*** Welcome to piglix ***

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.jpg
L to R: Cluck, Bill, Rudy, Dumb Donald, Mushmouth, Fat Albert, Bucky, Russell, Weird Harold
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.


...
Wikipedia

...