How Did The Cosby Show Affect African American Culture

One of the most popular forms of entertainment in the United States is television. Whether it's used to spread news, watch sports, or watching a sitcom, television can be used to address the many issues of the period. Television shows such as Battlestar Galactica, The Twilight Zone, The Cosby Show, and Freaks and Geeks have reflected the many societal and political issues of their time period.
In the months and even years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, security, paranoia, and suspicion in the U.S. were high. This can be seen in the pilot episode of Battlestar Galactica with the fear that anyone could be a cylon. The cylons destroyed Caprica and most of the human race. The fear that anyone could
Most shows that featured African Americans before The Cosby Show portrayed them negatively. The Cosby Show is about Heathcliff and Clair Huxtable and their four children. Unlike most television shows who portrayed African Americans as poor and uneducated, Heathcliff is an obstetrician and Clair is a lawyer. The upper middle class family lives in Brooklyn, New York. The pilot shows the common themes of many family sitcoms, such as the daughter going on a date with a guy her father does not necessarily approve of, while breaking stereotypes. Even though the family is successful, they are not written as “white” and they are proud of their heritage and shows it through artwork throughout the house. Even though the viewers know that Clair is a lawyer, they only see her as a mother in the pilot episode while they see Heathcliff at his
Freaks and Geeks breaks all high school television show stereotypes and is one of the most accurate portrayal of high school in television. The actors in the show are around high school age and the freshmen really look like freshmen. The show follows the the freaks and the geeks at the high school instead of the popular kids and the jocks. Even though the show is categorized as a comedy, there are many aspects that are serious. There are scenes that really stick with viewers and hit close to home. When a special needs boy, Eli, is being made fun of, one of the main “freaks,” Lindsey, asks him to the dance and stands up for him. Later in the episode, Lindsey catches some boys making fun of Eli and tells him that the boys are laughing at him because he is “retarded” and hearing this upsets Eli and he runs off the bleachers and breaks his arm. It is one of those scenes that is not seen in many television shows because it is so hard to watch. The show addresses the topic of bullying of the “geeks” through serious scenes and comedy scenes such as when the “geeks” attack their biggest bully, Allan. Bullying happens in every school and many people do not know about it. Freaks and Geeks gives viewers an inside look of the issues many high schoolers face and recreate them in a serious or comical