The Cosby Show (1984–1992): Season 7, Episode 25 - Theo and the Kids: Part 2 - full transcript

♪♪

Come in.

Ah, Mrs. Hudson. Hi.

Hey, Theo. How you doin'?

All right. Listen.

I think I might have
made a breakthrough.

Well, as long as
it's not a breakdown.

Now what's this regarding?

Well, I think one of my students

might be dyslexic.

Isn't that great?



No, that's a problem.

You don't understand.
The great part is

once it's diagnosed,
we can be of help.

Now, helping I can
get excited about.

What have you got?

Well, I noticed in
one of my students

that this student had
similar symptoms to mine

when I was diagnosed:

uh, poor organizational skills,

illegible handwriting,

and he made reading mistakes

that were characteristic
of a dyslexic.

I mean, that's what
sealed it for me.

Well, that's very
perceptive of you, Theo.



It's all in the line of
duty, Mrs. Hudson.

All right. Now,

which one of your students
is having these troubles?

Uh, I can't tell you that.

I beg your pardon?

No disrespect, Mrs. Hudson.

It's just that I promised him...

Or her... that I would keep it

strictly between me and him...

Or me and her.

Well, you all made a bad deal.

Now, this boy... or girl...

May or may not be dyslexic,

but in order to find out,

he or she may need to be tested.

So your first assignment

is to go to this
person, and tell him...

Or her...

That it's the
policy of this center

that all of us help him or her.

I understand. Thank you.

Thank you for
understanding! Good.

And while you're at it,

you can tell Stanley
we're all behind him.

I think I know

why you might not be
getting good grades.

Yeah. So do I.

'Cause the teacher won't let me

see a test paper.

Stanley, that's called cheating.

You can't always
count on Letitia.

Now, I've been thinking.

The reason why you're
not getting good grades

is because you may
have what's called dyslexia.

Ain't nothing wrong with me.

I feel good.

No... No, you see,
it's not a disease.

It's a... a different
way of learning.

See, I have it, so it's not bad.

You might not have it,

but the best thing to do

is to take some tests
just to make sure.

I ain't taking no test.

I know what you want to do.

You want to put me in a
special class for dumb people.

No, no, Stan.
That's not it, man.

I mean, people
may call you dumb.

You may call yourself dumb.

But you're not
dumb! I'm not dumb!

We just learn differently, man.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Theo. Speak for yourself, man.

I'm not different.

I'm just like everybody else.

All right, guys, guys, guys!

Guys, come on! Come on!

Sit down. Settle down.

Get your books out.
You know the rules.

Homework first, then recreation.

So come on, guys. Let's go.

Yo, Theo.

Eugene. Group just started.

Don't tell you gotta go
to the bathroom already.

Uh, no, man. This
is about homework.

Okay. What is it?

In social studies,

we're learning about
the government.

We're a democracy, right?

Yeah, that's right.
We are a democracy.

And democracy means
one man, one vote.

Or in my case, one
woman, one vote?

Right, Theo?

Yeah. That's right, Letitia.

Yeah. And in America,
it's our duty to vote

for all the things we want.

And majority, wins, right, Theo?

Guys, come on. What's the point?

The point is, as Americans,

I say we vote on
what we do first:

recreation or homework.

No, no, no, no. See,
there's a hole in that theory.

I second that. All right.
Then, let's vote, then.

All in favor of recreation
first, raise their hands.

All in favor of homework
first, raise their hands.

Hey, Theo, my man, I'm
afraid you've been outvoted.

Well, not really, Carlos.

You see, while it's true

that America is a democracy,

once you enter those doors,

you're in Theo Land.

Now, for those of
you who don't know,

Theo Land is a
benevolent dictatorship...

run by yours truly,
Emperor Theo the Good.

Actually, this vote

is the only one
that really counts.

Now let's get to that homework.

I finished my homework, Theo.

I did it in school.

Oh, good. I'll check it later.

You can, but it's perfect.

Good.

Do you like Mexican food?

It's okay.

I love Mexican food.

What about horror movies?

Letitia. I hate horror movies.

I think they're for kids.

Uh, Letitia...

you want to do me a big favor?

Sure!

Well, since you and
Stanley are in the same class

and get the same assignments,

why don't you work on
your homework together?

With Stanley?

Letitia, I would
really appreciate it.

Okay. For you. Thank you.

Let's go.

Come on.

What are you doing?

Theo wants us to go over
our homework together,

so you better not fool around.

Excuse me?

Yo, Theo, what's the big idea

sending this girl
to boss me around?

Well, Letitia's not there
to boss you around.

Well, then, tell her that!

Look at it this way, Stanley.

If you guys work together,

you get done sooner,

and you have more
time to play basketball.

Okay, that'll work.

But she better not slow me down.

Okay. Let's see
what we have here.

That's wrong, that's
wrong, and that's wrong.

Wait, wait, wait...
That decimal point...

That decimal point
does so go there.

No, it doesn't. It goes here.

Oh. All right. How about, uh...

Now don't tell me

3 1/4 is the wrong
one on that one.

It is. The answer is 4 1/2.

But you're getting closer.

4 1/2, huh?

What about this one?

8.

You know, Letitia,

I think we should always
do our homework together.

We make a great team.

Now what about this one?

Look. Just do the
problems and I'll watch you.

If I see that you're
going wrong,

then I'll help you.

All right.

But I ain't taking
orders from you.

Okay.

You watching?

All right. Not bad, Carol.

Keep up the good work.

Yo, Rahim, man. What's up?

Nothing.

Well, something's up.

You've been on the same
page for the past hour.

Okay. I see. This is some

high-tech reading method, right?

The words just
float off the pages

into your brain, huh?

Since when are you
checking on my pages?

You want some
sort of commission?

Rahim, man, I'm
just doing my job.

You know part of my job

is to make sure you
do your homework.

I don't know why I'm doing
this homework anyway.

Wasting my time. I'm
gonna be a fireman.

And this book ain't gonna
show me how to spray water.

Yo, Rahim. You
know the rules, man.

You don't do your homework,

you can't go play basketball.

I don't care. I'm
retiring my sneakers.

You shouldn't retire
those wasted sneakers.

They should be condemned.

That was good, man!

Excuse me!

I'm trying to have
a conversation

with my man over here.

Nobody ask for your
mouth to get into it.

Ooh! Hey, hey,
hey! Yo, yo, yo, yo!

Come on! Come on!

Cool out, you guys.

Leave him alone, Carlos.

You know he's upset
because his father got fired.

Get it straight.

My father did not get fired.

He got laid off like a
bunch of other people.

Yo, guys. Uh, it's rec time.

All right? Come on.
Put your books away.

Go play balls. Have some fun.

Yo, Rahim. Hang
on for a second, man.

Yo, come on. Let's rap.

Have a seat.

You wanna talk about it, man?

What's to talk about?

They laid off half
my father's shift

at the paper company.

I'm sorry to hear that, man.

Let's just hope it's temporary.

Yeah, I hope so, too.

But in the meantime,
I'm not gonna be

coming to the center.

Why not?

'Cause I'm the oldest. I
gotta make some money.

So after school, I'm gonna be

delivering groceries
at the supermarket.

After this week, I'm outta here.

Peace, Mr. Huxtable.

♪♪

The Brown Horn is
my favorite cartoon!

Yeah! He's funny!

I wonder where the people go

when you turn the TV off.

They're in there!

If they're in there,
they're awfully quiet.

What's the matter with the TV?

Nothing! Olivia says
the people live in the TV!

But I don't believe it.

Dr. Huxtable, tell him!

Well, people really
don't live in the TV set.

Well, that's what you said!

I know, I know. But you were...

you were asking me that question

during the time
of the Super Bowl.

Oh. So you was fooling me.

Well, see, what I
was gonna do is,

I was going to explain it to you

later, when you get older.

Well, I'm older!

Uh... See, the way
it... It really works,

if you want to know now...

you see, is that...

um, people have a camera,

and they shoot a picture

of all these people, see,

and then they send the signal

through... through the air, see.

And then the aerial is
up on top of the house,

and that picks up the signal,

and then it zaps
it into the TV set.

You see. And that's
the scientific explanation

of how... ahem... how TV works.

Yeah. Hold on.

Where do the people come in?

And who gives them the signal?

There's a, um...

there's a little man, he's
about this big, in there.

And, uh, the people

are, uh, are all in there,

and they're running around, see.

And he's in charge.

So let's say you have
it on... on, uh, 4, see,

so he won't let anybody
else in on... on 4

because he stops all of the 5s,

the 7s, and the things.

He's, "You all have to wait

until... until they
switch to you."

Well, how does the
signal man live in there?

Well, he eats whatever
the commercials have.

Cliff, what are you doing?

I'm... I'm getting a
headache is what I'm doing.

I'm trying to give them
a scientific explanation

of how the TV works.

Oh! Mmm.

Oh, that's very
interesting! Yes.

Well, maybe you'd like to
explain how the radio works, too.

Not really... Yeah!

Come on! Yeah!
And while you're at it,

why don't you explain how
the record player works?

All right! Yeah!

How come those
singers don't get dizzy

when the record spins around?

Well, it's not food poisoning.

How's everything going?

Do you mind if I have
a piece of your pie?

Thank you.

Yo, Dad. That's my pie, man!

You said I could have it.

It's a good pie, too.

Workin' kinda hard, huh?

Oh, boy, yeah.
Workin' real hard.

You look it.

I have this one student, Dad,

who I think may be dyslexic.

But he's hiding it,
and he won't let me

or anybody else help him.

I've got another guy

whose father lost his job.

So now this kid has got to quit

the after-school program

to get a job to help his family.

Dad, the kid is
in seventh grade!

He wants to be at
the community center.

I mean, the little
boy needs to be there

at the community center! Mm-hmm.

Today I saw one of my
students in the hallway.

It was a girl, and she was
zipping up her backpack.

Her backpack was full,

and her books were in her hands,

so, of course, she
looked suspicious.

So I said, "What's in the bag?"

So she gets an attitude with me,

and she slams the
bag down on the floor.

You know, every day,

we get these... these
lunches, these box lunches,

with apples, carrots,
sandwiches, milk, you know.

And this one girl, every day,

she volunteers to go around
and collect the garbage.

And then she goes
out in the hallway,

so, of course, I'm thinking

she's separating
the stuff for recycling.

Dad, she opened that backpack,

and there was all this food.

And she told me

that she takes the food home

to feed her family.

Whew.

And the whole time,

I'm standing there, thinking,

She's stealing something.

I mean, for as long
as I can remember,

when I'm hungry, I can
come down to the kitchen.

I go into the refrigerator,

pick what I want, and I'm happy.

And if there's something I
want that's not in the refrigerator,

I say, "Yo, Mom, we
need some peanut butter.

Yo, Mom. We need
some milk." Or whatever.

And the next thing you
know, the next day, like magic,

the food is in there.

I have never had to bring home

wasted food to feed my family!

I have never had

to quit an activity
that I love so much

to help support my family.

Okay! I have dyslexia!

We can work with that, right?

Dad. I'm trying
to tell you, man.

These kids are draining me.

You're drained. You're drained.

And, uh, you're fatigued.

But it's a good fatigue, man.

You're gonna go to sleep tired,

But you're gonna wake up crisp

and ready to go.

All right.

Hey, Stanley, you're early.

Yeah, I know I'm early.

Well, you still have some time

to play basketball if you want.

Nah. I decided to
pass on basketball.

All right.

Hey, uh...

how come you got
all those notebooks?

Oh, well, one is for
each subject I'm studying.

And each notebook is
organized into sections

to help me understand
things better.

Man! Who wants all
those notebooks and stuff?

Well, I do.

If I didn't study in
an organized way,

I wouldn't be in college.

Did you wanna talk to me
about something, Stanley?

No.

No.

All right.

Let me ask you a question.

What is this?

I don't know.

That's because
right now it's nothing.

Recognize this now?

Yeah. It's a bicycle.

Now it's a bicycle!

But when someone used to
put schoolwork in front of me,

I used to read it, speak it,

and spell it this way.

That's what dyslexia
is about, Stanley.

All my life, I felt like I
was walking in a basement

and everybody had
the light on but me.

See, I had a little flashlight.

I could see a little bit
of this, a little bit of that,

but I could never
see the whole room.

Stanley, you're
walking through life

with a flashlight,
and you don't have to.

Come on, man!

There's nothing to the test.

There's no needles or nothing.

All you do is talk
to a few people.

You play a few games.

Actually, some of it is fun!

Look, man! It helped me!

But you're different, man.

Forget it, Stanley.

All right, forget I ever
mentioned anything about it.

This was you.

Yeah. That was me.

And this is you
after all the work.

Yep. Except that now
my bike's a ten-speed.

Okay, fine. You want
me to take the test?

I'll take the test. But it
better be a ten-speed.

Wait, wait. Wait a minute.

You're taking this
test as a favor to me?

Yeah, why not? You're cool.

Oh, well, Stanley.

I didn't know you were
so thoughtful, man.

Hey, man, I try.

Uh-oh. Yo, Theo.

Um, what we draw
is gonna be part of

the state exhibition, right?

Yeah. That's right.

Look at my picture.

Ah, that's...
very nice, Letitia.

But, uh, who are the two
people holding hands?

That's you and your girlfriend.

You know, Letitia,

that girl holding
hands with Theo

looks like you.

That's not me! I
don't have green hair!

That's me up in the corner.

So, um, who you
holding hands with?

That's Stanley!

Theo!

All right, you Rembrandts.

Why don't you leave
your paintings on the desk?

I'll come around
and collect 'em.

Finish 'em tomorrow,
okay? Have a good one!

Are you gonna go and
play basketball, Stanley?

Yeah. I think I'll watch.

It's my last day, Theo.

See you around. Yeah.

Gonna miss ya, man.

Yeah. I guess you will.

I don't have anybody
to keep me in line now.

You're doin' fine on your own.

But don't look so sad, man.

As soon as my
father lands a job,

I'll be right back!

I'll save a seat for ya.

Uh, actually, I
don't want that seat.

I wanna sit next
to that girl Carol.

I think she likes me.

You got it.

Later.

I know it's tough
when you lose a kid

and you can't do
anything about it.

But when I got this job,

all I saw was me helping kids.

I haven't thought about
the kids I couldn't help.

Theo, there's nothing you can do

about the kids you lose

except to know that
you didn't lose them

as long as you're
doing your best.

And I know you're doing that.

Thank you, Mrs. Hudson.

Thank you.

Oh, but, uh...
you're not there yet.

Oh! I know!

Believe me, I know that.

But I'm growing.

♪♪

Closed-Captioned By J.R.
Media Services, Inc. Burbank, CA