Bill Cosby may have been released from prison, but his iconic 1980s sitcom The Cosby Show remains largely absent from the airwaves. Despite its massive success in syndication and its cultural impact, most major networks and streaming services continue to keep the show off their platforms.
The only major streaming service offering the sitcom is Amazon Prime, which allows its subscribers to watch The Cosby Show for free. However, Amazon has declined to comment on whether it plans to keep the show available in the future. Basic cable network TV One is one of the few channels that still airs reruns, confirming that the show remains part of its regular programming.
In its prime, The Cosby Show generated over $1.5 billion in syndication revenue, according to a 2017 Forbes estimate. It was a television juggernaut, running for eight seasons and earning critical acclaim. The show became a cultural landmark for its portrayal of an upper-middle-class Black family living in Brooklyn. It won multiple awards, including six Emmys and the prestigious Peabody Award. Yet, starting in 2014, networks and streaming platforms began pulling the show from syndication, largely due to the growing backlash against Bill Cosby.
Cosby’s reputation took a dramatic fall after dozens of women came forward, accusing him of sexual assault and harassment spanning decades. These allegations led to his 2018 criminal conviction for sexual assault in Pennsylvania, despite Cosby’s denials. The scandal surrounding him ignited a cultural reckoning, resulting in the cancellation of both The Cosby Show reruns and other projects in development with major networks like NBC and Netflix.
The decision to pull The Cosby Show from syndication has had a direct impact on the cast, too. Actor Geoffrey Owens, who played Elvin Tibideaux on the show, became the center of media attention in 2018 when he was spotted working as a cashier at Trader Joe’s. Owens later shared that the loss of royalties from The Cosby Show reruns, after the show was removed from syndication, played a significant role in his decision to take the job. His story resonated with fans, and he eventually received support from Hollywood producer Tyler Perry, who cast him in a role on the hit series The Haves and The Have Nots.
Though Cosby’s release from prison has rekindled public debate over his actions and the impact on his former projects, it’s unlikely that The Cosby Show will return to TV in a major way anytime soon. TV One, which still airs the show, has not responded to questions about whether it will continue to air the reruns. And major streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and NBC-Universal have all confirmed they have no plans to include The Cosby Show in their catalogs.
For many fans, the absence of The Cosby Show on TV feels like a stark reminder of the complexities surrounding the show’s legacy. While its cultural significance remains undeniable, its association with Cosby’s criminal history means that the reruns may never find the same level of widespread appeal they once enjoyed.
As of now, The Cosby Show seems to remain stuck in a limbo of its own — a beloved classic that may never fully return to the mainstream spotlight, despite the efforts of a few dedicated networks and streaming platforms to keep it alive in some form.
