| The Cosby Show
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| TV Show Information
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The Cosby Show was a 1984-1992 American TV sitcom starring Bill Cosby. It focused on gynaeocologist Dr. Cliff Huxtable and his family. The Cosby Show was one of the highest rated TV sitcoms of the 1980s and early 1990s. It drew huge audiences and was critically acclaimed. The show also broke racial barriers by appealing to non-African-American viewers as much as African-American audiences. When The Simpsons aired as a prime time sitcom in 1989, it slowly but surely became a huge ratings hit on its own. In 1992, The Simpsons was broadcast in the same prime time evening slot as The Simpsons, becoming their direct competitor and eventually dethroning them in ratings.
Simpsons Farewell
Around May 1992, when The Cosby Show last aired, The Simpsons' producers added a tiny clip at the end of a rerun of "Three Men and a Comic Book" a few seconds after the credits. In it, Homer and Bart are watching TV when an image of Cosby (captioned with the show's title and original-run airdates) appears. Homer and Bart then have the following conversation:
- Homer: Little Theo, you grew up before our eyes.
- Bart: Hey Dad, how come they're taking The Cosby Show off the air?
- Homer: Because Mr. Cosby wanted to stop before the quality suffered.
- Bart: Quality, shmuality! If I had a TV show I'd run that sucker down to the ground!
- Homer: Amen, boy. Amen.
References to The Cosby Show in The Simpsons
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Season
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Episode number
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Episode name
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Reference
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2
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21
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"Bart the Daredevil"
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The character Dr. Julius Hibbert is directly based on Dr. Cliff Huxtable from The Cosby Show.
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2
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29
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"Bart's Dog Gets an "F""
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Dr. Hibbert's family is first seen. Both his wife, Bernice Hibbert, and their children are directly modelled after Dr. Huxtable's family. The interior of their house is also similar.
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6
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125
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"'Round Springfield"
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In 1986 Bleeding Gums Murphy was a guest on The Cosby Show. Bill Cosby introduced him to the kids as "Grampa Murphy". The kids said that they already had three grampas, and Cosby countered with "This one's a great jazz musician." The kids then replied (in a bored and indifferent manner), "Oh, they all are." In response, Cosby went into a monologue where he said that kids weren't into jazz music anymore, because they listened to "the rap music which gives them the brain damage" (the line about rap music giving children brain damage is a reference to the line "All children have brain damage!" from Cosby's real-life comedy album and film Bill Cosby: Himself). He then compared jazz music to commercial products such as Jell-O Pudding Pops, Kodak film and New Coke.Bleeding Gums didn't have any lines in his guest appearance; all he got to do was stand there holding his saxophone while Cosby talked.
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30
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652
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"I'm Dancing as Fat as I Can"
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Homer looks what Netflix has to offer on TV. Because he "watched an 1980s show featuring a monster...", Netflix recommends Alf, Roseanne, Moonlighting and The Cosby Show, but to Homer they are all "too scary".
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31
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671
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"Todd, Todd, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?"
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The answer which Bart gives Homer after asking him where to bury survivors if a plane crashed on the border of North and South Dakota bares resemblance to a similar question Rudy and Vanessa Huxtable asked their brother Theo about where to bury survivors if a plane crashed on the Canada-United States border on the 1988 Cosby Show episode "Trust Me.".
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References to The Simpsons on The Cosby Show
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Episode name
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Episode number
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Picture
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Reference
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| The Cosby Show
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"Same Time Next Year"
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152
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As a reference to Fox's decision to move The Simpsons to air against The Cosby Show, at the start of the episode Olivia enters Cliff's bedroom wearing a Bart Simpson mask.
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