Pilot (The Cosby Show)
"Pilot" is the pilot episode and the first episode of the List of [The Cosby Show episodes#Season 1 (1984–1985)|first season] of the American sitcom The Cosby Show. "Pilot" originally aired in the United States on NBC on Thursday, September 20, 1984, at 8:00 PM ET. This episode debuted the week before the official start of the 1984–85 United States [network television schedule|1984–85 United States network television season]. They only have 4 children in this episode: Denise, Theo, Vanessa & Rudy. Sondra, the first born, is introduced later in that season, episode 4; she however, is not in the featured/mentioned in the intro. The confrontation with Theo in this episode is seen again in a flashback in the series finale "And So We Commence". The episode was directed by Jay Sandrich and written by Ed. Weinberger and Michael J. Leeson. The episode was a critical and commercial success, achieving both high ratings and positive critical feedback.
Plot
Clair Huxtable, an attorney, and her children are having dinner at home. Clair is upset with her son, Theo, due to the poor grades on his recent report card. His younger sister, Vanessa, was trying to get Theo in trouble for throwing food at her. Clair’s husband, Dr. Cliff Huxtable, comes home from a long day at his job as a doctor of obstetrics and gynaecology just after the meal.Cliff confronts Theo about his grades and asks how he plans to get into college with such grades. When Theo replies that he's not planning to go to college, Cliff replies "Damn right." Theo explains that he plans to get a job after high school graduation as a regular person. Cliff uses play money from a Monopoly game to show just how far a "regular person's" income would actually go in the adult world. Cliff gives him an amount of money representing a generous monthly salary for a "regular person". He then takes money out of Theo's hand in amounts representing various costs such as taxes, housing, food, clothes, transportation, and finally, a girlfriend, until there is nothing left.
Cliff also meets his daughter Denise's earring-wearing beau, who was recently in a Turkish prison. When Cliff tells her what time he expects her to arrive home and what attire she should wear, she scoffs at the notion that it's Friday and not a "school night." Cliff responds by asking her if she went to school that day and states it was a "school night."
Theo responds that Cliff should accept his son's weaknesses and love him unconditionally because they are father and son. Cliff, however—to the audience's surprise and amused approval—immediately and angrily calls this sentiment "the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life!” He completely rejects the notion, insisting that loving his son is all the more reason he expects him to do his best and try his hardest in school, and in life in general. He then says the often quoted line, "I brought you in this world, and I'll take you out."
At the end of the day, Clair and Cliff settle into bed. As he becomes amorous, she reminds him that was how they had "those troublesome kids". This puts Cliff off for a few seconds. Vanessa and Rudy, the youngest child, then knock on the bedroom door because Rudy was scared of "the Wolf Man" in their closet. Clair invites the kids to sleep in the bed with her and Cliff.
Cast
- Bill Cosby as Dr. Clifford "Cliff" Huxtable, OB-GYN
- Phylicia Ayers-Allen as Clair Olivia Huxtable, Esq.
- Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Theodore Aloysius "Theo" Huxtable
- Keshia Knight Pulliam as Rudith Lillian "Rudy" Huxtable
- Tempestt Bledsoe as Vanessa Huxtable
- Lisa Bonet as Denise Huxtable
Production
Taping of the pilot took place in May 1984, prior to being green-lighted as a full series for the NBC fall schedule. Although this episode was written by Weinberger and Leeson, the headwriter for the series was Earl Pomerantz. The episode, which was filmed in two live performances, was based on Cosby's real life conversation with his son Ennis about "regular people", but included elements of Cosby's stand-up comedy routine. Rather than producing the show in Hollywood, the show was produced in New York City. During the 1983–84 United States television season, no sitcoms had finished in the top 10 in the rankings and only one new sitcom was renewed. As the networks battled to preempt each other's thunder for the 1984–85 United States television season, the Cosby Show became one of seven NBC shows to debut prior to the September 24 date that marked the official beginning of the season. In the show, Bill Cosby is an obstetrician with his office located below his family's residence in a brownstone home. Less than three months before the show debuted, its producers had not yet decided whether the brownstone would be set in Brooklyn or Manhattan.The set used for the pilot episode of The Cosby Show was notably different than the one used during the remainder of the series. In the first episode, the first floor has extra rooms that it does not have in the rest of the series. In the pilot, Cliff and Clair Huxtable have only four children. The fifth child, Sondra - who was the eldest child - was not introduced until the tenth episode of the first season, entitled "Bonjour, Sondra". Her being away at college is the reason given for her absence in the earlier part of the season. In this episode, the plaque outside Cliff's office lists his full first name as "Clifford." In the rest of the episodes, however, his name is Heathcliff.