Pilot (The Cosby Show)

"Pilot"
The Cosby Show episode
This father/son economic lesson-themed episode won the Comedy Writing Emmy Award. Cliff Huxtable, M.D. (Bill Cosby) and son Theo (Malcolm Jamal Warner) use Monopoly money for the lesson.
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 1
Directed by	Jay Sandrich
Written by	Ed. Weinberger Michael J. Leeson
Production code	0101
Original air date	September 20, 1984 (1984-09-20)[1]
Running time	23:40
Guest appearances
Keith Reddin as Mr. McManis Todd Hollowell as Denise's Date
Episode chronology
← Previous — Next → "Goodbye Mr. Fish"
List of episodes

"Pilot" (also known as "Theo's Economic Lesson") is the pilot episode and the first episode of the first season of the American sitcom The Cosby Show. "Pilot" originally aired in the United States on NBC on Thursday, September 20, 1984, at 8:00 PM ET. This episode debuted the week before the official start of the 1984–85 United States network television season. They only have 4 children in this episode: Denise, Theo, Vanessa & Rudy. Sondra, the first born, is introduced later in that season, episode 4; she however, is not in the featured/mentioned in the intro. The confrontation with Theo in this episode is seen again in a flashback in the series finale "And So We Commence". The episode was directed by Jay Sandrich and written by Ed. Weinberger and Michael J. Leeson. The episode was a critical and commercial success, achieving both high ratings and positive critical feedback.