Almost everyone in the Bill Cosby camp has stayed silent as dozens of rape victims come forward, including Cosby himself. But the disgraced comedian’s longtime producer is finally speaking out regarding the fate of the television series that previously secured Cosby’s reputation as pop-cultural father figure.
”I certainly think that at the moment the show is kind of tarnished,” Cosby Show producer Tom Werner recently told TV Insider during his press tour with the Television Critics Association. “But hopefully people can distinguish between the show and Bill. I think about all the great episodes that we’ve done and the impact that it had. I’m certainly hoping that people can continue to watch it.”
When speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Werner expressed that “it’s a challenging time for Bill Cosby and a challenging time for the show, but I’m hoping that people will still be able to watch the show and identify with the Huxtables.”
Last November, with producing partner Marcy Carsey, Werner released a short statement: “The Bill we know was a brilliant and wonderful collaborator on a show that changed the landscape of television. These recent news reports are beyond our knowledge or comprehension.”
Repeat airings of The Cosby Show have recently been pulled from networks like BET Centric, Bounce TV, and TV Land.