Ah! Let's start with that point. "Dallas"' Southfork Ranch setting, especially in later seasons, resembled a Hollywood soundstage very closely. "Orleans", on the other hand, picks up oodles of gusto from its setting. New Orleans and elements of Louisiana life are evident throughout the show, from riverboats to Hagman speaking some French. Hey, most of the characters even have New Orleans accents! That's quite an achievement, considering "Dallas"' J.R. had a Texas twang in his voice, while Bobby Ewing could've been mistaken for an Kansan if you heard him talk. "Orleans" is shot almost entirely on location, and it shows. There is no sufficient substitute for New Orleans, and the creators thankfully realized that.
Now to the plot, and it's a doozy. Hagman plays Judge Luther Charbonnet, a man with considerable clout in the city, not to mention the largest eyebrows in the bayou. He respects the law, but that doesn't mean it should get in the way of his weekly card game.
"Gambling is illegal in Louisiana", Luther is told.
"I know that", he responds. "That's why we call this gaming."
Luther has a taste for thr finer things in life: monsterous motorcycles, quality horse racing, inviting women. He abstains from the bottle, however, since Hagman refused to play a drinker. Luther loves his children, but he carries a deep sorrow from the past. One of his daughters wandered off on the Fourth of July and was never found. Perhaps it is Luther's resentment of that misfortune that has kept his other children at a considerable distance from the judge. His son Clade (Brett Cullen) is a detective, and a darn good one. Justice is Clade's main objective, a "like father, like son" similarity. Luther's other son, Jesse (Michael Reilly Burke), is an deputy DA. He is uneasy around Luther, but papa is keeping a close eye on him as he goes about convicting bad guys. Luther's daughter, Paulette (Colleen Flynn), is the manager of a successful riverboat-casino, one of the only places in the city where gambling is A OK. Her relationship with Luther is cordial at best. The good judge is concerned Paulette will encounter some seedy characters and unenviable situations in her line of work. In the series pilot, she certainly does. A senator's been killed leaving her casino, and a black man is arrested for the murder. Jesse's the prosecutor on the case, and he just doesn't have a good feeling about it. Clade, meanwhile, encounters a prostitute with a shady past which, of course, could lead to the truth in the senator's death. After much tension, she turns up dead as well, but not before she is able to finger one of Luther's oldest friends in the murder. By this time, the innocent man has already been found guilty. Case closed? Nope. Luther corners the friend, lays out the evidence, has him arrested, and frees the black man. Far-fetched? You bet. Well, at least it's far-fetched for TV-land. On "NYPD Blue" or "Law & Order", there's hardly ever a happy ending. Those shows like to use endings ripe with injustice. Endings that make you feel sick to your stomach about our society, but keep you coming back for next week's installment. Instead of setting up a long-term battle between Luther and the villianous friend (a la J.R. vs. Cliff Barnes on "Dallas"), the writers chose to make justice click in the bayou.
Hagman is at the top his game in this tailor-made role, but his screen time in the pilot was relatively low. Cullen isn't exactly a graduate of the Jimmy Smits School of Acting, but he breathes enough life into Clade to make the character likeable. Reilly can pass as a prosecutor, but he is trapped in a moronic storyline involving his forbidden lust for his first cousin (Lynette Walden). C'mon. New Orleans is home of the Mardi Gras. It's a city with an overflow of tension. We certainly don't need a forced love story between two lovers that aren't that interesting to begin with. Flynn's Paulette didn't have much to do in the pilot, but since the riverboat will undoubtedly be a center of action, her character's wheelings and dealings may be make-or-break for the success of "Orleans".
Is "Orleans" as riveting as it's namesake city? Not yet, but the potential is high. With the help of some Cajun style intrigue and a few million viewers, The Charbonnets of New Orleans may become a television staple in the near future.
Comments? I'd love to hear them. art@benzene.net
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