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FOG! Takes a Look at FAT ALBERT AND THE COSBY KIDS: THE COMPLETE SERIES DVD!

Twenty years before Fresh Prince Will Smith departed West Philadelphia for Bel Air, audiences embraced another series set in the City of Brotherly Love.   

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids was set on the other side of the city in North Philadelphia, the neighborhood where creator Bill Cosby grew up and where Fat Albert and his friends had their origins.

The series grew out of Cosby’s stand-up act, and was a unique series combining the comedian as a host with each episode laced with a strong moral and/or value message cleverly disguised as entertainment.  Kids could relate to Bill.  He talked to them, questioned the decisions made by the characters and and was an active participant and invited the audience to join in.



The theme song never tried to hide Cosby’s intentions, as Fat Albert and the gang sang,

“…And I’m gonna sing a song for you /And Bill’s gonna show you a thing or two
You’ll have some fun now / With me and all the gang
Learning from each other / While we do our thing.”

Cosby also introduced himself to the audience in the song as well, “This is Bill Cosby coming at you with music and fun. And if you’re not careful, you may learn something before it’s done”

I grew up with Fat Albert and Bill Cosby.

The series premiered in 1972, the year after I was born and was a staple of my Saturday morning viewings for much of my childhood.

In 1989, I moved to North Philadelphia to attend Temple University, alma mater to Cosby. Occasionally visits from Mr. Cosby to campus would jump start both nostalgia and urban legends (including that Weird Harold was a professor at UPenn.)

This past week, Shout! Factory released Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids: The Complete Series on DVD containing all 110 episodes (though sadly omitting the original pilot and the three holiday specials) in a must have box set for anyone who grew up during the seventies.

Not having seen the series in over 20 years, I was pleasantly surprised to how well it has held up.  With an impossibly young Cosby, the series draws upon his own childhood (in the forties and fifties) and transplants it to the seventies with his regular cast of characters, ‘Fat’ Albert Jackson, Mushmouth, Dumb Donald, William Cosby and his younger brother Russell, Weird Harold and Rudy Davis.  The episodes cover a number of heavy issues including drug use, discrimination, gender roles, violence, racism, and abuse with a light, but not dismissive touch.

In later seasons, the series introduced a super-hero, The Brown Hornet, who existed as a series within the series.

Although the fashion and slang is dated and production values much lower than what would air on television today, the series holds up with genuine humor, solid execution and memorable music both as an underscore and as songs performed by the gang.



The extras are light; limited to a booklet covering the show and it’s educational aspirations and a documentary, Hey, Hey, Hey… It’s The Story Of Fat Albert, which features Cosby but sadly isn’t as comprehensive as I would have liked (Like whatever happened to the real life inspirations for the characters?).  Also included via DVD-ROM are some scripts and storyboards.

Although the series might not appeal to audiences that didn’t grow up with it, Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids: The Complete Series is a must have for people who did.  With 39 hours of material you’re gonna have a good time…

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