Amazon Paradise

Five is the age when the rules of the grown-up world start to seem sensible and less about wrecking everybody's good time, as Big Little Bill reminds us. In four episodes, each one further reinforcing viewers' good taste for having picked up this four-star Bill Cosby creation, the bald, gap-toothed title tike tiptoes into double-digit-age territories. "Big Kid" is short on action but long on love and learning, as Little Bill and great-grandma Alice the Great while away an afternoon practicing big-kid skills. Little Bill is strutting, peacock proud, in his dad's hat and shoes when panic strikes: Will Alice the Great still love him when he's all grown up? In "Just a Baby," Little Bill wants to cozy up to his baby cousin, but he can't get it right--his tweaks are too rough and his songs aren't sung softly enough. Then, in "The Bills Go to Work," Little Bill punches a pretend time card at the Department of Housing, his dad's version of school, where he sharpens pencils, buddies up to the boss, gets funky to the rhythm of the copy machine, and considers calling a meeting on the importance of circle time. "Miss Murray's Wedding" fuels a day of fantasy for the ring-bearing Little Bill, who doffs his signature "B" T-shirt in favor of a tornado--make that a tuxedo--and step-togethers his way down the aisle. Cosby checks in between episodes for a guessing game that's more like a gigglefest, proving he's still fantasy-parent material all these years after Fat Albert. Little Bill's sunniness alone could captivate any kid over 2; he's no wisecracker, never overly clever. How this series snares grown-ups, though, is through music. A jazzy piano tune threading throughout causes instant, toe-tapping cheer in classic Cosby style. --Tammy La Gorce

Price: $12.95

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