The Imagery Has Changed

I used to watch The Cosby Show just to catch a glimpse of Lisa Bonet.
But for many, the show was seen as a false example of life within a middle-class Black family.
Many Blacks couldn't imagine a family of Blacks who had an education, good jobs and good credit and who didn't live in the ghetto, have a teenage pregnancy or speak in Ebonics.
For many, the Cosby Show was viewed as Blacks "acting white".

For many of a certain demographic - the pre-Cosby television landscape was pristine and idyllic.

Top Rated Television Shows 1983-84
Dallas
60 Minutes
Dynasty
The A-Team
Simon and Simon
Magnum P.I.
Falcon Crest
Kate & Allie
Hotel
Cagney & Lacey
Knot's Landing
ABC Sunday Movie
ABC Monday Movie
TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes
After MASH
The Fall Guy
The Love Boat
Riptide
The Jeffersons
Scarecrow and Mrs. King

Mr. T (The A-Team) was a cartoon character, TC (Magnum PI) owned a helicopter service, Sherry Belafonte (Hotel) was some type of service manager, Issac (The Love Boat) was a bartender, and George Jefferson was a buffoon.
Pre-Cosby, the range of Black characters (or any characters of color) was limited to that of what television executives imagined other ethnic groups to be.

Top Rated Television Shows 1984-85
Dynasty
Dallas
The Cosby Show
60 Minutes
Family Ties
Simon & Simon
Murder She Wrote
Knot's Landing
Falcon Crest
Crazy Like A Fox
Hotel
Cheers
Riptide
Magnum PI
Newhart
Kate and Allie
NBC Monday Movie
highway to Heaven
Night Court

Many said that Cosby was unrealistic.
Why?
Were Dallas, Dynasty, Falcon Crest or Knot's Landing closer to the realities of white viewers than was Cosby's reality to that of Black viewers?
Were all white people really rich and glamorous while all minorities were just paid servants?

Top Rated television Shows 2010
Dancing With The Stars
American Idol (Performance)
American Idol (Results)
NCIS
The Mentalist
NCIS
CSI
Survivor
The Good Wife
Criminal Minds
Dancing With The Stars (Results)
The Big Bang Theory
Glee
Jessie Stone
Desperate Housewives
Grey's Anatomy
Castle
...

Today, Blacks don't just play doctors on television - some even write and create the shows about doctors (Grey's Anatomy) which have multi-ethnics casts.
Besides Desperate Housewives - name a top rated show which has no one of a darker hue playing a central part?
Sure, some can say that Cosby didn't matter, that it was only a television show, that it had no effect on ones day-to-day life.
But the real impact could not be immediately measured.
The real impact wasn't only that it may have changed the way others view Blacks.
The real impact was on the way more Blacks came to view themselves.
It was this shift in imagery which made it possible for many to imagine and then pursue a life beyond that which was dictated by society.