Cane (CBS)

CANE is a dramatic primetime soap opera that tells the story of feuding families, internal power struggles, and steamy romance with a traditional Latin flair. Jimmy Smits stars as Alex Vega, the foster son of the Duques, a large, close-knit Cuban-American family in the rum and sugar business. Alex helps his foster father, Pancho (Hector Elizondo), run the company along with brothers Francisco (Nestor Carbonell) and Enrique (Eddie Matos). Alex's wife, Isabel (Paola Turbay), is Pancho's daughter. Holding the family together is the Duque matriarch Amalia (Rita Moreno). The series presents the ongoing strife between the Vega-Duques and the Samuels clan, who run a Florida sugar cane company. Patriarch Joe Samuels (Ken Howard) heads the business with his son, Lamont (Lee Tergesen), and his seductive daughter, Ellis (Polly Walker).

Cane is full of mystery and passion and provides all of the other guilty pleasures you'd expect from an adult soap opera. But what separates it from other dramas of its kind is its celebration of America's Cuban heritage. Some of the show's storylines are connected to major historic events that define Cuban-Americans today, including little-known facts about the early years of the first post-revolution refugees. The series also serves as a vehicle for several generations of talented Latino actors (though not all Cuban), who add to the show's authenticity.