God, I loved the Cosby Show. It doesn't matter if it's those earlier episodes where Sondra was away at college (Sondra & Elvin are 2 forgotten gems on that show), or those latter episodes where Cousin Pam moved in and Bud was constantly trying to break Rudy up with her boyfriend (Rudy's boyfriend was a jerk, anyway). Bill Cosby created this great show about how, despite growing up dirt poor in the South, two black people came together to forge this incredible family, where their kids were going to Ivy League schools (granted, Sondra dropped out of Princeton to marry Elvin), and their children were growing up to become responsible adults (except for Denise). They were black, but it showed that your color doesn't dictate what direction your life will go.
Fresh Prince of Bel Air was a little less thought provoking, but hilarious nonetheless. The situations was the same, with Phil & Viv Banks growing up poor, and building their fortunes from the ground up. The difference, of course, is that the Banks kids were waayyy too "prep-school", and it took the wacky influence of Will to bring them all down to Earth, while also showing him that his life has a lot more potential than he thought.
Fresh Prince of Bel Air was funnier.
The Huxtable family was a lot easier for me to relate to.