Fat Albert is an American icon. Well, Bill Cosby is, anyway–and most of
the works he produced during the height of his ’70s and ’80s acclaim have taken
on a life of their own within our popular culture. From Picture Pages to pudding
pops, Cosby’s proliferation reached its pre-sitcom height with Fat Albert.
(The Cosby Show was a whole different ballgame….)

Did you know
that the rotund, red-shirted animated character got his start as part of Cosby’s
1967 standup routine, recorded on an album titled Revenge? The character
first appeared during one of Cosby’s anecdotes about life in inner city
Philadelphia. Months later, he met with indie animator Ken Mundie and the two
set about adapting Albert for the small screen.

Two years later, NBC premiered Hey, Hey, Hey, It’s Fat Albert, a
live-action/animation primetime special featuring the eponymous hero. After the
debut of the one-shot, Cosby took a more active role in the behind-the-scenes
factors of the potential series.

Though NBC aired the special twice after its initial debut, they opted not
to pick the show up as a Saturday morning series.

Eventually, Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids found a home at CBS and
premiered in 1972 with Cosby playing several key voice roles, while others were
performed by teen actors Cosby had hired. With Filmation as the animators at the
helm, the characters, which included Mushmouth, Weird Harold, Dumb Donald, and
Russell, were more polished and well-defined.

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, with its life lessons and attainable
adventures proved infinitely popular with its target marget, and enjoyed an
amazing 12-year-run. As far as multimedia successes go, Fat Albert and the gang
were featured in their own Gold Key comic, several television specials, and most
recently, a live-action film starring Saturday Night Live‘s Kenan
Thompson in the title role. They even inspired a jazz album by the incomparable
Herbie Hancock.