History YMMV / FatAlbertAndTheCosbyKids

* AlternateAesopInterpretation: "The Gunslinger" was clearly intended to deliver your standard "[[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace guns aren't toys]]" message, but it does illustrate two important [[UsefulNotes/GunSafety principles of gun safety]] that are usually overlooked in that sort of story: "Don't use ammunition other than what your gun is designed for" and "don't use ammunition you didn't obtain from a reputable source".

* TearJerker:
** The second half of the buck-buck episode deals with Albert moving away, and how it affects him and rest of the kids. (Weird Harold even sheds a SingleTear.) Their music number deals with the bittersweet nature of having to leave old friends behind and make new ones in a new neighborhood, but [[spoiler:happily, it turns out that his family's only moving into the '''next house down from his old one''']].
** The ending of the LiveActionAdaptation, when Doris goes to visit her grandfather's grave and sees Cosby and his childhood friends (now old men) paying their respects to her grandfather as well (as it turns out that [[spoiler:he was Cosby's friend who Fat Albert had been based on]]). As the camera pans by each of the friends, it flashes to their younger fictional selves, when they were young and happy. A happier TearJerker comes after, as the group chases each other out of the graveyard, clearly still just as energetic and playful as they were as teens.
** While the prison episode "Busted" is deliberately meant to be NightmareFuel, it also has a sad moment. One of the two prisoners warns the gang that even though he will be eventually released from prison, his life can never again be normal as all he has known is prison. This is sadly TruthInTelevision; many prison inmates, especially those who have served long sentences, are NotUsedToFreedom and don't know how to function outside prison. There's also the after effects of having a criminal record such as social stigma and finding employment that will haunt ex-convicts for life.
** The episode "The Shuttered Window" where Undeen's Uncle Monty helps to put on a talent show. Unfortunately, he suddenly dies, leaving his niece depressed and unable to come to terms with his death. Eventually, with her mom and Fat Albert's help, she decides to keep the talent show going to keep his memory alive.
** "Spare the Rod" is one of the saddest and underrated episodes. Fat Albert notices his classmate Patrice has been acting very standoffish, but when she eventually decides to participate in the gang's activities, Fat Albert notices that Patrice has bruises on her arm. Little by little, he finds out that Patrice has been [[AbusiveParents getting beaten by her mother]], which she eventually confesses to him. Watching her go through denial over her situation is sad enough, but the scene near the end that follows is especially heartbreaking. After talking it over with his parents, Fat Albert does everything in his power to try and convince Patrice to go to the authorities, causing her to have a breakdown in her attempts to push him away. The exchange itself hits very close to home:
--->'''Fat Albert:''' Patrice, I've been thinking about what you told me, you know, about your mom and--
--->'''Patrice:''' ''(firmly)'' I want you to forget what I said.
--->'''Fat Albert:''' Forget? You can't forget something like this!
--->'''Patrice:''' There's nothing you can do about it! My parents run the house!
--->'''Fat Albert:''' How can they run the house when they can't even run themselves?
--->'''Patrice:''' [[BigShutUp ENOUGH!]] I love my mom, and she loves me too! (''[[RunningAwayToCry runs away in tears]]'') My mom, my dad, we love all love each other and I don't want anything to happen to them!
--->'''Fat Albert:''' (''runs after her and grabs her arm'') Listen to me! You can put a stop to the beatings you've been getting!
--->'''Patrice:''' Let go! Do you hear?
--->'''Fat Albert:''' You gotta tell somebody! Tell Miss Wucher, or the school nurse, or the police!
--->'''Patrice:''' Why don't you leave me alone? This isn't any of your business!
--->'''Fat Albert:''' No, it ''is'' my business! It's ''your'' business! It's ''EVERYBODY'S'' business! Do it now! (''Patrice sobs'') Patrice, there's no other way to go, you've got to report what your mom is doing to you ''now''!
--->'''Patrice:''' All right! All right, I'll do it! But leave me alone! (''runs off sobbing'') Just leave me alone! Alone!
*** It's also revealed her dad knew about this, but also didn't want his wife and daughter to get in trouble either.
*** The episode even ends a little abruptly: the last we see of Patrice is her tearfully going to Miss Wucher for help, so we never actually see what becomes of her. Thankfully, the last scene has Fat Albert telling the gang to be extra nice to Patrice as she finally went to the authorities. However, it's also unknown whether or not Patrice actually rekindles her friendship with Fat Albert as well, especially considering how much she pushed him away even after she finally relented. (The 1981 chapter book adaptation has her shouting to Fat Albert, "I wish I never met you!" while he tries to urge Patrice to get some help. Ouch.)
*** Even the ''nearby bird'' listening in on Patrice's confession feels sorry for her, sympathetically shaking its head.
** Rudy's massive MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment in the EasterSpecial when his attempt to prank the gang by greasing the ladder lands Mudfoot in the hospital. While we're used to seeing Rudy mess up before, [[TheWoobie you REALLY can't help but feel sorry]] seeing him in this self-loathing state, especially when he tearfully confesses to the gang.
*** Most of the gang [[EverybodyCries shedding tears]] when Mudfoot is taken by the ambulance. Their attempts to help clean up his house and pay his bills really shows how much they care about him.
*** Russell being (understandably) furious at Rudy and attempting to tackle him before being held back by Fat Albert.
*** Rudy later takes up a hazardous job in a scrap iron yard to help pay Mudfoot's medical bills. Fat Albert tries to reason with him, but is unable to talk him out of it.
--->'''Fat Albert:''' You're not gonna help anything if you get hurt, Rudy! This is a dangerous place to work.
--->'''Rudy:''' I don't care about me!
--->''(Fat Albert walks away, then stops and looks back at Rudy, shedding a SingleTear.)''
** Rudy goes through a similar moment in "Water You Waiting For" when his prank to splash Russell almost gets him ''drowned'', followed by him shedding TearsOfJoy when Russell is revived.
** In "Pain, Pain, Go Away", Fat Albert's friend, Darrell has been feeling tired lately, but doesn't think he needs to go to the doctor. After Fat Albert convinces him and his parents to go to the hospital to find out what's wrong, he returns to the gang in absolute shock. Weird Harold observes he looks like he lost his last friend, and Fat Albert reveals that Darrell has Hodgkin's disease, a form of cancer. [[spoiler:Thankfully, it turns out it was detected early and can be treated, so Darrell recovers.]] As Cosby notes, sometimes a word like ''cancer'' "can be more scary than the real thing", so their concern is most definitely understandable.

* * SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments:
** In general, the gang's relationship with [[CoolOldGuy Mudfoot]].
** Fat Albert's interactions with Roberta in "Sweet Sorrow" when the latter is trying to come to terms with her parents getting a divorce. This is particularly noteworthy compared to the previous episode, "Spare the Rod", where Patrice ([[AbusiveParents who, understandably, dealt with an abusive mother]]) still acted cold to Fat Albert while he tried to help her. "Sweet Sorrow" is a sweeter departure from this; even though Roberta is incredibly depressed over her own matter, she still treats Fat Albert much nicer than Patrice ever did. Even if she almost took her anger out on the gang during hockey practice, she was quick to come to her senses once she sees both her parents (albeit sitting separately) in the audience, having came to support her. She's even kind enough to join the gang in their clubhouse, when Fat Albert invites her to watch "The Brown Hornet" with them, marking one of the few times in the series that this happens.

** Another (and earlier) divorce-related episode, "Mom or Pop" also qualifies, especially since Rudy accidentally finds out the hard way: when the gang tries to find out what Flora has in her little pink bag: Rudy attempts to snatch it and it rips apart, revealing a toy puppy. Flora breaks down in tears, revealing the puppy is from her father and that her parents recently divorced. The song at the end also qualifies as this big-time.

* HeartwarmingMoments: Fat Albert's interactions with Roberta in "Sweet Sorrow" when the latter is trying to come to terms with her parents getting a divorce. This is particularly noteworthy compared to the previous episode, "Spare the Rod", where Patrice ([[AbusiveParents who, understandably, dealt with an abusive mother]]) still acted cold to Fat Albert while he tried to help her. "Sweet Sorrow" is a sweeter departure from this; even though Roberta is incredibly depressed over her own matter, she still treats Fat Albert much more nicely than Patrice ever did. Even if she almost took her anger out on the gang during hockey practice, she was quick to come to her senses once she sees both her parents (albeit sitting separately) in the audience, having came to support her. She's even kind enough to join the gang in their clubhouse, when Fat Albert invites her to watch "The Brown Hornet", marking one of the few times in the series that this happens.

** The second half of the buck-buck episode deals with Albert moving away, and how it affects him and rest of the kids. Their music number deals with the bittersweet nature of having to leave old friends behind and make new ones in a new neighborhood, but [[spoiler:happily, it turns out that his family's only moving into the '''next house down from his old one''']].

*** Rudy later takes up a hazardous job in a scrap iron yard to help pay Mudfoot's medical bills. Fat Albert is unable to talk him out of it

-->'''Fat Albert:''' Patrice, I've been thinking about what you told me, you know, about your mom and--
-->'''Patrice:''' ''(firmly)'' I want you to forget what I said.
-->'''Fat Albert:''' Forget? You can't forget something like this!
-->'''Patrice:''' There's nothing you can do about it! My parents run the house!
-->'''Fat Albert:''' How can they run the house when they can't even run themselves?
-->'''Patrice:''' [[BigShutUp ENOUGH!]] I love my mom, and she loves me too! (''[[RunningAwayToCry runs away in tears]]'') My mom, my dad, we love all love each other and I don't want anything to happen to them!
-->'''Fat Albert:''' (''runs after her and grabs her arm'') Listen to me! You can put a stop to the beatings you've been getting!
-->'''Patrice:''' Let go! Do you hear?
-->'''Fat Albert:''' You gotta tell somebody! Tell Miss Wucher, or the school nurse, or the police!
-->'''Patrice:''' Why don't you leave me alone? This isn't any of your business!
-->'''Fat Albert:''' No, it ''is'' my business! It's ''your'' business! It's ''EVERYBODY'S'' business! Do it now! (''Patrice sobs'') Patrice, there's no other way to go, you've got to report what your mom is doing to you ''now''!
-->'''Patrice:''' All right! All right, I'll do it! But leave me alone! (''runs off sobbing'') Just leave me alone! Alone!
*** It's even revealed her dad knew about this, but also didn't want his wife and daughter to get in trouble either.

** Rudy's massive MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment in "Water You Waiting For" when his prank to splash Russell almost gets him ''drowned'', followed by him shedding TearsOfJoy when Russell is revived.

-->'''Patrice:''' [[BigShutUp ENOUGH!]] I love my mom, and she loves me too! (''[[RunsAwayToCry runs away in tears]]'') My mom, my dad, we love all love each other and I don't want anything to happen to them!

-->'''Fat Albert:''' No, it ''is'' my business! It's ''your'' business! It's ''EVERYBODY'S'' business! Do it now! (''Patrice sobs'') Patrice, there's no other way to go, you've got to report what your mom is doing to you now!

*** The episode even ends a little abruptly: the last we see of Patrice is her tearfully going to Miss Wucher for help. While it's unknown whether Patrice actually rekindles her friendship with Fat Albert, we never actually see what becomes of her; although the last scene has Fat Albert telling the gang to be extra nice to Patrice as she finally went to the authorities.

** ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' [[Recap/SouthParkS2E12Clubhouses once lampooned this]] when Stan's mom demanded Stan and Kyls watch ''[[https://youtu.be/bK1D3OV1jb0?si=cphKvRKHfpdMvpLj The Fat Abbott Show]]'' instead of ''[[ShowWithinAShow Terrance &]] [[ToiletHumor Philip]]'', and Stan found that ''Fat Abbott'' is filled with swearing, violence and terrible life lessons.

** Fernando is well-remembered as [[spoiler: the only character that died in the show via gunshot, after making a HeroicSacrifice to save his brother]].
* FairForItsDay: The episode with Dennis, a mentally challenged young boy. Despite the usage of the word "retarded" to describe his disability, the episode shows that, in spite of his disability, he could do almost as much, and he does need help from time to time, but that wouldn’t let him get in his way.

** A clip of Weird Harold walking up to Fat Albert and angrily yelling "I win!" began making rounds around Twitter in late 2018.
** The entire show became one in April of 2017 alongside Steve Harvey for some reason.

** Special mention goes to the ''Double Cross'' episode where Mudfoot's Jewish Rabbi friend tells Fat Albert about his experiences as a Jewish prisoner in the Nazi concentrations camps. We also see the tatooed numbers on his arm. Fat Albert later saves the life of the racist gang leader George after he accidentally slipped and hung for his life off the roof of a Synagogue that he had just vandalized. Despite Creator/BillCosby's in-episode comment that Fat Albert should probably have waited for the rescue professionals instead of risking his own life, the scene clearly indicates that George lost his grip before they had time to set up the rescue ladder. He survived only because Fat Albert was close enough to catch him. There is absolutely no indication that George is grateful for being saved or that he is ashamed of his actions, however, but as he and his friends are headed for jail, it's neither here nor there.

* SignatureScene: The show had a lot of fondly-remembered moments but the shocking ones stands out the most.
** The entire second half of ''Busted'' where Fat Albert and his friends visits a prison.
** [[spoiler: Fernando's death]].

** The second half of the buck-buck episode deals with Fat Albert moving away, and how it affects him and rest of the kids. Their music number deals with the bittersweet nature of having to leave old friends behind and make new ones in a new neighborhood, but [[spoiler:happily, it turns out that his family's only moving into the next house down from his old one.]]
** The ending of the LiveActionAdaptation, when Doris goes to visit her grandfather's grave and sees Bill Cosby and his childhood friends (now old men) paying their respects to her grandfather as well (as it turns out that [[spoiler:he was Cosby's friend who Fat Albert had been based off of]]). As the camera pans by each of the friends, it flashes to their younger fictional selves, when they were young and happy. A happier TearJerker comes after, as the group chases each other out of the graveyard, clearly still just as energetic and playful as they were as teens.

** In one episode, a child with special needs joins the class. The teacher later pulls Albert over and literally describes the boy as ‘retarded’. Nowadays a teacher would never dream of using that term to describe a disabled boy, nor would the term ever be used on a kids show, but in 1979 the word didn’t have nearly the kind of negative connotations it has now. Since when this show initially aired, the word in question was a genuine medical term for anyone with a mental disability. It wasn't until later, with people using it as an insult that it morphed into a slur.

** In "How the West Was Lost," the Junkyard Gang meets a new indigenous student named Johnny and immediately assume that he'll be a MagicalNativeAmerican who can do all manner of tricks, since they've only ever seen native peoples depicted in Western movies and TV shows. Johnny is firmly ''not'' a stereotype, though, and the kids decide (after a little help from Mudfoot) to actually learn about indigenous peoples and treat Johnny with respect. Seeing a non-stereotypical Native American was groundbreaking in the 1970's and still relevant in the 2020s.

** ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' once lampooned this when Stan's mom demanded they watched ''The Fat Abbott Show'' instead of ''[[ShowWithinAShow Terrance & Philip]]'', and Stan found that ''The Fat Abbott Show'' was filled with swearing and violence.

* AlternateAesopInterpretation: "The Gunslinger" was clearly intended to deliver your standard "[[IJustShotMarvinInTheFaceguns aren't toys]]" message, but it does illustrate two important [[UsefulNotes/GunSafety principles of gun safety]] that are usually overlooked in that sort of story: "Don't use ammunition other than what your gun is designed for" and "don't use ammunition you didn't obtain from a reputable source".

* AlternateAesopInterpretation: "The Gunslinger" was clearly intended to deliver your standard "[[IJustShotMarvinInTheFaceguns aren't toys]]" message, but it does illustrate two important [[principles of gun safety]] that are usually overlooked in that sort of story: "Don't use ammunition other than what your gun is designed for" and "don't use ammunition you didn't obtain from a reputable source".

* FairForItsDay: The episode with Dennis, a mentally challenged young boy. Despite the usage of the word "retarded" to describe his disability, the episode shows that, in spite of disability, he could do almost as much, and he does need help from time to time, but that wouldn’t let him get in his way.

* FairForItsDay: The episode with Dennis, a mentally challenged young boy. Despite the usage of the word "retarded" describe his disability, the episode shows that, in spite of disability, he could do almost as much, and he does need help from time to time, but that wouldn’t let him get in his way.

* FairForItsDay: The episode with Dennis, a mentally challenged young boy. Despite the usage of the word “retarded“ describe his disability, the episode shows that, in spite of disability, he could do almost as much, and he does need help from time to time, but that wouldn’t let him get in his way.