Fat Albert
| Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids | |
|---|---|
L to R: Cluck, Bill, Rudy, Dumb Donald, Mushmouth, Fat Albert, Bucky, Russell, Weird Harold
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| Also known as | The New Fat Albert Show The Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids |
| Genre |
Comedy-drama Educational |
| Created by | Bill Cosby |
| Directed by | Hal Sutherland |
| Creative director(s) | Don Christensen |
| Presented by | Bill Cosby |
| Voices of | |
| Theme music composer | Ricky Sheldon Edward Fournier |
| Opening theme | Performed by Michael Gray |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 8 |
| No. of episodes | 110 + 4 specials (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Bill Cosby |
| Producer(s) |
Lou Scheimer Norm Prescott (1972–84) |
| Location(s) | United States |
| Production company(s) | Filmation |
| Distributor |
Group W Productions (syndicated) NBCUniversal Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS (1972–84), first-run syndication (1984–85) |
| Original release | September 9, 1972 – October 27, 1973 September 6, 1975 – October 30, 1976 September 8, 1979 – September 16, 1981 September 1, 1984 – August 10, 1985 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert (1969) |
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids is an American animated series created, produced, and hosted (in live action bookends) by comedian Bill Cosby, who also lent his voice to a number of characters, including Fat Albert himself. Filmation was the production company for the series. The show premiered in 1972 and ran until 1985 (with new episodes being produced on an "on and off" basis during that time frame). The show, based on Cosby's remembrances of his childhood gang, centered on Albert (known for his catchphrase "Hey hey hey!"), and his friends.
The show features an educational lesson in each episode, emphasized by Cosby's live-action segments. In addition, at the end of the early episodes, the gang typically gathers in their North Philadelphia junkyard to play a song on their cobbled-together instruments, summarizing the show's lesson.
The character Fat Albert first appeared in Cosby's stand-up comedy routine "Buck Buck," as recorded on his 1967 album Revenge. The stories were based upon Cosby's tales about growing up in inner city North Philadelphia. In 1969, Cosby and veteran animator Ken Mundie brought Fat Albert to animation in a one-shot prime-time special entitled Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert.
The special, which aired on NBC, was a hybrid of live action and animation. The music for the special was written and performed by jazz pianist/keyboardist Herbie Hancock in 1969, and was released on the Warner Bros. album Fat Albert Rotunda. For the animated portion of the special, it was necessary to develop the actual appearance of each of the Fat Albert Gang's characters. For this, Ken Mundie relied on animator Amby Paliwoda, a former Disney artist. Paliwoda not only created all the Gang's characters, but painted a "group portrait" which was eventually shown on the front page of TV Guide magazine shortly before the showing of the special.
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