Frank's Place 

A professor from Boston runs his late father's New Orleans restaurant.

Creator:

Hugh Wilson

Stars:

Tim Reid, Robert Harper, Daphne Reid

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 7 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Tim Reid	...	Frank Parrish 22 episodes, 1987-1988
Robert Harper	...	Sy 'Bubba' Weisberger 22 episodes, 1987-1988
Daphne Reid	...	Hanna Griffin 22 episodes, 1987-1988
Francesca P. Roberts	...	Anna-May 22 episodes, 1987-1988
Frances E. Williams	...	Miss Marie 22 episodes, 1987-1988
Virginia Capers	...	Bertha Griffin-Lamour 22 episodes, 1987-1988
Tony Burton	...	Big Arthur 22 episodes, 1987-1988
Charles Lampkin	...	Tiger Shepin 22 episodes, 1987-1988
Lincoln Kilpatrick	...	Reverend Tyrone Deal 22 episodes, 1987-1988
William Thomas Jr.	...	Cool Charles 22 episodes, 1987-1988
Don Yesso	...	Shorty 22 episodes, 1987-1988

Storyline

Frank Parish is a professor from Boston, who has not seen his father since he was two. 35 years later, he is told that his father died and that he owned a restaurant in New Orleans, which is now legally Frank's. Frank goes there and was going to go back and sell the restaurant to the employees, but Miss Marie feels that the restaurant is his legacy, so she has a curse placed on him that would take effect when he returns to Boston. And when he does all sorts things happen to him, so he returns to New Orleans. He tries to make a go of it but frankly, it's a different place for him. The one bright spot is Hannah Griffin, whom Frank has the hots for but unfortunately for him, she's enganged. But when Frank meets him, he thinks that he has a shot.

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Plot Keywords:

restaurant | new orleans louisiana | african american | 

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Taglines:

A delicious new comedy. You'll be satisfied.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 September 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

El local de Frank

Company Credits

Production Co:

Viacom Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Tim Reid, Walter Cronkite, who was a member of the board of directors at CBS, told him that the series was cancelled because of the final episode. In "The King of Wall Street", a Wall Street tycoon condemns junk bonds. Laurence Tisch, the CEO of CBS, was offended by this episode because he had bought the network with junk bonds. He demanded that the series be cancelled despite the objections of Cronkite and other board members.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Milton Berle/Carol Siskind/Don Yesso (1988)

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Soundtracks

Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?
Performed by Louis Armstrong
(opening theme)

User Reviews

LA, not L.A., and thank God for it

Frank's Place is one of my favorite shows. Very underrated, very unappreciated and quite ahead of its time. The episode in which the corpse shows up sitting in the back row at his own funeral, with Bach's marvelously macabre "Toccata in D Minor" as the stinger, is pure genius. The episode in which the homeless man stands at the back door singing "Daaaaaaaaaaayyyyy-OOOOOOOO!" (Harry Belafonte, eat your heart out) is classic. And who could believe that Shorty! The use of subtitles to translate that spicy-as-gumbo Louisiana gush - what a hoot! My husband, whose father was from Louisiana, could always understand every word Shorty said. I had to rely on the subtitles. Why, why, why wasn't this show given a chance? Because it was sensitive, intelligent and enormously funny, that's why. Diversity, the dearth of which is so lamented today, came to TV in 1987 and was shuffled off with less finesse than was the missing corpse. Our loss. TV Land, bring it back! I promise to set my VCR!