In the early 1980s, the conventional wisdom in Hollywood – and make no mistake: the only wisdom to be found in Hollywood is the conventional kind – was that comedy was dead. Audiences, it was decided, just didn’t want to watch sitcoms anymore. They had grown tired of the typical family-gathered-around-the-sofa setups, the hackneyed jokes, the retreaded storylines about the trials of raising children. Americans had grown sophisticated and worldly during the politically tumultuous 1960s and the culturally libertine 1970s, and no longer had a taste for tame, feel-good comedies.
So Hollywood stopped making them. By the early 1980s, it was tough to find a sitcom on the air, let alone a successful one. And then, suddenly, in September of 1984, the low-rated and desperate American television network NBC took a chance. It went against the conventional wisdom and put on a family comedy and hoped for the best. That’s the way Hollywood – and probably every other business – works. Imminent bankruptcy has a way of encouraging risk-taking.
It was a good thing, too. The Cosby Show premièred to a gigantic rating. Americans, it seemed, weren’t aware of the conventional wisdom. They didn’t know that they weren’t supposed to have an appetite for a fairly conventional sitcom about a family, which gathers around a sofa to deal with the trials of raising children. More spectacularly, Bill Cosby was black! White Americans – according to the masterminds behind network television – could never love a show about an upper-middle class African-American family. But the audience, as usual, didn’t follow the rules. What they saw when they turned on the television on September 20, 1984 was a large and loving family, ruled with firm good-nature by one of their favourite celebrities. They loved it. The Cosby Show was one of America’s favourite shows – often its most favourite show – for eight years.
Bill Cosby, the star and executive producer, had been a movie and television star for almost 30 years. He was one of America’s most trusted salesmen for everything from soft drinks to packaged pudding. In retrospect, it’s hard to imagine that anyone thought The Cosby Show was much of a risk. But that’s the way Hollywood – and probably every other business – works. Things seem impossible until someone does them, at which point they seem inevitable.
The Cosby Show reignited the comedy business. Suddenly, every television network was developing and producing family comedies. The demand for television comedy writers soared – as did their paycheques. A few years after The Cosby Show premièred, the ripple effect reached universities on the east coast, where a directionless and otherwise totally unskilled student (me, in case you’re wondering) took a chance and drove out to Los Angeles to seek his fortune in television comedy writing.
Fortunes, of course, are a matter a perspective. But it’s not too much of a stretch to say that I owe Bill Cosby my career. The first job I had in television, as a young staff writer on the hit sitcom Cheers, was a direct result of the rising-tide effect of The Cosby Show. We were broadcast on NBC on Thursdays at 9pm. Cosby was on at 8pm. He brought a massive audience to the network and all we had to do was keep it. Bill Cosby is the reason I didn’t have to go to law school.
Bill Cosby is also, according to the accusations of almost two-dozen women, is also a serial predator and assaulter of women. In story after story, women have recounted the ways in which he threatened, drugged and raped them.
All of this happened years ago, is what people who love Bill Cosby – me included – are saying about the 77-year-old comedy legend. We all owe him so much it’s temptingly easy to brush aside the 20 (and counting) women who insist that he assaulted them. All of these stories, we tell ourselves, are from the distant past. Can’t we concentrate on Cosby’s epic accomplishments? His 50-year career in show business, his single-handed racial integration of the television industry, his billion-dollar successes, his record of firm paternal leadership (much like his television character) in the African-American community?
The conventional wisdom 30 years ago – and, to be frank, pretty much routine behaviour in Hollywood since its birth – was that powerful men are allowed to use and manipulate younger and less-powerful women. It was one of the perks that came with a male-centred business world. But conventional wisdom, as everyone knows, only lasts a little while. Sooner or later it changes, usually into its opposite. Bill Cosby, comedy genius and television legend, made his fortune by bucking the trends and pushing against the often racist, always risk-averse minds that ran the entertainment industry.
But in one way, at least, he was old fashioned. In one way, he followed the conventional wisdom. The way he treated women was strictly old school. I’ll always be grateful for the success of The Cosby Show and its effects. But I’ll always be heart-broken by the man behind it.
Rob Long is a writer and producer based in Hollywood
On Twitter: @rcbl
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
A%20QUIET%20PLACE
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If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
Specs – Taycan 4S
Engine: Electric
Transmission: 2-speed auto
Power: 571bhp
Torque: 650Nm
Price: Dh431,800
Specs – Panamera
Engine: 3-litre V6 with 100kW electric motor
Transmission: 2-speed auto
Power: 455bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: from Dh431,800
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League last 16, second leg
Liverpool (0) v Atletico Madrid (1)
Venue: Anfield
Kick-off: Thursday, March 12, midnight
Live: On beIN Sports HD
FORSPOKEN
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Final%20Fantasy%20XVI
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Starfield
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European arms
Known EU weapons transfers to Ukraine since the war began: Germany 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles. Luxembourg 100 NLAW anti-tank weapons, jeeps and 15 military tents as well as air transport capacity. Belgium 2,000 machine guns, 3,800 tons of fuel. Netherlands 200 Stinger missiles. Poland 100 mortars, 8 drones, Javelin anti-tank weapons, Grot assault rifles, munitions. Slovakia 12,000 pieces of artillery ammunition, 10 million litres of fuel, 2.4 million litres of aviation fuel and 2 Bozena de-mining systems. Estonia Javelin anti-tank weapons. Latvia Stinger surface to air missiles. Czech Republic machine guns, assault rifles, other light weapons and ammunition worth $8.57 million.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
The years Ramadan fell in May
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Sanju
Produced: Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Paresh Rawal, Anushka Sharma, Manish’s Koirala, Dia Mirza, Sonam Kapoor, Jim Sarbh, Boman Irani
Rating: 3.5 stars
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Directed by: Craig Gillespie
Starring: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry
4/5
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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Pros%20and%20cons%20of%20BNPL
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5