Smart Kid

Smart Kid

September 15, 1973 TV Episode Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids

Also known as: You Can Make It If You Try

Studio
Filmation Associates, Bill Cosby Productions

Synopsis

Nerdy Thurmond is a smarty-pants but not good at sports. He makes the kids' school lives miserable with Mrs. Bryfogel. The boys have a hard time studying and decide to help each other succeed. The kids learn that things are not always what they seem. Thurmond helps the gang study in exchange for help with sports.

Characters

Fat Albert, Rudy, Mushmouth, Dumb Donald, Bill, Mudfoot, Russell, Bucky, Weird Harold, Thurmond, Mrs. Bryfogel

Credits

Directing

Director
Don Christensen (Creative Director)

Producing

Producer
Lou Scheimer, Norm Prescott

Writing

Writer
Bill Danch, Jim Ryan

Voices

Voice
Bill Cosby (Fat Albert, Mushmouth, Mudfoot), Jan Crawford (Russell, Bucky), Gerald Edwards (Weird Harold), Eric Suter (Rudy), Lou Scheimer (Dumb Donald)

Production notes

"Na-na-na, gonna have a good time, Hey, hey hey!"

The show initially ran on CBS from 1972-1984, but moved to NBC in syndication for one year in 1989. The episodes revolved around the daily life lessons learned by Albert and his friends. Topics ranged from social issues to personal introspection and were blended with humor and music. Among the many great characters that inhabited Fat Albert's world were Rudy, Mushmouth, Donald, Bill, Weird Harold and Russell.

Bill Cosby lent his voice to many of the Fat Albert characters, playing Fat Albert, Bill, Mushmouth, Mudfoot and the Brown Hornet.

Live action bumpers featuring Bill Cosby were set around animated episodes of Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids, a series about a group of urban adolescents growing up in a Philadelphia neighborhood. The show was based on Cosby's 60's stand up comedy monologues about his childhood.

In 1979 the show was re-titled The New Fat Albert Show and featured a new segment called The Brown Hornet, a send-up of superhero cartoons starring a larger-than-life African-American crime fighter in outer space.

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids enjoyed one of the longest careers in Saturday morning cartoon history, running for twelve consecutive years; a record bested only by the many incarnations of Scooby-Doo.

Song in this episode: "Learnin.'"