Cosby is an Emmy, Golden Globe winning situation comedy television series broadcast on CBS from September 16, 1996 to April 28, 2000. Although the shows are different, fans say that Cosby is a continuation of The Cosby Show , four years later.

The television program starred Emmy Award winner Bill Cosby, Golden Globe winner Phylicia Rashād, who previously worked with Cosby in the 1984 television program, The Cosby Show and Emmy-Award winning late Madeline Kahn portrayed their neighbor, Pauline.

Cosby played grumpy Hilton Lucas, a man forced into early (and unwanted) retirement. His wife, Ruth, was played by Phylicia Rashād. Initially, Telma Hopkins was cast as Ruth Lucas; however, due to lack of chemistry between she and Cosby, the producers hired Rashād instead. The couple had one daughter, Erica Lucas, portrayed by T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh. Also appearing on the series were Madeline Kahn, who played neighbor Pauline Fox from 1996 until her death in 1999, and Doug E. Doug, who played Griffin Vesey, a friend of the Lucas family who tried occasionally to win Erica's affections.

The show was based on the concept from the BBC series One Foot in the Grave, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie. David Renwick, the creator and writer of One Foot in the Grave, was listed as an executive producer of Cosby. One Foot in the Grave was noted as containing very dark humor for a mainstream sitcom, and was therefore a surprising choice for adaptation to American TV. Predictably, the tone was significantly lightened, although certain controversial scenes, such as a scene in which the lead character incinerates a live tortoise, were recreated (albeit with a turtle in this case).

Cosby premiered to huge ratings (more than 24 million viewers), but averaged significantly less during the course of the season (16 million). As the series progressed, ratings shrank and CBS, fresh with new hit comedies in Everybody Loves Raymond and The King of Queens, decided to move the series to Fridays from Mondays. This led to a steep drop in ratings and eventual cancellation. The last episode, "The Song Remains the Same," aired on April 28, 2000, and was the 95th episode to be produced and broadcast, drawing just over 7 million viewers.

In the final two seasons of the series, Jurnee Smollett joined the cast as 11-year-old Jurnee, who Hilton adored, and Darien Sills-Evans portrayed "Darien" as Erica's fiancée, who later became her husband in the final season.

Madeline Kahn, who played Pauline, died in 1999. A special episode was written devoted to her, where the entire cast looked talked about her and her character. Selected clips of Madeline's character on the show were played, as well, including the famous scene where she talks to Hilton about death.

Originally Telma Hopkins was cast as Ruth, but Bill Cosby gave the role to Phylicia Rashad in hopes of recapturing the magic "Cosby Show, The" (1984) had.