Bill Cosby is making his way back to prime time TV. The 76-year-old star of The Cosby Show will grace the small screen via NBC in an upcoming half hour sitcom, where he’ll play the patriarch of a multigenerational family. Presently working with Tom Werner (executive producer of The Cosby Show) this puts Bill a giant step ahead of where he was when he last talked about the project.

Cosby was awaiting the funding and a network’s commitment before putting some of the finishing touches on his sitcom plan. Now that NBC is on board, he is that much closer to watching his dream become a reality. So what exactly is that dream?

“I want to be able to deliver a wonderful show to [a] network,” Cosby said in early November. “Because there is a viewership out there that wants to see comedy, and warmth, and love, and surprise, and cleverness, without going into the party attitude.They would like to see a married couple that acts like they love each other, warts and all, children who respect the parenting, and the comedy of people who make mistakes. Warmth and forgiveness. So I hope to get that opportunity, and I will deliver the best of Cosby, and that will be a series, I assume, that we could get enough people week after week after week to tune in to, to come along with us.”

Cosby still performs live as noted in the short video clip above. He has performed in venues all around the country for decades now, and still has what it takes to be easily recognized by fans of all ages.

A recent review of Bill Cosby’s recent Comedy Central special indicates NBC might have a winner when this new show comes to fruition.

“There’s really something special in watching Cosby control an audience, slowly building stories over the course of up to twenty minutes, even if they are about the smallest of matters (like sneaking out of dinner with his wife to get cookies next door),” Jesse David Fox wrote. “Though it might not be the funniest special around, Cosby’s performance is nothing short of masterful.”

Prime time TV is in need of something masterful. Even several steps below masterful will do. Are you ready for Bill Cosby’s return to NBC? It’s uncertain exactly when this will happen, but even the notion of it provides hope that there might soon be another decent option for families to watch on weeknight TV.

Image via Wikimedia Commons