# House of Cosbys
**House of Cosbys** is an American animated web series created by Justin Roiland for Channel 101, a Los Angeles monthly screening competition co-founded by [Dan Harmon](https://www.edgepedia.org/dan-harmon) and Rob Schrab. Its five episodes, first aired on January 30, 2005, follow a devoted [Bill Cosby](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-cosby) fan who builds a cloning machine to replicate his favorite comedian, with each successive clone more degraded than the last.[1](https://thetvdb.com/series/house-of-cosbys) • [2](https://watch.plex.tv/nl/show/house-of-cosbys/season/0) The series was canceled after Cosby's lawyers sent cease-and-desist letters, making it the first [Channel 101](https://www.edgepedia.org/channel-101) show to be ended by legal action rather than by audience vote or its creator.[3](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/house-of-cosbys/LeD470Mub2JTJD80HFvvk/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Animated comedy, science fiction series; average runtime 5 minutes[1](https://thetvdb.com/series/house-of-cosbys) |
| Run | 5 episodes, January 30 to June 26, 2005, on Channel 101[1](https://thetvdb.com/series/house-of-cosbys) • [3](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/house-of-cosbys/LeD470Mub2JTJD80HFvvk/) |
| Premise | Mitchell Reynolds builds a cloning machine to replicate Bill Cosby; each clone is more degraded than the last[2](https://watch.plex.tv/nl/show/house-of-cosbys/season/0) • [4](https://boingboing.net/2006/03/03/waxy-threatened-with.html) |
| Audience record | First Channel 101 series ever to go three consecutive months at #1[3](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/house-of-cosbys/LeD470Mub2JTJD80HFvvk/) |
| Cancellation | Cease-and-desist orders from Cosby's attorney in June 2005 to Roiland and site administrator Dan Harmon; the videos were forced offline after a legal threat to Channel 101's ISP[3](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/house-of-cosbys/LeD470Mub2JTJD80HFvvk/) • [4](https://boingboing.net/2006/03/03/waxy-threatened-with.html) |
| Lead cast | Jeff Davis as Mitchell Reynolds; Justin Roiland as Curiosity Cosby, Data Analysis Cosby, and Preacher Cosby[1](https://thetvdb.com/series/house-of-cosbys) |
| Legacy | Roiland's first viral hit, spreading online before YouTube; he credits it with leading to his signing by the talent agency UTA — described by Roiland as his first viral thing[5](https://nichegamer.com/justin-roiland-interview-high-on-life/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and format
The story centers on Mitchell Reynolds, played by voice actor and comedian Jeff Davis, who builds a cloning machine to replicate his favorite comedian, Bill Cosby.[2](https://watch.plex.tv/nl/show/house-of-cosbys/season/0) The clones multiply across the episodes, and each Cosby comes out more degraded than the last.[4](https://boingboing.net/2006/03/03/waxy-threatened-with.html) Episode titles trace the escalation: episode 2 promises more cloning, episode 3 has the Cosby compound attacked by aliens, and episode 4 follows Frequency Cosby on the mend as Cosby 10 and Mitchell watch alien television.[6](https://thetvdb.com/series/house-of-cosbys/allseasons/official)
Roiland voiced multiple Cosbys himself, including Curiosity Cosby, Data Analysis Cosby, and Preacher Cosby, and directed, wrote, and produced the episodes with co-director and editor Sevan Najarian.[1](https://thetvdb.com/series/house-of-cosbys) • [7](https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/show/house-of-cosbys/season/1/episode/1) The episode 1 voice cast also included Rob Schrab as Entertainment Cosby and Moral Support Cosby, Steve Agee as House Keeping Cosby, Scott Chernoff, Abed Gheith, and Bennett Webber in other clone roles.[7](https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/show/house-of-cosbys/season/1/episode/1)
## Production at Channel 101
Channel 101 was a screening series and digital platform created by Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab, where audiences voted monthly on which shows returned.[8](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/rick-morty-fans-check-justin-160814616.html) House of Cosbys became one of the platform's first major successes and the first Channel 101 series ever to go three consecutive months at #1.[8](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/rick-morty-fans-check-justin-160814616.html) • [3](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/house-of-cosbys/LeD470Mub2JTJD80HFvvk/)
Roiland described the show's origin as emerging from the Channel 101 workflow: after his previous show It's Twissleton was not voted back, he kept animating with Sevan Najarian, who scanned drawings and prepped files in Photoshop and After Effects while Roiland drew everything.[9](https://www.hobotrashcan.com/2014/02/25/one-on-one-with-rick-and-mortys-justin-roiland/) The original concept, he said, was like a Brady Bunch type setup with a bunch of Cosbys living in a house.[9](https://www.hobotrashcan.com/2014/02/25/one-on-one-with-rick-and-mortys-justin-roiland/) Dan Harmon later called the series "Justin's puberty as a legit TV force", noting that Roiland had cast a charming, identifiable protagonist, played by Jeff Davis, as the anchor for an otherwise insane story, and recalled audiences rising to their feet in applause.[10](https://www.undertheradarmag.com/interviews/rick_and_mortys_dan_harmon_and_justin_roiland/)
## Legal action and cancellation
In June 2005, Roiland and channel101.com site administrator Dan Harmon received cease-and-desist orders from Bill Cosby's attorney.[3](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/house-of-cosbys/LeD470Mub2JTJD80HFvvk/) Roiland and Channel 101 removed the videos because they could not risk the possibility of an actual lawsuit.[4](https://boingboing.net/2006/03/03/waxy-threatened-with.html) According to a Boing Boing account, channel101.com stood its ground for several months, and when Cosby's lawyers realized the site would not fold, they sent a legal threat to Channel 101's ISP, which told the site to remove the videos or find a new ISP.[4](https://boingboing.net/2006/03/03/waxy-threatened-with.html) Those legal concerns brought the show's demanding animation work to a standstill, and as a result House of Cosbys was the first Channel 101 program whose end came not from viewers or from its maker, but from attorneys.[3](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/house-of-cosbys/LeD470Mub2JTJD80HFvvk/)
An unofficial fifth episode, created for the live screening by Romano and Falconer rather than by Roiland, screened at the Cinespace theater but was not hosted on channel101.com out of fear of being sued; due to outcry, Channel 101 continued to carry the first four episodes.[3](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/house-of-cosbys/LeD470Mub2JTJD80HFvvk/) • [6](https://thetvdb.com/series/house-of-cosbys/allseasons/official) In July 2005 the site's administration briefly made episode 1 available again; Channel 101 cofounder Dan Harmon explained the decision in an open letter to Cosby's legal team.[11](https://boingboing.net/2005/07/06/channel101s-house-of.html)
## Mirroring and the Waxy.org dispute
The blogger Andy Baio, creator of Waxy.org, posted the parody videos on his blog in 2005 after becoming obsessed with the series, and in November 2005 he archived all five episodes there after Cosby's lawyers had taken the originals offline, urging readers to mirror and torrent them so they would not disappear.[12](https://nyujournalismprojects.org/annotate/node/172) • [13](https://waxy.org/2005/11/house_of_cosbys_1/) In March 2006, Baio was himself threatened with a lawsuit for hosting the videos and received a cease-and-desist letter; he responded that he knew his legal standing, considered the work clear parody and fair use, and would not back down unless ordered by a court.[4](https://boingboing.net/2006/03/03/waxy-threatened-with.html) • [14](https://tmarman.com/posts/2006-03-08-waxyorg-sent-cease-and-desist-for-hosting-house-of-cosbys-parody/) Baio also compiled a list of well-funded mainstream productions that had parodied Cosby, including [Family Guy](https://www.edgepedia.org/family-guy), The Simpsons, South Park, Saturday Night Live, and MAD Magazine, none of which had received the legal threats directed at independent creators.[4](https://boingboing.net/2006/03/03/waxy-threatened-with.html)
## Legacy
For Roiland, House of Cosbys was a career breakthrough. He called it his first viral thing, pre-YouTube, spreading on sites such as eBaum's World, and said the attention led to his signing with the talent agency UTA and to industry meetings.[5](https://nichegamer.com/justin-roiland-interview-high-on-life/) The collaboration with Harmon at Channel 101 continued into [Rick and Morty](https://www.edgepedia.org/rick-and-morty), the [Adult Swim](https://www.edgepedia.org/adult-swim) series the two later co-created.[8](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/rick-morty-fans-check-justin-160814616.html)
Roiland's feelings about the work changed after the sexual assault allegations against Cosby became public. In a 2015 interview he said he had been devastated, that the series came from a legitimate place of love and fandom, and that he had loved [The Cosby Show](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-cosby-show) and seen every episode multiple times.[15](https://www.vice.com/en/article/rick-and-morty-justin-roiland-interview/) A 2007 animated short called Kosbees, made for the series Acceptable TV, revisited the House of Cosbys format within the boundaries of what a cable network's legal team deemed acceptable.[6](https://thetvdb.com/series/house-of-cosbys/allseasons/official)
## References
1. [House Of Cosbys, TheTVDB.com](https://thetvdb.com/series/house-of-cosbys)
2. [House Of Cosbys Specials, Plex](https://watch.plex.tv/nl/show/house-of-cosbys/season/0)
3. [House of Cosbys, Moviefone](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/house-of-cosbys/LeD470Mub2JTJD80HFvvk/)
4. [Waxy threatened with a lawsuit by Bill Cosby over "House of Cosbys" vids, Boing Boing (March 3, 2006)](https://boingboing.net/2006/03/03/waxy-threatened-with.html)
5. [Justin Roiland 2022 interview, Niche Gamer](https://nichegamer.com/justin-roiland-interview-high-on-life/)
6. [House Of Cosbys, Aired Order, TheTVDB.com](https://thetvdb.com/series/house-of-cosbys/allseasons/official)
7. [House of Cosbys Episode 1, Plex](https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/show/house-of-cosbys/season/1/episode/1)
8. ['Rick and Morty' Fans, Check Out the Justin Roiland Series So Subversive, Bill Cosby Took Legal Action, Yahoo Entertainment (2017)](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/rick-morty-fans-check-justin-160814616.html)
9. [One on One with Rick and Morty's Justin Roiland, HoboTrashcan (2014)](https://www.hobotrashcan.com/2014/02/25/one-on-one-with-rick-and-mortys-justin-roiland/)
10. [Rick and Morty's Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland, Under the Radar (2013)](https://www.undertheradarmag.com/interviews/rick_and_mortys_dan_harmon_and_justin_roiland/)
11. [Channel101's "House of Cosbys" is back online, free again, Boing Boing (July 6, 2005)](https://boingboing.net/2005/07/06/channel101s-house-of.html)
12. [Cosby finds nothing funny about his house, being cloned, NYU Journalism Projects, Annotate (2006)](https://nyujournalismprojects.org/annotate/node/172)
13. [House of Cosbys, Mirrored, Waxy.org (November 12, 2005)](https://waxy.org/2005/11/house_of_cosbys_1/)
14. [Waxy.org sent cease-and-desist for hosting House of Cosbys parody, Tim Marman (March 7, 2006)](https://tmarman.com/posts/2006-03-08-waxyorg-sent-cease-and-desist-for-hosting-house-of-cosbys-parody/)
15. [Step into the Sick, Perverse Universe of 'Rick and Morty' with Creator Justin Roiland, Vice (July 23, 2015)](https://www.vice.com/en/article/rick-and-morty-justin-roiland-interview/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Web-native and streaming-original series › Early English-language web series (1997–mid 2010s)*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license