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.
