In the Heat of the Night (TV series)
Encyclopedia
In the Heat of the Night is a television series based on the motion picture and novel
In the Heat of the Night (novel)
In the Heat of the Night is a 1965 novel by John Ball set in the fictional community of Wells, North Carolina. The main character is a black police detective named Virgil Tibbs passing through the small town during a time of bigotry and the civil rights movement.The novel is the basis of the 1967...

 of the same name. It was broadcast on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 from 1988 until 1992, and then on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 until 1995. Its executive producers were Fred Silverman
Fred Silverman
Fred Silverman is an American television executive and producer. He worked as an executive at the CBS, ABC and NBC networks, and was responsible for bringing to television such programs as the series Scooby-Doo , All in the Family , The Waltons , and Charlie's Angels , as well as the...

, Juanita Bartlett
Juanita Bartlett
Juanita Bartlett is a television writer best known for The Rockford Files and The New Maverick, both starring James Garner. Bartlett also worked on Garner's series Nichols, as well as The Greatest American Hero, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, and several others. Bartlett worked for Roy Huggins, Stephen J...

, and Carroll O'Connor
Carroll O'Connor
John Carroll O'Connor best known as Carroll O'Connor, was an American actor, producer and director whose television career spanned four decades...

.

Heat starred Carroll O'Connor
Carroll O'Connor
John Carroll O'Connor best known as Carroll O'Connor, was an American actor, producer and director whose television career spanned four decades...

 as the white police chief William Gillespie, and Howard Rollins
Howard Rollins
Howard Ellsworth Rollins, Jr. was an American television, film, and stage actor. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Coalhouse Walker, Jr...

 as the African-American police detective Virgil Tibbs
Virgil Tibbs
Virgil Tibbs is a fictional character who is one of the two leading male characters in John Ball's 1965 novel In the Heat of the Night. He is also the protagonist in six sequels to that novel, the Oscar-winning 1967 film of the same name based on the original novel, the sequel films They Call Me...

. In the premiere episode, Tibbs, a proud, intellectual, Philadelphia police department detective, has returned to his childhood home (the fictionalized Sparta, Mississippi
Sparta, Mississippi
Sparta is a small unincorporated community in Chickasaw County, Mississippi, United States, in the northeastern part of the state.A fictionalized Sparta was featured in the 1967 film In the Heat of the Night and the television series in the 1980s and '90s. This fictional version of Sparta differs...

) for his mother's funeral. He is eventually persuaded by local politicians to remain in Sparta, as they are desperate to improve the local squad's reputation of being anti-Black and underskilled.

Themes

The show dealt with a variety of issues. These included racism, drug abuse, rape, AIDS, incest, government corruption, homophobia, and drunk driving, among others.

First season

The first season of the show was filmed in Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...

. There were many conflicts between the first executive producer, Juanita Bartlett, and series star Carroll O'Connor
Carroll O'Connor
John Carroll O'Connor best known as Carroll O'Connor, was an American actor, producer and director whose television career spanned four decades...

. A total of eight episodes (the two-hour pilot, plus six regular episodes) were filmed. O'Connor threatened to quit the series at the end of Season One if Bartlett remained executive producer, so she was eventually replaced.

The episodes in this season did not have much of an overriding theme; they were mostly "recycled material from other crime shows," in O'Connor's words. O'Connor was promised the head writing position of Story Editor
Story editor
Story editor is a job title in motion picture and television production, also sometimes called "supervising producer". A story editor is a member of the screenwriting staff who edits stories for screenplays....

, but scripts would come back marked, "FINAL NO REWRITES." Episodes often focused on grisly murders or crimes, not the lives of the "New South
New South
New South, New South Democracy or New South Creed is a phrase that has been used intermittently since the American Civil War to describe the American South, after 1877. The term "New South" is used in contrast to the Old South of the plantation system of the antebellum period.The term has been used...

"-era characters (which viewers would later come to appreciate). Anne-Marie Johnson
Anne-Marie Johnson
Anne-Marie Johnson is an American actress and impressionist who has starred in film and on television. She is perhaps best known for her role as high school educator Althea Tibbs on the NBC/CBS television drama In the Heat of the Night. She is also known for her role as Nadine Hudson Thomas on...

, who played Virgil's wife Althea, summed up what it was like to film the show in the little town of Hammond: "My high school was bigger than this town."

Second season

Season two began airing in December 1988, due to a writers strike
1988 Writers Guild of America strike
The 1988 Writers Guild of America strike was a strike action taken by members of both the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West against major United States television and film studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers...

. The series had a new look, and a new set of executive producers. On-location shooting was moved from Louisiana to Covington, Georgia
Covington, Georgia
Covington is a city in Newton County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 13,118. The city is the county seat of Newton County...

. The season premiere was aired as a two-hour made-for-TV movie, titled “Don’t Look Back”; the plot revolved around a copycat murder that Gillespie had investigated twenty years earlier. This double-episode also introduced two new regular characters: Joanne St. John, the chief’s unofficial girlfriend, and owner of the local diner (played by Lois Nettleton
Lois Nettleton
Lois June Nettleton was an American actress of film, stage, and television. She was Miss Chicago of 1948 as well as a semifinalist at that year's Miss America Pageant.-Early years:...

); and, Officer Wilson Sweet (played by Geoffrey Thorne
Geoffrey Thorne
Geoffrey Thorne is an American screenwriter, novelist and actor.Thorne was born in the United States. After a successful career as a television actor, Thorne began writing professionally, winning Second Prize in Simon & Schuster's sixth annual Strange New Worlds anthology with his story "The Soft...

). It also introduced the first of several new recurring characters: Doctor (or, "Doc") Robb, the county coroner (played by veteran actor Dan Biggers
Dan Biggers
Dan Biggers is an American actor best known for his role as Frank "Doc" Robb on the television series In the Heat of the Night. He was born in Rome, Georgia....

). The episode "The Creek" saw the introduction of the first new police character "Officer Randy Goode" (1988–1993) played by Randall Franks
Randall Franks
Randall Franks is an award-winning bluegrass singer and musician who plays fiddle, mandolin, guitar and mountain dulcimer. He was recognized by the International Bluegrass Music Museum in 2010 as a Bluegrass Legend; inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004; and was designated...

 cast following the show's move to Georgia introducing the second prominent Georgia performer to claim a regular role on the series. Franks was already an established bluegrass music star performing for the Grand Ole Opry pursuing a new path.

Other episode plots in this season included: a prominent citizen being murdered due to sexual abuse in his family; Virgil’s ex-partner and Althea’s ex-lover coming back to Sparta and being exposed as a murderer; Chief Gillespie having to confront the legacy of his own bigoted past when he's duty-bound to arrest a close, lifelong friend—who is also the sheriff of the neighboring county—for committing a racially-motivated murder in his jail; Bubba getting caught up in a love triangle; Althea’s niece visiting from Philadelphia; Virgil and Althea going to an all-White church; Joanne being stalked by a murderous ex-con, which eventually exposes that she had been a prostitute out of necessity in a different city, long ago; the arrest of councilwoman White’s son; Chief Gillespie witnessing, and being deeply affected by, an execution; a plant strike that leads to murder; Bubba being accused of rape; and, a manhunt for a drunk driver who killed three of Sparta's most popular high school cheerleaders, and crippled a fourth.

During the last four episodes of this season, Joe Don Baker
Joe Don Baker
Joe Don Baker is an American film actor, perhaps best known for his roles as a Mafia hitman in Charley Varrick, deputy sheriff Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III in Final Justice, real-life Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser in Walking Tall, brute force with a badge detective Mitchell in Mitchell, James...

 guest-starred as Capt. Tom Dugan, who was brought in as acting chief-of-police, while Chief Gillespie was at a month-long police conference in Quantico, Virginia
Quantico, Virginia
- Demographics :As of the census of 2000, there are 561 people, 295 households, and 107 families living in the town. The population density is . There are 359 housing units at an average density of .-Racial composition:...

. In reality, Baker was brought in to substitute for O’Connor, who was undergoing open heart surgery. In the storylines, Dugan is a good ol' boy with a mysterious side; he often works without consulting Detective Tibbs, and is unaccounted for on several occasions. The working relationship between Dugan and Tibbs becomes increasingly strained, in some ways reminiscent of Tibbs' and Gillespie's formerly combative relationship from season one. Eventually, Tibbs and Bubba Skinner become completely distrustful of Dugan, and Dugan increasingly feels that the entire police department will never accept him as one of its own, and views Tibbs as the rightful "chief", in Gillespie's absence. Ultimately, it is revealed that Tom Dugan was working undercover for the FBI, part of an effort to prevent the assassination of a prominent southern civil rights preacher. The second season ended in a cliffhanger: Chief Gillespie returns, only to be kidnapped (and JoAnne shot) at his home by two men wearing pig masks. Inexplicably, season three opened without any explanation or reference to this, as if it never happened. Only later in season three was any mention made of it—and only a passing one. Carroll O'Connor wanted his open heart surgery to be written into the story line, but the writers refused and came up with the kidnapping idea, instead. The kidnapping episode is resolved in the third season premiere "Anniversary" -- which aired out of order, later in season three, because O'Connor wanted Althea's rape story line to be the season opener.

Third season

The third season saw a number of changes to the show. The character of Joanne St. John was eliminated to make room for councilwoman Harriet Delong. Althea received a lot of character development this season, particularly as she grapples with the effects and aftermath of rape. We learn that Parker was a Vietnam veteran, and someone abandons a baby on Bubba's doorstep. Dee Shaw also joined the cast as officer Dee Sheppard.

In "First Girl," Gillespie hires Christine Rankin, the Sparta PD's first female black officer. Her life is tragically cut short, making room for her replacement, Luanne Corbin, played by Crystal Fox. Luanne would remain a prominent character throughout the rest of the series, although Crystal Fox was listed in the ending credits as a guest star until season seven where she finally appeared in the opening credits.

In the two-part episode, "Citizen Trundle," written by O'Connor, Cynthia Deming & William J Royce, Harriet DeLong's sister, Natalie is murdered. It is important to note that this episode set the foundation for Gillespie and DeLong's future relationship and eventual marriage.

Fourth season

In the fourth season Carroll O'Connor
Carroll O'Connor
John Carroll O'Connor best known as Carroll O'Connor, was an American actor, producer and director whose television career spanned four decades...

 took complete contol of the show by firing the entire writing staff, except for Cynthia Deming and William J Royce, making them Story Editor
Story editor
Story editor is a job title in motion picture and television production, also sometimes called "supervising producer". A story editor is a member of the screenwriting staff who edits stories for screenplays....

(s).

The season begins with the birth of Virgil and Althea’s twins. William and Sarah Tibbs were welcomed into the world on September 18, 1990. While Althea was waiting to go into labor, Tibbs's friend from the Philadelphia police force is murdered and he heads up to the “big city” to clear his friend's name, only to be arrested himself. It is now up to Chief Gillespie to find out the truth, clear Virgil’s name, and make it home in time.

Other topics this season include the murder of a prostitute; a teacher accused of molesting a child, who commits suicide due to inflammation of the story from the press; a woman with an intellectual disability getting pregnant and burying her child; the introduction of Bobby Johnson, after his brother is killed in a drug shootout; a scam involving another one of Virgil’s friends; a bounty hunter; and a serial rapist stalking Sparta.

One of the two most important stories of the season involves Virgil arresting his cousin, who shoots himself in the struggle for a gun, becomes a paraplegic, and goes to prison. The boy's mother, Virgil's Aunt Ruda, blames Virgil for the incident and cuts herself off from the rest of the family, insisting, “There ain’t no family. Not for me...not no more”

Another story involves the conviction of Harriet DeLong’s ex-husband Vic for plotting to rob his former employer in a revenge scheme. Three men, on a misty Sunday morning, shoot a security guard at the Lambry plant and steal a bundle of money waiting to be paid out on Monday morning. Harriet’s son Eugene also gets involved when he tries to assist his father and almost loses his life. The case brings Bill and Harriet closer together, while it drives a wedge between Harriet and Eugene. As the relationship between Harriet and Bill begins to evolve, all of Sparta wonders how a relationship like that could exist and be accepted in the South. Harriet’s ex-husband eventually gets the death penalty for his crime, leaving Harriet and her son at odds. They continue to resent each other because of conflicting loyalties to Vic and Bill.

The season closes with Althea almost having a breakdown over the stress of Virgil’s job on the police force after he is almost killed by a stray bullet and does not tell her about it. On top of that, she is also worried that her children will grow up without their father, and she begs him to try something different. Chief Gillespie burns up the wires and gets Virgil on his way to law school, and Althea apologizes for not being more understanding as she & Virgil share a glass of wine together.

Fifth season

The fifth season begins with a shocker: Chief Gillespie has a daughter by the name of Lana Farren. The Chief is now good friends with her mother Georgia. Georgia is asking Bill to help her put some of her affairs in order, and to keep all of her ‘boyfriends’ as well as her ex-husband away from her assets which she intends to leave to Lana. Bill immediately puts Ted Marcus on the case. In the meantime, Georgia returns to Gulfport and is murdered. The chief takes this very personally and sets out to find her killer. At the end of the episode, Lana finds out that Bill is her father but does not want to have anything to do with him. This cuts deeply into Bill and he has a hard time dealing with it. Note: The character of Lana will not be seen again until the season six episode “Random’s Child”.

Bobby Short
Bobby Short
Robert Waltrip "Bobby" Short was an American cabaret singer and pianist, best known for his interpretations of songs by popular composers of the first half of the 20th century such as Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Noel Coward and George and Ira Gershwin.He...

 plays blues musician Ches Collins in the award-winning episode "Sweet, Sweet Blues," one of the most powerful episodes of the season. (Based on the true story of Medgar Evers
Medgar Evers
Medgar Wiley Evers was an African American civil rights activist from Mississippi involved in efforts to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi...

.) Officer Wilson Sweet learns there was a witness to the murder of his grandfather back in 1948. When he learns the murderer is still alive, Sweet is determined to see that justice is served.

Also, Bubba gets involved with yet another baby, a teacher is stalked by an obsessed taxidermist, a game of high stakes poker leads to murder, Bubba gets reunited with Pat Day, Bill and Harriet share their first public kiss, and Sweet solves the forty year old murder mystery involving his grandfather and a 1948 Packard. Also, the estrangement between Virgil's aunt Ruda and the Tibbs family comes to an end in the episode, “Ruda's Awakening”, after Ruda witnesses a robbery-in-progress where a young man is killed while fighting over a gun with Bubba. Ruda initially believes Bubba is responsible, but after visiting her son, Tyrell in jail (where he confesses the accident that crippled him was his fault and not Virgil's), her memory of the incident clears and Bubba is exonerated. This leads to a joyful reconciliation between Virgil and Ruda at the end of the episode.

Other episodes include Sheriff McCombs deputy growing marijuana, Darnell’s daughter being kidnapped, a wife who kills her husband for beating her, a doctor who kills his wife and his mistress to keep them from talking to each other, a real estate developer being killed in an insurance scam, the return of Emily Trundel, and one of the best episodes of the series “Family Reunion” in which, an insurance investigator is on the trail of stolen money and is murdered. Roy Paxton is reunited with his estranged family in an attempt to recover the money that the matriarch has run off with and it ends up in Sparta.

In the final two-part episode of the season, which was originally advertised as the series finale, Gillespie and Tibbs are brought up on charges when they help an escaped road gang prisoner of McCombs and he is offered sanctuary in a local monastery. After he escapes McComb feels betrayed by Gillespie and Tibbs for not upholding their sworn duty. The gang corners the escaped prisoner but he runs the road block and deputy Ferrell shoots him. Gillespie and Tibbs are put on administrative leave.

Judge Simms presides over the case. After hearing both sides the jury is not able to reach a verdict and Gillespie and Tibbs are freed.

A sub-plot in this episode sees Councilman Waters and Alvin Epp teaming up to keep Gillespie and Tibbs off the police force because Gillespie vehemently objects to them overtaking Sparta’s south side. This plot is explored further in the season six two part episode “Even Nice People and Lake Winahatchie”.

The episode and season end with Althea and Virgil celebrating and Bill and Harriet spending the night together.

Sixth season

At the beginning of Season 6, In the Heat of the Night moved from NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 to CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

. Originally, CBS opted only to pick up the series for a set of six two hour movies. However, it was eventually picked up for a full 22 episode order. The first two episodes of the season saw the affair between Gillespie and DeLong intensify only to be interrupted by a crack war waged on Sparta involving Eugene. Althea Tibbs saw new trauma this season as she witnessed the suicide of one of her students (played by Walton Goggins
Walton Goggins
Walton Sanders Goggins, Jr. is an American actor best known for his roles on the FX Networks series The Shield and Justified, portraying Detective Shane Vendrell and Boyd Crowder, respectively. He is also known for his character roles in the films Miracle at St. Anna and Predators...

), causing a near mental breakdown. Only with the help of a tough psychologist recommended by Dr. Day is Althea able to come out of her “funk” and return to teaching at Sparta High School. Ruda Gibson makes another appearance as she is diagnosed with cancer and Virgil does all he can to help her. Her recovery is implied in season seven when Etta mentions that, after Virgil and Althea left Sparta, she comes to visit and sometimes stays the whole week.

Also of interest this season, Bill Gillespie’s daughter, Lana returns for a three-episode stint to resolve the case started in "A Woman Much Admired." She is testifying against the New Orleans thugs that her mother was involved with before her death. The case finally comes to a conclusion as the mob led by their main Sparta connection Lewis Alvin Epp orders Lana’s farm house burnt down after she refuses to be bought out giving them access to Sparta’s south side. The events in that storyline lead into Bill’s and Lana’s reconciling. In “Random’s Child,” this episode also becomes a musical feature performance for "Officer Randy Goode," as Franks performs "The Sparta Impound Blues" with actor Thomas Byrd in a scene written specifically by O'Connor to feature Franks musically after letters flooded in from viewers.

Other highlights this season included the return of Luanne’s brother (played by Designing Women
Designing Women
Designing Women is an American television sitcom that centered on the working and personal lives of four Southern women and one man in an interior design firm in Atlanta, Georgia. It aired on the CBS television network from September 29, 1986 until May 24, 1993. The show was created by head writer...

s Meshach Taylor
Meshach Taylor
Meshach Taylor is an American actor.He is perhaps best known for his role as Anthony Bouvier on the sitcom Designing Women. He also had a major role on the sitcom Dave's World, playing Sheldon Baylor, and appeared in Buffalo Bill.-Personal life:Taylor was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of...

), a faded country music singer who ends up committing murder, Bubba being stalked by an obsessed admirer, Sweet being falsely accused of accepting a bribe, and a two-part episode involving the “white supremacy” that still exists in the new South.

The season comes to a close when Eugene works hard to get his father’s death sentence stayed by the state of Mississippi, only to have his efforts stopped by a mad man who runs the prison pastor off the road. Harriet also makes a critical decision at this point: not to let Eugene influence her relationship with Bill anymore. He may disapprove, but as she tells him, “One of these days you’re going to walk away from me, and I’m just going to tell you to keep on going”.

After the season Howard Rollins, Anne-Marie Johnson and Geoffrey Thorne left the series. Rollins would return occasionally as a guest star, while Johnson took a starring role on Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

’s In Living Color
In Living Color
In Living Color is an American sketch comedy television series, which originally ran on the Fox Network from April 15, 1990 to May 19, 1994. Brothers Keenen and Damon Wayans created, wrote, and starred in the program. The show was produced by Ivory Way Productions in association with 20th Century...

. Thorne left to pursue a career as a writer. Unlike the characters played by Rollins and Johnson, Thorne's character simply vanished with no explanation for why he was absent from the show.

Seventh season

Season 7 began as Bill Gillespie was forced out of office and former Memphis detective Hampton Forbes was voted in as police chief. After nearly three decades on the Sparta police force, the city council decided not to renew Bill's contract because of his open relationship with Harriet DeLong. However, Gillespie is soon appointed as the Sheriff of Newman County when Nathan McComb suffers a heart attack and is too ill to continue his duties.

Hampton Forbes, meanwhile, is getting to know his new town and his new officers, who are not happy that Gillespie is gone. Gillespie's last official act on his way out the door is to give each of his officers a promotion.

Finally,the marriage of Bill Gillespie and Harriet DeLong took place in the seventh season.

In the beginning of this season, Virgil is mentioned as being in Jackson getting his law degree. He is often talked about but only seen in three episodes the entire season credited as a special guest star. When Virgil returns to Sparta as an attorney, he and Althea have separated and she has moved back to Philadelphia with the twins. Lonnie Jamison takes over the role of Chief of Detectives in Virgil’s absence.

Notable episodes this season include "A Depraved Heart" about the daughter of a friend of Bubba’s contracting AIDS from someone who knowingly gave it to her, and "Singin' The Blues" involving Luanne, which includes her singing at a blues club and helping take care of an abandoned baby—with whom she comes to love as her own. It is later revealed that she can not have children of her own and she decides to sign up to be a full-time foster parent. Other episodes include Parker being accused of police brutality, Bubba trying to help his nephew deal with recovering from drugs, a deeper look at Lonnie’s life off the police force which is controlled by his cantankerous Aunt Cora, and Harriet DeLong taking a bigger part in the story lines. Actor/director Larry Hagman
Larry Hagman
Larry Martin Hagman is an American film and television actor, producer and director known for playing J.R. Ewing in the 1980s primetime television soap opera Dallas and Major Anthony "Tony" Nelson in the 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.-Early life and career:Hagman was born in Fort Worth, Texas...

 directed several episodes.

In "Chess and the Lady" Bobby Short
Bobby Short
Robert Waltrip "Bobby" Short was an American cabaret singer and pianist, best known for his interpretations of songs by popular composers of the first half of the 20th century such as Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Noel Coward and George and Ira Gershwin.He...

 reprises his role as the blues musician from "Sweet, Sweet Blues." The episode involves the return of Maybelle Chesboro,(played by Elizabeth Ashley
Elizabeth Ashley
Elizabeth Ashley is an American actress who first came to prominence as the ingenue in the Broadway play Take Her, She's Mine, which earned her a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Play.-Early life:...

) the ex-madam. She has returned to operate a legal phone sex business. One of her employees tries to blackmail one of Holly Colmer’s friends and ends up getting shot. Maybelle decides to give up working in the business for good, but not before visiting Bill and attempting to get romantic with him.

The season wraps with the two-hour MOTW, "Give Me Your Life" starring Peter Fonda
Peter Fonda
Peter Henry Fonda is an American actor. He is the son of Henry Fonda, brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget and Justin Fonda...

 as Marcantony Appfel. The story (by O'Connor and written by Cynthia Deming & William J Royce) is loosely based on the real-life drama unfolding in Waco, Texas with David Koresh
David Koresh
David Koresh , born Vernon Wayne Howell, was the leader of a Branch Davidian religious sect, believing himself to be its final prophet. Howell legally changed his name to David Koresh on May 15, 1990. A 1993 raid by the U.S...

 and his followers.

Eighth season

The show aired four made-for-television movies during the 1994-1995 season. This is considered to be the eighth season of the show. Each movie was two hours in length, making them equivalent to eight regular episodes. The movies were:
  • A Matter of Justice
  • Who was Geli Bendl?
  • By Duty Bound
  • Grow Old Along with Me (the series finale)


Series co-star Hugh O'Connor committed suicide 2 months before the series finale actually aired. When aired in its original, 2-hour format, there was a black screen in between the intro tag and the opening title, which read "In memory of Hugh O'Connor: 1962-1995".

Writing Staff

Mark Rodgers (1989–1990)

Edward Deblasio (1989–1990)

Nancy Bond (1989–1990)

William J Royce (1989–1994)

Cynthia Deming (1990–1995)

Robert Bielak (1990–1991)

Mitch Schneider (1990–1995)

Joe Gannon (1991–1995)

The cast

Actor Role
Carroll O'Connor
Carroll O'Connor
John Carroll O'Connor best known as Carroll O'Connor, was an American actor, producer and director whose television career spanned four decades...

 
Starred in the lead role of William O. "Bill" Gillespie. Gillespie was a crusty but honorable small town police chief. At first somewhat resentful of Virgil Tibbs, he would later become very close to Virgil and the rest of the Tibbs family. It should be noted that their relationship in the TV series is much less adversarial than it is in the film version. For the first six seasons he was the chief of the Sparta Police Department until he was fired at the beginning of the 7th season. He would then become interim Sheriff after the previous Sheriff became too ill to continue his duties. Gillespie was married at one time to Anna, his Italian war bride whom he brought home from his WWII service in Italy. Anna became pregnant - both she and their son would die in childbirth. He also had an older daughter, Lana, by Georgia Farren. Gillespie eventually fell in love with Harriett DeLong. Throughout the series run, O'Connor was one of the actors to appear in every episode of the series on both networks (NBC) and (CBS), with the exception of four shows near the end of the 1988-89 season that he missed while recovering from open heart surgery.
Howard Rollins
Howard Rollins
Howard Ellsworth Rollins, Jr. was an American television, film, and stage actor. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Coalhouse Walker, Jr...

 
Starred in the lead role of Virgil Tibbs
Virgil Tibbs
Virgil Tibbs is a fictional character who is one of the two leading male characters in John Ball's 1965 novel In the Heat of the Night. He is also the protagonist in six sequels to that novel, the Oscar-winning 1967 film of the same name based on the original novel, the sequel films They Call Me...

. An African-American, he had grown up in Sparta but later moved north and became a police detective. He would later return to Sparta after being offered a job as chief of detectives and the rank of Captain with the city police department. At first Tibbs and Gillespie butted heads, but would soon become close friends - Gillespie even became a godfather to Virgil and Althea's twins. He also initially clashed with Bubba early in the series, but after Virgil helped Bubba clear his name during a case where he was falsely accused of rape, they became good friends as well. Even though some city council members wanted to make him chief, Tibbs firmly rebuffed their offers, preferring to work with Gillespie. After continued legal problems, Rollins was dropped from the series in 1993, and Tibbs was written out of the series as having left the community following his graduation from law school. Rollins would return as a guest star several times during the 7th season in his new profession, attorney at law.
Alan Autry
Alan Autry
Carlos Alan Autry is an American actor, politician, and former National Football League football player. He is best known for his role as Captain Bubba Skinner on the television series In the Heat of the Night; he also has been in numerous movies and other television shows...

 
Played "Bubba" Skinner. Bubba was something of a redneck. Intimidating and physically powerful, he was never afraid to use force when needed, but despite his rough exterior, he was a good man deep down. He was also a sort of ladies man around Sparta as he always seemed to have a new girlfriend on hand. Bubba was deeply resentful of Virgil's presence on the police force at first, clashing with him on several occasions. He eventually became close friends with the Tibbs family, particularly after Virgil helped clear his name in a false allegation of rape. Bubba was also from a large family. Eventually he rose to the rank of Captain after Gillespie left the Sparta Police. In Season 5, it is revealed that Bubba's first and middle initials are V.L. Bubba also always wore "white socks" with his uniform.
Original Rank: Sergeant Final Rank: Captain
Anne-Marie Johnson
Anne-Marie Johnson
Anne-Marie Johnson is an American actress and impressionist who has starred in film and on television. She is perhaps best known for her role as high school educator Althea Tibbs on the NBC/CBS television drama In the Heat of the Night. She is also known for her role as Nadine Hudson Thomas on...

 
Starred as Virgil's wife Althea Tibbs. She starred in that role for six seasons. Althea's life in Sparta was very rough, having been raped at the beginning of the third season, and suffering a mental breakdown later after witnessing the suicide of one of her students. Althea did not reappear for the seventh season, and her character was written out as Althea had been separated from Virgil and moved back to Pennsylvania. Johnson left the show for a role on the Fox Television sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...

 show In Living Color
In Living Color
In Living Color is an American sketch comedy television series, which originally ran on the Fox Network from April 15, 1990 to May 19, 1994. Brothers Keenen and Damon Wayans created, wrote, and starred in the program. The show was produced by Ivory Way Productions in association with 20th Century...

.
Lois Nettleton
Lois Nettleton
Lois June Nettleton was an American actress of film, stage, and television. She was Miss Chicago of 1948 as well as a semifinalist at that year's Miss America Pageant.-Early years:...

 
Played Joanne St. John from 1988 to 1989. She was the owner of the Magnolia Cafe, a popular eatery in Sparta (as seen in the show's opening). After it was revealed that Joanne was once a prostitute, she eventually left Sparta.
David Hart
David Hart (actor)
David Hart in Marianna, Florida, is an actor best known for his portrayal of Sgt. Parker Williams on the hit television series In the Heat of the Night. He also appeared in numerous commercials including IHop Restaurants, Maxwell House Coffee, Coors Light Silver Bullets, John Deere, and GE...

 
Played Parker Williams. Parker generally sat behind the dispatcher's desk, although he would also be assigned to patrol duty. He finally in 1994 rose to the rank of Senior Sergeant. Parker was a Vietnam
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

 veteran
Veteran
A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...

. As a comic relief
Comic relief
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.-Definition:...

 Parker would always have a Mason jar of sweet tea on his desk
Original Rank: Officer Final Rank: Sergeant
Christian LeBlanc
Christian LeBlanc
Christian Jules LeBlanc is an American actor.LeBlanc currently plays Michael Baldwin on The Young and the Restless. He first played the role from 1991 to 1993, and then resumed the role in 1997. He was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for the role six times, and won for Outstanding Lead Actor...

 
Portrayed Junior Abernathy, a patrolman seen only during Season 1.
Geoffrey Thorne
Geoffrey Thorne
Geoffrey Thorne is an American screenwriter, novelist and actor.Thorne was born in the United States. After a successful career as a television actor, Thorne began writing professionally, winning Second Prize in Simon & Schuster's sixth annual Strange New Worlds anthology with his story "The Soft...

 
Joined the cast as Wilson Sweet in 1988. Aside from Tibbs, Sweet was one of the first African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

s to join the force. His ambition was to rise in the ranks of the Sparta police force and become Sparta first black Police Chief-a part which was played by Carl Weathers. The character disappeared in Season Seven after Thorne left the show and was never mentioned again.
Original Rank: Officer Final Rank: Sergeant
Hugh O'Connor
Hugh O'Connor
Not to be confused with Hugo Oconór.Hugh Edward Ralph O'Connor was an American actor. The son of actor Carroll O'Connor, he portrayed Det./ Lt. Lonnie Jamison on the television drama In the Heat of the Night from 1988-1995. O'Connor committed suicide in 1995. - Biography...

 
Played the role of Lonnie Jamison, an officer and senior investigator on the Sparta police force. Lonnie eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant and Acting Chief of Detectives. Lonnie was a very capable officer and took his job seriously. He usually had a serious and straight-forward personality, but was an amiable and friendly person overall. He was also the coach of Sparta High School's track team and good friends with Harriet DeLong's son, Eugene. Hugh was the adopted son of Carroll O'Connor.
Original Rank: Officer Final Final Rank: Lieutenant/Acting Chief of Detectives
Carl Weathers
Carl Weathers
Carl Weathers is an American actor, as well as former professional football player in the United States and Canada. He is best known for playing Apollo Creed in the Rocky series of films...

 
Joined the cast in the final season as Hampton Forbes. He was picked to lead the department after the controversial firing of Bill Gillespie. Forbes was the first African-American chief of the department. Forbes became friends with Gillespie, and would often work closely with him when Gillespie became sheriff.
Crystal R. Fox  Played Luanne Corbin. After the first African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 woman to join the force died in the line of duty on her first day on the job, Corbin was recruited to take her place. Crystal was featured in the episode "Singin' the Blues" which gave her the opportunity to display her talent as a singer, as well as a fine actress.
Denise Nicholas
Denise Nicholas
Denise Nicholas is an American actress and social activist who was involved in the American Civil Rights Movement...

 
Played Sparta City Councillwoman Harriet DeLong. Harriet's relationship with Chief Gillespie was deeply adversarial in the beginning, due to his somewhat racist personality and the two clashed often when she first appeared on the show. But over the course of the series, Harriet saw Gillespie's softer, more caring side and began to think more fondly of him. By the time Denise Nicholas became a series regular, Harriet and Gillespie were becoming a couple, much to the disapproval of her son, Eugene. It was shown in the two-part episode, "Citizen Trundle", that Harriet's sister, Natalie was the mistress of conniving businessman, V.J. Trundle, who later had her murdered. They had a son named Eric from their illicit affair and Harriet eventually gained custody of him after Trundle committed suicide by deliberately crashing his private airplane after a confrontation about the murder with Gillespie. Emily Trundle, V.J.'s estranged widow attempted to gain custody of Eric in the following season, but only succeeding in gaining visitation rights, something Harriet deeply opposed.
Randall Franks
Randall Franks
Randall Franks is an award-winning bluegrass singer and musician who plays fiddle, mandolin, guitar and mountain dulcimer. He was recognized by the International Bluegrass Music Museum in 2010 as a Bluegrass Legend; inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004; and was designated...

 
Played Officer Randy Goode (1988–1993) Randy Goode began his work on the series as a partner to Willson Sweet in "The Creek"; he soon began driving Chief Gillespie and Detective Tibbs around.
Harvey E. Lee Jr.  Played Officer Ken Covey. ( Joined the show in the sixth season.)
Mark W. Johnson  Played Luke Everett. (Joined the show in the sixth season. )

Recurring cast

Actor Role
Jen Harper  Dr. Day
Thom Gossom Jr.
Thom Gossom Jr.
Thom Gossom Jr. is an American actor.Gossom played college football for the Auburn Tigers. He was a cast member of the TV series In the Heat of the Night. He made appearances in the 2003 sequel to Jeepers Creepers and Fight Club; as well as guest roles in CSI and other TV shows.-External...

 
Ted Marcus
Fran Bennett
Fran Bennett
Fran Bennett is an American actress born in Malvern, Arkansas. From 1996 to 2003, she was head of the performance program in the School of Theater at the California Institute of the Arts...

 
Ruda Gibson
Karen Carlson
Karen Carlson
- Career :Carlson was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. She has appeared in many television series and a few films. Her film credits include Shame, Shame, Everybody Knows Her Name , The Candidate with Robert Redford and The Octagon with Chuck Norris...

 
Sarah Hallisey
Rugg Williams
Rugg Williams
Rugg Williams is an American actor who co-starred in the crime drama In the Heat of the Night with Carroll O'Connor for four seasons as Eugene Glendon, Denise Nicholas troubled son...

 
Eugene Glendon
Wallace Merck  Colmer
Christine Elise
Christine Elise
Christine Elise is an American film and television actress.-Personal life:Born Christine Elise McCarthy in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of artists, she graduated from the Boston Latin School in 1983...

 
Lana Farren - Gillespie's daughter by Georgia Farren as the result of a long ago love affair. They had no relationship while Lana was growing up.
Adair Simon  Emily Trundle
Bob Penny  Alvin Epp
Scott Brian Higgs  Randy Calhoun
Afemo Omilami
Afemo Omilami
Afemo Omilami is an American actor.-Career:He has appeared in many films such as Glory , The Firm , Gordy , Remember the Titans , Hounddog , and The Blind Side...

 
Jimmy Dawes
Burgess Meredith
Burgess Meredith
Oliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor in theatre, film, and television, who also worked as a director...

 
Judge Cully
Stuart Culpepper  Judge Henry Sims
Joe Don Baker
Joe Don Baker
Joe Don Baker is an American film actor, perhaps best known for his roles as a Mafia hitman in Charley Varrick, deputy sheriff Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III in Final Justice, real-life Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser in Walking Tall, brute force with a badge detective Mitchell in Mitchell, James...

 
Captain Tom Dugan - A retired police captain, Dugan appeared on the last four episodes of the second season. Baker was brought in as a stand-in for Carroll O'Connor while O'Connor was recovering from open heart surgery. Dugan was placed in the department by the FBI to uncover a plot by white supremacists to assassinate a civil rights leader. Dugan was murdered by these same white supremacists at the end of the second season. His nephew, who had become involved with these people, later agreed to help the police.
Ron Culbreth  Sheriff Nathan McComb - the former county sheriff. Culbreth appeared on nine episodes as Sheriff McComb. In the 7th season, McComb became too ill to continue his duties, and Gillespie was appointed as acting sheriff in his place. Prior to his appearances as McComb, Culbreth also appeared on the episode Missing in another guest role.
Maureen Dowdell  Tracy Boggs
Pat Hingle
Pat Hingle
Martin Patterson "Pat" Hingle was an American actor.-Early life:Hingle was born Martin Patterson Hingle in Miami, Florida, the son of Marvin Louise , a schoolteacher and musician, and Clarence Martin Hingle, a building contractor. Hingle enlisted in the U.S. Navy in December 1941, dropping out of...

 
Roy Eversole - Parker Williams' father. Hot tempered, Eversole had a great deal of difficulty maintaining steady employment. Eversole was once a murder suspect after getting into a heated argument with a former employer, who was subsequently found dead a short time later.
Tonea Stewart
Tonea Stewart
Dr. Tonea Stewart is an American actress and University Professor best known for her role as Aunt Etta on the television series In the Heat of the Night....

 
Virgil's aunt Etta
Dee Shaw  Dee Shepard

Guest stars

During the series' seven and 1/2-season run, many unfamiliar actors and/or actresses have made guest appearances, and others were newcomers who have gone on to become well-known, among them appearing in Heat of the Night episodes: Frances Fisher
Frances Fisher
Frances Fisher is a British actress. She is known for her work on television, in theater and in films, including roles as Strawberry Alice, the madame prostitute in Unforgiven , and Ruth DeWitt Bukater, the mother of Kate Winslet's character in Titanic .- Early life and education :Fisher was born...

, Mel Stewart
Mel Stewart
Milton "Mel" Stewart was an American character actor, television director, and musician who appeared in numerous films and television shows from the 1960s to the 1990s. He is best known for playing Henry Jefferson on the popular television series All in the Family...

, Nana Visitor
Nana Visitor
Nana Visitor , born Nana Tucker, is an American actress, best known for playing Kira Nerys in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Jean Ritter in the television series Wildfire.-Early life:...

, Gail O'Grady
Gail O'Grady
Gail Ann O'Grady is an American television actress. She is best known for her roles as Donna Abandando on NYPD Blue and as Helen Pryor on American Dreams...

, Don Galloway
Don Galloway
Donald "Don" Galloway was an American actor of stage, film and television, a political libertarian and journalist, perhaps best-known for his role as Raymond Burr's protégé, Detective Sergeant Ed Brown, on the long-running crime drama Ironside...

, Dana Barron
Dana Barron
Dana Barron is an American actress who has starred in film and on television. Barron is best known for her role as the original Audrey Griswold in the 1983 film National Lampoon's Vacation which she reprised in 2003's Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure for NBC television.-Early...

, Marco St. John
Marco St. John
Marco St. John is an American actor who has starred in many films and on television. He is best known for his role as the perverted truck driver in the 1991 hit film Thelma & Louise. St. John is also well known in the horror fan community for playing Sheriff Tucker in the 1985 horror film Friday...

, Ted Lange
Ted Lange
Theodore William "Ted" Lange is an American actor, director, and screenwriter best known for his role as the bartender, Isaac Washington, in the 1970s TV series The Love Boat...

, Mickey Jones
Mickey Jones
Mickey Jones is an American musician and actor.-Early life:Jones was born in Houston, Texas, the son of Frances Marie and Fred Edward Jones...

, Mitchell Laurance, Laura Johnson
Laura Johnson
Laura Johnson is an American actress who played Terry Hartford in the soap opera Falcon Crest from 1983 to 1986.Johnson was married to actor Harry Hamlin from 1985 to 1989, she was previously married to producer David Solomon....

, Jordan Vaughn, Martha Byrne
Martha Byrne
Mary Martha Byrne is an American actress, singer and screenwriter.In 2008, she left CBS's As the World Turns as the passionate role of Lily Snyder. In 2009, she was featured on ABC's General Hospital as Andrea Floyd...

, Walton Goggins, Maury Covington, Earl Holliman
Earl Holliman
-Early life:Earl Holliman was born at Delhi in Richland Parish of northeastern Louisiana. Holliman’s biological father died before he was born, and his biological mother, living in poverty with several other children, gave him up for adoption at birth...

, Randy Brooks, Wayne Brady
Wayne Brady
Wayne Alphonso Brady is an actor, singer, comedian and television personality, known for his work as a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and as the host of the daytime talk show The Wayne Brady Show...

, Art Evans
Art Evans
Arthur James "Art" Evans is an American actor who has made multiple film and television program appearances over the span of three decades....

, Nicolas Cowan
Nicolas Cowan
Nicolas Cowan is an actor. He is best known for his role in Surf Ninjas- Early life :Nicolas Cowan was born in 1981 to an Asian mother and Jewish father. At 6 years old, he became interested in acting.-Career:...

, Lou Walker, Robert Goulet
Robert Goulet
Robert Gerard Goulet was a Canadian American entertainer as a singer and actor. He played the role of Lancelot in the Broadway musical Camelot of 1960.-Early life:...

, Bobby Short
Bobby Short
Robert Waltrip "Bobby" Short was an American cabaret singer and pianist, best known for his interpretations of songs by popular composers of the first half of the 20th century such as Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Noel Coward and George and Ira Gershwin.He...

, William Sadler
William Sadler (actor)
William Thomas Sadler is an American actor who works in film and television. His television and motion picture roles have included Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller in The Pacific, Luther Sloan in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Sheriff Jim Valenti in Roswell, convict Heywood in The Shawshank Redemption,...

, Michael Spound, Bill McKinney
Bill McKinney
Bill McKinney is an American character actor whose most famous role was the sadistic mountain man in the movie Deliverance...

, Lisa Pelikan
Lisa Pelikan
Lisa Pelikan is an American stage, film and television actress.She was born in Berkley, California, the daughter of American parents Helen L., a psychologist, and Robert G. Pelikan, an international economist who served as the minister-counselor from the United States at the Organization for...

, Mark Rolston
Mark Rolston
-Career:Rolston played PFC M. Drake in Aliens , Hans in Lethal Weapon 2 , Stef in RoboCop 2 , Bogs Diamond in The Shawshank Redemption , J. Scar in Eraser , Chief Dennis Wilson in Daylight , Wayne Bryce in Hard Rain and Special Agent in Charge Warren Russ in Rush Hour...

, Jennifer Bassey
Jennifer Bassey
Jennifer Bassey is an American actress.-Biography:After graduating from Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, Jennifer Bassey moved back to the United States and took roles in many Off-Broadway plays...

, Marc Macaulay, Jean Simmons
Jean Simmons
Jean Merilyn Simmons, OBE was an English actress. She appeared predominantly in motion pictures, beginning with films made in Great Britain during and after World War II – she was one of J...

, Thomas Jefferson Bird, Vanessa Bell Calloway
Vanessa Bell Calloway
Vanessa Bell Calloway is an American actress who has appeared in a number of films, including Biker Boyz, Love Don't Cost a Thing, What's Love Got to Do with It, Coming to America, and Cheaper by the Dozen....

, Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew David McConaughey is an American actor.After a series of minor roles in the early 1990s, McConaughey gained notice for his breakout role in Dazed and Confused . He then appeared in films such as A Time to Kill, Contact, U-571, Tiptoes, Sahara, and We Are Marshall...

, J.D. Hall, George C. Scott
George C. Scott
George Campbell Scott was an American stage and film actor, director and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, and as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's Dr...

, Stephen Root
Stephen Root
Stephen Root is an American actor. He is best known for his comedic work on the TV sitcom NewsRadio, in the film Office Space and as the voice of Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland in the animated series King of the Hill...

, Bruce Kirby
Bruce Kirby (actor)
Bruce Kirby is an American character actor.Though he has been a working actor since the 1950s, Kirby is most familiar to Columbo fans as the gullible Sergeant Kramer. He also appeared in the 1971 movie called How to Frame a Figg with Don Knotts and the 1972 comedy Another Fine Mess with Rich Little...

, Lisa Rieffel
Lisa Rieffel
Lisa Rieffel is an American singer, musician, and actress.Rieffel was born in Denville, New Jersey. She is a founding member and lead singer of the Los Angeles-based alternative rock band Killola, and has been a singer/actress since childhood...

, Ernest Lee Thomas
Ernest Lee Thomas
Ernest Lee Thomas is an American actor. He was born in Gary, Indiana. He is most famous for his role as aspiring writer Roger "Rog" Thomas on the 1970s ABC sitcom What's Happening!!, and its 1980s syndicated sequel, What's Happening Now!!-Early career and What's Happening!!:Thomas began his...

, Ken Marshall, Laurence Fishburne
Laurence Fishburne
Laurence John Fishburne III is an American film and stage actor, playwright, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Morpheus in the Matrix science fiction film trilogy, as Cowboy Curtis on the 1980's television show Pee-wee's Playhouse, and as singer-musician Ike Turner...

, Ted Manson, Mariska Hargitay
Mariska Hargitay
Mariska Hargitay is an American actress, best known for her role as New York City sex crimes Detective Olivia Benson on the NBC television drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a role that has earned her multiple awards and nominations, including an Emmy and Golden Globe.The daughter of actress...

, Meshach Taylor
Meshach Taylor
Meshach Taylor is an American actor.He is perhaps best known for his role as Anthony Bouvier on the sitcom Designing Women. He also had a major role on the sitcom Dave's World, playing Sheldon Baylor, and appeared in Buffalo Bill.-Personal life:Taylor was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of...

, Francesco Quinn
Francesco Quinn
Francesco Daniele Quinn was an Italian-born actor. The third son of Oscar winner Anthony Quinn and Jolanda Addorlori , Francesco is perhaps best known for his breakout role as Rhah in Oliver Stone’s Academy Award-winning Platoon...

, Jeffrey Buckner Ford, Gary Anthony Williams
Gary Anthony Williams
Gary Anthony Williams is an American screen actor who most recently appeared in Weeds and Boston Legal. Additionally, he is known for his recurring role on Fox's Malcolm in the Middle as "Abe" Kenarban. He has also been known for the comedy series Blue Collar TV as a regular cast member...

, Richard McKenzie, Craig Shoemaker
Craig Shoemaker
Craig Shoemaker is an American comedian, writer, and voice actor. He is best known for his baritone voiced character, The Lovemaster, which he routinely portrays in his stand up act.-Comedy:...

, Stephen Nichols
Stephen Nichols
Stephen Nichols is an American actor, most notable for his roles on American daytime soap operas. He played the part of Steve Johnson on NBCs Days of our Lives from 1985-1990; after that, he had a stint on ABC's General Hospital as Stefan Cassadine from 1996-2003...

, Mitchell Anderson
Mitchell Anderson
Mitchell Ogren Anderson is an American character actor.Anderson was born in Jamestown, New York, to a retail store owner mother and a father who worked in business...

, James Best
James Best
James Best is an American actor best known for his role as bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in the CBS television series The Dukes of Hazzard. He has also worked as an acting coach, artist, and musician.-Early years:...

, Sonny Shroyer
Sonny Shroyer
Otis Burt "Sonny" Shroyer, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in various television and movie roles. He is best known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Enos Strate in the television series The Dukes of Hazzard. He also starred in a spin-off called Enos based on his Dukes of Hazzard character...

, Byron Cherry
Byron Cherry
Byron Cherry is an actor. He portrayed Coy Duke, one of the new Duke Boys, in the 1982-1983 season of The Dukes of Hazzard, replacing John Schneider's Bo Duke character.-The Dukes of Hazzard:...

, Whitman Mayo
Whitman Mayo
Whitman B. Mayo was an American actor best known for his character Grady Wilson on the 1970s television sitcom Sanford and Son....

, among many others. Future Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman stars, Helene Udy
Helene Udy
Helene Udy is an American actress and director. She is perhaps best known for her role as Myra Bing on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman....

, William Shockley
William Shockley (actor)
William Shockley is an actor and musician.Shockley was born in Lawrence, Kansas and found his love for music at the age of seven...

 and Chad Allen
Chad Allen (actor)
Chad Allen is an American actor. Beginning a prolific career as a child actor at the age of seven, Allen is a three-time Young Artist Award winner and GLAAD Media Award honoree, best known for rising to prominence as a teen idol during the late 1980s as David Witherspoon on the NBC family drama,...

 made guest appearances. Future Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...

star Doug Savant
Doug Savant
Douglas Peter "Doug" Savant is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Matt Fielding on Melrose Place and Tom Scavo on the ABC dramedy series Desperate Housewives.-Career:...

 and veteran actor Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy (actor)
Kevin McCarthy was an American stage, film, and television actor, who appeared in over two hundred television and film roles. For his role in the 1951 film version of Death of a Salesman, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and won a Golden Globe Award for New Star of...

 also made their guest appearances on the two-part pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...

 episode, as well as former football star later turned convicted felon O. J. Simpson
O. J. Simpson
Orenthal James "O. J." Simpson , nicknamed "The Juice", is a retired American collegiate and professional football player, football broadcaster, and actor...

 in a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...

.

Broadcast history and ratings

The series debuted as a midseason replacement
Midseason replacement
In American and Canadian television, a midseason replacement is a television series that premieres in the second half of the traditional television season, usually between January and May...

 for the short-lived NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 series J.J. Starbuck
J.J. Starbuck
J.J. Starbuck was a short lived NBC series about a cornpone-spouting J.J. Starbuck, a Texan millionaire who wears ten-gallon hats, cowboy boots and fancy western shirts...

, premiering on March 6, 1988. The series ran on the network until May 19, 1992, then was shown on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 until its finale after an eighth season, on May 16, 1995.

TV ratings

  • Season 1: #18-15,639,200
  • Season 2: #19-15,564,900
  • Season 3: #21-13,871,900
  • Season 4: out of the top 30
  • Season 5: out of the top 30
  • Season 6: #46-10,630,000
  • Season 7: NA
  • Season 8: NA

Locations

The television series also took place in a fictionalized version of Sparta, Mississippi
Sparta, Mississippi
Sparta is a small unincorporated community in Chickasaw County, Mississippi, United States, in the northeastern part of the state.A fictionalized Sparta was featured in the 1967 film In the Heat of the Night and the television series in the 1980s and '90s. This fictional version of Sparta differs...

. While there is a real Sparta, the version of Sparta shown on television is very different from the real town. For example, the TV Sparta is situated along Interstate 20
Interstate 20
Interstate 20 is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I‑20 runs 1,535 miles from near Kent, Texas, at Interstate 10 to Florence, South Carolina, at Interstate 95...

, while the real town is nowhere near any interstate. During the first season, Hammond, Louisiana was the site of the show's production. In the second season, the show was moved to Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, and it remained there for the rest of its run. The principal area of Sparta was in fact downtown Covington, Georgia
Covington, Georgia
Covington is a city in Newton County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 13,118. The city is the county seat of Newton County...

. Rural scenes were filmed in a wide surrounding area, in the Georgia counties of Newton
Newton County, Georgia
Newton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 62,001. The 2010 Census showed a population of 99,958. The county seat is Covington....

 (where Covington is located), Rockdale
Rockdale County, Georgia
Rockdale County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 70,111. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 82,052. Two years later, the population was 84,569. The county seat is Conyers.-Geography:...

, Walton
Walton County, Georgia
Walton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2009, the population was 87,311. The county seat is Monroe.This county is a part of the Atlanta Metropolitan Area ....

, Morgan
Morgan County, Georgia
Morgan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 15,457. The 2005 Census Estimate shows a population of 17,492. The county seat is Madison, Georgia.-Geography:...

, and Jasper
Jasper County, Georgia
Jasper County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 11,426. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 13,660...

. In fact, during the series run, many of the cast members had homes in the area and were often spotted in local restaurants and retail stores. The cast members would also go around to local schools to speak to students.

Soundtrack

The theme song, "In the Heat of the Night," was recorded by Quincy Jones, and is usually paired with "They Call Me Mr. Tibbs" on albums. Bill Champlin
Bill Champlin
William Bradford "Bill" Champlin is an American singer, guitarist, keyboard player, arranger, producer, and songwriter. His performance work is principally associated with the bands Chicago and the Sons of Champlin...

 of the band Chicago
Chicago (band)
Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...

 sang the opening theme song for the television series.

Randall Franks
Randall Franks
Randall Franks is an award-winning bluegrass singer and musician who plays fiddle, mandolin, guitar and mountain dulcimer. He was recognized by the International Bluegrass Music Museum in 2010 as a Bluegrass Legend; inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004; and was designated...

 and Alan Autry
Alan Autry
Carlos Alan Autry is an American actor, politician, and former National Football League football player. He is best known for his role as Captain Bubba Skinner on the television series In the Heat of the Night; he also has been in numerous movies and other television shows...

co-produced the cast CD "Christmas Time's A Comin'" for Sonlite and MGM/UA featuring the entire cast and a host of music stars and it was released Christmas 1991 and 1992 and was among the top holiday recordings of those years around the South and Midwest.
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