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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»Shows by Decade»1970s Television
    1970s Television 1980s Television Kids TV Shows F 2 Mins Read

    Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids

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    1 9 7 2 – 1 9 8 5 (USA)

    Based on Bill Cosby‘s comedy records from the 1960s, Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids featured animated stories about a group of urban adolescents growing up in a Philadelphia neighbourhood.

    fatalbert6

    Colourful characters such as the obese Albert himself, Russell (the youngest member of the gang, based on Cosby’s real-life little brother), Mushmouth (who had big flubbery lips and a subsequent speech impediment “ey-ba-deyba”), Dumb Donald (the one with the bright pink hat pulled down over his face), Weird Harold (a tall and gangly kid who lived up to his name) and Rudy (a well-to-do and occasionally conniving type) hung out – mainly in the street – and always ended the episode with a moralistic musical number which the kids played on instruments fashioned out of junk.

    The episodes revolved around the daily life lessons learned by Albert and his friends. Topics ranged from social issues to personal introspection and were blended with humour and music.

    Bill Cosby appeared on camera in short live-action segments to comment with or about the characters and what they learned during the episode.

    The show’s producers engaged a number of educators from UCLA to work directly with the studio’s writers on story detail and character development.

    In 1979 the show was re-titled The New Fat Albert Show and featured a new segment called The Brown Hornet, a send-up of superhero cartoons starring a larger-than-life African-American crime fighter in outer space.

    fatalbert7Bill Cosby lent his voice to many of the Fat Albert characters, playing Fat Albert, Bill, Mushmouth, Mudfoot and the Brown Hornet.

    Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids enjoyed one of the longest careers in Saturday morning cartoon history, running for twelve consecutive years; a record bested only by the many incarnations of Scooby–Doo.

    The show initially ran on CBS from 1972 to 1984 but moved to NBC in syndication for one year in 1989. The series received critical acclaim from parents and educators alike and the ratings were consistently strong.

    Fat Albert 
    Bill Cosby
    Mushmouth 

    Bill Cosby
    Mudfoot 

    Bill Cosby
    Bill 

    Bill Cosby
    Dumb Donald 

    Lou Scheimer
    Russell 

    Jan Crawford
    Bucky 

    Jan Crawford
    Weird Harold 

    Gerald Edwards
    Rudy 

    Eric Suter
    Devery 

    Eric Suter
    The Brown Hornet 

    Bill Cosby
    Stinger 

    Lou Scheimer
    Legal Eagle 

    Lou Scheimer

    Video

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