Bill Cosby Wants to Do Another Family Sitcom

[Zoneboy]

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"Dallas" is back on the air, Michael J. Fox is not only back in primetime, but on NBC Thursday nights, and remakes of everything from "Star Trek" to "Murder, She Wrote" are in development. And in the midst of that trend to bring viewers' classic favorites back to the future, the networks should be aware: Bill Cosby has not one, but two shows he'd like to take to primetime.

While talking to Yahoo TV this week about his Nov. 23 Comedy Central concert special "Bill Cosby: Far From Finished" — his first televised concert special in 30 years — the Emmy-winning comedian and seminal TV dad shared that he's developing a new series … a family comedy.

Nearly 30 years after "The Cosby Show" debuted, Cosby has re-teamed with one of that series' executive producers, Tom Werner, to develop a family comedy that he says "would [satisfy] the people who have come to me in public places and said, 'Can't you put something on that I can watch?'"

"I want to be able to deliver a wonderful show to [a] network," says Cosby, 76, whose iconic Cliff Huxtable regularly takes the No. 1 spot on lists of all-time great TV fathers. "Because there is a viewership out there that wants to see comedy, and warmth, and love, and surprise, and cleverness, without going into the party attitude.

"They would like to see a married couple that acts like they love each other, warts and all, children who respect the parenting, and the comedy of people who make mistakes. Warmth and forgiveness. So I hope to get that opportunity, and I will deliver the best of Cosby, and that will be a series, I assume, that we could get enough people week after week after week to tune in to, to come along with us."

He's not, he stressed, looking to remake "The Cosby Show"; the new series "is a work in respect to the family, that the children sit with the parents and watch, but it's not like little children sitting around, it's like a 28-year-old with the mother, a 28-year-old son taking his father somewhere … I'm talking about how viewers would be able to sit and share and then, using your mouth" — instead of phones, or email, or social media — "to talk to each other," Cosby says.

And, hey, hey, hey, Cosby has another project in the works, an update on his 1972-85 animated series "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids." The CBS series, which was based on Cosby's stories about his childhood friends in Philadelphia, already spawned a 2004 live-action big-screen movie with "Saturday Night Live" star Kenan Thompson in the titular role. But Cosby's idea is to bring Fat Albert back to TV as an animated program that, like the original, would also feature his live-action wraparounds.

Cosby has already teamed with Tom Straw — a writer and producer on shows like "Nurse Jackie," "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," "Night Court," Mary Tyler Moore's short-lived 1985-86 comedy "Mary," and Cosby's own post-"Cosby Show" comedy "Cosby" — to create the new Fat Albert.

"It's got to be animated, every bit of it. Maybe except for yours truly saying, 'I told you this is going to be funny, and if you pay attention, you just might learn something,'" Cosby says, repeating the line he used to introduce episodes of the original series, which was released on DVD as "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids: The Complete Series" in June.

"I want some network to say to us, 'Alright, we're going to give you the money to do one show,' just to lay it out … I just want one shot, because I know that what I am envisioning … they've never seen anything like this on TV. The laughter, the stories," says Cosby.

"And this has nothing to do with what Tom Werner and I are doing. This is separate. I just want two things: I want a shot for Fat Albert, half hour, because I've got the story. And [for] the other show, Tom Werner and I will work it so that this thing has the Cosby feel and the respect for the audience."

"Bill Cosby: Far From Finished" premieres on Nov. 23 at 8 p.m. on Comedy Central

[Jamey Greek]

any further news on this?

[Will and Grace Fanatic]

Family type sitcoms these days do much better on cable. So I would suggest if he did another sitcom he should do it on Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, or ABC Family.

[bh7812]

The latest news is after a very long negotiating process, the project is definitely moving forward! NBC cut the deal with Bill himself bCk in January. As of the last few weeks NBC cut the deal needed with Sony for the project to really move forward. Mike O'Malley will write at least the pilot and will play a character role in the show. Carsey-Werner involved. No show title yet. Summer or Fall 2015 premiere. Will definitely be on NBC. I will definitely try to catch it when it actually airs. If I can't catch it during actual airing I'll for sure get an iTunes Season Pass for it! I do hope his health will hold..if it takes off and is successful he could be in for another long series run that he'll need to be as healthy as possible for.

Welcome home officially Bill! Looking forward to the show! If NBC is smart they'll advertise it with that tag line, too. He's a huge part of NBC's history. That branding/advertising is a no brainer. See you in 2015, Bill!

[Jamey Greek]

I hope that Phyllcia Rashad would come back to play his wife and some of The Cosby Show kids will come back to play his kids. Like for instance, I'd love for Malcolm Jamal Warner to play his son again.

[bh7812]

Originally Posted by Jamey Greek

I hope that Phyllcia Rashad would come back to play his wife and some of The Cosby Show kids will come back to play his kids. Like for instance, I'd love for Malcolm Jamal Warner to play his son again.

I hope as many of them will be involved as possible too! The only Cosby kid I'm doubtful would be involved in any capacity would be Lisa Binet but who knows. I'd be very shocked if they haven't asked Phylicia Rashad to co-star again..she's just so rooted in the role of his wife it makes sense. I can't see another actress playing his wife. They seem very comfortable with each other...damn near as natural as a real married couple.

The behind the scenes writers/directors/and crew puzzle pieces seem to be locked into place and those pieces all seem to be the exact right ones needed for it to be a hit. We will have a clearer picture once we hear more on role casting I think. On paper, this should be almost a guaranteed hit. My gut feeling-no inside source-is really good on this one. I think it'll take off out of the gate. It would really be something if it were to be as big a smash hit as his first show was. It'd certainly be welcome to NBC for sure! My initial intuition is leaning towards it being excellent and a hit. Well see in about a year!

I'd really like for his middle show that was on CBS to see DVD or iTunes release..I've been wanting to watch through it, hopefully it'll happen out ahead of the new show's premiere.

[Jamey Greek]

Telma Hopkins was originally considered to play Cosby's wife in his second sitcom but was recast dude to her inability to ad lib with Cosby. Would love to see a mixture of Cosby Show and Cosby actors. Would love to see Doug E. Doug play a son or son in law.

[James28]

I'd imagine Bill Cosby himself having to pass a physical (I meant a physical exam) in order to commit to being a regular on a TV series again.

[TMC]

http://deadline.com/2014/11/bill-cos...an-1201285605/

The Peacock last July announced plans to bring Cosby back to primetime in summer or fall of 2015 as the patriarch of a new family sitcom. As Deadline reports, "That plan may have been derailed by the resurfaced rape accusations against the veteran comedian.” PLUS: Comedian Hannibal Buress is responsible for the Bill Cosby rape story going viral, another woman is accusing Cosby of rape, and Whoopi Goldberg is skeptical of the Cosby rape accuser.
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/tv-tattle#hga3gJMWieE6rj94.99

[TMC]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kateaurthur/...out-from-under

Robert Greenblatt, NBC’s entertainment chairman, spoke publicly for the first time on Friday about how the network’s Bill Cosby sitcom blew up.