COSBY SHOW, THE: CAN I SAY SOMETHING PLEASE? (TV)
Summary
One in this comedy series starring humorist Bill Cosby as Cliff Huxtable, a successful obstetrician with a lawyer wife and five exasperating children.
Rudy prepares for a video party with her friends, but is dissatisfied with the old-fashioned films her father has picked out. She asks to be able to see more “hip” films, but Cliff does not appreciate her desire to view R-rated material. Her friends come over for the party and express similar sentiments as Rudy; Cliff is dismayed at their desire to watch gory horror films. He leaves, and one of Rudy’s friends produces a video from his bag, the “Gross-Out Gang,” and Rudy agrees to watch it after some reticence. Clair comes home from work to find the children watching the video and is infuriated, stopping the tape and questioning them about the video. Once the children return home Clair and Cliff sit down with Rudy and upbraid her for watching films they don’t approve of. Rudy doesn’t approve of her parents’ decisions and goes upstairs. However, in private Clair wonders if they are being too strict with Rudy, although Cliff prefers to adhere to tradition and raise her in the same manner in which he was raised. He insists that because he and Clair are older and wiser than their children they should know better than them about what’s best for them.
Rudy decides to approach her parents with a list of things she feels she is capable of doing but is not permitted to do because of her young age. While Cliff is clearly not amused at this, Clair believes that Rudy is being mature by making formal requests of them and speaking with “clarity.” Upon reviewing her list, Clair and Cliff decide to allow Rudy to stay up past her regulated bedtime, provided that she do her homework and never fail to be on time to school. Rudy decides to stay up and watch late-night television. Theo comes home and is surprised to see Rudy up so late. Eventually Rudy becomes tired and clambers up the stairs to go to bed. In the morning, Cliff attempts to wake Rudy up to go to school, although she is tired and has a stomach ache from the junk food she ate the previous night.
After a few days of similar behavior, Rudy’s teachers report to Cliff that she is unfocused and irritable, and Cliff assures them that it is part of his and Clair’s “experiment with the rules.” However, Rudy comes home and claims that she is not tired at all and that her performance in school is improving. She plans to stay up late that night, but Cliff reveals that he intends to do so as well, as he does not have work until late the next day. In accordance with her parents’ request she attempts to finish her homework, but has difficulty staying awake. Vanessa comes in to congratulate Rudy on her efforts to persuade their parents, but Rudy is still irritable and believes Vanessa is making fun of her and that the family is conspiring to get her to fail. Cliff keeps his promise at waits for Rudy downstairs, despite his belief that she will not come down and Clair’s desire for some intimate alone-time with Cliff. However, Rudy does come down to watch late-night television with them, although she falls asleep on the couch almost instantly. Cliff, satisfied that his point has been made, carries Rudy up to her room. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: February 9, 1989 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:24:16
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:15456
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Comedy; TV - Comedy
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1984-1992
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Marcy Carsey … Executive Producer
- Tom Werner … Executive Producer
- John Markus … Co-Executive Producer, Writer
- Carmen Finestra … Supervising Producer, Writer
- Gary Kott … Co-Supervising Producer, Writer
- Terri Guarnieri … Producer
- Matt Robinson … Co-Producer
- Cissy Bedeian … Associate Producer
- Tony Singletary … Director
- Bill Cosby … Created by, Theme Music by
- Ed Weinberger … Created by
- Michael Leeson … Created by
- Geoffrey Holder … Choreographer
- Stu Gardner … Theme Music by
- James de Priest … Theme Music by
- Oregan Symphony Orchestra, The … Theme Music by
- Bill Cosby … Cast, Dr. Heathcliff "Cliff" Huxtable
- Phylicia Rashad … Cast, Clair Huxtable
- Sabrina LeBeauf … Cast, Sondra
- Geoffrey Owens … Cast, Elvin Tibideaux
- Malcolm-Jamal Warner … Cast, Theodore "Theo" Huxtable
- Tempestt Bledsoe … Cast, Vanessa Huxtable
- Keshia Knight Pulliam … Cast, Rudy Huxtable
- Deon Richmond … Cast, Kenny
- Roy Wilson … Cast, Howard
- Heather Coleman … Cast
- Peter Costa … Cast
- Naoka Nakagawa … Cast