Given the recent news related to multiple rape accusations made against Bill Cosby, it's not all that surprising to learn that another TV show involving the actor/comedian is being impacted by the controversy. The latest TV project to be affected by this developing situation is The Cosby Show, the reruns of which air on TV Land, or did until the network decided to pull them from their lineup.
EW posted confirmation today that TV Land has removed all syndicated repeats of The Cosby Show, as confirmed by a representative from the network. The site doesn't specify a reason, but there's no doubt that it's a reaction to the unfavorable -- to put it mildly -- press Bill Cosby has been getting of late, as allegations that he raped several women have resurfaced.
Co-created by and starring the stand-up comedian, The Cosby Show aired on NBC, ran from 1987 to 1992 and centered on the Huxtables, an upper middle-class family living in New York. It's easily one of the better and beloved TV comedies of the 80s, and certainly worthy of a place on TV Land, a network that specializes in classic TV shows. But given the controversy surrounding Bill Cosby, it's understandable that TV Land might want to distance itself from the situation by removing the series from their schedule. Whether it's temporary or permanent remains to be seen, but taking into account the continued reports related to the controversy, the situation doesn't appear to be fading from the public eye anytime soon.
This controversy related to Cosby isn't exactly new. Vulture actually lays out a timeline of the accusations, which goes back to 2002, though the accusations being made relate to alleged incidents that go back decades. The controversy was brought back to the surface when comedian Hannibal Burress made a (barely) joke about Cosby's alleged sexual assault during a stand-up comedy routine. The video of the performance went viral and caught a lot of attention. The situation was made even more public after a meme-generator posted on Cosby's Twitter page backfired hard as people used it to comment on the rape allegations.
In the wake of continued reports related to the accusations, Bill Cosby's small screen projects have dropped off one by one, including the cancellation of a Late Show appearance, Netflix's planned Bill Cosby 77 comedy special, which was supposed to premiere next week, and the TV comedy NBC had in development. With these recent cancellations, TV Land may have felt the pressure to follow suit in pulling The Cosby Show from their schedule. That, or the cancellations made their decision a bit easier. We can only speculate. Regardless, it's one less Cosby project on the air as the comedian continues to make headlines over this very disturbing news.
