Until The Cosby Show (1984–92) came to television (see entry under 1940s—TV and Radio in volume 3), the relatively few sitcoms (situation comedies; see entry under 1950s—TV and Radio in volume 3) featuring all–African American casts highlighted characters who were working-class or who were struggling to make it in inner-city America. But The Cosby Show was something else altogether. The Huxtable clan, the show's centerpiece family, was headed by a father, Dr. Heathcliff "Cliff" Huxtable (played by Bill Cosby, 1937–), who was an obstetrician, and a mother, Clair (Phylicia Rashad, 1948–), who was a legal-aid attorney. Both parents were strict but fair disciplinarians and positive role models for their five children, who at the show's outset ranged in age from five years to young adulthood. Most important of all, the Huxtables were comfortably upper-middle-class. They reflected the reality that all African Americans were not undereducated and...