I just want to take a moment to feel a bit superior and vindicated here. I'm gen x, I witnessed Fat Albert in the 1970s, the Cosby show in the 80s, the jello commercials, "Himself", all that. If you were a kid in 80s America then Bill Cosby was part of your life whether you liked it or not.

I probably thought he was cool when I was a little kid, but his cliff huxtable schtick always rubbed me the wrong way, like even the opening to the show where he makes those bizarre faces that he probably imagined were so damn funny. They weren't; they were just weird and discomforting. There was something so punishingly self-righteous about that character and that show. I couldn't stand it, and I didn't have the words as to why, but it seemed like saying you didn't like Cosby back then was completely taboo.