Amusing Anomalies

On September 14, 1987, CBS introduced a new situation comedy that was distinguished by its sophistication and quality. Unfortunately, America wasn't quite ready for sophistication and quality back in 1987. So while TV programs like Alf garnered huge audiences, Frank's Place, toiled spectacularly in relative obscurity. In the end, Frank's Place lasted all of one year before it was cancelled yet I'll never forget the program. It was just that good.

What was Frank's Place? Well although the set up doesn't quite do the show justice, it was about a Harvard English Professor who was left a New Orleans restaurant, the Cheze Louisiane, by his estranged father in his will. The Professor, Frank Parrish, played by Tim Reid, was the classic fish out of water. He was a northerner, Ivy league type placed in a New Orleans restaurant with rather quirky but fully fleshed characters. The stories that were told in that restaurant would range from the absurd to the sublime. It played well. It was funny, sometimes so funny that you'd almost die laughing, but always true to the personalities that made up its universe. In fact, almost every part of Frank's Place was perfect, from the way it was filmed, its pace, all the way to its theme song, Louis Armstrong's "Do You Know what it Means to Miss New Orleans"

The tragedy of Frank's Place is that it was so good and that so few will ever see it. It doesn't play in reruns, there are no DVD's that have been issued, it barely remains in the minds of those who watched it so many years ago.

It's been nearly 20 years since CBS made the mistake of taking Frank's Place off the air, how many more years must pass before someone corrects that mistake and makes it available on DVD.