Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids enjoyed one of the longest careers in Saturday morning cartoon history, running from 1972 to 1984 on both CBS and in syndication. The show was based on Bill Cosby's '60s stand up comedy monologues about his childhood. Live action bumpers featuring Bill Cosby were set around each episode dealing with a group of urban adolescents growing up in a Philadelphia neighborhood.

The episodes revolved around the daily life lessons learned by Fat Albert and his friends. Topics ranged from social issues to personal introspection and were blended with humor and music, all of the songs being original works. Among the many great characters that inhabited Fat Albert's world were Rudy, Mushmouth, Donald, Bill, Weird Harold and Russell.

In 1979 the show was re-titled The New Fat Albert Show and featured a new segment called The Brown Hornet, a send-up of superhero cartoons starring a larger-than-life African-American crime fighter in outer space. Another cartoon segment, the “Legal Eagle” was soon added to the lineup.

In 1984, the show was syndicated and renamed The Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby kids. It ended the same year.

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Main Characters:

Fat Albert (Voice: Bill Cosby): The overweight leader of the Cosby Kids and a good-hearted individual. He always willing to keep the peace, stand up to bullies, confronting problem characters, and going to authority figures when necessary to make a situation better. He plays radiator, which functions as a makeshift tuba, in the kids’ music group, the Junkyard Band.

Rudy (Voice: Eric Suter): The smooth huckster and top troublemaker of the Cosby Kids; While he has a big ego, he has a good heart and is always willing to learn from his mistakes. He plays electric guitar in the Junkyard Band.

Dumb Donald (Voice: Lou Scheimer): One kid who is really hard to know, mostly since his face is under a pink hat most of the time. He’s not the brightest and misses the point a lot. While not quick witted, he surprisingly has a great hook shot. He plays trombone (steampipes and a record player horn) in the Junkyard band.

Bill (Voice: Bill Cosby): This kid is based on Bill Cosby’s childhood. He’s not much of a talker, but is great at sports. He plays the drums (trash cans and lids) in the Junkyard Band.

Russell (Voice: Jan Crawford): He’s Bill’s little brother and youngest of the Cosby Kids. He’s always making wisecracks and always wears winter clothing (even in the warm weather). He plays the xylophone (Tin Cans on a String) in the band.

Weird Harold (Voice: Gerald Edwards): Tallest of the kids; he’s called weird because of his unique way of doing things and beady eyes. Harold is always taking on some daring feat when he’s not playing harp (bedsprings) in the band.

Mushmouth (Voice: Bill Cosby): The most recognizable because of his beanie cap and his garbled speech. Despite this, he’s great at catching a football and playing bass in the band.

Bucky (Voice: Jan Crawford): Recognized by his bowl haircut and buckteeth. He’s the shy one, but comes out strong playing pipe organ in the band.

Recurring Characters:

Mrs. Bryfogel (Voice: Jay Scheimer): The boys’ teacher; a sweet, but firm authority figures that cares about her students. She likes to set them straight and keep her class in order.

Miss Wucher (Voice: Jay Scheimer): Another one of the teachers, but a little less matronly

Mudfoot Brown (Voice: Bill Cosby): This hobo is always telling stories that always have a moral in some way or another.

The Brown Hornet (Voice: Bill Cosby): Caped space-age superhero who always underlines the moral of each episode

Stinger (Voice: Lou Scheimer): Brown Hornet’s sidekick

Sung:

Hey, Hey, Hey, it’s Fat Albert!
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, and while we do our thing…

Na Na Na, gonna have a good time.

Spoken:

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.
Hey, hey, hey!

~ Mantis4400

Favorite Links:

Mohammad's Fat Albert page

This site is hosted by DrakNet

Hey! Hey! Hey! It's Fat Albert!

~ Mantis4400

Favorite images:

~ Mantiss4400