About this season
The Mississippi was a television series which ran for 2 seasons from 1982 to 1984. The series consisted of 27 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. Ralph Waite played Ben Walker, a successful criminal attorney who after retiring his law practice, sought a more simple life on the mighty Mississippi river as a simple stern-wheel river boat captain. But at every port he would stop at he'd find someone who needed a good attorney and he would end up defending them. His "crew" consisted of Stella McMullen and Lafe Tate, both of whom was more interested in helping people, fighting crime and becoming attorneys than running the tug. Filming occurred in several cities along the Mississippi River including Natchez, Mississippi, and Memphis, Tennessee.
Episodes (17)
1. There is a Tiger in the Town
Aired 27 September 1983 • 60 min
Ben comes to the aid of an elderly newspaper editor who, traumatized by his wife's death, took on the identity of Mark Twain, and is now accused of murdering the man suspected of killing his wife.
2. Cradle to Grave
Aired 4 October 1983 • 60 min
Ben seeks to unravel an incriminating web of circumstantial evidence that links a mystery writer and his lover to murder.
3. The Trial of Ben Walker
Aired 11 October 1983 • 60 min
Ben gets involved in the case of a teenager who claims that a doctor performed an unnecessary radical mastectomy on her mother.
4. The Last Voice You Hear
Aired 18 October 1983 • 60 min
Ben is caught in a legal and emotional crossfire of embattled former spouses over who knows what is best for their nine-year-old child.
5. The Shooting
Aired 25 October 1983 • 60 min
Former resident Margaret Hammond writes a best-seller, ""River Town"", about the place where she grew up, and lawyer Ben has to dig deep for a defense that will saver her from a libel charge by the town's most affluent family.
6. Peace with Honor
Aired 1 November 1983 • 60 min
Ben returns to his roots as a prosecutor to imprison a man he unsuccessfully attempted to prosecute for murder 25 years ago and who has now committed a similar crime.
7. Joey
Aired 8 November 1983 • 60 min
Ben takes on the medical profession in defense of a midwife who defies the law to practice the craft of child delivery with a skill rivaled by few obstetricians.
8. Crisis of Identity
Aired 15 November 1983 • 60 min
Ben defends a private nurse who is charged with murder when the wealthy man for whom she was caring dies of a drug overdose.
9. Town Without Pity
Aired 22 November 1983 • 60 min
A beautiful woman hires Ben to defend her young, retarded gardener Jerry against murder charges.
10. G.I. Blues
Aired 29 November 1983 • 60 min
The mother of a man who has been murdered hires Ben to defend his wife, the primary suspect in the shooting death.
11. Between Fathers and Sons
Aired 13 December 1983 • 60 min
A peaceful activist emerges from hiding to seek Ben's help in exonerating her of a 15-year-old murder charge.
12. The Big Leagues
Aired 27 December 1983 • 60 min
Ben becomes involved in the defense of a rebellious teenager who maintains his innocence of armed robbery, yet is terrified to reveal the guilty parties.
13. Going Back to Hannibal
Aired 10 January 1984 • 60 min
Ben defends the embittered survivor of a German concentration camp who is suspected of murdering a Nazi war criminal hiding in a small Mississippi river town.
14. Wheels of Justice
Aired 17 January 1984 • 60 min
Ben defends a hot-headed ex-convict suspected of murdering both a foreman who recently fired him and a man who claimed to have seen him fleeing from the crime.
15. Informed Consent
Aired 24 January 1984 • 60 min
Ben is asked by the army to defend a sergeant accused of slugging a fellow officer who he claims was trying to rape his daughter.
16. Abigail
Aired 7 February 1984 • 60 min
An elderly farmer hires Ben to defend a young navy veteran who is accused of killing his father after an explosive argument.
17. Home Again
Aired 6 March 1984 • 60 min
Ben finds himself working with a flamboyant, publicity-seeking attorney when he agrees to represent a professional football player facing trial on drug charges.