Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids was a very funny children’s cartoon series that had as its genesis the stand up routines Bill Cosby used to tell about his early days in Philadelphia.
There had been a one off prime time show “Hey, Hey, It’s Fat Albert” on NBC on 12 November 1969 which later led to this series.
The premise concerned the adventures of a group of kids led by the eponymous Fat Albert, most of the action took place in a large junk yard the kids hung out in. Other regulars included Weird Harold, Rudy, Russell and Bucky.
Each edition (as well as featuring a song at the end) featured a well meaning or thought provoking message to make the kids watching think.
Bill Cosby actually made a live action appearance in each episode interacting with the characters. The shows original run was from 1972 to 1977 and then in 1979 it came back as The New Fat Albert Show (albeit much the same as before bar the addition of an extra cartoon segment called The Brown Hornet). In 1984 50 new episodes were made for syndication.
production details
USA / CBS – Bill Cosby – Filmation/ x30m-e / Broadcast 1972-79 and 1984
First Episode: Saturday 9 September 1972 / 12.30pm
voice cast
BILL COSBY as Fat Albert, Mushmouth, Mudfoot, Dumb Donald and the Brown Hornet
JAN CRAWFORD as Russell and Bucky
GERALD EDWARDS as Weird Harold
ERIC SUTER as Rudy and Devery
