THE COSBY SHOW FILMING LOCATIONS
Take the NYC TV & Movie Tour and take a glimpse at the location where part of the famous hit sitcom The Cosby Show was filmed! One of the first and most well-known NBC television show from 1984 to 1992 and running for eight consecutive seasons, five of which were rated number one in the Nielsen Ratings, it set the television precedent for shows based on African Americans and made possible the existence of many other big-time hits later on such as In Living Color and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
The Cosby Brownstone
Brownstone is brown Triassic sandstone used as building material and commonly found in Brooklyn as well as in Bedford Stuyvesant, Park Slope, Fort Greene and other older neighborhoods in New York City. These brownstone apartments usually follow an architectural design of stairways leading the sidewalk to a second-floor apartment entrance in the intent to avoid bringing in mud and horse droppings commonly found on the streets at that time period.
On this tour, you will see the fashionable Flatbush brownstone from The Cosby Show, home to the huxtables: an upper-middle class African American family starring Cliff (Bill Cosby), Clair Huxtable (Phylicia Rashad) and their five children. The exterior of the home was actually the brownstone facade of a private residence in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village and the interior was filmed at Midwood Studios in Brooklyn and later at Kaufman Astoria Studios.
Get on the tour and stop by the building where Cliff (Bill Cosby), the respected gynecologist father, Clair (Phylicia Rashad), the successful attorney mother, Theo (Malcolm Jamal-Warner), the dyslexic son, Sondra (Sabrina LeBeauf), the oldest daughter attending Princeton University, Denise (Lisa Bonet), the slight eccentric and rebellious daughter, Rudy (Keisha Knight Pulliam) and Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe), the two cute preteen daughters, supposedly lived for the better part of the 80s and beginning of the 90s.
An unusual hit series of that time displaying a typical American middle class family but an atypical African American one, this classic show featuring jazz soundtrack and contemporary African American art is one of the best. The first successful sitcom based partly on standup comedy acts was not only unique for its new style of television show, but also for its realistic portrayal of the conflicts involving African American families at that time including its references to the Civil Rights Movement and African culture, and at the same time keeping its essence of creating laughter and humor for the audience.
Don’t miss the chance to tour the hot spot of the famous sitcom you grew up on and experience the fun in remembering the bits and pieces of one of your all time TV favorites The Cosby Show!
* In an effort to stay current, we are constantly updating our tours with new locations and cannot guarantee the presence of locations mentioned on our site. If you have a particular interest in locations from a specific TV show or movie, please let your tour guide know and we will do our best to accommodate your request.