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The mere fact that they existed was a deep issue. >> the decade was waiting for something real. in other words, unless it's real it doesn't seem like it moves anybody. if someone's feeling something, you get to the heart, you get to the mind. and if you can hit the hearts and minds, you got yourself a hit. >> how was school? >> school, dear? i brought home two children that may or may not be ours. >> cosby's show brought this tremendous audience to nbc. and that was a bridge to us. i mean, our ratings went way up. >> sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name. >> even the theme s...

>> that's the dumbest thing i've ever heard in my life! >> it helps the casting a lot in television. the kids were just great. >> if you were the last person on this earth, i still wouldn't tell you. >> you have to tell me what you did. just tell me what's they're going to do to you. >> unlike every other show on tv, it's showing an upper middle class black family. this wasn't "all in the family." they weren't tackling deep issues. but that was okay. the mere fact that they existed was a deep issue. >> the decade was waiting for something real. in other words, unless it's real, it doesn't seem...

The sitcom was dead. >> brandon tartikoff, nbc programming chief, says reports of the sitcom's death were greatly exaggerated. >> time and time again, if you study television history, just when someone is counting a form out, that is exactly the form of programming that's leads to the next big hit. ♪ >> 1984 "the cosby show" comes on. bill cosby is not new to tv. he's had other tv shows. but "the cosby show" is very different. it stands apart from everything else he's done. >> i wanted my eggs scrambled. >> coming right up. >> they talked about parenting. previous to that, on television the ...

Relationship with the parents. >> hi. i'm ray and i live here in long island with my wife, debra. >> the very first season ray says in the opening credits -- >> it's not really about the kids. >> it's not about the kids. >> i say that for every year you're over 40, you should add an inch to the hemline of your dress. >> well, then you should be dragging around a persian rug. >> we've all had parents who, despite our best efforts, reject all of our kindness. and it backfires. >> i don't understand why you would use bleach on these towels. >> they just seemed a little yellow. >> yes, they are ye...

And "family ties" went up in a huge way. that great thursday night lineup, "cosby," "family ties," "cheers," "night court." >> nbc really created this idea of must-see tv. you're talking about 20 and 30 and 40 million people tuning in. >> people say you were one of america's most successful fathers. i said, no, that was bill cosby. cosby was number one. >> with respect to what's happened of late, it's like hugely disappointing to all of us. but he set the standard for what a family sitcom was. >> "the cosby show" had proven that the family sitcom was a viable genre again. >> by the late '80s, ...