SHAKESPEARE

Synopsis

US sitcom. Hilton is coaching teenage neighbour Journee in the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet while his college-educated friend Griffin looks on. Journee stumbles over the word ‘wilt’, Griffin offering a pedantic, academic definition and Hilton identifying with Wilt Chamberlain, the basketball player. Shakespeare himself (played by Tom Conti) appears to tutor Hilton. There are also scenes from King Lear in which Shakespeare takes the title role. At one point Hilton declares ‘it doesn’t have to mean anything, it’s Shakespeare’.

Series

Cosby

Language

English

Country

United States

Medium

Television

Technical information

Colour / Sound

Transmission details

1 Mar 1999 (Channel: WOR-TV Channel 9)

Duration

23 mins

Credits

Director

Don Scardino

Cast

Bill Cosby	Hilton Lucas
Doug E. Doug	Griffin Vesey
Journee Smollett	Journee
Sabrina Le Beauf	Goneril
Tom Conti	William Shakespeare

Additional Details

Production type

Sitcoms/Variety

Plays

King Lear; Romeo and Juliet

Keywords

Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Notes

Available on DVD within THE COSBY SHOW - COMPLETE COLLECTION.

History

Episode 19 in Season 3.

Reviews

Lanier, Douglas. Shakespeare and Modern Popular Culture (London: Oxford University Press, 2002). p 57-9.

Production Company

Name

Bill Cosby

Archive

Name

Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting & Recorded Sound Division

Web

http://catalog.loc.gov/ External site opens in new window

Phone

(20) 707-8572

Fax

(20) 707-237’1

Address

Motion Picture & Television Reading Room
James Madison Building, LM 336
101 Independence Avenue, SE
Washington, D.C.
20540-4690
United States

Distributor (Sale)

Name

Retail outlets