TV Show Review: Carol's Second Act - The Complete Series

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Amusing, got stronger near the end

Cons: Everyone is trying too hard to be funny

The Bottom Line:

Medical interns

Sitcom often amusing

Could be funnier

They’re Try to Be Funny, and You Can Tell

I’ve long enjoyed the traditional 3 camera sitcom, which are a rarity on TV these days.  I’m always on the lookout for a good one to watch, so I decided to give Carol’s Second Act a try last fall.  It was often amusing, and since I had little else on Thursdays, I kept tuning in.

The show follows Carol Kenney (Patricia Heaton).  When her husband left her, she decided that a career change was in order, so she followed her passion to medicine.  She’s just finished medical school and is starting her internship.  She’s working alongside fellow interns Lexi Gilani (Sabrina Jalees), Caleb Sommers (Lucas Neff) and Daniel Kutcher (Jean-Luc Bilodeau).  Her fellow interns are young enough to be her children.  In fact, her daughter, Jenny (Ashely Tisdale), is their age, and she regularly visits them at work since she is a pharmaceutical sales rep.  All of the interns are under the watchful eye of Dr. Maya Jacobs (Ito Aghayere).  Rounding out the cast is the head of the hospital, Dr. Stephen Frost (Kyle MacLachlan).

The plotlines in the show were fairly predictable.  Carol tries to mother her fellow interns.  There are jokes about millennials.  Each episode typically had a main story and a sub-plot, as most sitcoms do.  I usually found the secondary story to be the one that actually made me laugh the most.  The main story often came across as too earnest to be as funny.

The main problem with the show was that it felt like everyone was trying too hard.  The jokes felt forced and the actors were working hard to get laughs from us and the studio audience.  If you have to try that hard, it isn’t as funny as it should be.

Again, I found the show amusing, so I would tune in each week.  But I also wasn’t that heartbroken when the show got cancelled.  Ironically enough, I felt the last few episodes of the season were the strongest, and the season ended with a shift in the show that could have brought some good storylines to a second season.

The season consisted of 18 episodes.  They are being released on this DVD set with a gag reel.

I know Carol’s Second Act had its fans, and they will be happy to get it on DVD.  Personally, once was enough and I will now move on in my quest to find a truly can miss sitcom on TV right now.