Orleans: The TV Series
Joe Siegler
Shortly after my wife and I were first married in the fall of 1996, we heard of a TV series to air early in 1997 starring Larry Hagman. Dallas had ended in 1991, and other than a (really great) Dallas reunion movie he hadn’t done a whole lot. So when I heard Hagman was not only coming back, but in a new TV series, I was definitely excited.
The problem was that after 13 years of watching Dallas, I didn’t know how I’d react to seeing Larry Hagman doing anything other than John Ross Ewing II. Orleans was on CBS, and if I remember right, it was also in Dallas’ old time slot – at least initially. CBS pushed it pretty well, and I had a gut feeling that it was going to do great.
Now I must admit, my primary reason for watching the show was Larry Hagman. I knew zero about anyone else in the show. Larry played Judge Luther Charbonnet, a southern judge who was quite a character. He led a family which consisted of two sons (one a cop, the other working for the DA’s office), and a daughter, who was the manager of a riverboat casino. Some interesting plots were that Hagman’s character was dating a black woman who was (if I recall) something like 25-30 years his junior. Plus I believe there was another couple relationship that was way out there – it was incestuous if I remember right. What made this show work for me was the fact that I went into it expecting to see “Judge JR”. And to Mr. Hagman’s credit, I didn’t see any of JR Ewing in there. At all. He so well buried the JR character there that I totally bought Judge Luther Charbonnet.
I loved this series. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a hit with the general public. I suspect that has something to do with the fact that Mr. Hagman so buried JR Ewing that folks didn’t like seeing him as anything else. A danger with such a popular character. There was only eight episodes aired in total. 5 of them ran in January of 1997, and then the other three in Mar/Apr of 1997.
This brings me to my biggest irritant. The show jumped around a bit timewise, as I recall. It wasn’t terribly easy to find if I remember right – which I’m sure didn’t help the ratings. The show had a running plotline about Judge Charbonnet trying to find out what happened to another daughter he had that had supposedly died ages ago. Well, in the 8th episode, we were supposed to find out what happened. My wife and I were very attached to the show, in the short amount of time we watched it. Problem was that on the night of the 8th episode, my VCR setup didn’t work right, and I MISSED the episode! That was really irritating, as we never found out what happened.
Virtually no one has any idea that the show even existed. If I mention it to people, I get strange looks. But my wife and I loved this show. Since there’s only 8 episodes, it’ll never get aired again, nor will it ever get released on video anywhere. We’d really love to see it again. By some miracle there’s anyone out there reading this that happens to have them on videotape, please email me, so I can get copies of them.
Also, if you know of any sources of information about Orleans the show, please email me with that as well, since I’ve only really been able to find a couple of websites about the show online. They are:
IMDB Entry
TV Tome Site & Episode Guide
That’s it. Nothing else. In fact, the picture shown here is the only thing I have visually, save for this Cast Promo Picture I picked up back when the show was new. Can’t find the show now. Can you help?
That’s it. I loved this show; can’t find it now. Can you help?
UPDATE: I originally wrote this blog entry in early 2004. In January of 2005, I decided to look around the net, and found Larry Hagman has a page for Orleans on his website here, and it has a short episode guide. Decided to bump this entry to current as well.
Join the Conversation
I also loved Orleans and was very disappointed when it was cancelled. That was during a period when a lot of good shows just weren’t given a chance. Dellaventura was another one that CBS cancelled. I wouldn’t give up hope on Orleans never being released on dvd. In 1996, Fox had a show that only aired 8 episodes before it was cancelled and I found them on an officially produced dvd being sold on Ebay. So, there’s always hope that we will see Orleans again.
I had a part in the movie of the week “Orleans” when it aired on 1/8/97. This was the first episode. I played a security guard in the courtroom. I had very much fun doing it. I had a copy someone taped for me but it got destroyed. I would like to have another copy. How can I locate one?
Thanks
GJ
I really liked his show. I was using “Google” to see if I could find it and show it to my brothers who never watched the show. I think that the cliffhanger was really going to be a doozy. I think that the long lost daughter was going to turn out to be the daughter of his enemy whose name I cannot recall now.
I really liked his show. I was using “Google” to see if I could find it and show it to my brothers who never watched the show. I think that the cliffhanger was really going to be a doozy. I think that the long lost daughter was going to turn out to be the daughter of his enemy whose name I cannot recall now.
I too loved the show, with all the stuff they leave on television, who would have thought they would pull this show. I too would love a copy, even went to the offical web site and asked if they had a copy.
I played the daughter in this show “Orleans” swinging on the swing and everything, my mother recorded every episode when I was younger, but unfortunately during Katrina we lost everything and lost the only copy we had. Since then, every year for Christmas I try and find a copy to give to my mother as a Christmas present, but I haven’t been successful..lf ANYONE happens to fall upon a copy, I will gladly pay for a copy of the episodes, it’s VERY important to me PLEASE email me at breannemcmanus@yahoo.com
I’m still trying, unsuccessfully, to get a copy of at least the 1st episodes as TV Movie of the week.
If anyone knows how to get a copy, please e-mail me
I wish I knew. I don’t.
I played “cigar smoking, whisky drinking, Judge Christine Halliday” on the show. Had worked with Larry on Dallas and known in L.A. since the early ’70’s. Have never seen any of the episodes, and I, as well, would like to see it. I was there the night we had crew members shot while loading after rap that night….unsafe area where camera truck and gear trucks were parked. The next day, Larry announced….”that’s it. No show is worth a life taken.” We finished that show and all left.
Wow, my nostalgia still survives strongly after a quarter century. I was living in Palm Beach in 1997 and my honey and I loved Larry and Dallas so we watched the show and were stunned by how vibrant fresh well done and exciting it was. I only watched the first 4 episodes in April 1997 as I had to take care of business in the South Pacific (with no TV) but I promised I would pursue it. After many false attempts, I finally quit as I rarely had time to watch TV anymore. Last night I was perusing some YouTube short clips and I found myself watching Larry Hagman’s Memorium and I again remembered Orleans. In a nutshell, until/if CBS ever opens the vaults, I don’t think we’ll ever watch crisp copies of that show. However, if you put in the YouTube search bar “Orleans 1997” you will find the first 2 episodes of Orleans. Really poor-quality copy – but you can jog your memories again. You’ll be also able to watch the opening credits on a successive separate YouTube.