Reviews: The Cosby Show: 25th Anniversary Commemorative Edition

starring: Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad
directed by: n/a






Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0634991335843
Format: Box set, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Label: First Look Home Entertain
Languages: EnglishOriginal Language
Manufacturer: First Look Home Entertain
MPN: FLPD33584D
Number Of Items: 26
Publisher: First Look Home Entertain
Region Code: 1
Release Date: November 11, 2008
Running Time: 4569 minutes
Studio: First Look Home Entertain
Theatrical Release Date: 1984


Rating: - Great Box Set
The Cosby Show is one of the most loved family sitcoms in history. Comedienne Bill Cosby starred as Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable for 8 seasons. The show was about a beloved doctor and his family. Phylicia Rashad is wife Claire was a doctor and his lovable children rounded out the cast. The first season was a huge hit. Keisha Knight Pulliam starred as the youngest daughter Rudy Huxtable. Tempest Bledsoe starred as the second to youngest daughter Vanessa. Lisa Bonet starred as the second to oldest daughter Denise. Although she didn't appear much in the first season, Sabrina Lebouf starred as the oldest daughter Sandra. rounding out the cast of the children was Malcolm Jamal Warner who starred as Theo.

The show was about the ordinary events surrounding a loving African-American family. Carsey-Werner Distribution has released a DVD box set that features all 8 seasons on DVD. This is the first time that all eight seasons of the show have been released on DVD in one package. The DVD box set includes 26 DVDs in total. In addition to the DVDs, the box set includes a special 25th Anniversary Commemorative Booklet. The booklet is in hard back format and features the script from the first episode. The box set also includes a small black envelope/leaflet that features a special letter from Bill Cosby. Fans of the Cosby Show will love having this complete DVD collection in their home all in one setting. This DVD collection is priced at just under $100. The price is far less than it would be if the show were purchased season by season. It's a great item to purchase for the Cosby Show fan who loves the classic series.

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Rating: - Still as funny today at it was 25 years ago
This is one of my all-time favorite, if not favorite, television shows. I remember gobbling down my dinner every Thursday to watch the show at 7pm. I remember laughing until my stomach hurt when Cliff and the men were pregnant. I remember ahhh-ing when Olivia first came on screen and won the hearts of the family. I remember crying my eyes out when the last episode aired and Cliff and Clair danced off the screen. I was watching TV Land the other night with my 7 year old niece (I am 27 now) and she and I were just laughing and laughing at the show. It's as funny, if not funnier since I am grown and can appreciate the family that I had, now as it was then. My niece even asked me if this was a new show and I told her, "No it's not. I used to watch this show when I was your age." "Wow, it's really old," was her response.

This is back when TV was good and we didn't have the smut that is Rock of Love, Flavor of Love, the Bachelor, Family Guy, etc. You don't have to be crude, curse or insult others to be funny. I get sentimental when I think about this show because it was so much a part of my childhood. I was only 3 but I still remember the opening baseball sequence and Rudy crying out in bed sick when Cliff asked her what she wanted and she said, "Mommy!"

I love this item, it is truly a treasure.

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Rating: - You can't get more
This DVD collection is a must for anyone who wants to sense the pure humor.
The box has also, a personal letter from Bill Cosby and a hard cover booklet, containing episodes' script. Very good work in general! Well done!

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Rating: - The last great family-friendly sitcom... in a case that will make you spit family-unfriendly words.
What sold me on this package is that the season 1 episodes are full length; not the uncut syndicated releases that dogged the standalone set.

What is great about this show is its family-friendly nature. It appeals to everybody. In ways it redefined television, but at the same time, no TV show since then has had the cleanliness Cosby had put into his show.

Of course, everybody knows all that -- what I should do is talk about the DVD release.

Sound and video quality are very good, even at 9 episodes jammed onto every disc. The master tapes digitally remastered -- this will look and sound perfect once it's put onto blu-ray.

It's got a fair share of extras to discuss the one thing about the 1980s worth remembering (apart from Devo, oddly) and even a full color booklet with a reproduction of the pilot episode's script. Which is nice, but...

...why not spare us the book and give some decent disc inserts? The set is divvied up into 4 smaller booklets within the main package. Seasons 1&2, season 3&4, 5&6, 7&8. Each booklet has cardboard inserts that will readily scratch the disc -- BE CAREFUL WHEN HANDLING or go out and buy separate sleeves for the discs. It is not really being green-friendly to replace solid plastic cases with cardboard ones that, after repeated viewing, make the disc unplayable and compelling to customer to buy another set, only to scratch the new discs all over again.

Season 1 sells the set. But add another $5 in additional disc sleeves. Even when taking mine out I saw minute scratches. They will add up quickly and spare you hassle in the long-term.

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Rating: - Timeless fun for the whole family
THE SHOW:

Even though the show lives on in syndication (and I've seen every episode countless times as a result), it's still nice to finally have the episodes in their original, unedited format.

People like Bill Cosby and the late Fred Rogers shared a philosophy that television was a guest in the family home, and handled their shows with great care as a result - i.e., if you were going to watch their shows, then they felt that they owed it to you and your family to give you something worthwhile that you could enjoy together. As I revisited some classic episodes, I realized how special it was to have a show that pitched its humor in a way that seemed so down to earth, and earned its laughs without relying on catch-phrases or resorting to innuendo. The kids aren't perfect (they all manage to mess up spectacularly throughout the series), but the underlying theme of family and sincere (sometimes tough) love gave balance to the show and to me, keeps it timeless. I grew up with this show and enjoyed it immensely as a kid. Now that I'm a parent, I'm appreciating it on an entirely new level.

THE DVDs:

In terms of supplemental materials, you really can't ask for more than the wonderfully poignant "A Look Back" documentary, and new interviews with Bill Cosby and director Jay Sandrich, all of which work to give the viewer an appreciation for how revolutionary the show was at the time, as well as an understanding of why the show is so special today as it was then. There are also some funny outtakes and a few director commentaries thrown in for good measure.

As I said earlier, it's great to have these episodes bundled in one set, but I feel that for a 25th Anniversary definitive series collection, the production team missed a step or two.

With 8 seasons' worth of episodes to enjoy, it would have helped to give the viewer some guidance on how to find their favorite episode. The set includes a hardback book of the pilot script, which is something that I'd browsed through once, and have no need to ever look at again. It might have been a bit more interesting had it included handwritten notes to hint at how the production had been modified from the original script, but it's a straightforward copy. A better use of the book would have been as an episode guide with a quick summaries and guest star listings (similar to the Simpsons box sets). As it is, you're left with a list of episode titles and your memory to help you find the episode where the Huxtables do a lip-sync routine for their grandparents' anniversary, the one where Theo learns about life in "the real world", or the scene of Elvin doing a perfect impression of Cliff, not knowing that he's standing right behind him.

There's also an insert with a note from Bill Cosby and an Al Hirschfeld sketch. Nice (I guess), but I'm not sure why they couldn't have been included in the book. There was no need to make them separate, so they end up seeming like afterthoughts to try and make the set "special." A wasted opportunity.

Another thing that detracted from the set was the inconsistency of the DVD menu style and navigation schemes across the seasons. They seem to be ported over from the individual season releases, so the viewing experience is a bit fragmented as a result. Some menus are a bit more frustrating to navigate than others, and only the later seasons contain helpful on-screen synopses of the episodes.

The video and audio are decent enough for the purposes of the content. It doesn't seem to have been remastered, but that's fine. You're watching a classic 1980s to laugh and enjoy some nostalgia, not to give your subwoofer a workout!

The boxset's packaging itself is very handsome, but the folding cardboard season cases are easily scuffed and the discs themselves are left to sit precariously within the cutout slots. It all feels a bit fragile. I would have preferred sturdier slimline cases to pop the discs into, but at 26 DVDs (!), I'd imagine that the decision to use cardboard reflected a desire to help keep the cost down.

Had these minor issues been addressed differently, I'd have given this set a solid 5 stars on the strength of the show itself.

All in all, this is a highly enjoyable and worthwhile collection that is a pleasure for older viewers to revisit and contains hours of quality entertainment for a new generation to discover. Since the episodes are in perpetual syndication, I wouldn't consider this an essential purchase for casual fans (but you won't be disappointed if you pick it up anyway).

The Cosby Show: 25th Anniversary Commemorative Edition Reviews

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