Orleans – Nostalgia Central

1 9 9 7 (USA)
1 x 120 minute episode
6 x 60 minute episodes

This short-lived CBS drama series revolved around the powerful Charbonnet family of New Orleans.

The head of the family, Luther – a respected (and ruthless) judge – was the divorced father of Clade (a police officer), Paulette (the manager of a riverboat casino on the Mississippi who had overcome a drug addiction), and Jesse (an Assistant District Attorney who was in love – and lust – with his first cousin, Rene).

Luther’s wife, Simone (Rosemary Forsyth), had left him when their youngest daughter was kidnapped 16 years earlier. The judge was still obsessed with thoughts of that abducted daughter.

Stories followed incidents in the lives of each family member, who more often than not came to the other’s defence in times of need.

Rosalee Clark (Vanessa Bell Calloway) was the District Attorney (and Luther’s girlfriend), and Curtis Manzant (O’Neal Compton) was a lawyer. Charles Durning appeared as mobster Frank Vitelli.

The series ran from 8 January to 11 April 1997, but never really made up its mind whether it was a nighttime soap, a meaningful drama, a black comedy, or a quirky Picket Fences wannabe. It was cancelled at the end of the first season.

Judge Luther Charbonnet
Larry Hagman
Paulette Charbonnet
Colleen Flynn
Jesse Charbonnet
Michael Reilly Burke
Clade Charbonnet
Brett Cullen
Rosalee Clark
Vanessa Bell Calloway
Curtis Manzant
O’Neal Compton
Rene Doucette
Lynette Walden
Frank Vitelli
Charles Durning
Simone Charbonnet
Rosemary Forsyth