FRANK'S PLACE

'''Frank's Place''' was a CBS comedy-drama series which aired for 22 episodes in 1987 and 1988. The series was created by Hugh Wilson and executive-produced by Wilson and star Tim Reid.

Contents

Plot

Supporting cast

Look and feel

Praise

External links

Plot

Set in New Orleans, ''Frank's Place'' chronicled the life of Frank Parrish (Tim Reid), a well-to-do Boston college professor who inherits a restaurant, Chez Louisiane. In the premiere, Frank travels to New Orleans intending to sell the restaurant. But when Frank returns to Boston, the life he's known there suddenly goes inexplicably haywire. The viewers know the reason: Miss Marie (Frances E. Williams), a waitress at Chez Louisiane, has put a voodoo curse on Frank ensuring that he will come back to carry on his family's business. Feeling he has no choice, Frank returns to New Orleans and makes many discoveries about working class black culture, the differences between northern and southern lifestyles, and himself.

Supporting cast

Daphne Maxwell Reid (Tim Reid's real-life wife) played Hanna Griffin, Frank's love interest. Tony Burton, Virginia Capers, Robert Harper, Lincoln Kilpatrick, Charles Lampkin, Francesca Roberts, Don Yesso, and William Thomas Jr. rounded out the cast.

Look and feel

Unlike most sitcom productions which are videotaped, ''Frank's Place'' was filmed with a single camera and used no laugh track.
It used Louis Armstrong's classic "Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans?" as its theme song. The look of the restaurant and Tim Reid's character was inspired by Austin Leslie's Chez Helene restaurant in New Orleans.

Praise

''Frank's Place'' received the Television Critics Association award for outstanding comedy series in 1987. In 1988, it won an Emmy for best writing in a comedy series. The show was praised for its realistic portrayal of southern black culture.

External links

★ Frank's Place entry at The Museum of Broadcast Communications

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