Charlie & Co.

For those who may not remember this sitcom from the 1980's,the short-lived situation comedy "Charlie and Company" was CBS' answer to cash in on the success of "The Cosby Show",which was a ratings monster for NBC. And two,CBS was also trying to bring comedian-actor Flip Wilson back to weekly television after the huge success of his prime time variety-musical-comedy series "The Flip Wilson Show" which became one of the biggest hits to come out of the 1970's. However,the short-lived series "Charlie and Company" was comedian-actor Flip Wilson attempt to come back to television and also was his first attempt at doing a weekly series. Unlike "The Cosby Show",which ran for eight seasons at NBC,the series "Charlie and Company",lasted only one season. Only 18 episodes were produced for CBS-TV from September 18,1985 until the final episode of the series on May 16,1986. "Charlie and Company" was basically Flip Wilson first and only attempt at doing a weekly series. Not only CBS brought Flip Wilson back to television,but brought back R&B songstress Gladys Knight to television in which was her first and only attempt at starring in a weekly series. But did it work? And did it last? Nope. Gladys Knight had appeared on a weekly series when she appeared as a guest star on Flip Wilson's variety show during the early 1970's as a member of Gladys Knight and the Pips.

The series followed a middle class African-American family that lived on the South Side of Chicago. Charlie Richmond(Flip Wilson)was a black middle class employee of the Division of Highways for the state of Illinois,who juggled his work and home life with his lovely wife Diana,who was an elementary school teacher(played by Gladys Knight). The couple had three children,the older child,sixteen year-old "Junior" (Kristoff St. John),the teenage daughter Lauren(Fran Robinson),and the baby child,nine year-old Robert(Jaleel White). Actress Della Reese joined the cast during the latter half of the season as Charlie's sister Aunt Rachel.

Some of the episodes were extremely funny in their own right,and some were not,courtesy of Flip Wilson's outrageous comedy and punchlines,and it didn't help in the ratings neither. However,this sitcom provided a stepping stone for two of the actors who would go on to bigger and better things in their careers....Kristoff St. John(who was also seen in another short-lived series prior to this was the TV-version of "The Bad News Bears")would go on to make a career in daytime television as Neil Winters on the popular daytime serial "The Young and the Restless". And as for Jaleel White,his biggest triumph career boost was yet to come four years later on another black sitcom series "Family Matters" which became one of the biggest hits that came out of the mid-1980's that lasted no more than nine and a half seasons on the air and brought White fame and fortune as next door nerd Steve Urkel. Whatever happened to the career boost of Fran Robinson? Whatever happened to Fran Robinson?

"Charlie and Company" faulted in the ratings and it shows in some of the episodes. CBS put this sitcom on its Wednesday night schedule which it plummeted in the ratings when they put this half-hour sitcom opposite the ABC powerhouse prime time soap drama "Dynasty" which clobbered it. In some of the episodes the writing was beyond horrible,but during its run the acting(especially coming from Gladys Knight)went from bad to worst,and it is the reason why this show was canceled after 18 episodes. It remains one of the lost black sitcoms of the 1980's,and it hasn't been heard from since.

And this should have been Jaleel White's main show, not that weird "Family Matters." A show about a fam with a strong father figure. When you want a comedy that showed black people living the way black people wanted to see themselves live (high, wealthy, educated), this show was groundbreaking just like "The Cosby Show."

The mom is a teacher and the father is a construction worker. What I loved about this show was it was rougher and working-class. "Cosby" gets boring after a while for that reason. As a working-class kid, this show is closer to my life. Too bad that this aired on CBS, however. This should have been on ABC, Fox, or NBC.

I remember when CBS and ABC had to have their answer to the huge success of the Cosby Show. CBS brought Flip Wilson and Gladys Knight as a middle class African American show living in an apartment with children played by Jaleel White who became better known as super nerd, Urkel on Family Matters and Kristoff St. John who is on Young and the Restless as Neil Winters. The show also included the wonderful Della Reese. The cast was first rate but the writing was forgettable at best. I don't recall much except that the network was trying to cash in on Cosby's success. Either way, the first rate cast moved on to better themselves.

This show wasn't so bad, as the previous reviewer would let you believe, but come on, it was going up against The Cosby Show. I liked it because it focused on more than just the kids in the show and some of the episodes were pretty darn funny.

I try not to be too harsh, but this is one time I must make an exception. This show has to be one of the most horrific I can ever remember. I mean, I actually felt physical pain from the one episode I watched. Even then, I didn't make it though the entire 30 minutes. I truly feel sorry for the actors who were cast for this Titanic, especially the late comedian Flip Wilson and famed singer Gladys Knight. The actors, for the most part, were able to move on, thank God. They shouldn't have to be held accountable, and at least they got a check or two for their humiliation. I blame the writers, who are conveniently left off of the credits. I know it was quite embarrassing, but they could at least admit to their mistake. For those of you who can't remember, this was CBS' answer to `The Cosby Show,' and a sorry one it was. I can still hear the rip from `The Cosby Show' cloth in 2002.

I'm sure this show might catch the interest of some die-hard Steve Urkel fans, but don't worry about catching any reruns soon. It won't even make the cut on BET.