The Cosby Show

By 1985 and its second season The Cosby Show had risen to number one in the ratings and stayed there for four years running a record only ever surpassed by 'All in the Family'.

Comedian Bill Cosby became the spokesperson for Jell-O pudding in 1974. His upbeat childlike personality worked well with on-screen youngsters and he later began the Kids Love Pudding TV campaign. As of 2000 Cosby was still going strong in his Jell-O brand TV commercials and print ads.

Did you know that Adam Sandler had a recurring role as Theo Huxtable's friend Smitty on The Cosby Show in 1984? It was his first television role.

Four years after the close of 'The Cosby Show' Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad were reunited in 'Cosby' concerning a retired airline executive and his sorely-tired wife. It was based on the British sitcom 'One Foot in the Grave'.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s comedian Bill Cosby was the uncontested king of product endorsements. With his successful Jell-O Kodak and Mattel commercials and other income sources under his belt he was earning an approximate $125 000 an hour by 1992 or a million dollars a day. That figure included earnings from his popular television show book royalties comedy concert tours and financial investments.

Matrix and all-round action star Samuel L. Jackson started his career as Bill Cosby's stand-in on The Cosby Show!

On The Cosby Show Claire's maiden name Hanks is the maiden name of Bill Cosby's real life wife Camille.

The Cosby Show spun off 'A Different World' which related Denise Huxtable's experiences on leaving the family home for Hillman College.

When Bill Cosby decided to add a fifth child to The Cosbys the two contenders for the role were Sabrina LeBeauf (who eventually got the part) and a 21 year-old diva in the making named Whitney Houston!