the quality of the acting and later work of the players

[jamesanthony]

Aside from Cosby who was playing a modified version of himself and maybe Phylicia Rashad, this show is an odd example of actors who were good in this show but generally unremarkable in other things. It seems that the writing or the chemistry here brought out something in them that they've had trouble replicating in other acting jobs. The one exception is Erika Alexander who is actually a decent actress who was limited by her role as Pam, but consider the other young actors, to me they were all effectively good in this show but nothing any of them has done since holds a candle to their work here, especially Malcolm Jamal Warner who acts stiff as a board in most of the other things he has done and delivers his lines in a very odd artificial manner. He reminds me of a lethargic Demond Wilson . Lisa Bonet also hasn't shown much acting range. Karen Malina White plays the same persona in everything I've ever seen her do, which is not the biggest crime. Keisha Knight Pulliam, Tempest Bledsoe and Sabrina LeBeauf are all limited as well, and Geoffrey Owens seems to be the very worst of any of them in terms of being a very boring screen presence. I'm not sure about Phylicia Rashad, since I've never seen her on the stage where she seems to be more than capable of holding her own.

I guess Cosby Show had exceptionally good writers and directors because outside of this series most of the performers' work has not been that great.