The Cosby Show
Play It Again, Russell
TV Flash files “Play It Again, Russell” as hour 41 of 201 in the TV Flash guide — The Cosby Show (1984–1992) on NBC, season 2, episode 17, aired 1986-02-13, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E17: listed hour 41 of 201 in the The Cosby Show guide, hour 17 of 25 in season 2. It aired 1986-02-13 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “The Dentist” (S02E16). Next is “A Touch of Wonder” (S02E18).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
After an example of not so great trombone playing at a Jazz club gig, Russell needs to get it together quick because the next time is his career finale.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Play It Again, Russell sit in the The Cosby Show guide?
S02E17 is listed hour 41 of 201 — hour 17 of 25 in season 2, season 2 episode 17.
When did The Cosby Show S02E17 air?
Play It Again, Russell aired 1986-02-13 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Should I watch The Cosby Show as comfort TV?
Watch it as craft and as history, not as a clean hug. The Huxtable household is peak 1980s multi-cam — and the star's later disgrace is public record that reframes every rerun.
In the series
Why this series still plays
For the craft of 1980s multi-cam family comedy at absolute peak dominance — ensemble timing, kid arcs, and a household that felt like a national hearth. Watch as television history, knowing the star's later disgrace is part of the public record.
Thursday was not a mood. It was a **timeslot that owned the chart**. NBC's The Cosby Show (1984–1992) made obstetrician Cliff and lawyer Clair Huxtable the appointment that yanked the sitcom out of a post-rural-purge slump and stacked Must See TV like inventory with a laugh track. Carsey-Werner multi-cam at commercial peak: 201 episodes, eight seasons, Nielsen topping through multiple mid-to-late-1980s seasons. Rex will toast the living room as civic hearth. The business was a Brooklyn brownstone treated as civic…
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