Bill Cosby accepted the vaunted Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at Lincoln Center last night, complete with two hours of highlights from the 72-year-old’s career: his standup on The Jack Paar Show, his breakthrough role on I Spy, and of course, The Cosby Show, among others. In accepting honor, and joining the likes of previous winners Richard Pryor and George Carlin, it marked a relaxing of Cosby’s own strict standards: He’d turned down the honor twice before because of objections to the profanity-laced ceremony, the prize’s first, for Pryor in 1998. (“Too much foul mouth,” he said. “Too much N-word.”)
Luminaries paying homage to the iconic humorist last night cited their own defining Cosby moments: Comedian Dick Gregory noted the importance of I Spy to aspiring black comics, Seinfeld mentioned his 1965 album Why Is There Air as a major inspiration, and Phylicia Rashad was there to represent for the Huxtables. For me, the Cosby moment came with his 1983 comedy special Bill Cosby: Himself, in which he memorably skewered everything from dentist visits (a bit he still kills with even these days) to — my personal favorite — his own lack of breakfast-making ability. (As I read of his honor, I was instantly humming the “Dad is great…he gives us chocolate cake” song to myself.)
It’s truly amazing how well his stuff holds up, not unlike reruns of The Cosby Show (which would be just as timeless, if not for the sweaters!):
How about you, PopWatchers? What is your defining Cosby moment?
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love when he gets really serious, and makes you feel bad for thinking certain things are funny. I also love when he lectures me on how I should be living my life, because he knows that since he was the dad on the Cosby Show he knows more than me. That’s really awesome when he does that.
The Cosby Show was the most OVERRATED sitcom on tv, sure he taught lessons and was very preachy but failed to be funny. The only funny scene in the entire series was the monopoly scene with Theo. I can’t stand Cosby with his snobby moral authority he seems to love shoving in everyone’s face. The most ridiculous thing I heard him say was on a PBS documentary of comedy where he lamented how “All In the Family” never taught anyone anything. I mean, how dumb can someone be, ITS A COMEDY – the goal is to make someone laugh (which is clear why his show placed comedy as a low priority) Shows that preach have always been bad (MASH, cosby) while the greats have been pure comedies where no lessons are learned (Seinfeld, All in the family, Sanford and Son)with loveable losers. Save the moral speeches for afterschool specials
how do you like being SO wrong?! no one gives a damn about your opinion, and no one ever will. television critics (who actually have jobs that require them to judge TV shows) think it’s one of the best tv shows ever created. it had huge ratings and will remain a classic in the decades to come. go cry over that.
@myself – this is the comments section, as in the place one may state their opinion, whether or not he is right is pointless, buttwipes like you should stop acting like the comments police. This is a free country
I was a kid in the 80s when “The Cosby Show” was on, and watching those episodes now as an adult makes me wish for the days when parents actually held their children responsible for their actions, taught them to respect people, and wanted their children to do their best. Everytime I see an episode, I wonder where “those kinds of parents” are. They don’t exist in real life and certainly not on TV.
I was a kid in the 80’s too and The Cosby Show was the only show other than the news that we were allowed to watch when at dinner. It is funny, and so is MASH (weirdos out there), and my parents ARE “those kinds of parents”. So they do exist in real life… they’re just outnumbered
I love Bill Cosby! He was able to cross many barriers and bring laughter to so many lives. He truly is a great man. Kudos Bill!
Favorite Cosby Moment–
God to Noah: I want you to build an ark
Noah: Riiiiiiight. Am I on Candid Camera?
God to Noah: How long can you tread water?
Cliff’s speech to Theo in the pilot for the Cosby Show is one of my favorite TV moments of all time… “I am your father! I brought you in this world, and I’ll take ya out!”
lol, the chocolate cake song is eternaly hilarious. My favorite cosby joke.
Pretty sure that was the Kennedy Center, Jennifer. Either way, a very deserved award. I loved the Noah routine, as well, and the musical numbers on The Cosby Show were always entertaining.
I am a children’s librarian and everytime that I work with the kids who come in after school, I automatically think of Bill Cosby. Not only is he a phenominal comedian but he is a true educator.
Here’s one of my favorire quotes from Cosby: Himself (1983):
“My wife said, “Bill, get out of that bed… and go downstairs… AND COOK BREAKFAST FOR YOUR CHILDREN!” I said, “Well, I… I don’t know what they want to eat.” She said, “It’s down there! NOW YOU GET OUT OF THE BED!”
I sing that everytime I have chocolate cake! When we were kids we used to listen to the Bill Cosby comedy album “To Russell,My Brother Whom I slept With” and laugh at the stories he would tell about him and his brother getting into trouble. I loved the episode where they gave Theo a taste of the real world and Dr. Huxtable was his ‘landlord’.
As soon as I saw the headline, I started humming “Dad is great! He gives us chocolate cake!”
Best. Cosby. Moment. Ever. I sing it every time I have cake, see cake, or think of cake.
The Cosby Show Rocks. The Grandparents anniversary songs were awesome.
The place was the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. not the Lincoln Center.
always loved his kindergarten and fat albert stories
When he stopped making depressing sitcoms. Zing!
No, not really. My favorite line was: “You roll your eyes at me I’ll roll that head of yours down on the floor.”
I was just telling a co-worker about Chocolate Cake for breakfast the other day! LOVE IT!
I have to agree with the chocolate cake song. My daughter is expecting her first child and I am going to have her watch Bill Cosby:Himself so she can get perspective. Congratulations, Bill, very deserved honor and thank you for helping me laugh at myself and my kids when I most needed it.
Easily my favorite is the Cosby Show episode where Cliff uses a Monopoly game to demonstrate to Theo why he can’t live on his own. Awesome.
My favorite episode of the Cosby show was where they sang the Ray Charles song, Night and Day, for Cliff’s parents anniversary. The wedding portrait they had painted for them showed how important family is. All of the Cosby shows centered around the importance of family–something that seems to be getting lost in today’s world. Family should be first and foremost–period.
Love Cosby, love “Himself”, love his message for youth today. Still, I can’t help cringe when he talks about beating the children or his wife threatening to shoot him. I get that it’s a joke, and I’m not against corporal punishment. But it’s strange that family-friendly comedy twenty-five years ago would be edgy and career-ending today.
“To Russell” is a favorite, along with “Wonderfulness”. I love Chicken Heart and Go Carts (nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-neeeeeeeh). And I’ve listened to The Dentist enough that I can say just about anything using the Bill Cosby half-dead mouth voice.
Actually, one of my favorite Cosby moments is possibly his least characteristic. It’s in “Bill Cosby Himself,” and it’s his response to a man at a party that offers him cocaine. “It enhances your personality,” he’s told. What Cos replies is explosively funny, because its profanity is so unexpected, coming from him. And it’s an absolutely perfect retort. (Actually, though, most people don’t remember that he did do a “blue” album in the 1970s called “12:15″ — maybe it was “12:30,” I can’t recall.)
LOL! I just looked up that clip because I wanted to know what kind of profanity Bill Cosby would use, and it totally WAS funny. “But what if you’re an a$$hole?” That was awesome.
“Chicken heart” is one of the best bits of all time. The long version of “Hofstra” is second on the list. I could go on and on.
Ray Charles song for anniversary ..Funny man, Congratulations on your award.
I had the good fortune of seeing Bill Cosby perform live just this past Saturday. And I must say….he is as funny as ever.
I remember watching Bill Cosby “Himself” when I was just a kid back in the 80’s and til this day it still holds up as one of the best laughs I’ve ever had in my entire life. It was just on tv again this past weekend and I was listening as I was doing housework and found myself STILL laughing my head off. I do thank you Mr.Cosby for that. One of my other favorite bits was “I’m Jeffrey, I’m four years old.”
When Cliff uses the monopoly money to demonstrate why Theo can not afford to move out on his own.
I was a jr in high school and actually had the entire soph class playing “Buck Buck” and us jrs and srs would come crashing down them. good times
My fave Cosby moment is when he was caught being and adulterer. Thats right out of “Fatherhood.” Chapter 10: Sleep with women who are not the mother of your child.
STFU. lies.
He’s always seemed to be the funny uncle who actually chats up the kids at family get-togethers and makes them laugh. The Electric Co., Cos, Fat Albert, The Cosby Show.
“Theo….THAT IS THE DUMBEST THING I’VE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE…No Wonder you’re getting Ds!!
Bill Cosby was certainly the least funny comedian in the last twenty years or so. I thought some of his very early work was funny, but his situation comedy was dull and his quiz show— the one where he tried to imitate Groucho but couldn’t do it— was boring and not funny at all. By the way,I have a friend who appeared as a guest on that show, and he reported that Cosby was unpleasant and, in his words, a “total A–le.”