. However, the cinematic release of his classic comedy tour, Bill Cosby: Himself, is the foundation that built “The Cosby Show.” And, of course, Cosby created substantial waves for his brutal assessment of the shortcomings in the black community, for which he is even more respected than he was on his classic sitcom.
