The Cosby Show: Season Eight

The Curtain Goes Down On The Huxtables
By 1991 The Cosby Show was not exactly the commercial powerhouse it had been in the mid to late 80's but remained the hottest game in town. As with many a last season this series ties up many loose ends. There are five main plot points the generally extend throughout the seasons,sort of as mini story arcs: Cousin Pam trying to apply to collage and coping with Charmaine going away to collage,Cliff trying to build a private room for Clair now that most of the kids are away,Theo preparing for his upcoming graduation,somewhat of a teenage "love traigle" between Rudy,Kenny and their respective loves interests and new collage student Vanessa's truly bizzare relationship with the older but self sufficiant Dabnis,whom Cliff takes a shining to because of his abilities as a tinker. There are some funny moments this season but for the most part the episodes concentrate on developing and closing the story arcs and thus the characters themselves. Another important part of this season is that this...

Farewell to a memorable piece of television history
The Cosby Show began its eighth and final season on September 19,1991. The opening and closing montages intended for the season 7 run are finally used this season. Again,the cast is moving in rhythm to hip-hop featuring a trumpet and a snare drum. The reason for the delay of this opening's use:a mural seen in the background was not an original created by a group of artists. Bill Cosby finally received permission from the artists to use the facsimile(the group,in fact threatened NBC with a lawsuit if this was done without permission). This montage contained appearances by Lisa Bonet and Joseph C. Phillips which were deleted due to Bonet's termination and Phillips' write-out as a regular after season 7. So we see Erika Alexander in face and name this season(due to the recycling of the season 6 opener last season,only she appeared in name). So the regular cast went from eleven members(in 1990-91) to nine(this season). Gordon Cartrelle served as executive producer this season,succeeding...

R.I.P. Merlin Santana, Loved the Show!
This season was a pretty good season to me, even though I was disappointed that Pam went without a boyfriend and we stopped seeing her on the quirky episodes with Sly, but I got two new couples to look at. Rudy with Stanley (played by the late Merlin Santana) and Kenny with Deidre. Those four were amusing, specifically the ongoing beef between Kenny and Stanley, and my favorite episodes were "Particles in Motion" and "Some Gifts Aren't Deductible." The looks Stanley would give Kenny would crack me up more than the dialogue; Santana was dead-on with his acting.

I was also excited to see Special Ed on "WARNING: A Double-Lit Candle Can Cause a Meltdown" and really interested in Theo as a teacher. I enjoyed the group of kids Theo mentored as well as Cliff's "For Men Only" when talking about the "lost generation." Not too many shows talked about the stereotypes that brothas were getting at that age as deadbeat dads, the job issues, and talent.

Cons: I outgrew the...

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