Bill Cosby looked haggard and old as he stumbled on his way to the courthouse. And when his mug shot flashed across my screen, I felt a sharp stab of grief.

Not for Mr. Cosby, who was charged with sexual assault, and returns to court for a hearing this week. But for the genial father and devoted husband who once filled my television set, the funny man who felt like family. I’m talking about Cliff Huxtable, Mr. Cosby’s alter ego, the amiable obstetrician he played in “The Cosby Show,” the pioneering television hit of the 1980s and early ’90s.

Today, the black doctor once known as America’s Dad has almost completely vanished from the airwaves. You may wonder why that matters, why a sensible, professional in her 40s might weep for an imaginary character, who some people view as the sullied creation of a now infamous celebrity accused of preying on dozens of women.

So I want you to press the rewind button. Go back to a time when Viola Davis’s Emmy for her portrayal of a driven criminal defense lawyer was unimaginable, back before Shondaland, or “Empire,” or “black-ish.” Before a black president sat in the Oval Office in “24” or in Washington.