Before The Cosby Show of the 1980’s and early 90’s and even before Fat Albert & The Cosby Kids, funnyman Bill Cosby had his own sitcom. This show was titled The Bill Cosby Show and aired for two seasons between 1969 and 1971.

Whereas, on The Cosby Show, Bill Cosby was an upper middle class family man, on The Bill Cosby Show, Bill takes on the role of Chet Kincaid. Chet Kincaid is a gym teacher at a Los Angeles High School. The setting for The Bill Cosby Show is urban and it’s great to see all of the 70’s fashions and vehicles.

The first episode of the series isn’t the greatest and doesn’t set the tone for the rest of the season. In the first episode, Chet walks past a ringing phone in a phone booth and picks up the phone, only to get involved in a couple’s messy relationship phone tag. In the second episode, Chet is disturbed by his neighbors barking dog.

The show really picks up come episode three when Chet starts interacting with his students more. In this episode, a short student with a great shot feels Chet is slighting him by not letting him on the team. The pace of some of the episodes is rather slow at times. In the episode in which Chet takes in a little girl who doesn’t speak, watching tell her a bedtime story is nail biting. Disc one features six episodes followed by a current interview with Bill Cosby.

Chet, uses the same kind of wit and sensibility that Bill Cosby as an actor is known for when it comes to solving everyday life problems on the show.

The Bill Cosby Show hasn’t aired much in syndication and thanks to Shout Factory the series is on DVD for the very first time. The season one box set includes all 26 episodes from the shows first season.

Shortly after wrapping The Bill Cosby Show, Bill filmed the television movie To All My Friends on The Shore. Although, this movie seems to have been forgotten, it’s a great film about a working class man trying to do the best he can for his family.

The Bill Cosby Show Season One is a great blind buy if you’ve never seen the show. It’s enjoyable.