Orleans (TV series)

Orleans
Genre	Drama
Created by	Toni Graphia John Sacret Young
Written by	Linda Bergman Toni Graphia Jim Miller Pam Veasey John Sacret Young
Directed by	Steve Dubin Jan Egleson Fred Gerber Scott Paulin Pat Quinn John Sacret Young
Starring	Larry Hagman Michael Reilly Burke Vanessa Bell Calloway
Composer(s)	David Langley Hamilton
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	8
Production
Executive producer(s)	John Sacret Young
Producer(s)	Colleen McCormick
Running time	60 minutes (with commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	January 7 – April 10, 1997

Orleans is a short lived American drama series that aired on CBS from January 7, 1997 through April 10, 1997. It ran for only 8 episodes. The series was said to be inspired by the experiences of creater producer Toni Graphia, who was the daughter of a Louisiana judge.^[1]

Synopsis

The show was centered around the character of Judge Luther Charbonnet, portrayed by Larry Hagman. He was a judge seated in New Orleans and had a family that consisted of some wildly different characters. One of the sons was an assistant district attorney, another son was a police officer, and a daughter who ran a casino. An overall backstory to the series was that Judge Luther had another daughter who was missing or had been dead for years, and he had a search going on for information on her. Several "taboo" subjects were touched on this series, including interracial relationships (Judge Luther had a black girlfriend) and incest (the daughter had a relationship with her cousin).

The show was promoted pretty heavily before it had aired, and even originally had the old timeslot that Dallas did during its run. However, the ratings were not great, and it got moved around in the schedule, presumably contributing to its quick downfall.

To date, it has not been repeated anywhere outside its original run nor released on home video in any form.

Cast

• Larry Hagman.....Judge Luther Charbonnet
• Michael Reilly Burke.....Jesse Charbonnet
• Vanessa Bell Calloway.....Rosalee Clark
• Brett Cullen.....Clade Charbonnet
• Colleen Flynn.....Paulette Charbonnet
• Lynette Walden.....Rene Doucette
• O'Neal Compton.....Curtis Manzant
• Charles Durning.....Frank Vitelli
• Richard Fancy.....Vincent Carraze
• Jerry Hardin.....Leon Gillenwater
• Melora Hardin.....Gina Vitelli
• Cotter Smith.....Bill Brennecke

Episode list

Episode #	Production Code	Episode Title	Airdate
1	001	Pilot (Part 1)	January 7, 1997
2	002	Pilot (Part 2)	January 7, 1997
3	005	"Why Did the Crawfish Cross the Road?"	January 14, 1997
4	003	"Luther's Temptation"	January 21, 1997
5	006	"Hijack"	January 28, 1997
6	004	"Baby-Sitting"	March 27, 1997
7	007	"When the Saints Go Marching In"	April 3, 1997
8	008	"Missing"	April 10, 1997

Award nominations

Year	Award	Result	Category	Recipient
1997	Emmy Award	Nominated	Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore)	David Langley Hamilton (For pilot episode)
1998	NAACP Image Awards	Nominated	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Vanessa Bell Calloway

References

1. ^ The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present. Ballantine Books. 2003. pp. 892. ISBN 0-345-45542-8. 

External links

• Orleans at the Internet Movie Database
• Orleans at TV.com
• Page on Larry Hagman's Site