For Bill Cosby, an honor worth the wait

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TV This Week
For Bill Cosby, an honor worth the wait
By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Nov 4, 2009 - 1:00:25 AM

Seventeen years after "The Cosby Show" aired its series finale, the show's creator, Bill Cosby, is back on television, though not on NBC.

He appears on PBS tonight at 8 p.m. for a special entitled "Bill Cosby: The Mark Twain Prize 2009," accepting an award that's been given to many humorists over the years.

If it seems surprising that Cosby, one of the most influential comedians and television stars of all time, is only now receiving the award, there's a reason. The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor committee had offered Cosby the prize twice before, but he turned it down.

Cosby cited disappointment over the profanities uttered in a 1998 ceremony for Richard Pryor (though really, how can you honor Pryor without profanities?).

Cosby, of course, starred on his self-titled NBC sitcom for eight seasons, and "Cosby" was the No. 1 show on TV for five of those seasons. It left the air in 1992 while still the No. 15 program on television, according to Nielsen, with a 15.0 household rating.

By comparison, the No. 1 show on television last season, "American Idol," did not even average a 15 rating.

Tonight's special will draw just a fraction of Cosby's once-mighty audience, but the pretaped show always gets a disproportionate amount of media coverage because of all the celebrities who attend.

Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, the wives of the president and vice president, respectively, were at last month's taping, as well as Cosby's NBC co-stars Phylicia Rashad and Malcolm Jamal-Warner.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	CW	“America’s Next Top Model” (R)	The models head to Hawaii to do a photo shoot in the ocean.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Modern Family” (C)	Manny develops an interest in fencing.
9 p.m.	NBC	“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (D)	A father thinks his teenage daughter was killed by her therapist.
9 p.m.	TBS	“Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” (C)	Curtis is forced to retire and Miranda goes missing.
10 p.m.	CBS	“CSI: NY” (D)	The death of a software executive leads the CSIs into a strange underground world.
10 p.m.	FX	“Nip/Tuck” (D)	One of Christian’s patients has some serious anger issues.
10 p.m.	TLC	“Flowers Uncut” (R)	Series premiere. Following floral designer Jeff Leatham.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	CW	“Vampire Diaries” (D)	Stefan gets a visit from an old friend, who provides some info about him to Elena.
8 p.m.	TNT	“NBA Basketball” (S)	The Bulls take on the Cavs in Cleveland.
8 p.m.	Univision	“Latin Grammy Awards 2009” (A)	Eugenio Derbez and Lucero host the 10th annual event.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Grey’s Anatomy” (D)	The rich parents of a young patient plan to donate $25 million to the hospital.
9 p.m.	NBC	“The Office” (C)	Jim and Pam finally agree to double date with Michael and Helene.
9 p.m.	CBS	“CSI” (D)	Two separate crimes turn out to be somehow connected.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	CBS	“Ghost Whisperer” (D)	Jim thinks a co-worker might be involved in a student’s disappearance.
8 p.m.	NBC	“Law & Order” (D)	The detectives find cases full of drugs and money at a murder scene.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Ugly Betty” (D)	Daniel makes Natalie his assistant, and it doesn’t sit well with Betty.
9 p.m.	CBS	“Medium” (D)	Allison rents an SUV that has a strange satellite radio.
9 p.m.	Syfy	“Stargate Universe” (D)	A high-risk plan could yield high rewards.
10 p.m.	USA	“White Collar” (D)	A mob man turns to the FBI to find a stolen Bible.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7
Time	Network	Program	Description
3:30 p.m.	CBS	“College Football” (S)	Huge SEC game between Alabama and LSU.
3:30 p.m.	ABC	“College Football” (S)	Big Ten game between Ohio State and Penn State.
8 p.m.	Fox	“Cops” (R)	Cops in Vegas try to chase down a suspected bank robber.
8 p.m.	Lifetime Movie Network	“Too Late to Say Goodbye” (M)	Rob Lowe and Lauren Holly star in a movie version of the Ann Rule book.
9 p.m.	CBS	“Strikeforce” (S)	MMA returns to CBS with a match between Brett Rogers and Fedor Emelianenko.
11:30 p.m.	NBC	“Saturday Night Live” (C)	Taylor Swift hosts and performs.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8
Time	Network	Program	Description
3:15 p.m.	ABC	“NASCAR Racing” (S)	A Sprint Cup race from Fort Worth, Texas.
8:15 p.m.	NBC	“NFL Football” (S)	NFC East rivalry game between Dallas and Philadelphia.
8:30 p.m.	Fox	“Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show” (C)	The special formerly sponsored by Microsoft.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Desperate Housewives” (D)	Angie invites Bree and Orson to dinner, but they’re hesitant.
9 p.m.	HBO	“Curb Your Enthusiasm” (C)	Cheryl competes for a role on the “Seinfeld” reunion.
9:30 p.m.	Fox	“The Cleveland Show” (C)	Cleveland Jr. takes a purity pledge.
10 p.m.	AMC	“Mad Men” (D)	Pete sits down with some very important clients.
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.