The Cosby Show

Vanessa, home from college, announces, "I’m engaged." "To do what?" Cliff asks, dumbstruck. Vanessa then reveals her year-long relationship and six-month engagement to Dabnis, a college maintenance supervisor who is, by his own admission, "knocking on 30." Since Cliff and Clair did not know that Vanessa was even dating anyone, the news is a shock. Cliff and Clair take turns confronting their formerly level-headed daughter. Clair voices concern about how far apart Vanessa and Dabnis are in age, while Cliff questions Vanessa’s "back door presentation of both her relationship and her fiance."

On the eve of co-signing a loan that will enable Elvin and Sondra to purchase their own home, Cliff also reveals plans to build an extension on the house. Finally, Clair will have a room of her own, Cliff promises. But when Elvin and Sondra’s closing is postponed indefinitely, they are left with no place to live except a "cheap motel... in the city... with your grandchildren." The Tibideaux’s take Martin and Denise’s old room, Olivia moves in with Rudy, and Cliff sadly puts aside his blueprints for the "Clair Hanks Huxtable Memorial Room." He cheers up considerably, though, when Clair suggests that they expand the Huxtable kitchen and include that window herb-garden Cliff’s always wanted.

Expansion of the Huxtable kitchen begins; Theo faces his first parent-counselor night at the community center; and, much to Kenny’s horror, Rudy encounters first love. Theo gears up for one-on-one conversations with his students’ parents by rehearsing with Cliff and Clair. But nothing can prepare him for the more-than-passing interest one young mother (Saundra Quarterman) takes in him! Meanwhile, it is love at first sight when Rudy meets Stanley, one of Theo’s students. Sparks also fly between Stanley and Kenny after Kenny sabotages Rudy and Stanley’s first date. As Rudy’s oldest friend, Kenny always thought he would be Rudy’s first love. And he is not about to give up without a fight.

While construction on the Huxtable kitchen progresses – despite Cliff’s help, Pam laments her low grades. Now a senior, Pam wants to attend a college like Hillman with her best friend, Charmaine. Only two things are holding Pam back; her low GPA and her low SAT scores. Her guidance counselor, Mr. Bostic (Richard Lawson), advises her to apply to a community college. Then, Cliff casts doubt on her chances for acceptance at a major school. To Pam, it seems as if the whole world is against her; even her best friend will be leaving her.

Rudy and two girlfriends don makeup and trendy clothes to crash "The Exchange," an "Over 16" dance club in New York City. Cliff and Clair overhear the plan and decide to let them go – with Pam, Lance and Charmaine as secret chaperones. Since the teen club is a big step down for them, the three mature high schoolers are praying that no one recognizes them. A would-be Romeo tries to hit on Rudy and her friends; Lance steers him away without blowing his cover. But when Pam wins a chance to dance with headline rapper J.T. Freeze, she completely loses her cool.

With Elvin, Sondra and the twins living in the Huxtable home for several weeks, nerves have started to fray. When Cliff temporarily confines the twins in an overturned playpen while he vacuums up cookie crumbs, Sondra explodes, accusing him of cruelty. Tempers flare and recriminations fly between the four adults. "They’ll only be here a few more days," Clair reminds him, until Sondra reveals that those few days may actually stretch into months, owing to a "little problem with escrow." When Cliff turns to Russell for help, his father is sympathetic, but firm. He will offer support, yes... lodging, no.

Russell has heard from "reliable sources" that Vanessa is engaged. Unfortunately, those sources also report that Dabnis is a 45-year old janitor. Alarmed, Russell and Carrie confront Cliff and Clair, who confirm the engagement and try to set the record straight on Dabnis. But the anxious grandparents are not satisfied. So, on only his second visit to the home, Dabnis gets the third degree while Vanessa sweats it out in the kitchen. First, she is disconcerted by Cliff and Clair’s new, positive attitude toward Dabnis. Then, Dabnis gets a resounding "thumbs up" from her grandparents. Suddenly, all the pressure is on Vanessa; she may actually have to set a wedding date!

When Rudy entered junior high, Cliff thought he was finally done with field trips. Wrong. Olivia’s class trip to the natural history museum lacks one chaperone; provided there is no singing on the bus, Cliff agrees. His fellow chaperone? Know-it-all neighbor Jeffrey Engels (Wallace Shawn). Inside the museum, Jeffrey’s high-brow explanations confuse the children. Cliff seizes the opportunity to impress them with his colorful storytelling; his description of the grizzly bear is so vivid, his young audience scatters in terror.

Cliff leads a "For Men Only" guidance class at the community center, giving the boys some plain talk about living, working and surviving in the real world. Meanwhile, Russell’s adventures in babysitting for Olivia include an eye-popping, ear-splitting indoctrination into the wild world of video games. Trying to wean Olivia from her addiction, Russell suggests a nice game of Pick-Up Sticks. But, unimpressed by Russell’s old-fashioned diversion, Olivia convinces him to give her pastime a try instead – and another video-maniac is born!

Olivia is upset because Martin is leaving for the Orient. After extracting a promise that he will not leave without saying goodbye, Olivia hides herself in the living room closet, hoping to delay his departure indefinitely. The rest of the family prepares to welcome legendary African singer Miriam Makeba to the Huxtable home. But Ms. Makeba almost gets lost in the shuffle when Martin comes downstairs to leave, Olivia is nowhere to be found and the whole family abandons their honored guest to search for the six-year-old!

Kenny arrives to console Rudy, the word around school is that Rudy and Stanley are no longer dating. Kenny, Rudy’s old friend, sees it as an opportunity to further his own chances. Trouble is, Stanley may not be as out-of-the-picture as Kenny thinks. Dabnis follows Vanessa to the Huxtable home, mightily confused about a note she left him that described her "returning to her roots."

Tis the season in the Huxtable house – time to hang Christmas lights and bake Christmas cookies. But it will all have to happen without Clair. She is safely tucked away from noisy grandchildren, nosy husband and whiny children in the Clair Hanks Huxtable Room, complete with private phone and secret security code access. As Cliff endeavors to learn the six-digit code "in case of emergencies," Clair says she will have to think it over. Family members who usually rely on Clair for every little thing must fend for themselves. Inside her room, Clair "twists and shouts" to her heart’s content.

Even with his job at the community center, making ends meet is still hard for Theo. So when Tim tells him about a corporate mixer, Theo’s first in line at the buffet table. In between bites, he expresses his opinions about corporate image and employee management to corporate recruiters from a large soup company. Impressed, they offer to fly him to their San Francisco headquarters for an interview. "San Francisco will mean independence," reasons Theo. But as Theo packs, his young friend Eugene wonders how Theo could consider a job in San Francisco over graduate school and the community center. "You ain’t choosin’ no soup over me!" Eugene exclaims.

Pam, Lance and Charmaine discover that talk is cheap and action speaks volumes. When a group of senior citizens complain of the higher prices and poorer quality at the supermarket chain store in their neighborhood, Pam drives them to the chain’s store a few blocks away where the conditions are better. But how, she wonders, can the neighborhood store get away with it? "They have no competition in the poorer neighborhoods," Russell explains. They can raise prices as high as they want." Incensed, Pam, Lance and Charmaine organize the seniors to protest; armed with thousands of pennies, they create a lethal-but-legal log jam at the checkout counter.

Eager for extra cash, Pam fills in for Cliff’s regular assistant. Everything is under control until Mrs. Minifield bypasses the hospital and arrives on Cliff’s doorstep with contractions less than four minutes apart. Meanwhile, Kenny shows up to work on a school science project with Rudy and Stanley. Hoping to make Rudy jealous, Kenny has brought along his girlfriend of three days, Deirdre. Rudy sees right through Kenny’s plan, and so does Deirdre. She dumps Kenny before the paste is dry on their model. Only then does he realize that he actually likes Deirdre.

Knowing Cliff’s penchant for junk food, Clair searches Cliff’s favorite hiding places for chips and cookies before she leaves for a business trip. All she finds are fruits, greens and other healthful items. "I’ve turned over a new leaf," promises Cliff. With the help of every condiment in the refrigerator, the girls manage to make palatable Cliff’s dinner of boiled chicken, brown rice and steamed broccoli. Later, Sondra intercepts a late-night delivery of Buffalo chicken wings, pizza and ice cream. "Olivia," Cliff yells upstairs, "That food you ordered is here!" But as Cliff downs his last slice of pizza, Clair calls from Washington – and sees right through the telephone!

The boxes are packed, the moving van is loaded, but Cliff still has his doubts. "I’ve been burned before," he reminds Clair when she reports that Sondra, Elvin and the twins are ready to depart. While Elvin and Sondra supervise the unloading in New Jersey, Winnie and Nelson remain with Cliff, who would rather take a nap than look after the twins. A game of hide-and-seek ensues and Cliff knocks over the grandfather clock, breaking it. By the time Elvin returns, Cliff is not a happy camper. This may not be the best time for Elvin to explain to Cliff that now he and Sondra have moved to New Jersey, Elvin’s family needs a second car – Cliff’s station wagon!

When their boiler expires, Sondra and Elvin move their housewarming party to the Huxtable house. Russell arrives with gossip about Vanessa that may give the family even more to celebrate; supposedly, Vanessa and Dabnis have finally set a wedding date. Rumor has it wrong, however. Vanessa announces that she and Dabnis have mutually agreed to separate. Cliff, stunned and brokenhearted at the prospect of losing his home repair guru, briefly considers giving up Vanessa and keeping Dabnis.

Preparing for a school project, Olivia seeks out a more reliable source after Cliff tells her a bunch of outrageous stories about himself at age six. Among other things, it seems that Cliff’s first bicycle hangs in the Smithsonian next to the Spirit of St. Louis! Olivia brings Russell on as a consultant, who relates some interesting (and true) stories about the young Cliff that even Cliff has forgotten. Meanwhile, Theo’s students at the community center thrash out the moral and ethical dilemma presented by their discovery of a monogrammed money clip containing $600 in cash.

Clair hosts a group of Hillman College alumnae who have gathered to plan a testimonial for a much-loved professor. While trying to come up with a way to describe the colorful woman, Clair and her friends reminisce about their fun-filled college days. Meanwhile, Olivia persuades Cliff to get a "beauty makeover" in her new hair salon.

Parenting is the #1 topic of the day around the Huxtable home: Sondra and Elvin want to provide for the twins in their will. After seeing a lawyer to draw up a will, Sondra and Elvin narrow the field of candidates for guardianship of the twins. Will it be Cliff and Clair, or Theo? After Rudy oversteps her bounds and Clair reminds her who’s in charge, Rudy turns sullen and surly. Cliff wonders what’s bothering Rudy, besides the fact that she is 13 and her parents are always wrong. "It’s the whole world," Rudy reveals. "It’s everything."

While Clair provides some last-minute legal aid for a public radio station, Cliff finds himself sitting in on a live radio broadcast with Latin Jazz stars Graciela, Willie Colón, and Mario Bauza and His Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra. Meanwhile, Kenny gets his first job – babysitting Olivia.

In her annual plea, Clair begs Cliff to just hand over his receipts and let her and the accountant thrash out the tax return. But Cliff wants to stake his claims first – to Elvin, Sondra, the twins, Olivia, and Cousin Pam as Huxtable dependents. Caught without an appropriate gift for Deirdre’s birthday, Kenny tells her he has planned a party for her at the Huxtables. When Deirdre realizes the party is just a spur-of-the-moment cover-up, she dumps Kenny forever. Desperate Kenny appeals to Stanley for help. Stanley is highly motivated: unless he can convince Deirdre to take Kenny back, Rudy, Stanley and Kenny could become a threesome again.

Cliff invites a host of relatives and friends to celebrate Theo’s graduation from NYU. And, despite a scarcity of tickets, Cliff just keeps on inviting people. Theo’s protests fall on deaf ears. "If they ask me, they’re coming," declares the proud father. Eight years of magic, love and laughter with the Huxtable family come to an end as Cliff’s invitation list for Theo’s graduation continues to grow. At the commencement ceremony, Cliff thinks back eight years to the day he used Monopoly money to illustrate the harsh realities of life to then-13-year-old Theo.

By the time Cliff emerges from his reverie, Theo is already a graduate. Cliff and Clair dance cheek-to-cheek one last time in the Huxtable living room – and then dance off the set into television history. (This episode was immediately followed by a three-minute "thank you" tribute from NBC).