At this time a standup comedian with no acting experience, Bill Cosby made his television debut in this show in 1965. With “I, Spy,” Cosby became the first Black person to star in a TV drama in the United States. Even more, he had an equal role to the show’s co-lead, played by Robert Culp. Racial issues were seldom dealt with directly, but the show was revolutionary for depicting Cosby’s character, Alexander Scott, as an equal and a friend rather than a sidekick or stereotype. Scott was an intellectual hero, and Cosby earned three Emmy Awards for Best Lead Actor during the show’s run. It attracted a host of guest stars. Cicely Tyson played a supporting role in the premiere episode and stars including Gene Hackman, Eartha Kitt, and Ricardo Montalban appeared later. 

Inspired by the first James bond movie and the spy craze that followed, “I, Spy,” focused on the characters’ international spy missions. The idea of casting a Black man as equal to a white one was controversial. The potential success or failure of the show was a topic of debate for more than a year before it premiered. When it finally did, televisions stations in the South refused to broadcast it. Seeing the main characters sharing a table at a restaurant, a hotel room, or a bus seat are things we take for granted today but were revolutionary for the time.  

While “I, Spy,” wasn’t hugely popular during its original run, reruns continued running through the 70s and 80s. “I, Spy” kicked down the door for Black television shows and actors to follow. 

Why Bill Cosby Is Not In Our Graphics

As you may have noticed, Bill Cosby is not featured in either of the graphics representing this story. As you will have learned after completing this edition of our SAVE THE CULTURE series, Bill Cosby and his shows are the bedrock of Black television and the reason for the revival of sitcoms as a whole. However, given the controversy surrounding his personal life, we left him out of the graphic, so as not to detract from the value of the piece. The alleged indiscretions of his personal life cannot erase the profound impact he had on television. The shows he created fundamentally changed the way Black people were perceived in popular culture. The shows were unapologetically Black, highlighting life on an HBCU campus in “A Different World”, literature, music, and art from Black creatives on “The Cosby Show,” and teaching children important lessons about growing up on “Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids.” His mission always remained to make meaningful art that uplifted our community and offered educational value for young people.

Cosby’s 50+ year career in Hollywood as a creator, writer, actor, and producer, was the blueprint for creators to follow. The success that Black people have been able to achieve in the television industry and beyond cannot be separated from his work. As Karl Rove, senior advisor to former President George W. Bush, said on Fox News after the election of President Barack Obama, “We’ve had an African-American first family for many years in different forms. When ‘The Cosby Show’ was on, that was America’s family. It wasn’t a Black family. It was America’s family.”

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