''Little Bill'' is an American

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

educational television Educational television or learning television is the use of television programs in the field of distance education. It may be in the form of individual television programs or dedicated specialty channels that is often associated with cable telev ...

series created by

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...

. It is based on the ''Little Bill'' book series, written by Cosby with illustrations by Varnette P. Honeywood. Cosby also composed some of the theme music, appeared in

live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...

in the show's intro sequence, and voiced the recurring character of Captain Brainstorm. It was Cosby's second animated series, after ''

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids ''Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids'' is an American animated television series created, produced, and hosted (in live action bookends) by comedian Bill Cosby, who also lent his voice to a number of characters, including Fat Albert and himself. Film ...

''. The show's main character, Little Bill, was inspired by both Cosby's childhood and by his late son,

Ennis Cosby Ennis William Cosby (April 15, 1969 – January 16, 1997), the only son of American comedian Bill Cosby, was murdered on January 16, 1997, near Interstate 405 in Los Angeles, California. He was shot in the head by 18-year-old Mikhail Markhas ...

. Little Bill's catchphrase ("Hello, friend!") was originally a greeting that Ennis used. The show is set in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Cosby's hometown. Each episode features Little Bill learning a lesson while interacting with his large family and group of friends. The show was developed with a panel of educational consultants. The series originally ran on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

from November 28, 1999 to February 6, 2004, and reruns continued until December 22, 2006. In September 2007, Nickelodeon announced that ''Little Bill'' would permanently move to the Noggin channel. It premiered on Noggin on September 10, 2007. Reruns continued to air until 2014, when the show was pulled from the air.

Plot

Set in

, the show centers on Little Bill Glover as he explores everyday life through his imagination. Little Bill lives with his parents, his great grandmother Alice (nicknamed Alice the Great), his older sister April, and brother Bobby. Each episode includes a daydreaming sequence where Little Bill imagines a fantastical scenario. At the end of every show, he

breaks the fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...

by summarizing his day to the audience before going to bed, and a relative asks: "Little Bill, who are you talking to?"

History

''Little Bill'' was first announced in 1997. It aired on

from 1999 until 2006. The series also aired on '' Nick on CBS'' from September 16, 2000 until September 9, 2006. In September 2007, ''Little Bill'' was moved to the Noggin channel, which advertised it as a "new series". Noggin aired five "premiere episodes" from September 10 to September 15, 2007. Reruns of ''Little Bill'' were shown on Noggin and the

Nick Jr. channel The Nick Jr. Channel is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running Nick Jr. programming block. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. The channel launched on Sept ...

until 2014, when Nickelodeon removed the show from its services. In addition to pulling reruns, ''Little Bill'' was removed from NickJr.com in 2014. Commenting on the show's removal from television, ''

Distractify ''Distractify'' is an online publication and Internet media company launched in 2013 by Quinn Hu (also known as the YouTuber 2 Bucks), Yosef Lerner, and Jake Heppner. The company started as a social media startup for viral content and later branch ...

'' wrote: "Perhaps ''Little Bill'' should be left in the past."

Episodes

Characters

Glover household

* William "Little Bill" Glover Jr. (voiced by Xavier Pritchett) is an inquisitive five-year-old boy. He has a knack for storytelling and often finds himself

daydreaming Daydreaming is the stream of consciousness that detaches from current, external tasks when attention drifts to a more personal and internal direction. This phenomenon is common in people's daily life shown by a large-scale study in which partici ...

his own fantasy worlds. Little Bill's catchphrase "Hello, friend!" was originally a greeting used by Bill Cosby's late son,

. * William "Big Bill" Glover (voiced by

Gregory Hines Gregory Oliver Hines (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) was an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and singer. He is one of the most celebrated tap dancers of all time. As an actor, he is best known for '' Wolfen'' (1981), '' The Cotton C ...

) is Little Bill, Bobby, and April's father, and is the husband of Brenda. He works as a

building inspector A building inspection is an inspection performed by a building inspector, a person who is employed by either a city, township or county and is usually certified in one or more disciplines qualifying them to make professional judgment about whether ...

for the city. He is nicknamed Big Bill since both he and his son are named Bill. In an interview, Bill Cosby said that "I am Big Bill." * Brenda Glover (née Kendall) (voiced by

Phylicia Rashad Phylicia Rashad ( ) (née Ayers-Allen; born June 19, 1948) is an American actress, singer and director who is dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University. She is best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the NBC sitcom ''The Cosby S ...

) is Little Bill, Bobby, and April's mother, and is the wife of Big Bill. Brenda's voice actress, Phylicia Rashad, had previously played

Clair Huxtable Clair Huxtable is a fictional character who appears on the American sitcom ''The Cosby Show'' (1984–1992). Portrayed by actress Phylicia Rashad, Clair, the wife of Cliff Huxtable and mother of their five children, is the matriarch of the show' ...

(wife to Cosby's character,

Cliff Huxtable Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the NBC sitcom ''The Cosby Show,'' which aired from 1984 to 1992. He was portrayed by actor and comedian Bill Cosby and appeared in all 201 episodes of the show. Cliff ...

) on ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class African- ...

''. * April Glover (voiced by Monique Beasley) is the oldest and only daughter of Brenda and Big Bill. She tends to be competitive and plays basketball. * Robert "Bobby" Glover (voiced by Devon Malik Beckford in season 1 and

Tyler James Williams Tyler James Williams (born October 9, 1992) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor, making several appearances on ''Saturday Night Live'', ''Little Bill'', and ''Sesame Street''. Williams later rose to prominence for playing ...

in season 2) is the middle child, and oldest son of the Glover children. He is a Boy Scout and plays the violin. * Alice the Great (voiced by

Ruby Dee Ruby Dee (October 27, 1922 – June 11, 2014) was an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and civil rights activist. She originated the role of "Ruth Younger" in the stage and film versions of ''A Raisin in the Sun'' (19 ...

and Anika Walker in a flashback in "Good Ol' Lightning") is the great-grandmother of Little Bill, Bobby, April, and Jamal. Alice is also Brenda and Deborah's grandmother. She is in her seventies and lives with the family. * Elephant is the family pet, a small, light yellow

hamster Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera.Fox, Sue. 2006. ''Hamsters''. T.F.H. Publications Inc. They have become established as popular small pets. The b ...

who lives in Little Bill's bedroom. He often rolls around the house in a plastic

hamster ball Hamster balls are hollow spheres made of clear plastic into which hamsters, gerbils, degus and other small rodent pets are placed, allowing them to run around outside their cages without the risk of running away or getting lost under furniture. ...

. He was named after Little Bill's favorite animal.

Friends and neighbors

* Captain Brainstorm (voiced by

) is an

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

who has an orange rocket and an orange space suit. Little Bill is a fan of his television show, ''Space Explorers''. * Andrew Mulligan (voiced by

Zach Tyler Eisen Zachary Tyler Eisen (born September 23, 1993) is an American former voice actor. He voiced Aang in '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'', Lucas Nickle in ''The Ant Bully'', Andrew in Nick Jr's ''Little Bill'' and Pablo in the American animated televisi ...

) is an

Irish-American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

boy who is Little Bill's best friend. He lives two houses away from Little Bill. He has an active imagination like Little Bill, and they often join each other in fantasy sequences. He has a dog named Farfy. * Kiku Wong (voiced by Eunice Cho) is an

Asian-American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

friend of Little Bill's. She likes being creative, putting on puppet shows, and making artwork. She is very ambitious and wants to be president when she grows up. * Fuchsia Glover (voiced by Nakia Williams in season 1 and Kianna Underwood in season 2) is the paternal cousin of Little Bill, Bobby, and April. Her mother is named Vanessa and a father named Al. She is known for always speaking her mind. * Alan "Al" Glover (voiced by Michael Green) is Big Bill's brother, Fuschia's father, Vanessa's wife, and the uncle of Little Bill, Bobby, and April. He runs a convenience store in town. * Dorado (voiced by Vincent Canales) is a friend of Little Bill who is Puerto Rican. * Monty (voiced by

Cole Hawkins Cole East Hawkins (born October 4, 1991) is an American actor in both television and film. Early and personal life Cole was born in Manhattan, New York City. He attended Northeastern University. Career Hawkins appeared in ''School of Rock'' a ...

) is the grandson of Alice the Great's friend Emmaline. He uses a wheelchair to get around, and he was born with

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensa ...

. Later in the series, he joins Little Bill's class. * Michael Riley (voiced by Muhammad Cunningham) is a classmate of Little Bill's who moves to the neighborhood from

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. * Miss Murray (voiced by Ayo Haynes in season 1 and

Melanie Nicholls-King Melanie Nicholls-King is a Canadian actress, perhaps best known for playing Cheryl in the drama series ''The Wire'', and for her portrayal of Officer Noelle Williams in the drama series ''Rookie Blue''. Personal life Nicholls-King is from Toron ...

in season 2) is Little Bill's kindergarten teacher. She marries Dr. Clinkscales in "Miss Murray's Wedding". * Dr. Winthrop Clinkscales (voiced by Christopher Grossett) is Mrs. Murray's husband, whom she married in "Miss Murray's Wedding". * Mrs. Shapiro (voiced by

Madeline Kahn Madeline Gail Kahn ('' née'' Wolfson; September 29, 1942 – December 3, 1999) was an American actress, comedian and singer, known for comedic roles in films directed by Peter Bogdanovich and Mel Brooks, including '' What's Up, Doc?'' (1972), ' ...

in her first appearance, and later by Kathy Najimy after Khan's death) is Little Bill's neighbor. * Mr. Miguel Rojas (voiced by

Victor Argo Victor Argo (November 5, 1934 – April 7, 2004) was an American actor of Puerto Rican descent who usually played the part of a tough bad guy in his movies. He had a career span of forty years. He is best known for ''Mean Streets'' (1973), ' ...

) is an elderly

Mexican-American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...

man who speaks

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

. * Mr. Clark Terry (voiced by

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948–51), Duke ...

) is Alice the Great and Little Bill's new friend. He was voiced by

, whom he is named and modeled after. * Baby Jamal Welsh is Little Bill's maternal baby cousin, son of Deborah (Brenda's sister) and Gary. * Percy Mulch (voiced by Doug E. Doug) is the owner of a pet shop. * Mr. Williams (voiced by Mike Mearian) is a music store owner. * Aunt Deborah Kendall (voiced by

Grace Garland Grace Garland (born in New York City) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She rose to fame in the early 1980s playing Vera Vanderbilt on the TV series ''All My Children''. She later went on to become a series regular on ''The Apollo Com ...

) is Brenda's younger sister, the wife of Uncle Gary (Weston Clark) and the mother of Baby Jamal.

Related media

Several episodes were released to VHS and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

Paramount Home Media Distribution Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, and originally Paramount Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global. The division oversees PPC's home entertainm ...

. A computer game, ''Little Bill Thinks Big'', was released on September 29, 2003 for

Windows XP Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and ...

and

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

Main video releases

Episodes on Nick Jr. compilation DVDs

Awards

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

– '' Outstanding Performer In An Animated Program'' –

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

– '' Outstanding Children's Animated Program''

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

* 200161st Annual Peabody Awards
May 2002.

Footnotes

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, 1990s, Television, United States, Children's literature 1990s American animated television series 1990s American black cartoons 1990s American black television series 1999 American television series debuts 2000s American animated television series 2000s American black cartoons 2000s American black television series 2004 American television series endings American children's animated fantasy television series American television series with live action and animation English-language television shows Nickelodeon original programming Nick Jr. original programming American television shows based on children's books Peabody Award-winning television programs Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program winners Television series created by Bill Cosby American preschool education television series Animated television series about children Animated television series about families Animation based on real people Television shows set in Pennsylvania 1990s Nickelodeon original programming 2000s Nickelodeon original programming Television shows set in Philadelphia