Bill Cosby Developing New NBC Sitcom, To Pull The Network Out Of A Slump

Exciting news for Cosby Show fans – 20 years after his original show ended, Bill Cosby is planning his return to television with a new NBC series. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the project will reunite Cosby with producer Tom Werner of Carsey Werner, who worked on the original show. Like on NBC’s The Cosby Show and CBS’s Cosby, the comedian will play the head of a multigenerational family, sharing some of his marriage and parenting wisdom in the process.

Cosby teased his return to television back in 2013.

The news follows a Yahoo interview from last year, in which Cosby mentioned that he was planning a return to television. At the moment, the project is recruiting writers and gearing up for development outside of the usual pilot season.

"I want to be able to deliver a wonderful show to [a] network," Cosby said, in a quote for THR. "because there is a viewership out there that wants to see comedy, and warmth, and love, and surprise, and cleverness, without going into the party attitude. They would like to see a married couple that acts like they love each other, warts and all, children who respect the parenting, and the comedy of people who make mistakes. Warmth and forgiveness.”

The comedian wants his new project to promote family values like "warmth and forgiveness".

The new show is part of NBC’s concerted efforts to revive its comedy programming. With only two half-hour comedies – Parks and Recreation and Community – returning from the 2012-13 season, and most of its freshman comedies struggling, the network seems to be banking on a tried and true concept for the coming season.

Could the new show help save the struggling network?