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Classic Bill Cosby reruns for Father’s Day on GMC

By April MacIntyre Jun 17, 2010, 17:52 GMT

Sporting a Princeton sweat suit and sandals with socks, actor Bill Cosby chats with fans as he awaits his car in front of his hotel in New York, New York on April 15, 2010. Fame Pictures, Inc

Family entertainment network GMC will celebrate Father’s Day on June 20 with a 20-episode marathon (11am- 9pm ET/PT) of Cosby, starring iconic American dad Bill Cosby, followed by the GMC premiere of the theatrical film Pay it Forward (9-11pm ET/PT).  

Tune in alert for a Cosby marathon that will include “Cosby Fatherhood Tips,” a series of six, 30-second interstitials created exclusively for GMC. Culled from video of Cosby’s classic stand-up performances, the interstitials will feature the comic legend talking about parenting issues—as only he can.

The interstitials also will run on www.watchgmctv.com and on other sites on the Web. For this special day of programming, GMC referenced Cosby’s landmark book, Fatherhood, in which he shares his own experiences as a son and father.

The Cosby marathon will kick off with the pilot episode of the series, which also stars Phylicia Rashad and Madeline Kahn. In the series, Bill Cosby portrays Hilton Lucas, a man forced into an early and unwanted retirement. The grumpy but lovable Hilton repeatedly finds himself in humorous conflict with his wife Ruth (Rashad) and zany neighbor Pauline (Kahn).

GMC will support the Cosby marathon with a sweepstakes at here. Individuals who enter will also be prompted to vote on their favorite Father’s Day Cosby clip from several vignettes posted on the site. One winner will receive a Bill Cosby autographed sweatshirt.

Additionally, starting Sunday, June 13 and continuing through Father’s Day on June 20, GMC will initiate Father’s Day related dialogue with viewers via Twitter and Facebook. GMC fans can share their favorite dad stories, upload photos for a chance to win Cosby’s Fatherhood book and more.

“Pay it Forward is the quintessential film for the new GMC, offering an uplifting and inspiring story,” said Brad Siegel, vice chairman, GMC.  “This film created a cultural phenomenon with the concept of doing good things for others.”

In Pay it Forward, young Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment), troubled by his mother's alcoholism and fears of his abusive but absent father, is intrigued by an assignment from his new social studies teacher (Kevin Spacey). The assignment is to think of something to change the world and put it into action. Trevor conjures the notion of paying a favor not back, but forward--repaying good deeds not with payback, but with new good deeds done to three new people.