Little Bill
| Little Bill | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Children's television series Educational |
| Created by | Bill Cosby |
| Based on | |
| Developed by | Fracaswell Hyman |
| Directed by |
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| Creative director | Robert Scull |
| Voices of |
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| Theme music composer | Bill Cosby, Don Braden, and Jon Faddis |
| Composers | Stu Gardner and Art Lisi |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 52 (101 segments) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producers |
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| Running time | 24 minutes |
| Production companies | Nickelodeon Animation Studio New York (credited as Nick Jr. Productions) |
| Original release | |
| Network | Nickelodeon |
| Release | November 28, 1999 – February 6, 2004 |
Little Bill is an American animated educational children's television series created by Bill Cosby. 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 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 for Hanna-Barbera and Filmation.
The show's main character, Little Bill, is a fictionalized younger version of Cosby; the show's executive producer, Janice Burgess, described the character as "little Bill Cosby." 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 show is set in Philadelphia, Cosby's hometown. Little Bill's personality was inspired by both Cosby himself and his son, Ennis Cosby; Little Bill's catchphrase "Hello, friend!" was originally a greeting that Ennis used.
The series originally ran on Nickelodeon from November 28, 1999 to February 6, 2004, and reruns continued until December 22, 2006. It moved to Noggin in September 2007. Reruns continued to air until 2014, when the show was pulled from the air due to allegations of sexual assault against Cosby.