HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Carol's Second Act'' is an American television
sitcom A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...
created by Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins, which premiered on September 26, 2019 on CBS. It stars Patricia Heaton along with Ito Aghayere,
Lucas Neff Lucas Neff (born November 7, 1985) is an American actor best known for his lead role in the Fox sitcom '' Raising Hope'' (2010-2014). Most recently, he starred in the CBS sitcom '' Carol's Second Act'' (2019) and co-starred as Duncan on ''Mons ...
, Jean-Luc Bilodeau, Sabrina Jalees,
Ashley Tisdale Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles in television and theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatr ...
,
Kyle MacLachlan Kyle Merritt MacLachlan (; ' McLachlan, February 22, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dale Cooper in ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991; 2017) and its film prequel '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' (1992), as well as roles ...
, and Cedric Yarbrough in supporting roles. In May 2020, the series was canceled after one season.


Premise

After raising her two children and retiring from teaching, Carol Kenney embarks on a unique second act: pursuing her dream of becoming a doctor by completing medical school and beginning an
internship An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gover ...
at the Loyola Memorial Hospital.


Cast


Main

* Patricia Heaton as Dr. Carol Kenney, the oldest member of the newest group of interns at Loyola Memorial Hospital. Carol is divorced and has two adult children. Before medical school, she used to be a high school science teacher. In the episode "Peer Evaluations", she states that she is in her early 50s. * Ito Aghayere as Dr. Maya Jacobs, chief resident at Loyola Memorial with a reputation as a strict disciplinarian and perfectionist. She is in charge of Carol's intern group. *
Lucas Neff Lucas Neff (born November 7, 1985) is an American actor best known for his lead role in the Fox sitcom '' Raising Hope'' (2010-2014). Most recently, he starred in the CBS sitcom '' Carol's Second Act'' (2019) and co-starred as Duncan on ''Mons ...
as Dr. Caleb Sommers, one of the members of Carol's group of interns who secretly feels he doesn't deserve his position due to having gotten in through family connections. He has a complicated relationship with his superior, Dr. Stephen Frost. * Jean-Luc Bilodeau as Dr. Daniel Kutcher, another member of Carol's group of interns. He graduated from Harvard in 2014 and from Duke University School of Medicine in 2018 and has already been published in ''
The New England Journal of Medicine ''The New England Journal of Medicine'' (''NEJM'') is a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is among the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals as well as the oldest continuously published one. Hist ...
''—twice. Nevertheless, he is insecure and overly idealistic about his profession, seeking glory for himself often at the expense of his fellow interns. * Sabrina Jalees as Dr. Lexie Gilani, another member of Carol's group of interns who is under immense pressure due to having been the first in her family to attend college. She has no patience for doctors who fail to take their jobs seriously. *
Ashley Tisdale Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles in television and theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatr ...
as Jenny Kenney, Carol's big-hearted daughter who works as a pharmaceutical representative. Jenny loves and is supportive of Carol, and her practical and outgoing demeanor is a buoyant counterpoint to her mother's neurotic medical colleagues. Despite Carol having told him that Jenny is off-limits, Daniel has a crush on her. *
Kyle MacLachlan Kyle Merritt MacLachlan (; ' McLachlan, February 22, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dale Cooper in ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991; 2017) and its film prequel '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' (1992), as well as roles ...
as Dr. Stephen Frost, senior attending physician and department chair at Loyola Memorial. He takes an immediate shine to Carol, in contrast to the more merciless Dr. Jacobs. * Cedric Yarbrough as Nurse Dennis, the hospital's merciless nursing supervisor who insists on giving and receiving respect.


Recurring

* Adam Rose as Jake, a nerdy doctor who most of the staff ignores. Also obsessed with Lexie. * Patrick Fabian as Dr. Victor Lewis, a transplant surgeon and Carol's love interest.


Guest

* Camille Chen as Sharon, a patient's wife. * Carol Mansell as Mrs. Zahn, an elderly patient with a fever. * Matt Braunger as Gary, a patient with a fascinating and rare problem. * Larry VanBuren Jr. as Darrin Alexander, a celebrated college athlete * Ben Kolyke as Coach Dean, Darrin's coach. *
Essence Atkins Essence Uhura Atkins (born February 7, 1972) is an American actress. She began her career appearing on television sitcoms, before her regular role on the short-lived first African-American prime-time drama '' Under One Roof'' (CBS, 1995). Atkins ...
as Kathleen, Darrin's mother. *
Jane Kaczmarek Jane Frances Kaczmarek (; born December 21, 1955) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Malcolm's mother Lois on the Fox television sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2006), which earned her three Golden Globe nomination ...
as Phyllis, Carol's friend from her teaching days. * Alan Blumenfeld as Mr. Tuverson, an unpleasant and perverted patient of Carol's * John Ross Bowie as Gordon, a patient who pretends to be sick to avoid his visiting in-laws * Kerri Kenney as Nancy * Marisa Davila as Harper * Punam Patel as Dr. Mehta * Scott Lawrence as Dr. Darnton * Kausar Mohammed as Aisha * Larry Joe Campbell as Eddie, a patient who is on the waiting list for a liver transplant *
Kelsey Grammer Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained notoriety and acclaim for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1984-1993) and its spin-off '' Frasier'' (1993-2004) ...
as Dr. Richard Kenney, Carol's ex-husband and Jenny's father


Episodes


Production


Development

On January 28, 2019, it was announced that CBS had given the production a pilot order. The pilot was written by Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins, who also executive produce (along with Heaton, Aaron Kaplan and David Hunt). Production companies involved with the pilot include FourBoys Entertainment, Kapital Entertainment and CBS Television Studios. On February 12, 2019, it was announced that Pamela Fryman would direct the pilot. On May 6, 2019, it was announced that the production had been given a series order. The next day, it was announced that the series would premiere that fall, and air Thursday nights during the 2019–2020 television season. The series debuted on September 26, 2019. On October 22, 2019, it received a back order of five episodes. On May 6, 2020, CBS canceled the series after one season.


Casting

In March 2019, it was announced that Bonnie Dennison, Ito Aghayere,
Kyle MacLachlan Kyle Merritt MacLachlan (; ' McLachlan, February 22, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dale Cooper in ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991; 2017) and its film prequel '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' (1992), as well as roles ...
and Jean-Luc Bilodeau had been cast in the pilot's lead roles. On June 7, 2019, it was announced that
Ashley Tisdale Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles in television and theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatr ...
had replaced Dennison in the role of Jenny. On November 5, 2019, Cedric Yarbrough was promoted to series regular.


Sexual harassment allegations

In October 2019, two female writers alleged sexual harassment by executive producer David Hunt. After their internal complaints to CBS, they said, the writers' access to the set and the showrunners, including Hunt, was limited. Believing this to be retaliation for their complaints, they left the show. Hunt was required to watch a training video although he denied any inappropriate contact with either woman; the producers also say the restrictions on the writers had been planned before they were aware of the women's complaints.


Release


Marketing

On May 15, 2019, CBS released the first official trailer for the series.


Reception


Critical response

The
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
reported a 58% approval rating with an average rating of 5.63/10, based on 12 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "While ''Carol's Second Act'' earns high marks for bringing Patricia Heaton front and center, awkward plotting and lackluster jokes hold it back from living up to its star's high standards."
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 61 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


Ratings


Home media

The complete series of ''Carol's Second Act'' was released on DVD on November 17, 2020, via Amazon.


References


External links

* *{{IMDb title 2010s American medical television series 2010s American sitcoms 2010s American workplace comedy television series 2019 American television series debuts 2020 American television series endings 2020s American medical television series 2020s American sitcoms 2020s American workplace comedy television series CBS original programming English-language television shows Television series by CBS Studios Television series by Kapital Entertainment