The Cosby Show
Denise's Decision
TV Flash files “Denise's Decision” as hour 47 of 201 in the TV Flash guide — The Cosby Show (1984–1992) on NBC, season 2, episode 23, aired 1986-04-10, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E23: listed hour 47 of 201 in the The Cosby Show guide, hour 23 of 25 in season 2. It aired 1986-04-10 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “An Early Spring” (S02E22). Next is “The Card Game” (S02E24).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Cliff and his father are among the Huxtables who cannot keep their opinions to themselves when Denise is faced with the difficult decision of which college to attend. Although Denise cannot decide if she wants to go away to school, Cliff and Russell try to persuade her to attend their alma mater in North Carolina. Theo is worried about losing out on Denise's car if she goes away, and Vanessa already has plans for her sister's room.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Denise's Decision sit in the The Cosby Show guide?
S02E23 is listed hour 47 of 201 — hour 23 of 25 in season 2, season 2 episode 23.
When did The Cosby Show S02E23 air?
Denise's Decision aired 1986-04-10 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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