This is the third in a series of fall TV previews.

Name of show
“Cane”
 
Timeslot
CBS, Tuesday 10 p.m.
 
Plot synopsis
“Cane” is a drama following the exploits of a Cuban-American family in South Florida that runs a large sugar and rum company. The cast list reads like a who’s who of Hispanic acting talent, including Hector Elizondo as the family’s patriarch, Pancho Duque, Rita Moreno as his wife, Amalia, Eddie Matos as their son Henry and Jimmy Smits as their adopted son, Alex Vega.
 
There’s conflict from a competing family, the Samuels, and of course from within the Duque family, including a sibling rivalry between Alex and Henry. As the story begins, Frank urges his father to sell the sugar portion of the business to the Samuels, but Alex doesn’t trust the competing family and prefers to keep the empire intact.
 
Meanwhile, Alex’s wife, Isabel, played by Paola Turbay, chooses to stay out of the family business and instead focuses on their three children, Jaime, Katie and Artie, who cause their own problems at home.
 
Outlook
“Cane’s” competition in the Tuesday 10 p.m. timeslot is solid but not unbeatable. Probably the show’s biggest hurdle is simply breaking the timeslot’s longstanding curse. CBS has not been able to gain traction there since canceling “Judging Amy” three seasons ago. It was home to such high-profile flops as “Smith” and “3 Lbs.” last season.
 
Airing head-to-head with “Cane” will be NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” which has become the strongest of the fading “L&O” franchise, and ABC’s “Boston Legal,” which is well short of being a ratings giant but could have some extra juice following James Spader’s surprise Emmy win.
 
Last season, “SVU” averaged a 4.2 rating among viewers 18-49, while “Boston” averaged a 2.7. It is, however, conceivable that all three shows will draw decent audiences, since they’re all different genres; “Cane” is more of a traditional serial drama, while of course “SVU” is a police procedural and “Boston” is a legal drama.
 
One advantage “Cane” may have is its Hispanic focus, which could help it draw viewers from that ever-growing audience. And Smits, whose stints on “LA Law,” “NYPD Blue” and “The West Wing” were hugely popular, is capable of drawing an audience simply because he’s associated with high-quality drama.
 
The buzz
Any time a new show is compared to a broadcast legend, you know the buzz is positive.
 
“Jimmy Smits has a proven track record of success,” says Karen McCallum, media director at Esparza Advertising in Albuquerque, N.M. “It’s a little more female-skewing, so that concerns me somewhat, but it reminds me a little of ‘Dallas.’ I think it has good possibilities.”
 
CBS would obviously be happy if “Cane” ends up having a quarter of the success “Dallas” did, but the comparison makes sense; numerous media people have said “Cane” is like “Dallas,” only instead of oil in Texas, it’s rum in Florida.
 
What critics are saying
“With ‘The Unit’ as a lead-in, this series created by Cynthia Cidre (‘The Mambo Kings’) seemingly has an opportunity to get noticed, with the necessary disclaimer that such serialized fare has proven extremely fragile -- especially on a network so strongly associated with procedurals that it might be extra difficult to raise ‘Cane.’ -- Brian Lowry, Variety
 
“Let's be clear here: ‘Cane’ is not a bad show, and it’s sporadically a good one. Merely, great expectations have not been met. Primetime soaps are fine; primetime soaps with Smits are even finer, and better still with ethnic/Latino themes, and the sort of rich possibilities this setup promises. Let's just hope ‘Cane’ realizes that one of these days.” -- Verne Gay, Newsday
 
“Indeed, though he is not blood, Alex is the keeper of several crucial family secrets and not only that, has a better head for business than Frank, and more power than youngest son, Henry (Eddie Matos). Rita Moreno’s also in there, barely, portraying Pancho’s wife, Amalia. She and every other actor in ‘Cane’ have more talent than the producers can accommodate.” -- Melanie McFarland, Seattle Post-Intelligencer