Top 6 Worst Cosby Show Episodes

Ah, The Cosby Show. I literally grew up with this show, when it first came on I was in 4th grade and when it went off I was graduating high school. It was my favorite show for several years (until Seinfeld came along). I’m not sure if younger people really appreciate this show. If you look back on it now it comes off corny and silly, no argument. However, back in 1984 this show revolutionized sitcoms. At this time sitcoms were so stale. Check out episodes of Facts of Life, or the early days of Family Ties, for example. There was a stilted laugh track and the show’s all followed the same silly formulas. Sitcoms were considered a dying art (who knew it would take another thirty years, but I digress).

The reason The Cosby Show worked wasn’t just because it was funny. It was honest. Oh, sure it wasn’t honest the same way Roseanne would be but in this show the problems weren’t magically solved at the end of the episodes, the parents were in charge, and for once we got to see an example of a successful African American family. Until this point we got shows like Good Times were the family was struggling and poor. The Huxtables were wealthy and successful, and that was a big change.

While this show was a funny, very well written family comedy, not every episode was gold of course. Some were just plain terrible, or boring. So, here is my list of the worst episodes of The Cosby Show. As always this is just opinion, not fact and should be taken that way. When I did my previous worst episode lists I assumed that everyone would be familiar with the episode titles, but back in the good old days we didn’t care about such things so I know this show’s title’s may be a little more obscure so I will try to describe the episode more.

This was a hard list because episodes I found boring as a child I’ve learned to appreciate as an adult. For example, the romantic endings to some episodes which once I hated, now I appreciate. Here is what I came up with :

#6. “Mr.Quiet” from season one. I mentioned this episode in a previous article; basically it was designed to be a backdoor pilot which means the regular cast is barely in it. Not saying it’s necessarily bad, but I turn on The Cosby Show to see what the Huxtables are doing not what's happening at a local community center. The events in the community center involve a child who is mysteriously quiet, and the owner played by Tony Orlando makes it a point to figure out what is wrong with the child. Not terrible, but there is one scene where we see Cliff and Clair leave while the setting stays the community center. I always felt like screaming “take me with you!” (silly, I know, but I was only ten when this show came on)

#5. “It Ain't Easy Being Green” from season 4. This episode just, bugged me. The plot is simple, while Cliff is trying to get rid of an old water heater Rudy is trying to wear a summer dress to a party. Problem is that it’s fall, and Clair decides that it’s to cool out for Rudy to wear the dress. After trying to get away with using her father in her cause to wear the dress anyway, Claire punishes Rudy who goes to her room. Then we get four minutes of Rudy moping around while Ray Charles “It’s not easy being green” plays. Maybe it’s because no episode ever did this before, or maybe it’s because this scene is just so depressing. Either way I always fast forward that part and get to the conclusion where Cliff helps Rudy to see, amazingly enough, she has other clothes besides that one lousy dress! (maybe that’s what bothers me, the situation is just too stupid. I was never a little girl but I find it hard to believe that any child would have a fit about a silly dress. Wouldn’t they be more interested in getting to the party and being with their friends? A teenager maybe, but not a six year old! But I was never a little girl and I have no kids, so what do I know?)

#4. “Jitterbug Break” from Season One. I always thought that every episode from the first season was gold. However, this is may be the exception. The first half is classic Cosby, we see Cliff and Clair getting ready for a night out while Denise plans on sleeping on the street for concert tickets. Cliff has to convince Theo to babysit Rudy, who refuses to eat her vegetables. The second half is where the episode fails, when it becomes Cliff and his friends dancing with Denise and her friends. That’s it, for the last ten minutes of the episode. Boring.

#3.“Not Everybody Loves the Blues” from Season 6. A case of the guest star taking over the show. Gotta be honest here, this happened a lot on this show but this one was different. Usually the guest star would have a brief appearance, or be in the whole episode but there would still be laughs and typical Cosby moments. This one became a tribute to BB King. Don’t get me wrong, he is a legend and always will be. However, in watching the episode it feels like a blues special more than a Cosby episode. As soon as BB King first appears he is in almost every scene, and the regular cast basically sits around gawking at him. If you took all his scenes out the episode would be about five minutes. They main story involves Theo, but that isn’t what this episode is about. I guess what bothers me is how the blues takes over even the traditional Cosby scenes in this episode, and as someone who is not a blues fan I never found it funny or interesting. Cosby was known for having music in his episodes, he loved jazz, but this one just gets really annoying and by the end I was ready to sing the blues.

#2. “Hillman” from Season Three. I may get some heat for this one, but as I said this is just my opinion. The idea is simple, The Huxtables visit Denise in college where the president is retiring and Cliff becomes ambassador of ceremonies for the graduation. The start of this episode is fine, but the majority of the episode is the commencement ceremonies for that year’s class which includes the speech to the president. This was another backdoor pilot, for A Different World, and is so boring since we have barely spent any time at the school at this point. It feels more like I am watching a video of someone’s college graduation, what fun is that? Credit where credit is due, the speeches are very good and Claire’s singing is beautiful as always. Maybe someday I will even sit through this whole snooze of an episode.

#1. “Dance Mania” from Season 4. Ever wonder what an episode of The Cosby Show would be like if it got really dark? Well, here’s a clue. This is a bad episode because of the questions it raises. The story is that Theo and Cockroach have tickets to appear on television on the dance show "Dance Mania", but are told that only one of them can enter the studio during the filming because of fire laws. Theo miscalculates by offering to let Cockroach go in (thinking he'll refuse) and gets angry when Cockroach takes him up on the offer. Two problems with this, Theo gets so angry he takes it out on his family even throwing Rudy’s toy out into the street in a fit of anger. The scene is just a little dark for a Cosby episode. However, Claire talks to him and he apologizes in what is, admittedly, a good scene. The second problem with this is that Theo never apologizes to Cockroach. I always thought this made him look a jerk, made worst by the fact that the actor who played the character left the show (coincidentally or not, I don’t know), which means he never forgave his friend for something which wasn’t his fault? Is Theo such bad person he would give up on a friendship like that over something silly like a TV show? What is the lesson here exactly? Also, the B story in this episode involves Vanessa teaching Cliff “new math”. What is that? I still have no idea. This episode just fails.

Final comment, in season 7 Erika Alexander joined the cast as cousin Pam. Basically, any episode that revolved around her I didn't like. I just couldn’t get into the character and didn't care about her. However, that doesn't mean these shows were bad and since I never gave them a fair chance I didn't include any on this list.

This was the hardest list I’ve done so far, and I just hope you enjoyed it. Which were your favorite, or least favorite?