Top 100 sitcom episodes of all time, No. 82: "Theo's Economic Lesson," The Cosby Show

82. "Theo's Economic Lesson," The Cosby Show (1984)

Welcome to the “100 Best Sitcom Episodes of All Time,” a countdown for winter 2012. Each episode will get a separate blog post, counting backward toward No. 1.  A list of the programs revealed so far is here and an introduction to the project is here. There is also a photo gallery on Pinterest.

I could argue that this is the episode that saved a network and maybe the network sitcom itself. It's a hyperbolic enough claim, but not probably not counter-intuitive enough for Salon or Slate. (Could I interest you guys in a 2000-word piece on how all subsequent sitcoms were influenced by We Got It Made?)

"Theo's Economic Lesson" is the pilot episode of the show that made NBC the No. 1 network and, by beating Magnum, PI in the ratings, revived interest in the sitcom format, which had been flagging in the Golden Age of TV Drama that brought us Dallas, Dynasty, and The A-Team. The Cosby Show was also responsible for a wave of sitcoms, mostly family-oriented, starring stand-up comics.

Cosby was an exception to the stand-up sitcom rule in that he also had plenty of acting experience, and there wasn't much risk in putting him center stage. He could ramble a bit, but he wasn't going blot out the rest of the cast à la Robin Williams. In fact, Cosby got to be a little too low-key in this series, which turned into "hang out with a bunch of nice people even though they don't do anything interesting" (the antithesis of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia).

"Theo's Economic Lesson" is an unusually polished pilot episode, thanks to Cosby and veteran director Jay Sandrich (of The Mary Tyler Moore Show), writer Ed Weinberger (also from MTM), and writer Michael Leeson (of Taxi). The main plot involves son Theo's terrible report card, and it's essentially a rebuttal of "Opie's Ill-Gotten Gain" (No. 99 on this list), with Cosby playing a trick on the studio audience. After Theo gives a cliched "love me for who I am" speech, Cosby waits for the audience, primed by Norman Lear sitcoms, to finish its enthusiastic applause. Then he smacks down Theo and everyone watching with "That's the dumbest thing I ever heard! No wonder you get D's in everything!"

This scene not only helped to make The Cosby Show an instant hit, it probably has a lot to do with praise for the show from political conservatives, even though Cosby himself has never been a conservative. (I don't care what e-mail your second cousin forwarded to you. Bill Cosby did not write it.)  

The Cosby Show is praised on Conservapedia and is on Ben Shapiro's list of top conservative TV series: "A show about a black middle-class family that doesn’t rip the American government, doesn’t fall into the self-victimization of the 'racist society,' doesn’t portray whites as either idiots or bigots, and encourages black children to get an education, get married, and have a family." (By the way, is Shapiro correct that liberals "hate" Leave It to Beaver? I must have missed that memo.)

Whatever. "Theo's Economic Lesson" is a funny episode about a father getting exasperated with kids who don't yet know how the world works, even though he'll be complaining about feeling old when they do figure things out. That's not a phenomenon unique to one side of the political spectrum.

NOTE: Between the time I compiled the Top 100 list and started to write this post, streaming episodes of The Cosby Show vanished from Netflix. But there is a YouTube video (as of now) with the high points of the Theo story, including the almost-vaudevillian "Monopoly routine." Below that, a video that points out that Cosby forgot to tell Theo how expensive it is to bet on the horses.

 

Comments

[Dave Rosen]

So can it be argued that The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is the next-level version of Cosby? All those same middle-class values but with Will Smith pouring gasoline all over them. The Fresh Prince characters are clearly more outrageous and therefore I dare say - this show is funnier.

[Steve Garland]

Really enjoy this survey. I notice on this one you reference the writers, but on some of the others you don't name the writers. I know episodic TV is more of an amalgam of actors/roles/writers then plays or movies (e.g. see your comments re All in the Family and O'Connor Stapleton relationship), but I wonder whether it might be appropriate to give a nod to who wrote the episode in each case.

Can't wait for the rest, though sorry Frank's Place won't be included. It had one of my favorite Christmas episodes at least in a one-time viewed nostalgic haze. Wish they could work out the music rights.

[Robert David Sullivan]

I will try to mention the writers more, and perhaps do a post on writers who have contributed to multiple shows. The episode titles at the top of each post link to imdb.com, which has writer/director info, but you're right that it would be handy to have them listed here.

I remember really liking "Frank's Place" as well. I keep hoping that general interest in New Orleans will prompt someone to pay for the music rights and release the series on DVD.