Charlie & Co. is regarded as CBS's answer to The Cosby Show, which was a ratings success for NBC at the time.

The series follows a middle-class African American family who lived on the South Side of Chicago.

Charlie Richmond (Flip Wilson) is a black middle-class employee of the Division of Highways, who juggles his work and home life with his wife, Diana, a schoolteacher played by Gladys Knight.

The couple has three children: sixteen-year-old "Junior" (Kristoff St. John), fifteen-year-old Lauren (Fran Robinson), and nine-year-old Robert (Jaleel White).

Della Reese joined the cast during the latter half of the show's only season as Charlie's sister-in-law, Aunt Rachel.