# The Mississippi (TV series)

The Mississippi is an American legal drama television series which ran for 2 seasons from 1983 to 1984 on CBS. The series consisted of 24 episodes: 1 pilot, 6 first-season episodes and 17 episodes in the second season. The series was written by Aubrey Solomon and starred Ralph Waite, Linda Miller, and Stan Shaw.

## Plot

Ralph Waite played Ben Walker, a successful criminal attorney who, after retiring his law practice, sought a simpler life on the Mississippi River as the captain of a stern wheel river boat. Conflicting with his desire for an easy retirement from legal practice, he'd find at every port someone who needed a good attorney, and he would end up defending him or her. His “crew” consisted of Stella McMullen and Lafayette 'Lafe' Tate, both of whom were more interested in helping people, fighting crime, and becoming attorneys than in running the tug.
Filming occurred in several cities along the Mississippi River including Natchez, Mississippi, and Memphis, Tennessee.

## Cast

* Ralph Waite as Ben Walker
* Linda Miller as Stella McMullen
* Stan Shaw as Lafayette "Lafe" Tate

## Episodes
### Season 1: 1982–83

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 0 | 0 | "The Mississippi" | Richard C. Sarafian | Darryl Ponicsan | June 14, 1982 (1982-06-14) |
| Series pilot. ||||||
| 1 | 1 | "Murder at Mt. Parnassus" | Lee H. Katzin | Jerry Ziegman | March 25, 1983 (1983-03-25) |
| 2 | 2 | "Edge of the River" | Lee H. Katzin | Shel Willens | April 1, 1983 (1983-04-01) |
| 3 | 3 | "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" | Russ Mayberry | Terry Louise Fisher | April 8, 1983 (1983-04-08) |
| 4 | 4 | "We Remember, We Revere" | Leo Penn | Story by : John Wilder & Paul Savage Teleplay by : Paul Savage | April 15, 1983 (1983-04-15) |
| 5 | 5 | "Mardi Gras" | Ralph Waite | Jeffrey Lane | April 29, 1983 (1983-04-29) |
| 6 | 6 | "Old Hatreds Die Hard" | Leo Penn | Story by : John Wilder & Paul Savage Teleplay by : Paul Savage | May 6, 1983 (1983-05-06) |

### Season 2: 1983–84

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 7 | 1 | "There Is a Tiger in the Town" | Jeffrey Hayden | Robert Crais | September 27, 1983 (1983-09-27) |
| 8 | 2 | "Cradle to Grave" | Leo Penn | Patricia Green | October 4, 1983 (1983-10-04) |
| 9 | 3 | "The Trial of Ben Walker" | David Shaw | David Shaw | October 11, 1983 (1983-10-11) |
| 10 | 4 | "The Last Voice You Hear" | Alex March | David Karp | October 18, 1983 (1983-10-18) |
| 11 | 5 | "The Shooting" | Georg Stanford Brown | Sidney Ellis | October 25, 1983 (1983-10-25) |
| 12 | 6 | "Peace with Honor" | Robert Sallin | Patricia Green | November 1, 1983 (1983-11-01) |
| 13 | 7 | "Joey" | Alex March | Irv Pearlberg | November 8, 1983 (1983-11-08) |
| 14 | 8 | "Crisis of Identity" | Harry Harris | David Shaw | November 15, 1983 (1983-11-15) |
| 15 | 9 | "A Town Without Pity" | Oz Scott | Steve Greenberg & Aubrey Solomon | November 22, 1983 (1983-11-22) |
| 16 | 10 | "G.I. Blues" | Leo Penn | Story by : Preston Marshall Ransone & Art Eisenson Teleplay by : James M. Miller | November 13, 1983 (1983-11-13) |
| 17 | 11 | "Between Fathers and Sons" | John Patterson | Chris Manheim | December 13, 1983 (1983-12-13) |
| 18 | 12 | "The Big Leagues" | Leo Penn | Irv Pearlberg | December 27, 1983 (1983-12-27) |
| 19 | 13 | "Going Back to Hannibal" | Allen Reisner | Alan Brennert | January 10, 1984 (1984-01-10) |
| 20 | 14 | "Wheels of Justice" | William Wiard | David Shaw, Ed Waters | January 17, 1984 (1984-01-17) |
| 21 | 15 | "Informed Consent" | Oz Scott | Rogers Turrentine | January 24, 1984 (1984-01-24) |
| 22 | 16 | "Abigail" | Alex March | Irv Pearlberg | February 7, 1984 (1984-02-07) |
| 23 | 17 | "Home Again" | Allen Reisner | Alan Brennert | March 6, 1984 (1984-03-06) |

## US television ratings

| Season | Episodes | Start date | End date | Nielsen rank | Nielsen rating |
| 1982–83 | 6 | March 25, 1983 | May 6, 1983 | 15 | 19.3 |
| 1983–84 | 17 | September 27, 1983 | March 6, 1984 | 66 | 13.6 |

## Awards

The episode "Old Hatreds Die Hard" was nominated for a 1983 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.