The Cosby Show Spinoff idea you think would have worked?

[barwars]

Originally Posted by jamesanthony

I don't know about that. Malcolm has been in other series and none were anywhere near as good as Cosby Show. Actually, except perhaps for Erika Alexander none of those children could carry a series. Lisa Bonet sleepwalked her way through Different World.

Raven doesn't seem to have any problem carrying That's So Raven.

Malcolm was in other series, but they weren't very successful because he will always be remembered as Theo Huxtable. If people could continue to watch him play the Theo character, I think they would watch. A Different World could have moved to the 8:00 timeslot while "Theo" or whatever the show would be called would air at 8:30.

[jamesanthony]

Originally Posted by barwars

Raven doesn't seem to have any problem carrying That's So Raven.

Malcolm was in other series, but they weren't very successful because he will always be remembered as Theo Huxtable. If people could continue to watch him play the Theo character, I think they would watch. A Different World could have moved to the 8:00 timeslot while "Theo" or whatever the show would be called would air at 8:30.

I forgot about Raven Symone because it is more a kid's show unlike Cosby which was written to appeal to anyone. Any ideas on what kind of premise Theo could find himself in? I think they were right to have him play a different character in Here and Now to avoid comparisons and make people wonder if and when the Cosby characters would show up.

There isn't anything really wrong with Here and Now's basic idea, but from what I rememeber it was a dull series. S Ephata Merkeson from Law and Order was in it and she is a decent actor and the guy who played the uncle wasn't a bad actor either, so it wasn't lack of acting talent. Malcolm just isn't a compelling leading man and the stories were cliched and the writing was so so.

[barwars]

Originally Posted by jamesanthony

I forgot about Raven Symone because it is more a kid's show unlike Cosby which was written to appeal to anyone. Any ideas on what kind of premise Theo could find himself in? I think they were right to have him play a different character in Here and Now to avoid comparisons and make people wonder if and when the Cosby characters would show up.

There isn't anything really wrong with Here and Now's basic idea, but from what I rememeber it was a dull series. S Ephata Merkeson from Law and Order was in it and she is a decent actor and the guy who played the uncle wasn't a bad actor either, so it wasn't lack of acting talent. Malcolm just isn't a compelling leading man and the stories were cliched and the writing was so so.

I think they should have had Theo moving to another city, where he would teach in an inner-city school. Crossovers with TCS would be minimal with the show set in another city, maybe only one appearance a year. Maybe have Theo get involved with another teacher at the school, have a little competition with another male teacher, and have a principal who doesn't agree with his teaching method, but realizes that he is getting across to the kids. Sort of "Steve Harvey Show"-esque.

[TMC]

Did Malcolm-Jamal Warner kind of sabotage himself by not going "all in" on a Cosby Show spin-off about Theo? I mean, at the time, The Cosby Show was a cash-cow and he wasn't exactly giving the audience what they wanted, which was more Huxtables. He could've in theory, enjoyed the same type of success as A Different World.