I find it hard to believe that the girl we knew as Denise Huxtable will turn 41 next month. Since she’s largely been off the scene for the past decade or so, we’ve mostly had reruns of The Cosby Show and A Different World to remind us of her existence. (And perhaps all those paparazzi shots of her daughter Zoe out-and-about alone or with her Dad, Lenny Kravitz make us “wonder what Lisa is doing now?’).

Now we know that Lisa has worked occasionally (Enemy of the State, High Fidelity and Biker Boyz were the only roles worth talking about) but it seems that significant roles have not been uppermost on her mind. The actress chose to spend her years away from the spotlight raising her daughter Zoe until she starting living with her father as a teenager. But this new role comes a little over a year after she gave birth to another daughter, Lola so this time she’ll be doing the working mother thing. When the credits roll, however, they’ll still read Lisa Bonet instead of the name she chose for herself some years back: Lilakoi Moon.(Yeah, I still don’t understand that one).

We also know that this sister has always marched to the beat of her own drum—exasperating Bill Cosby with her impulsive decisions at times. I do believe A Different World was a spin-off created for her (truth be told, it got much better once she gone). But then there was that movie. I still remember how disturbed I was the first time I saw Angel Heart. Seeing Lisa play opposite Mickey Rourke in a voodoo story line just plain creeped me out. 

Now that she’s back on the scene with a steady job, I am betting that time and wisdom have prevailed. (Doing a lot of yoga will do that for you, won’t it?). Anyway, tonight she premieres in the new ABC drama Life On Mars in which she plays the present-day love interest of the cop who is hit by a car and wakes up in 1973. She’s in great company with the likes of Harvey Keitel, Gretchen Mol and Michael Imperioli along with the series star, Jason O’Mara. The show has gotten a decent review in today’s USA Today but Lisa, not so much. The reviewer described her as slightly vacant. (ugh!).

So Lisa, if you want to continue to live on Mars, show them what you’re working with. We need you back in full force. We’ll watch and root for the show if it is good. And it would be nice for another sister to get a series that last through the season.

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