It’s been a while since we’ve seen Patricia Heaton leading a primetime comedy.
To be precise, it’s only been a year, but Heaton is such a comedic queen, television feels emptier without her. She’s back in Carol’s Second Act, a show that follows a woman of a certain age as she attempts to start a new career as a doctor. Of course, she’s bunched together with a group of millennial medical students, leading to inevitable conflicts and different perspectives.
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One of the other students on the show is Canada’s own Sabrina Jalees, who you might recognize from her stand-up comedy or her stints on Much show Video on Trial. She plays Dr. Lexie Gilani, the first doctor in her family, and she’s working hard to ensure she doesn’t screw up her opportunity.
But it’s not all laughs. Carol’s Second Act also deals with serious situations — after all, it does take place in a hospital — and in the show’s pilot, we get a particularly touching scene with Heaton’s character, Dr. Carol Kenney, and a patient newly diagnosed with cancer.
Global News sat down with Heaton and Jalees in Toronto this past June to talk more about the show, the characters and why Heaton chose this show in particular.
‘Carol’s Second Act’ premieres on Sept. 26 at 9:30 p.m. ET on Global.