at Albert and the
Cosby Kids was a long-standing Saturday morning cartoon that
featured a group of urban adolescents growing up in a
Philadelphia neighborhood. Stories centered around the real-life
social issues and moral dilemmas that most young people are
confronted with while growing up, such as dealing with the
feelings of having a first crush or acting as an individual, to
subjects like stealing, smoking, skipping school and vandalism,
to more serious themes involving gun violence and child abuse. The
show sought to impart life lessons while it entertained, and to
help the kids watching make smart decisions when faced with
similar situations.
Characters were
loosely based on the childhood friends of comedian Bill Cosby,
who himself appeared throughout the show in live-action segments
that helped to promote or clarify the educational theme of the
episode. The backdrop of his segments was made to look like the
junkyard where the gang had their clubhouse and spent much of
their time.
Fat Albert was
the cornerstone of the series. He was leader of the gang,
and the level headed voice of reason who always tried to
keep the peace. Anyone who has seen the show will remember
the phrase "Hey, Hey, Hey" that proceeded much of his
dialogue. Other members of the gang included Bill, a
younger, animated version of host Bill Cosby, who was good
at sports and who had to keep an eye on his younger brother
Russell, who had a talent for wisecracks and telling it like
it is. Most of Russell's punch lines were directed at Rudy,
the smooth talking huckster who was most apt to get into
trouble and who's ego needed deflating on occasion. Dumb
Donald wore a pink stocking cap down to (actually below) his
eyes and had a predisposition for missing the obvious.
Mushmouth had a serious speech impediment that filled his
sentences with the "ba" sound... "It'sba getting lateba,
oneba morba gameba." Weird Harold got his name because of
his unique way of doing things. He was tall and lanky and
wore trousers that were too short for his height, revealing
the mismatched red sock and brown sock he apparently
overlooked while dressing (at least in the early episodes). Finally there was the quiet and
unassuming Bucky, so named for his buckteeth.
The show ran for
thirteen consecutive seasons, accumulating a strong supporting
cast in the process. The kid's parents often made appearances
and many extras became well known to the viewing audience. A few
prominent figures included Mudfoot Brown, a vagrant old timer
who was well known by the kids for telling tall tales, and the
boys' school teacher Mrs. Bryfogel and in later episodes Miss
Wucher.
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The series had
several "show-within-a-show" elements that played as segments
during the episodes. The initial series, which began in 1972,
included a song performed by the kids on their makeshift,
junkyard instruments. When the show was re-titled The New Fat
Albert Show in 1979, a new segment called
Brown Hornet was added
which took the place of the musical number. Brown Hornet was a
favorite TV program of Fat Albert and the gang, and the kids
would race to the television in their junkyard clubhouse
whenever the latest installment aired. Occasionally a Mudfoot
story or song still took the place of the Brown Hornet segment.
In 1984 the title of the show was changed once again, this time
to The Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, and a new
segment called Legal Eagle sometimes took the place of the other
segments.
Production of the
series wasn't consistent - some years no new episodes were
produced - but a combination of new episodes and reruns stayed
on the air with CBS for twelve seasons, and then the show aired
for an additional season in syndication in 1984-85.
