Cosby pursued a variety of additional television projects and appeared as a regular guest host on The Tonight Show and as the star of an annual special for NBC.
In 1969, he returned with another series, The Bill Cosby Show, a situation comedy that ran for two seasons.
Cosby played a physical education teacher at a Los Angeles high school.
While only a modest critical success, the show was a ratings hit, finishing eleventh in its first season.
Cosby was lauded for using African-American performers such as Lillian Randolph, Moms Mabley, and Rex Ingram as characters.
According to commentary on the Season 1 DVDs for the show, Cosby was at odds with NBC over his refusal to include a laugh track in the show, as he felt viewers had the ability to find humor for themselves when watching a TV show.

After The Bill Cosby Show left the air, Cosby resumed his formal education.
He began graduate work at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
For the PBS series The Electric Company, Cosby recorded several segments teaching reading skills to young children.

When Cosby was about 35 years old in 1972, he received an MA from UMass Amherst and was also back in prime time with a variety series, The New Bill Cosby Show.
However, this show lasted only a season.
More successful was a Saturday-morning cartoon, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, hosted by Cosby and based on his own childhood.
That series ran from 1972 to 1979, then ran as The New Fat Albert Show in 1979, and finally ran as The Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.
In 1984, Cosby wrote a dissertation: "An Integration of the Visual Media Via 'Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids' into the Elementary School Curriculum as a Teaching Aid and Vehicle to Achieve Increased Learning".
This was as partial fulfillment for his 1976 doctorate in education from UMass.
Subsequently, Temple University granted him his bachelor's degree on the basis of "life experience".

During the 1970s, Cosby and other African-American actors, including Sidney Poitier, joined forces to make some successful comedy films to counter the violent "blaxploitation" films of the era, such as Uptown Saturday Night in 1974; Let's Do It Again in 1975; and in 1976, Mother, Jugs & Speed, co-starring Raquel Welch and Harvey Keitel.
About this last film, a Rotten Tomatoes reviewer wrote, "Bill Cosby steals the film outright with his hilarious performance as 'Mother', the streetwise seen-it-all EMT."

In 1976, Cosby starred in A Piece of the Action with Poitier; and California Suite, a compilation of four Neil Simon plays.
He also hosted Cos in 1976.
In addition, he produced an hour-long variety show featuring puppets, sketches, and musical numbers.
It was during this season that ABC decided to take advantage of this phase of Cosby's career, by joining with Filmation producers of Fat Albert to create live-action segments starring Cosby, for the 1964/1971 animated film Journey Back to Oz; it subsequently aired in syndication.
Cosby was also a regular on children's public television programs starting in the 1970s, hosting the "Picture Pages" segments that lasted into the early 1980s.
Cosby pursued a variety of additional television projects and appeared as a regular guest host on The Tonight Show and as the star of an annual special for NBC. In 1969, he returned with another series, The Bill Cosby Show, a situation comedy that ran for two seasons. Cosby played a physical education teacher at a Los Angeles high school. While only a modest critical success, the show was a ratings hit, finishing eleventh in its first season. Cosby was lauded for using African-American performers such as Lillian Randolph, Moms Mabley, and Rex Ingram as characters. According to commentary on the Season 1 DVDs for the show, Cosby was at odds with NBC over his refusal to include a laugh track in the show, as he felt viewers had the ability to find humor for themselves when watching a TV show.
After The Bill Cosby Show left the air, Cosby resumed his formal education. He began graduate work at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. For the PBS series The Electric Company, Cosby recorded several segments teaching reading skills to young children.
When Cosby was about 35 years old in 1972, he received an MA from UMass Amherst and was also back in prime time with a variety series, The New Bill Cosby Show. However, this show lasted only a season. More successful was a Saturday-morning cartoon, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, hosted by Cosby and based on his own childhood. That series ran from 1972 to 1979, then ran as The New Fat Albert Show in 1979, and finally ran as The Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. In 1984, Cosby wrote a dissertation: "An Integration of the Visual Media Via 'Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids' into the Elementary School Curriculum as a Teaching Aid and Vehicle to Achieve Increased Learning". This was as partial fulfillment for his 1976 doctorate in education from UMass. Subsequently, Temple University granted him his bachelor's degree on the basis of "life experience".
During the 1970s, Cosby and other African-American actors, including Sidney Poitier, joined forces to make some successful comedy films to counter the violent "blaxploitation" films of the era, such as Uptown Saturday Night in 1974; Let's Do It Again in 1975; and in 1976, Mother, Jugs & Speed, co-starring Raquel Welch and Harvey Keitel. About this last film, a Rotten Tomatoes reviewer wrote, "Bill Cosby steals the film outright with his hilarious performance as 'Mother', the streetwise seen-it-all EMT."
In 1976, Cosby starred in A Piece of the Action with Poitier; and California Suite, a compilation of four Neil Simon plays. He also hosted Cos in 1976. In addition, he produced an hour-long variety show featuring puppets, sketches, and musical numbers. It was during this season that ABC decided to take advantage of this phase of Cosby's career, by joining with Filmation producers of Fat Albert to create live-action segments starring Cosby, for the 1964/1971 animated film Journey Back to Oz; it subsequently aired in syndication. Cosby was also a regular on children's public television programs starting in the 1970s, hosting the "Picture Pages" segments that lasted into the early 1980s.
Bill Cosby