NBC head: Mass BIll Cosby accusations led to canceling sitcom

When the Bill Cosby allegations started to resurface late last year, everyone tied to the actor / comedian had to make some hard choices. With that being said, some chose to wait a little longer than others to make their choices clear.

As a network, there is little denying that NBC waited a little longer than others to sever ties with Cosby, as they were starting to develop a new family comedy featuring him in a lead role. Eventually, they did decide to not move forward, and now the only mention of him has come via “The Today Show” and also “Celebrity Apprentice,” where former “Cosby Show” star Keshia Knight Pulliam was fired after seemingly not calling him for donations.

So what made NBC take their time to analyze the situation? As Robert Greenblatt, the network’s head of programming, told reporters at TCA on Friday, much of it had to do with there being an awareness of Cosby’s past going into it, and they wanted to make sure that they made the right decision:

“We heard some of those accusations, we knew there were settlements and what not, but it didn’t seem to be [at] critical mass …. But when that many people come out [with accusations], there was no way that we could move forward with it.”

The wrong thing to do here is to assume that NBC or any corporation is a moral authority, or follows the same rules as a court of law. Rather than waiting to determine guilt or innocence, they knew that the story eventually reached a point where Cosby could not be redeemed in the public eye. Greenblatt added that the network has no plans to ever work with Cosby again, a sign that TCA is putting the issue to bed.

We will still have some further news on this if it comes out. For now, just sign up to get some additional TV updates via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: NBC.)