Malcolm-Jamal Warner dead at 54

[Anonymous]

This is a great video that explains rip currents and how to improve survival if caught in one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been watching clips of him from The Cosby Show. Forgot what a good, quality family show that was. Set aside Bill Cosby the man, but Cliff and Clare were such strong parents. You hardly see anything like that on family sitcoms today and our society is worse for it.

RIP Malcolm-Jamal. You were a good one.

I wish The Cosby Show was still a thing instead of our kids all online watching who knows what.

Nearly every kid in America sat in front of the TV each week to watch the Huxtable kids. We all experienced the same shared cultural lessons at the same time. If Theo got a lesson not to fall victim to peer pressure, or Vanessa got a lesson on how to cope with sadness when you feel left out, or Denise learned to deal with consquences from sneaking around, we all got that same lesson. It really was a beautifully crafted show, that helped to raise a generation of kids. I wish we had that same positive weekly shared experience for our kids as we had on Thursday nights in the 80s.

My brother was also one boy in a sea of sisters. We had so many laughs at the parallels of my brother's life and Theo's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if in Costa Rica….do they have lifeguards on the beaches there that they have here in the States?

Regardless this story is very tragic.
Theo was a big part of my childhood on TV and he will be missed…

Many beaches in CR do NOT have lifeguards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been watching clips of him from The Cosby Show. Forgot what a good, quality family show that was. Set aside Bill Cosby the man, but Cliff and Clare were such strong parents. You hardly see anything like that on family sitcoms today and our society is worse for it.

RIP Malcolm-Jamal. You were a good one.

I wish The Cosby Show was still a thing instead of our kids all online watching who knows what.

Nearly every kid in America sat in front of the TV each week to watch the Huxtable kids. We all experienced the same shared cultural lessons at the same time. If Theo got a lesson not to fall victim to peer pressure, or Vanessa got a lesson on how to cope with sadness when you feel left out, or Denise learned to deal with consquences from sneaking around, we all got that same lesson. It really was a beautifully crafted show, that helped to raise a generation of kids. I wish we had that same positive weekly shared experience for our kids as we had on Thursday nights in the 80s.

My brother was also one boy in a sea of sisters. We had so many laughs at the parallels of my brother's life and Theo's.

It was a really great, thoughtful, clever, insightful show. Really a masterpiece.

I loved a Different World too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a great video that explains rip currents and how to improve survival if caught in one.

I was at Bethany Beach 2 years ago and saw a dad and teenage son get caught in a rip. It was so bad that the lifeguard going out to assist them started struggling. A bystander ran in and he too got caught. Everyone was freaking out and trying to figure out if we could form a chain out to reach them but other lifeguards came racing in to assist. It was terrifying from the sand so I can only imagine what it was like in the water for those people. I really thought I was about to watch 4 people drown right in front of me that day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a great video that explains rip currents and how to improve survival if caught in one.

I was at Bethany Beach 2 years ago and saw a dad and teenage son get caught in a rip. It was so bad that the lifeguard going out to assist them started struggling. A bystander ran in and he too got caught. Everyone was freaking out and trying to figure out if we could form a chain out to reach them but other lifeguards came racing in to assist. It was terrifying from the sand so I can only imagine what it was like in the water for those people. I really thought I was about to watch 4 people drown right in front of me that day.

How did they get rescued?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been watching clips of him from The Cosby Show. Forgot what a good, quality family show that was. Set aside Bill Cosby the man, but Cliff and Clare were such strong parents. You hardly see anything like that on family sitcoms today and our society is worse for it.

RIP Malcolm-Jamal. You were a good one.

I wish The Cosby Show was still a thing instead of our kids all online watching who knows what.

Nearly every kid in America sat in front of the TV each week to watch the Huxtable kids. We all experienced the same shared cultural lessons at the same time. If Theo got a lesson not to fall victim to peer pressure, or Vanessa got a lesson on how to cope with sadness when you feel left out, or Denise learned to deal with consquences from sneaking around, we all got that same lesson. It really was a beautifully crafted show, that helped to raise a generation of kids. I wish we had that same positive weekly shared experience for our kids as we had on Thursday nights in the 80s.

My brother was also one boy in a sea of sisters. We had so many laughs at the parallels of my brother's life and Theo's.

It was a really great, thoughtful, clever, insightful show. Really a masterpiece.

I loved a Different World too.

Yes!

When you started to age out of Cosby, you graduated to a Different World.

I didn't care for Denise at college, but loved Whitley.

I think Theo at college would have been a much better character to spun off than Denise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been watching clips of him from The Cosby Show. Forgot what a good, quality family show that was. Set aside Bill Cosby the man, but Cliff and Clare were such strong parents. You hardly see anything like that on family sitcoms today and our society is worse for it.

RIP Malcolm-Jamal. You were a good one.

I wish The Cosby Show was still a thing instead of our kids all online watching who knows what.

Nearly every kid in America sat in front of the TV each week to watch the Huxtable kids. We all experienced the same shared cultural lessons at the same time. If Theo got a lesson not to fall victim to peer pressure, or Vanessa got a lesson on how to cope with sadness when you feel left out, or Denise learned to deal with consquences from sneaking around, we all got that same lesson. It really was a beautifully crafted show, that helped to raise a generation of kids. I wish we had that same positive weekly shared experience for our kids as we had on Thursday nights in the 80s.

My brother was also one boy in a sea of sisters. We had so many laughs at the parallels of my brother's life and Theo's.

Really well-said.

It was probably the only tv show my (now 20-year-old) son & I could watch together about 10 years ago and both enjoy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been watching clips of him from The Cosby Show. Forgot what a good, quality family show that was. Set aside Bill Cosby the man, but Cliff and Clare were such strong parents. You hardly see anything like that on family sitcoms today and our society is worse for it.

RIP Malcolm-Jamal. You were a good one.

I wish The Cosby Show was still a thing instead of our kids all online watching who knows what.

Nearly every kid in America sat in front of the TV each week to watch the Huxtable kids. We all experienced the same shared cultural lessons at the same time. If Theo got a lesson not to fall victim to peer pressure, or Vanessa got a lesson on how to cope with sadness when you feel left out, or Denise learned to deal with consquences from sneaking around, we all got that same lesson. It really was a beautifully crafted show, that helped to raise a generation of kids. I wish we had that same positive weekly shared experience for our kids as we had on Thursday nights in the 80s.

My brother was also one boy in a sea of sisters. We had so many laughs at the parallels of my brother's life and Theo's.

It was a really great, thoughtful, clever, insightful show. Really a masterpiece.

I loved a Different World too.

Yes!

When you started to age out of Cosby, you graduated to a Different World.

I didn't care for Denise at college, but loved Whitley.

I think Theo at college would have been a much better character to spun off than Denise.

+1. Denise was the least interesting character on the show.

[Anonymous]

A great Robin Givhan column, "The magic of Theo":

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/2025/07/22/malcolm-jamal-warner-theo-huxtable-cosby-show-legacy/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had two sisters and no brothers. Theo was my first idea of what it would be like to have a brother. Very sad, and he seemed like a good guy.

He was my ideal big brother. So sad to hear this news. It is sad that the Cosby Show isn’t given the credit it deserves due to Bill’s personal behavior. It was a very important show and Malcolm was a big part of that.

Definitely agree with this statement (bolded) and others about Cosby Show is a joy to watch. If I can separate the person of Michael Jackson from the talent & magic of his music, I can also separate the person of Bill Cosby from the brilliance of The Cosby Show.

I gave my kids a strong disclaimer about bill cosby and went ahead and watched the entire series (minus the cousin Pam year) during the pandemic. It was joyful and simple. Sorry, I’m not giving it up. It’s also not fair to the ensemble cast who had nothing to do with all of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been watching clips of him from The Cosby Show. Forgot what a good, quality family show that was. Set aside Bill Cosby the man, but Cliff and Clare were such strong parents. You hardly see anything like that on family sitcoms today and our society is worse for it.

RIP Malcolm-Jamal. You were a good one.

I wish The Cosby Show was still a thing instead of our kids all online watching who knows what.

Nearly every kid in America sat in front of the TV each week to watch the Huxtable kids. We all experienced the same shared cultural lessons at the same time. If Theo got a lesson not to fall victim to peer pressure, or Vanessa got a lesson on how to cope with sadness when you feel left out, or Denise learned to deal with consquences from sneaking around, we all got that same lesson. It really was a beautifully crafted show, that helped to raise a generation of kids. I wish we had that same positive weekly shared experience for our kids as we had on Thursday nights in the 80s.

My brother was also one boy in a sea of sisters. We had so many laughs at the parallels of my brother's life and Theo's.

Really well-said.

It was probably the only tv show my (now 20-year-old) son & I could watch together about 10 years ago and both enjoy.

So many of the shows we watched in that era taught us moral lessons without moralizing. Little House, MASH, Different Strokes, good Times. I feel like today’s tv doesn’t do that so well anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was an ocean lifeguard for a long time and trust me, most of my victims were competent swimmers who just couldn't think clearly enough in a rip to swim parallel to shore. In fact, once I had them where they could stand they would shake their heads and tell me how they knew they needed to swim sideways but thought they could muscle through the rip. I heard he was swimming on an unguarded beach which there are plenty of in Costa Rica.

I saved my brother from a RIP tide in Costa Rica. I kept yelling at him to stand up and he was totally freaked out. Finally surfer moved over to him so he grabbed onto the board and finally calmed down enough to hear me say "stand up" and then had him move over to the shore. The kid, who spoke very little English, told him (with my DH translating) that if he just floated, the ocean would have dumped him back right there.

We all drank very heavily that night...on the shore. When I told him about MJW he said many curse words about Hobo beach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A great Robin Givhan column, "The magic of Theo":

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/2025/07/22/malcolm-jamal-warner-theo-huxtable-cosby-show-legacy/

That’s fantastic. He was just so normal and joyful. You don’t see young black men portrayed like that today.

[Anonymous]

His role as Theo was iconic. He will be missed by many.