Pilot (The Cosby Show)

"Pilot" (also known as "Pilot Presentation" and "Theo's Economic Lesson") is the pilot episode and the first episode of the first season of the American sitcom The Cosby Show. "Pilot" originally aired in the United States on NBC on Thursday, September 20, 1984, at 8:00 PM ET. This episode debuted the week before the official start of the 1984–85 United States network television season. They only have 4 children in this episode: Denise, Theo, Vanessa & Rudy. Sondra, the first born, is introduced later in that season, episode 4; she however, is not in the featured/mentioned in the intro. The confrontation with Theo in this episode is seen again in a flashback in the series finale "And So We Commence".  The episode was directed by Jay Sandrich and written by Ed. Weinberger and Michael J. Leeson. The episode was a critical and commercial success, achieving both high ratings and positive critical feedback.

Story
Clair Huxtable, an attorney, and her children are having dinner at home. Clair is upset with her son, Theo, due to the poor grades on his recent report card. His younger sister, Vanessa, was trying to get Theo in trouble for throwing food at her. Clair’s husband, Dr. Cliff Huxtable, comes home from a long day at his job as a doctor of obstetrics and gynaecology just after the meal.

Cliff confronts Theo about his grades and asks how he plans to get into college with such grades. When Theo replies that he's not planning to go to college, Cliff replies "Damn right." Theo explains that he plans to get a job after high school graduation as a regular person. Cliff uses play money from a Monopoly game to show just how far a "regular person's" income would actually go in the adult world (especially in an expensive-to-live area like New York City, though Theo tries to get around this by living in New Jersey). Cliff gives him an amount of money representing a generous monthly salary for a "regular person". He then takes money out of Theo's hand in amounts representing various costs such as taxes, housing, food, clothes, transportation, and finally, a girlfriend, until there is nothing left.

Cliff also meets his daughter Denise's earring-wearing beau, who was recently in a Turkish prison. When Cliff tells her what time he expects her to arrive home and what attire she should wear, she scoffs at the notion that it's Friday and not a "school night." Cliff responds by asking her if she went to school that day and states it was a "school night."

Theo responds that Cliff should accept his son's weaknesses and love him unconditionally because they are father and son (a typical sentimental idiom in family sitcoms of that time, and one which generated the typical applause from the studio audience). Cliff, however—to the audience's surprise and amused approval—immediately and angrily calls this sentiment "the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life!” He completely rejects the notion, insisting that loving his son is all the more reason he expects him to do his best and try his hardest in school, and in life in general. He then says the often quoted line, "I brought you in this world, and I'll take you out."

At the end of the day, Clair and Cliff settle into bed. As he becomes amorous, she reminds him that was how they had "those troublesome kids". This puts Cliff off for a few seconds. Vanessa and Rudy, the youngest child, then knock on the bedroom door because Rudy was scared of "the Wolf Man" in their closet. Clair invites the kids to sleep in the bed with her and Cliff.

Cast

Bill Cosby as Dr. Clifford "Cliff" Huxtable, OB-GYN (the only episode for which he was Clifford rather than Heathcliff)
Phylicia Ayers-Allen as Clair Olivia Huxtable, Esq.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Theodore Aloysius "Theo" Huxtable
Keshia Knight Pulliam as Rudith Lillian "Rudy" Huxtable
Tempestt Bledsoe as Vanessa Huxtable
Lisa Bonet as Denise Huxtable

References

Category:1984 in American television
Category:1984 television episodes
Category:The Cosby Show