Reconstructing the Carol Burnett Show: Part 38: Carol in the 1990s

A new batch of episodes from Carol's early 1990s period--encompassing the anthology series Carol and Company on NBC and her short-lived 1991 CBS rebooted variety series--have cropped up on YouTube.

Carol and Company (NBC 1990-91)

Season One:

May 12, 1990: Myna and the Messenger
Guest Star: Howie Mandel

Carol and Howie Mandel in
Myna and the Messenger

A neat little morality tale written by playwright Mark St. Germain who had some success Off-Broadway with plays such as Camping with Tom and Henry and Ears on a Beatle. Carol plays Myna, a deeply religious woman who prays for a miracle to save her church which is set for the wrecking ball. In walks Mandel (After St. Elsewhere but before Deal or No Deal) as regular-guy angel Steve. 

Steve persuades Myna to go to Atlantic City and gamble her life savings in order to save the church. Much of the comedy derives from the straight-laced Myna coming up against prostitutes and bikers. But after a few Harvey Wallbangers, she begins rolling sevens at the craps table and forgets her Sunday School morality. The twist ending is unexpected as Myna discovers she was betting on the wrong angel. Dennis Burkley has a nice guest turn as a burly biker who turns out to be more than his scary exterior would indicate.

Reconstructing the Carol Burnett Show, Part 36: Carol and Company

Carol and Company: Carol surrounded by
regular cast members (l. to r.)
 Jeremy Piven, Anita Barone, 
Terry Kiser, Meagan Fay, and Richard Kind. 
Peter Krause later replaced Jeremy Piven.

After the original Carol Burnett Show (CBS) and the four-episode Carol Burnett and Company (ABC), Carol next returned to series TV with Carol and Company (it was the only combination of names that hadn't already been taken since Carol Burnett and Friends was the chopped-up rerun package running in syndication.) With this NBC series, Carol would be one of the few TV stars to headline a series on all three major networks. (She added Netflix to the roster with her kids' talk show A Little Help with Carol Burnett in 2018.) The concept for Carol and Company was different than her previous variety shows with a different 22-minute playlet each week and a recurring, rotating rep company playing different roles each time with occasional big-name guest stars. Many of these episodes are available on YouTube and to be complete about Carol's efforts, we'll include them in this series. The show began life as a midseason replacement, premiering on March 31, 1990 and running nine episodes.