[The below is a summary of Reeves' presentation to an MIT Communications Forum special seminar on Friday, Feb. 28, 2003. Its author is Lilly Kam, MIT 04.]

Frank's Place was a half-hour "dramedy" that aired on CBS during the 1987-88 season. It was widely praised by critics for its use of the conventions of situation comedy to explore serious subject matter. It also captured the African American culture in New Orleans. The show was created and produced by Hugh Wilson and Tim Reid. Wilson had previously produced WKRP in Cincinnati (1978-82, CBS), in which Reid played disc jockey Venus Flytrap.

The show centered on Frank Parrish (played by Reid), an African American college professor from Boston who inherits a New Orleans restaurant from his estranged father. Frank comes to New Orleans to sell the business and travel with the money. There, he finds a community who does not want to see the restaurant close. The pilot episode has a hokey premise where one of the waitresses puts a voodoo spell on Frank. Back in Boston, he loses his apartment and job. Convinced he has no other choice, he returns to New Orleans to run the restaurant.

Frank's Place is celebrated as an important portrayal of African American culture on television. As a "fish out of water" story, the show was about an assimilated black professional who had to rediscover his roots in Southern working-class society.

Prof. Reeves screened what he thinks is the best episode of the series, the holiday episode. In "Season's Greetings," Frank meets his uncle, who has come to the restaurant to visit his father. Frank also experiences a different culture when his Jewish friend "Bubba" Weisburger invites him to Hanukkah dinner.

Highlights of the episode:

Discussion:

Frank's Place is notable for its accurate portrayal of African American life in the South. The show is put in dialogue with two traditions of depicting African American life. First is the Amos 'n Andy (1951-53, CBS) tradition, in which black characters were derived from stereotypical caricatures. Similar examples include the show Beulah (1950-53, ABC), and Eddie Murphy's parodies of The Little Rascals' Buckweet on Saturday Night Live. The second tradition is reflected in shows like The Nat King Cole Show (1956-57, NBC). As a popular musician, Cole was a safe and non-threatening figure. This image of the thoroughly assimilated black American was continued in shows such as Julia, a comedy starring Diahann Carroll (1968-71, NBC), and The Cosby Show (1984-92, NBC).

Reeves mentioned the documentary Color Adjustment (1992) by Marlon Riggs, which revealed how blacks were reluctantly integrated into prime time television. Networks sublimated racial realities with non-controversial programs that featured either stereotypes or assimilated figures. While The Cosby Show had the most ratings of the colorblind shows, there was a serious problem in that it depicted a world without racial tension.

Frank's Place depicts authentic African American culture from all classes, from the blue-collar workers of the service class to professionals like Frank. In the holiday episode, the individuality of their Christmas celebration is reflected in the presence of a black Santa Claus. The song "Christmas in New Orleans" gives it an even stronger sense of place.

Frank's Place also explored southern life in general, unlike shows such as The Dukes of Hazzard (1978-85, CBS) and Hee-Haw (1969-93, Syndicated), which are based on redneck stereotypes. It shows a diverse range of cultures, not just African American. The holiday episode highlights the ritual of Hanukkah, an event outside the mainstream Christian traditions that is made even stranger by the southern context.

The richness of the different cultures is expressed in the individual characters as well. In the Hanukkah scene, each person at the dinner table seems to be a distinct individual. Although Bubba's mother never appears again in the series, her character is richly developed and memorable. Her aristocratic speech reflects her upper class background, and she is the image of a respected society woman. She also talks about her ancestors, who were Portuguese Jews, while her husband's side was German.

There is also a sense of mutual respect between characters. An example is the conversation between Frank and Bubba at the start of the episode. At the restaurant, the two men talk about the holidays. Bubba hopes that it will be a "white Christmas," but quickly adds that he doesn't mean "white" in the racial sense. Frank in turn wishes him a "Merry Christmas," but remembering that Bubba is Jewish, wishes him "Happy Hanukkah" instead. In this interchange, they show mutual respect and a desire to maintain their friendship. Unlike the people in most sitcoms, these characters do not disclose themselves in a second.

Frank's Place is also celebrated for its visual subtlety. The dinner scene opens with a long take and slow tracking of the camera around the table. It is a respectful camera that takes in its environment, reminiscent of the style of Jean Renoir. When the camera starts to cut, the pace of the cutting speeds up as the argument builds between Bubba and his mother. This adds to the comedy of the scene.

Finally, Frank's Place deals with questions of masculinity. In the character of Frank's uncle, two conflicting views of masculinity are presented: one is a childish notion that man is a free agent who should be free of limitations such as job and family; the second view acknowledges the adult realities of manhood. The title Frank's Place bears significant meaning as well. While it refers to the restaurant, it also refers to Frank's situation in life. Frank is being put in the place of his father, whom he hardly knew. He is also trying to find his place in the community, which is still new to him, and very different from his past experiences.

Some critics, such as feminist TV critic Jackie Byers, find the focus on masculine issues problematic. The show adopts a traditional notion of female beauty, and hardly explores feminine issues. However, incorporating feminist issues into the show might be inauthentic to this portrait of the South, which really was conservative and traditional about gender roles.

This leads to the question of why it is reasonable to criticize The Cosby Show for not adequately acknowledging racial tensions, while not indicting Frank's Place for its failure to consider feminist issues. One answer is that The Cosby Show, which only explores the life of an upper middle class black family, covers a very thin section of New York City life. In contrast, Frank's Place is a rich portrait of New Orleans life, covering many classes and cultures.

Frank's Place only lasted one season. It shared this brief lifespan with other dramedies of the time, such as Joe Bash (1986, ABC), The Slap Maxwell Story (1987-88, ABC), and The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd (1987-91, NBC and Lifetime). The only dramedy of the era that found lasting success was The Wonder Years (1988-93, ABC).

In his conclusion, Reeves considered some of the reasons for the show's cancellation. The strongest reason was probably the bad promotion by CBS. The network tried to promote it as a traditional sitcom with broad comedy, almost as a black Cheers (1982-93, NBC). This confused viewers who tuned in and did not find what they were looking for. The show was also a victim of bad scheduling, with CBS frequently changing its time slot. As a result, the show never found the wide audience it deserved.

--compiled by Lilly Kam