Pilot (The Cosby Show) - Production

Production

Although this episode was written by Weinberger and Leeson, the headwriter for the series was Earl Pomerantz. Rather than producing the show in Hollywood, the show was produced in New York City. During the 1983–84 United States television season, no sitcoms had finished in the top 10 in the rankings and only one sitcom (AfterMASH) was renewed. As the networks battled to preempt each other's thunder for the 1984–85 United States television season, the Cosby Show became one of seven NBC shows (along with Punky Brewster, Miami Vice, Hunter, Highway to Heaven, Partners in Crime, Hot Pursuit) to debut prior to the September 24 date that marked the official beginning of the season. In the show, Bill Cosby is an obstetrician with his office located below his family's residence in a brownstone home. Less than three months before the show debuted, its producers had not yet decided whether the brownstone would be set in Brooklyn or Manhattan.

The set used for the pilot episode of The Cosby Show was notably different than the one used during the remainder of the series. In the first episode, the first floor has extra rooms that it does not have in the rest of the series. In the pilot, Cliff and Clair Huxtable have only four children. The fifth child, Sondra - who was the eldest child - was not introduced until the tenth episode of the first season, entitled "Bon Jour, Sondra". Her being away at college is the reason given for her absence in the earlier part of the season. In this episode, the plaque outside Cliff's office lists his full first name as "Clifford." In the rest of the episodes, however, his name is Heathcliff.