NEW BILL COSBY SHOW, THE: SIDNEY POITIER, HARRY BELAFONTE {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The first in this comedy/variety series starring Bill Cosby. In this program, guest stars Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier provide background on their host, and lead performer Lola Falana introduces the other regulars. Cosby chats briefly with Falana and Susan Tolsky, then singing songs about the tongue-twisting names of his two guests, comparing the name "Harry Belafonte" to a waltz. Poitier interrupts, however, saying that Cosby is "lamentably lacking" in the classiness required to introduce Belafonte, so he himself brings the singer to the stage, where he performs his song "Tone the Bell Easy." Cosby then talks with his guests, thanking them for the "favor" of appearing on his show, and they suggest that he should treat them to dinner, for once, as a thank-you. They travel to a "gourmet soul food" restaurant, where the fawning waiter greets Poitier and Belafonte but turns up his nose at Cosby's casual style. When Cosby sees how expensive the menu is, he attempts to make a run for it, employing the help of a wise waiter.
Cosby introduces Foster Brooks, who takes the stage in an inebriated state and welcomes Cosby to CBS, though fails to remember what the letters stand for and suggests that his contract requires him to eventually marry Carol Burnett, among other absurd things. Cosby then discusses his children's eating habits and their fondness for junk food, admitting that he enjoyed the same things as a kid but can no longer partake thanks to his "old stomach." He then examines the perils of marriage and the way in which every man is married to "a hundred women," performing a brief sketch in which a housewife rapidly delivers the day's news to her bewildered husband as he returns home. Cosby introduces bandleader Quincy Jones, then performing a sketch in which a mysterious man, Poitier, offers him a chance to acquire great riches by simply pressing a button and killing an unknown, elderly Chinese man. Cosby is unsure, and the man barely avoids death several times, but when he dies of natural causes, Cosby is allowed to "inherit" his wealth. Poitier, however, then offers the same deal to another man. Next, an elderly man attempts to borrow ten dollars from a loan office, which he promises to pay back in tiny installments over many years, balking at the idea of paying interest. In the end, the sympathetic loan officer gives him ten dollars of her own, hoping to get rid of him. Belafonte closes out the evening with a performance of "Don't Stop the Carnival" and "Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)", accompanied by a number of costumed dancers, including Cosby and Poitier. Includes commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: September 11, 1972 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:58:19
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:37043
- GENRE: Comedy/Variety
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy/Variety; Music; African-American Collection - Comedy
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1972-1973
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Allerest hay fever medication
- TV - Commercials - Avon cosmetics
- TV - Commercials - Black & Decker power tools
- TV - Commercials - Breck shampoo
- TV - Commercials - Firestone car tires
- TV - Commercials - Florida orange juice
- TV - Commercials - Kal Kan dog food
- TV - Commercials - Maytag appliances
- TV - Commercials - Primatene asthma medication
- TV - Commercials - Sealy Posturepedic mattresses
CREDITS
- George Schlatter … Producer
- Rita Scott … Associate Producer
- Mark Warren … Director
- Gene Perret … Writer
- Ray Taylor … Writer
- Pat McCormick … Writer
- Michael Elias … Writer
- Frank Shaw … Writer
- Ray Jessel … Writer
- Stanley Ralph Ross … Writer
- Ronnie Graham … Writer
- Jerry Mayer … Writer
- Jeffrey Barron … Writer
- Quincy Jones and his Orchestra … Music Group
- Bill Cosby … Host, Cast
- Harry Belafonte … Guest
- Sidney Poitier … Guest
- Susan Tolsky … Cast
- Foster Brooks … Cast
- Oscar DeGruy … Cast
- Lola Falana … Cast