Already a presence on television for much of the 1960s and 1970s, in 1984 Bill Cosby debuted his new series THE COSBY SHOW, which went on to become one of the most popular shows on television. Even in its very first year, ... more »THE COSBY SHOW was the third highest rated show in America. On the program, Cosby played Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable, who along with his wife Claire, an attorney, struggled to balance the challenges of their successful careers with the demands of their five children. The five kids all varied greatly in age and each had their own problems, which lead to a variety of plotlines for the sitcom to utilize. Cosby's goal with the show was to present a positive view of a regular, middle-class, and successful African-American family. SEASON ONE collects the first 24 episodes of the series, with famous guest stars like Dizzy Gillespie and Lena Horne, and others who got their start on the program, like Blair Underwood, Iman, and Alicia Keys. 4 Discs/24 episodes.« less
It is very sad with the demise of once great and beloved actor who everyone liked. I planned to watch these one day BUT the Cosby Show nor any Cosby movies will no longer be on my wish since he is sour milk these days. The increasing number of copies available is also telling since others have the same feelings.
Movie Reviews
Avoid this set...shows are EDITED! Not worth your $$$
S. Phillips | Las Vegas, NV United States | 07/26/2005
(1 out of 5 stars)
"All the episodes are EDITED! These are not the versions run by NBC. Save your money; you can see these truncated versions in syndication.
This is especially horrible as the company put out press releases a few months ago stating these were to be uncut, and now they release edited versions? I think they should be reported to the FTC and product should be recalled so it can be properly labeled with a disclaimer stating that the shows are CUT."
Keep you're Columbia House copys!
M. J Krankka | New London,MO | 07/29/2005
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Well I was getting ready to sell off my Columbia House copys of The Cosby Show to buy the new season 1 set,but then I read the reviews and nearly passed out when I read the news about the episodes on the upcoming box set being the cut versions.The episodes on the upcoming set are about 22:00 minutes in link.After I read this I popped in one of my Columbia House copys watched "Goodbye, Mr.Fish" on the Columbia House version the episode was 24:07 minutes in link.If you bought the Columbia House DVD's keep them as the are the orginal network versions.I cant believe they are going to release The Cosby Show this way,this show is an American Classic and it should not be release this way!Thumbs down to this release! Thumbs up to Columbia House for doing Cosby right!Columbia House are best of set,but atleast the episodes are uncut.
Update-Well I read the news about the rest of the series being released uncut,Urbanworks heard the complaints and season 1 has not sold very well,so season 2 and on will get the uncut treatment,I'll beleive it when I see it?remember they promised everybody that season 1 was going to be uncut and it turn out to be a big lie! If 2 is going to be uncut I think they should rerelease seaon 1 also!"
"The Cosby Show" deserves better treatment than this.
Brad Preston | Spokane, WA USA | 07/30/2005
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Over the years, television commercial breaks have lengthened, and older series in syndication have suffered for it. When you watch a rerun of your favorite TV show, it can have anywhere from two to four minutes edited out to make room for more commercials, depending on the show's age.
"The Cosby Show" is no exception to this rule. During the 1984-1985 season (when the show debuted), the average length of a half-hour show was twenty-four minutes with about six minutes allotted for commercials. In 2005, the average length of a half hour show is twenty-one minutes. So the versions we see umpteen times a day on TBS, WGN, Nick At Nite and various local stations have more than two minutes cut out of them.
But that's okay, because the upcoming release of "The Cosby Show's" inaugural season will include all the footage from the NBC airings we haven't seen in over twenty years, right?
Wrong.
In their infinite wisdom, Carsey Werner and UrbanWorks have decided to allow consumers to plop down a good portion of their hard-earned cash for the syndication edits of one of the most beloved sitcoms of the 1980s, without any warning on the packaging that these are, in fact, not the full-length episodes (even lying to us by stating in the original press release for the set that they were using "all original NBC network versions, including the pilot episode, which are approximately two minutes longer than the syndicated versions").
Part of the appeal of TV shows on DVD is the fact that we get to see our favorite shows uncut for the first time in years. That's why I've gladly shelled out money to add shows such as "Cheers," "M*A*S*H," "Seinfeld," "The Simpsons" and "Taxi" to my DVD collection. I was looking forward to adding "The Cosby Show" to that list, until I found out the versions included on this four-disc set are, in fact, versions I can watch for free multiple times a day on cable.
Would you pay money for a book with pages missing? A movie with scenes cut? An album with verses missing from songs?
Why, then, would you buy this? There are two minutes missing from every episode! That's 48 minutes from the whole season - enough missing time for two episodes of "The Cosby Show."
Please don't buy this. Send the message to Carsey Werner (the show's owner) and UrbanWorks (the distributor of this botched effort) that "The Cosby Show" deserves better treatment on DVD."
A total fraud!
P. Brown | Pineville, Louisiana USA | 08/03/2005
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Yes, these are the edited versions of "The Cosby Show Season 1". I am a loyal fan of the show and have all the ORIGINAL episodes on VHS. I didn't even make it past the 1st show when I realized I was ripped off. And it's not just a few seconds, it is entire scenes that are cut out. One scene that I was looking forward to seeing betewwn Cliff and Claire in the 1st episode was completely gone.The DVD will be returned tomorrow and I recommend that no one buy this junk! I thought I would share with you the 1 response I got from these people "We truly appreciate your enthusiasm regarding the Season One DVD release of THE COSBY SHOW, one of Carsey-Werner's most cherished projects. We sympathize with your concerns relating to the syndicated episode versions.
To provide some background for you, THE COSBY SHOW SEASON ONE DVD would not be a reality had the network versions of the show been used. The licensing fees for the music cues often add up to exorbitant dollar amounts thereby prohibiting the release. You will find that other studios and distribution companies exercise the same practice of using syndicated versions of a show, which include revised music cues.
Please be assured that the edits made to the show were done with the utmost of care and concern by the original producers. These changes were limited to transitions and in most cases did not include dialogue and/or important moments. Every precaution was made to ensure that the integrity of the show was not in any way compromised.
It should be noted that due to the passionate response we have received from collectors, we are seriously pursuing the possibility of using the network versions on ALL future releases.
Thank you for your concern and feedback.
Carsey-Werner Distribution
c/o The DuVernay Agency
Well that's sweet, but it doesn't change the fact that they falsely advertised their product and fool us into buying it. At least the producers of "Roswell" had the decency to tell us that they put new music in the DVD episodes and included with the DVD was a letter from the producers explaining. I did contact the head of the company I bought it from and she agreed to give me a gift certificate for the amount I paid for this FRAUD. (...)
And for those who are complaining about us, just go watch your edited Cosby show on Nickelodian, and leave this to the true collectors!"