Damon Wayans the New Cosby?

By C. Young

Monday November 26, 2001 03:12 PM EST

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In a season when ABC really, really needed a big hit (it's in fourth place behind the Fox Network), it got one in the sitcom "My Wife and Kids," which is winning its 8 p.m. timeslot on Wednesday. Its star, Damon Wayans, is already being compared with Bill Cosby in the huge '80s hit "The Cosby Show." "Of course, no one has done this kind of show as well as Cosby, but we did look at the Cosby blueprint," said Wayans to the Los Angeles Times. "We neutralize race. When we were putting it together, we thought of what Cosby did right. He was smart on his show; the kids couldn't pull things over on him. The stories have a definite universality, and the main theme is 'I'm not your friend. I'm your dad, and I'll be your dad until I die.' It's about a father being a disciplinarian." And then there are some things that aren't so Cosby-like. Junior is known to disappear in the bathroom for hours with a lingerie catalogue, Dad takes Viagra on occasion, and Mom and Dad have a raucous sex life. "Children are living in a different kind of reality now," Wayans said. "When I was growing up, the most adult you could get was the Cross Your Heart bra. Now they can get porno on the Internet. Kids already know this stuff, and parents need to talk to them according to their age. And sexuality is important. I'm 41, and sexuality is important to who I am."