Little Bill

Little Bill is an American animated children's television series produced for Nick Jr. The stories are based on Bill Cosby's Little Bill book series, set in Philadelphia, and feature 5 year old Little Bill learning a lesson or moral. It was developed through research and in consultation with a panel of educational consultants.

Episodes

The Treasure Hunt / The Best Way to Play

Little Bill: [regarding Dizzy Gillespie] He has puffy cheeks.

Big Bill: Yeah, well, just listen to what Dizzy's puffy cheeks could do.

Little Bill: Is he dizzy because spins around like a record?

Big Bill: Could be.

Just a Baby / The Campout

April: Say hello to your cousin Jamal, Little Bill.

Little Bill: Hello, friend.

All: Aw...

Uncle Gary: Isn't that nice?

Little Bill: Jamal, you are a pumpkin lumpkin.

April: Oh no, Little Bill.

Aunt Deborah: Oh, it's okay. Shhh...

Brenda: Little Bill, why did you do that, honey?

Little Bill: That's what everyone does when they say hello to me.

Brenda: That's because you're a big boy. Your cousin Jamal is just a tiny little baby.

Bobby: You got to be gentle with little babies.

Little Bill: Should I tell him I'm sorry, Mama?

Brenda: I think that's a very nice idea.

Little Bill: I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

April: Little Bill!

Big Bill: Little Bill, you don't have to run away. Jamal's okay. You just startled him.

Little Bill: I didn't mean to. In my school, if you want to say sorry, we sing the "Sorry Song".

Big Bill: I know that, son. You were just being sorry a little too loud. See, babies don't like loud singing. They like soft, gentle songs like lullabies. Listen.

Little Bill: Hey, that's my sleepy song.

Big Bill: Mm-hmm.

Little Bill: Alice the Great used to sing that song to me.

---

Little Bill: Bobby, when you went camping before, did a bear ever eat you?

Bobby: Would I be here raking the leaves if one did?

NOTE: This episode is dedicated to Madeline Kahn.

The Dollar/ The Choice

Little Bill: I think my mind is changing.

April: You mean you're changing your mind.

---

April: Little Bill, hurry up, we have to choose a cereal.

Little Bill: Let's choose ice cream instead.

April: No, Little Bill, come on!

Little Bill: But it has a polar bear on it.

---

Miss Murray: What are you going to buy with it?

Little Bill: A rocket ship!

Andrew: And a really big pizza!

Fuschia: And a roller coaster!

Kiku: And a fire truck!

Miss Murray: Are you sure you can buy all those things with a dollar?

Guppies / The Magic Quilt

Big Bill: [dramatic, fake crying]

Little Bill: What's the matter, Dad?

Big Bill: Nobody told me about the magic quilt!

Little Bill: I'll let you use the magic quilt tonight, Dad.

The Meanest Thing to Say / Lavatory Story

Michael: How did she know I had to go to the bathroom?

Little Bill: She always knows because that's what teachers are for.

---

Little Bill: I have to play "ranking" tomorrow with Michael.

Big Bill: Ranking? [chuckles] We used to call it "playing the dozens" when I was a kid. I won every time without ever having to think of even one mean thing to say.

Little Bill: How?

Big Bill: Well, nothing they said was true, so every time someone said something mean, I just said "so?"

Merry Christmas, Little Bill

[phone rings]

Bobby: Phone!

Big Bill: Thanks, Bobby. [picks up the phone and answers it] Hello?

[At daytime at the Cincinnati airport, it's snowing]

Alice the Great: Hello, Bill. It's Alice the Great.

Big Bill: Oh, hi!

[Inside the airport, Alice the Great is talking to Big Bill on the phone]

Alice the Great: Honey, I'm still at the airport, and I want you to let everyone know that I'm not going to be home quite as soon as I hoped.

[Back at the Glover house.]

Big Bill: Oh, no, you're kidding! All right, I'll-I'll let them know. Okay, hurry home. Bye now. [hangs up the phone]

Brenda: Alice the Great?

Big Bill: Mm-hmm. Her flight's been delayed.

Brenda: Oh, no.

April: Aw...

Big Bill: Yeah, well, looks like it's gonna take her a little longer to get home than we thought.

Little Bill: How come?

Big Bill: Well, it's-it's snowing in Cincinnati.

Bobby: Uh-oh.

Big Bill: And her plane can't take off until it stops.

Little Bill: Doesn't she know it's Christmas Eve?

Brenda: Of course she does.

Number One on Honeywood Street / Baseball Glovers

April: Little Bill, don't cheer for them.

Little Bill: But they won.

April: You're not supposed to cheer for the other team.

Little Bill: But it's fun! Yay!!!

April: We're supposed to win, not have fun!

Rachel: [sarcastically] Alright, we won that game.

Bobby: Yeah, but we won the first one.

April: There's still one more game, and whoever wins [glares at Little Bill] that one is number one on Honeywood Street.

Rachel: Okay, let's go.

[The others go on ahead; except for Little Bill who's offended by his sister's yelling]

April: Little Bill, come on! Little Bill?

Little Bill: I don't want to play. It's not fun.

April: What's the matter with you? Don't you want to win?

Little Bill: No, you get too mad.

April: Don't you want to be number one on Honeywood Street?

Little Bill: No.

April: Little Bill...!

Little Bill: [covers his ears] This is making me a headache! [walks back home]

[Back at Little Bill's house, Alice the Great is listening to the radio]

Announcer: That's the ballgame, folks, that the Blue Sox lose to Summerville. 2-1, your final score.

Alice the Great: Oh, nuts.

Little Bill: [annoyed] Yeah, nuts!

April: Come on, Little Bill, let's go.

[Alice the Great turns off the radio]

Little Bill: Uh-uh.

Alice the Great: Well, the Blue Sox just lost another ballgame.

April: See, you don't want to lose, do you?

Alice the Great: It was still a fun game.

April: But your team didn't win. Aren't you mad?

Alice the Great: Oh, of course not, honey. If you don't get joy out of the game, what's the point of playing?

Little Bill: Yeah, games are supposed to be fun.

Alice the Great: That's right.

Little Bill: See, April, playing is supposed to be fun. You're bossy.

[Bobby approaches]

April: "Bossy"? Bobby, tell him. I'm not bossy.

Bobby: Uh, um... I can't. You want to win too much.

April: Winning's the most important thing.

Little Bill: Uh-uh, having fun is the most important.

[April tries to say something, but she felt bad about everything she did]

Alice the Great: You didn't mean to be bossy, did you, honey?

April: [sadly] No.

[Andrew and his cousins Rachel and Kevin approach]

Rachel: Are you guys giving up? If you do, we win. Huh, Kevin?

Kevin: Mm-hmm.

Alice the Great: Nobody's giving up at here, are we?

Andrew: Come on, Little Bill.

Little Bill: [to April] Can it be fun now?

April: Okay, let's fun.

Little Bill: I'm so excited. I can't wait for the baseball team. I'll get the hot dogs, ice cream, potato chips, mozzarella sticks and soda.

When Friends Get Mad / The Party Box

Kiku: What's that, Little Bi... [accidently spills a cup of water on Little Bill’s picture]

Little Bill: [gasps] Kiku!

Kiku: Oops!

[Andrew and Fushcia are shocked and Fushcia walks by Little Bill to the other side]

Little Bill: [gasps and starts to cry] Look what you did!

Kiku: I'm sorry.

Little Bill: [gets angry, crumples up Kiku's painting and throws it to the side] Now yours is messed up, too!

Kiku: [starts to cry] Little Bill, I said I was sorry!

Fucshia: [she and Andrew are even more shocked] Oooooh! Miss Murray!

Miss Murray: [approaches] What's going on? What happened, Kiku? I'm here, honey. It's okay.

Kiku: [crying] I didn't mean to do it.

Miss Murray: I know you didn't, sweety.

Little Bill: [to Fushcia and Andrew] She messed up my picture first.

Andrew: Aren't you gonna say you're sorry?

Little Bill: No, I'm not sorry.

Andrew: But that was mean.

Fushcia: If you don't say you're sorry, I'm not gonna be your friend.

Little Bill: I'm not sorry and I don't care.

Miss Murray: All right, everyone, calm down. Little Bill, I think you need some time away from the group. Come with me. [she and Little Bill walk to the corner of the classroom as Kiku nods her head yes as Fushcia and Andrew comfort Kiku while Andrew looks back at Little Bill and Miss Murray] Have a seat, Little Bill. [They both sit down.] Now I know that you're angry, but you shouldn't have done that to Kiku's painting.

Little Bill: She messed up mine, so I messed up hers.

Miss Murray: It's not the same thing, Little Bill. What Kiku did was an accident. She didn't mean to do it. You crumpled up her painting on purpose.

Little Bill: Everybody's on Kiku's side. It's not fair!

Miss Murray: We're not taking sides, Little Bill. But what you did to Kiku was wrong. And you should say you're sorry.

Little Bill: Uh-uh. I wanna go home.

Miss Murray: Well, everyone will be going home soon. Why don't you stay here while I clean up the rest of the paint? [leaves him]

Little Bill: [still annoyed and angry at his friends and teacher] I don't care. I'm not sorry.

[Later, Little Bill walks home with Alice the Great, who learns about his hard day at school, but not knowing how it happened. They both enter the kitchen where Bobby is reading a book with jokes.]

Bobby: [reading his joke book] "Time to get a new fence!" Ha, that's a good one. Hey, Alice the Great.

Alice the Great: Hello, Bobby.

[Little Bill sits by Bobby]

Bobby: Hey, Little Bill. [looks at his joke book, but gets confused of Little Bill's bad mood] What's the matter with you?

Alice the Great: [brings a bowl of green grapes] Your brother had a hard day at school today. [puts the bowl down] Here you go, sweety.

Little Bill: Thank you.

Bobby: What happened?

Little Bill: I got in trouble.

Bobby: Oh, really?

Little Bill: [sighs] Kiku messed up my painting, so I messed up hers, too.

Bobby: Ooh. I bet Miss Murray got mad at you.

Little Bill: Everybody did. Everybody wanted me to say sorry to Kiku.

Bobby: So, did you say you're sorry?

Little Bill: No, I'm not sorry. I'm mad at Kiku, and I'm mad at Fushcia and Andrew, too.

Bobby: Wow, that is bad.

Alice the Great: Well, I must say. If something I like that much got messed up, I'd be pretty upset, too. But I'm sure Kiku didn't mean to do it. [leaves]

Bobby: Wanna hear a joke?

Little Bill: Why?

Bobby: 'Cause it'll make you laugh, and when you laugh, you'll feel better. Listen. [reads the book] "What time is it when an elephant sits on your fence?"

Little Bill: I don't know.

Bobby: "Time to get a new fence!" [laughs but Little Bill doesn't] Well, if you need another joke, you know who to ask. See ya. [leaves]

Little Bill: [sighs]

See also

• Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids