History Series / TheCosbyShow

* MoodWhiplash: PlayedForLaughs in Season 2's "Close to Home" when Cliff offers to help his friend's daughter with her drug problem, breaking the tension in an otherwise downhearted moment.
-->'''Dr. Morgan:''' No, she's had people she respects speak to her-\\

** Clair also had a low tolerance for her children deliberately going behind her back to do things she specifically told them not to. The most famous example was Season 6's "Off to See the Wretched," where Vanessa lies to her parents by not telling them that the rock concert she and her friends were going to was out-of-state, instead of in the city like Cliff and Clair assumed. Things unravel quickly, and when Clair brings her daughter into the house that night, she really lets her have it. (Cliff remains calm during his wife's verbal rampage, but is clearly also very angry.) Earlier that same season, she also is upset with Theo when she realizes he moved in with his girlfriend (purportedly to save money), contrary to an earlier rental agreement they had made, and kicks him out of the house.

** One example that averts this is Vanessa. After sneaking out at night to be with her boyfriend, coming home an hour late, and lying about the whole thing while also dragging Rudy into it, Clair grounds her for ''at least'' a month. That's the harshest declared punishment dished out to any of the children on the show (Cliff's "appliance probation" was longer, but didn't last). Vanessa's punishment for her "Wretched" adventure was never declared on air.

** Compared to the rest of the series, half of the house looks completely different in the pilot.

*** This may also be a good argument for why Vanessa would have graduated from high school early by attending summer school between seasons 6 and 7: to get away from Clair!

* AllForNothing: Vanessa and her friends scheme to sneak out to Baltimore for a rock concert, only to have their car and money stolen on the way and then get tricked out of their tickets at the venue. By the time they make it home, their parents have found out, leaving them with nothing to show for the whole miserable night.

** In the first two seasons, Denise would always offer to help Theo with certain things (piercing his ear, making a shirt, etc.), which would evitability backfire.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** Cliff invokes this when teaching Theo about budgets. Theo initially believes that he can sustain himself as a bus driver owning a motorcycle earning a certain amount each month. But Cliff slowly takes away the play money he gave Theo to demonstrate his example: he needs to pay his taxes, maintain his motorcycle, eat, and afford a [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking girlfriend.]]
** In "The Shower", at the bridal shower for a friend of Denise's, the girl admits to Denise that she got pregnant on purpose--she and her boyfriend wanted to marry, but both sets of parents were insisting that they finish college first. The girl is almost in tears recounting how everything has gone wrong--she had to drop out of school because of her pregnancy, he also had to drop out to get a job, but can't get a decent one without a college degree, they have to move in with her parents because they can't afford their own home, etc.
** In "Denise's Friend," Cliff and Clair tell their children they can always come to them with whatever issue they're facing. When the children protest that the pair will get angry over the issues, Cliff and Clair claim otherwise - only to go ballistic when Denise tells them that she spent a night home alone at a guy's house (which didn't happen - she made it up to test their reaction). After calming down, Cliff and Clair are forced to admit that, yes, situations like that ''would'' make them angry, before explaining that parents are human beings too, and lose their tempers when their children do reckless, potentially dangerous things.
** In "Off To See The Wretched", everything that could go wrong with Vanessa and her friends plan to sneak off to an out-of-state concert does--their car being stolen, then their tickets, then their money. And of course, their parents finding out. The episode ends with Clair and Cliff the angriest we've ever seen them at one of the kids, and it doesn't help that this is just the latest screw-up by Vanessa, and indeed, it's the last straw, as Clair caps off her rant by declaring, "You have proven to us that you cannot be trusted. It's going to be a ''long'' time before we even ''think'' of trusting you again."

** Anyone remember Vanessa's best friend, Janet, from the first few seasons? She appears once or twice per season for most of the series. Her final appearance is in season 6.

* AllForNothing: After all their scheming to sneak off to Baltimore for a rock concert, Vanessa and her friends get to the venue and have their tickets stolen by a con artist claiming to be with the band. What's more, by now, their parents have found out, so their miserable night can't even be salvaged by having gotten away with everything.

[[TheEighties '80s]] DomCom co-created by and starring Creator/BillCosby that anchored Creator/{{NBC}}'s Thursday-night lineup from 1984 to 1992. The show was loosely based around some of Cosby's best-known standup routines, which were in turn based around his real-life family. Here, he stars as lovable obstetrician Heathcliff "Cliff" Huxtable, alongside his gorgeous lawyer wife Clair (Creator/PhyliciaRashad), and their five children, ranging in age from post-collegiate to preschool (as of the first season): Sondra (Sabrina [=LeBeauf=]), Denise (Creator/LisaBonet), Theo (Creator/MalcolmJamalWarner), Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe), and Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam).

[[TheEighties '80s]] DomCom that anchored Creator/{{NBC}}'s Thursday-night lineup from 1984 to 1992. The show was loosely based around some of Creator/BillCosby's best-known standup routines, which were in turn based around his real-life family. Here he stars as loveable obstetrician Heathcliff "Cliff" Huxtable, alongside his gorgeous lawyer wife Clair (Creator/PhyliciaRashad), and their five children, ranging in age from post-collegiate to preschool (as of the first season): Sondra (Sabrina [=LeBeauf=]), Denise (Creator/LisaBonet), Theo (Creator/MalcolmJamalWarner), Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe), and Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam).

Featured a rare [[InvertedTrope inverted]] ChuckCunninghamSyndrome -- in the opening episode the parents have the exchange, "Why do we have four children?" "Because we did not want five!", but [[SeriesContinuityError it's later revealed that they do indeed have five.]] In later seasons, when Rudy had outgrown Cosby's trademark 'kids do the darndest things!' gags, the show introduced a CousinOliver in the form of Denise's stepdaughter Olivia, played by Creator/RavenSymone.

In most important respects, this was one of the most successful examples of the genre, dominating the ratings in the '80s (it was the top-rated show for five years in a row). It was heartwarming and likely to end in AnAesop[[note]]Sometimes fair, sometimes not.[[/note]] if not a full-on GoldenMoment.

The show is still notable for being one of the earliest successful TV series to center on well-to-do African-Americans, without making an issue of (though not ignoring) their race. In fact they considered the key part of the premise being that Cliff and Clair were college educated and practiced prestigious trades, where most other sitcoms (white ''or'' black cast) were blue-collar in nature.