When the idea of Groucho’s old show came up, says Cosby, “My thought was: piece of cake. He said, ‘I got a show in mind.’ I said, ‘Does it have the feel of “You Bet Your Life” ’? And his answer was, ‘You bet your life it does.’ I said, ‘What’s the show?’ He says, ‘You Bet Your Life.’ ” Not four, five weeks go by when he called. “I figured Tom would call in two, three months.
And he said, ‘That’s right.’ So I said, ‘We’ll see what he comes up with.’ I told him that if the show had the feel of a ‘You Bet Your Life,’ we could have an interest. “I called Bill the minute I hung up the phone. “Out of the blue, Tom Werner calls me and says, ‘How would you feel about Bill doing a show where he could interact with people?’ I said, ‘If the show has the feeling of a “You Bet Your Life” type of show that Groucho did or something that Buster Keaton did-because they’re two of Bill’s favorite comedians-then it’s something we could talk about.’ With “The Cosby Show” winding up its eighth season this spring, Brokaw recalls how the matchup of his star and “You Bet Your Life” came about: And just as singers used to go to ‘My Funny Valentine,’ comedians go to ‘So, where are you from?’ or ‘What kind of job do you have? Are you married? Do you have children?’ That’s when a comedian is probing for something funny to take off on"-which is exactly the stuff of “You Bet Your Life.” “With all the stand-up comedians in the last few years,” adds Cosby, “the thing they all have in common is when you see them run out of material right before your very eyes. “ ‘You Bet Your Life’ is a stand-up comedian’s dream,” says Cosby, who carried NBC from the ratings basement to the penthouse and whose syndication sales for his sitcom have already passed the $800-million mark. of Television Program Executives (NATPE), gets under way today in New Orleans. With this powerful team tuning up, it is no surprise that the Cosby-era “You Bet Your Life” already has signed up at least 82 stations covering 67% of the nation as the big annual convention focusing on syndication sales, the National Assn. In addition, the new “You Bet Your Life” also bears the imprimatur of heavyweight producers Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner, whose hits include “The Cosby Show” and “Roseanne.” Their relationship has been one of the most productive and profitable in show business history. Keeping a sharp eye on Cosby’s career moves, as always, is his close adviser for three decades, Norman Brokaw, chairman and chief executive officer of the William Morris agency. When he ends “The Cosby Show” this season-"It’s in cement,” he says-he will move this fall directly into off-network syndication in a new, daily version of Groucho Marx’s old quiz show, “You Bet Your Life.”
GROUCHO MARX MAGIC WORD SERIES
With two historic TV series behind him-"I Spy,” in which he became the first black actor to star in a weekly drama, and “The Cosby Show,” a monumentally successful comedy-the 54-year-old entertainer is about to take the plunge again in a program that already has a legendary past.
When you’ve revolutionized TV, earned untold fortunes for countless people and become one of the world’s most popular stars, it might be difficult to decide what to do next.
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