Veteran comic Cosby said to be planning new TV show – reports

This Nov. 18, 2013 photo shows actor-comedian Bill Cosby in New York. NBC is confirming that Cosby is developing a possible new sitcom he would star in. The deal brings the 76-year-old entertainer together with a writing staff to create a script for a comedy that casts Cosby as the patriarch of a multigenerational family. (Photo by Victoria Will/Invision/AP, File)

LOS ANGELES – Veteran US comedy actor Bill Cosby is to make a new family TV show for the NBC network that aired his popular sitcom in the 1980s, media reports said Thursday.

The 76-year-old will work with producer Tom Werner, who produced “The Cosby Show” from 1984 to 1992 in what was seen at the time as reviving the sitcom genre, said Deadline Hollywood.

CNN reported Cosby will play the patriarch of a multigenerational family.

Representatives for NBC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Cosby’s publicist David Brokaw had no comment, telling AFP: “We have nothing further to add at the moment.”

Cosby told Yahoo in November that he wanted a show with “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.”

“I hope to get that opportunity, and I will deliver the best of Cosby,” he added.

Analysts cautioned that NBC was taking a risk on an old favorite producing a new hit, noting the “anemic” ratings for “The Michael J. Fox Show,” starring the Emmy-winning actor who has Parkinson’s Disease.

“Its philosophy seems to be that there’s nothing wrong with NBC that can’t be solved by what was right with NBC in around 1984,” said Time magazine’s TV critic James Poniewozik.

“This season, it gave beloved past star (Fox) an extraordinary full-season commitment for what turned out to be a bland sitcom with anemic ratings … As NBC should have learned this season, a famous name is itself no guarantee.”