Your friend's opinion about the Cosby show is fucking stupid. I'm guessing I'm about the same age as you and your friends and it's definitely interesting how sitcoms have evolved over the years...and not in a good way, tbh.
I am white and I watched The Cosby Show and thought Rudy was THE BEST THING EVER (we were the same age), I also adored Bill Cosby because I remembered him from Picture Page, which I watched before I took naps (remember that?!) while in preschool. (My parents loved Bill Cosby because he was a hilarious comedian) I also watched A Different World, which was a spinoff of The Cosby show and loved the shit out of it. Never once did it occur to me I was watching a "black" tv show...partly because I was super young, but mostly because it's what I was used to and it's what everyone else watched. Living Single can also be applied in this conversation.
If those shows were to air today? They'd fail hard. When did sitcoms make that transition? Because I truly don't get it.
And for what it's worth, I'd like to punch your friend in the face for you. Claire Huxtable, Roseanne, and Murphy Brown (my mom raged so hard when Dan Quayle made comments about the character being a single mom -- my dad had just died and my mom became a youngish widow of 3 daughters -- and it influenced me in a BIG way. My mom was PISSED OFF and I felt proud of her, even though I didn't fully understand it at the time) -- all strong female characters, the likes of which are very rare on sitcoms now, especially "family" sitcoms.
And let the record state, the jokes on The Cosby Show and Roseanne STILL hold up. Those shows are still solid. Trust me, I've rewatched them multiple times.
I am white and I watched The Cosby Show and thought Rudy was THE BEST THING EVER (we were the same age), I also adored Bill Cosby because I remembered him from Picture Page, which I watched before I took naps (remember that?!) while in preschool. (My parents loved Bill Cosby because he was a hilarious comedian) I also watched A Different World, which was a spinoff of The Cosby show and loved the shit out of it. Never once did it occur to me I was watching a "black" tv show...partly because I was super young, but mostly because it's what I was used to and it's what everyone else watched. Living Single can also be applied in this conversation.
If those shows were to air today? They'd fail hard. When did sitcoms make that transition? Because I truly don't get it.
And for what it's worth, I'd like to punch your friend in the face for you. Claire Huxtable, Roseanne, and Murphy Brown (my mom raged so hard when Dan Quayle made comments about the character being a single mom -- my dad had just died and my mom became a youngish widow of 3 daughters -- and it influenced me in a BIG way. My mom was PISSED OFF and I felt proud of her, even though I didn't fully understand it at the time) -- all strong female characters, the likes of which are very rare on sitcoms now, especially "family" sitcoms.
And let the record state, the jokes on The Cosby Show and Roseanne STILL hold up. Those shows are still solid. Trust me, I've rewatched them multiple times.