Going on twenty years later, and it was one of a kind. Best show hands down.
Too funny, without being sexually explicit with adult material. Brilliant.
Beah Richards would deservedly win the guest actress Emmy as the widow of the man who "may" have killed himself, but to this day I enjoy fellow nominee Conchata Farrell from the same episode as the lawyer representing Richards. The lines "I spit up on her. My mother died in her arms" is a chilling, stunning setup.
"In other words, gentlemen, I am your worst nightmare come true."
Fantastic.
The Rosalind Cash-Lynne Thigpen episode. Subtle, yet memorable. Cash was the old voodoo ways, Thigpen was the updated voodoo ways. Too classic.
Loved the "spell" being carried in by Thigpen in a paper bag covered in aluminum.
I had forgotten about the dead body being removed from the funeral home. The "body" would tip his hat and smile at the very end after credits rolled.
The boxing match. Sensational.
I suppose my fave was the restaurant episode with the country band, the drag queens, the white family and "Pick a bale of cotton." Around the same time, Robin Williams had pulled the same joke on a special "Carol, Carl, Robin & Whoopi" but it was still funny here.
My brother managed to record most of the episodes, only missing a two parter dealing with drugs.
I still think about this grand show.
Daphne Maxwell-Reid and Virginia Capers. Hilarious when she got mad and was in that wheelchair.
And the reverend! How could I forget him! "But the Lord loves me!"
He would have a quick scene in the boxing match that was too funny.
Toward the end, Frank would be told that Daphne was getting married to a football player and he would meet the guy, who had a voice like a cartoon character. Frank felt vindicated. At the very end, he mimicked MIckey Mouse giving football calls.
This show would be replaced with that horrendous retirement community show that starred Glynis Johns, Alan Young and the fellow who played Wimpy in the Robin Williams-Shelly Duvall Popeye movie.
Was Frank's Place ahead of its time? Who knows?
It would receive numerous nominations in the only year it was on, and other than Richards' guest win, it would only receive writing.
Yes, it seemed to be because they were Black. Even in the eighties it could be too much. It was a shame.
But thankfully the show was done for that year.
