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The Cosby Show debuted in 1984 and ran for eleven years. Although Bill Cosby was an established actor and comedian, many of the internet generation grew up knowing him as Dr. Cliff Huxtable, father of five and a role model for the rest of us, too. But since it’s been thirty years, you might not know the story behind the series. There’s a lot to learn, like these tidbits:

9. Rudy Was Almost Played By Urkel

In Bill Cosby’s original vision, the Huxtables had two boys and two girls (this was before Sondra was added to the mix). The youngest child, Rudy, was originally supposed to be a younger brother who looked up to Theo. Eight-year-old Jaleel White (Family Matters’ future Urkel) had auditioned so strongly that his agent told his parents that they should start looking for apartments in New York, where The Cosby Show was filmed.

The producers still had a few more kids to consider, and one of those last-minute interviews was with four-year-old charmer Keshia Knight-Pulliam. Director Jay Sandrich recalled trying to talk to Keshia, asking her if she could remember lines, but she kept looking away from him. He finally asked her what was wrong. The story goes that she pointed to a monitor and said, “That’s me! How can you make me on the TV?” Immediately enchanted, Sandrich moved Keshia’s name to the top of the short list, and Theo became an only son surrounded by four sisters.

10. Theo Was Supposed to be Taller

The casting call for the role of Theo specified that he was 6'2" and 15 years old. Malcolm-Jamal Warner, however, was 13 and 5'5". Nevertheless, he landed an interview on the last day auditions were held. According to Warner, he read the Monopoly money scene with Cosby like a traditional TV brat—hand on hip, eyes rolled, a real smart-aleck. Everyone in the room was laughing ... except for Cosby. He asked the young actor if he'd act like that with his real father. With that advice in mind, Warner read for the part a second time and nailed it.

Read the rest of the fun facts about The Cosby Show at mental_floss.

1

Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either. Just leave me the hell alone.

2

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire.

3

It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to ! do it.

4

Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.

5

Always remember you're unique. Just like everyone else.

6

Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

7

Many is the man who has drowned in a lake whose average depth was only three feet.

8

It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

9

It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.

10

If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.

11

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you criticize him, you're a mile away and you have his shoes.

12

If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

13

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat & drink beer all day.

14

If you lend someone $20, and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

15

Don't squat with your spurs on.

16

If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

17

If you drink, don't park; accidents cause people.

18

Some days you are the bug, some days you are the windshield.

19

Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.

20

The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.

21

Timing has an awful lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

22

A closed mouth gathers no foot.

23

Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side & a dark side, and it holds the universe together.

24

There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.

25

Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your mouth is moving.

26

Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

27

Never miss a good chance to shut up.

28

If you think there is good in everybody, you haven't met everybody.

29

The mind is like a parachute; it works much better when it's open.

30

We are born naked, wet, and hungry. Then things get worse.

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Santa Claus has the perfect cover. His mythos states clearly exactly where he lives, what he does, and how he behaves. But the real kicker is that he “isn’t real.” Imagine all the sick shit you’d get away with if no one believed you existed! You’d run around doing crime like a regular Crime Guy! Because the only thing stopping you from tearing people apart limb from limb is a little thing called “laws.”

Santa doesn’t have time for laws! He wipes his ass with the Ten Commandments! And those things are written in stone, so Santa and his butt must be a couple of tough dudes! Santa Claus could run up to you and poke your eyeballs straight out of your head all Three Stooges But For Real style, then kick your nads off and steal your wallet, and when you told the cops they’d be all like “Aaaactually, Santa Claus as we know him was invented by the Coca Cola Corporation in-” and they you’d probably die from missing all of your balls!

So if you ever want to be a crime guy, there’s yer huckleberry: just be an immortal, present giving goody two shoes that no one actually believes is real. That’s my tip to you.

T

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