From The Scoop: Nah, Nah, Nah: Gonna Have A Good Time!

From the June 2 issue of Gemstone Publishing's The Scoop:
Fat Albert is an American icon. Well, Bill Cosby is, anyway--and most of the works he produced during the height of his '70s and '80s acclaim have taken on a life of their own within our popular culture. From Picture Pages to pudding pops, Cosby's proliferation reached its pre-sitcom height with Fat Albert. (The Cosby Show was a whole different ballgame....)

Did you know that the rotund, red-shirted animated character got his start as part of Cosby's 1967 standup routine, recorded on an album titled Revenge? The character first appeared during one of Cosby's anecdotes about life in inner city Philadelphia. Months later, he met with indie animator Ken Mundie and the two set about adapting Albert for the small screen.

Two years later, NBC premiered Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert, a live-action/animation primetime special featuring the eponymous hero. After the debut of the one-shot, Cosby took a more active role in the behind-the-scenes factors of the potential series.

Though NBC aired the special twice after its initial debut, they opted not to pick the show up as a Saturday morning series.

Eventually, Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids found a home at CBS and premiered in 1972 with Cosby playing several key voice roles, while others were performed by teen actors Cosby had hired. With Filmation as the animators at the helm, the characters, which included Mushmouth, Weird Harold, Dumb Donald, and Russell, were more polished and well-defined.

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, with its life lessons and attainable adventures proved infinitely popular with its target marget, and enjoyed an amazing 12-year-run. As far as multimedia successes go, Fat Albert and the gang were featured in their own Gold Key comic, several television specials, and most recently, a live-action film starring Saturday Night Live's Kenan Thompson in the title role. They even inspired a jazz album by the incomparable Herbie Hancock.

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