In case you grew up watching “The Cosby Present,” you bear in mind how the collection pioneered Black illustration on TV with its relatable storylines and most of all, its characters. All of us adored patriarch Cliff Huxtable, mother Clair and their bevy of siblings and buddies…however not each solid member sees their character as we do.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who performed Theodore Huxtable, appeared on the “Scorching & Bothered with Melyssa Ford” podcast in a candid interview printed Friday (Might 23). In a clip, he talked about how his spouse “acquired on him” for attempting to “distance himself from Theo,” the one son out of the TV household’s 4 kids, “as if Theo was a foul factor.”
“I’ve all the time wished it to be separate… and there’s this narrative that I hate being referred to as Theo…” he continued, earlier than admitting he actually doesn’t “like being referred to as Theo, so it’s not a story.” Ford recalled how people wished Warner to “signal autographs as Theo, however you’re like, ‘I’m Malcolm.’” Warner added: “I’m all the time gonna be Malcolm for much longer than Theo. Though to some individuals I’ll be Theo ceaselessly, and I can’t assist that.”
“Now I attempt to be aware of the misinterpretation that I don’t like Theo. Theo was excellent to me. And that present and that position is timeless, and I’m very pleased with that position,” he added. “A part of the distancing for me might be not eager to see how a lot of Malcolm is in Theo… I bear in mind doing the present and I all the time felt like Theo was corny and I wished Theo to be cooler.” When Ford requested if he thought Theo was corny “as a result of he had two mother and father and a loving family,” Warner answered: “That is what occurs once you put an excessive amount of consideration on the adverse than the optimistic.”
“Everybody beloved Theo… however I used to be f*****g with the individuals who referred to as Theo corny. Any individual referred to as me, ‘America’s favourite white Black boy,’ and I used to be like 15,” he continued. Ford stated that title ought to go to Carlton Banks from “The Contemporary Prince of Bel-Air,” however Warner replied how his character was pre-Carlton. “And I used to be 15. Like dude stated that, and it damage me… That’s the trauma,” he admitted. “That’s cultural trauma. However rising up and having all of those individuals love Theo and all these ladies love me as a result of I used to be on TV, [instead] I’m taking note of the motherf****rs who’s calling me corny.”
Warner performed Theo all through the collection’ eight seasons. The present, which initially aired on NBC from September 20, 1984, to April 30, 1992, targeted on the Huxtables, an higher middle-class Black-American household residing in Brooklyn. The collection was based mostly on Invoice Cosby’s comedy routines, which had been based mostly on his household life. TV Information referred to as “The Cosby Present” “TV’s greatest hit within the Eighties,” saying it “virtually single-handedly revived the sitcom style and NBC’s scores fortunes.” The outlet additionally ranked it No. 28 on their record of fifty Best Reveals.
You’ll be laborious pressed to seek out reruns of “The Cosby Present” as of late: In 2014, the collection was pulled from a number of networks after Invoice Cosby’s sexual assault scandal.