The Mississippi (TV series)  The Mississippi is a legal drama television series which ran for 2 seasons from 1982 to 1984. The series consisted of 23 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 simpler life on the Mississippi River as the captain of a stern wheel river boat. But at every port where he would stop he'd find someone who needed a good attorney and he would end up defending them. 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. The episode "Old Hatreds Die Hard" was nominated for a 1983 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.