In the Heat of the Night (TV series)

The show dealt with a variety of issues, including racism, police brutality, interracial relationships, hate crimes, drug trafficking, drug addiction, alcoholism, teenage pregnancy, rape, AIDS, misogyny, incest, child abuse, sexual harassment, euthanasia, anti-Semitism, political corruption, prostitution, domestic violence, mental disorders, dysfunctional families, suicide, capital punishment, poverty, and drunk driving.

The opening scene of the pilot episode was filmed in Bessemer, Alabama, while the rest of the first season was filmed in Hammond, Louisiana. Hammond was selected by executive producer Juanita Bartlett to represent the small southern town of Sparta, Mississippi. The producers had difficulty finding filming locations that were usable, because other, more modern structures were close enough to be picked up in the images.[1] Eight episodes were filmed—the two-hour pilot movie and six regular one-hour episodes. The series premiered on March 6, 1988, with the season finale airing May 3, 1988.

Many conflicts arose between Juanita Bartlett and series star Carroll O'Connor over the writing of the series. At first, she allowed him to consult on the series per his contract. After the pilot, however, she ordered scripts from her writers. O'Connor described these as "recycled material from other crime shows". He was disappointed in the writing, feeling that the writers were taking big-city stories and imposing them on a small town. He believed that the key to this show's success was to express its small-town locale and characters through the stories.[2] Scripts would be given to him marked FINAL: NO REWRITES, but O'Connor often rewrote scripts anyway. This angered the production staff members, which felt they were burning up fax machines with the changes.[2] O'Connor described Bartlett as a very arrogant person.[1] If the show was going to be renewed, then O'Connor was not interested and threatened to quit the show if Bartlett was not replaced as executive producer.

The early episodes were gritty, raw and considered groundbreaking for that time. There was an emphasis on grisly murders or other crimes, rather than the lives of the New South-era characters, for which the series later became known.

Anne-Marie Johnson, who played Althea Tibbs, summed up what it was like to film the show in the little town of Hammond. She said, "My high school was bigger than this town".

Season 2 premiered on December 4, 1988 due to a writers strike; the season introduced a new look and set of executive producers, Jeri Taylor and her husband David Moessinger, with on-location shooting moved from Louisiana to Covington, Georgia, which remained as the primary filming location of the show for the duration of the series. The season premiere was aired as a two-hour TV-movie originally entitled "The Voodoo Murders", now known in syndication as "Don't Look Back". The plot revolved around a shocking copycat murder of one that Gillespie had investigated 20 years earlier. Also the Sparta city council was pushing Virgil Tibbs to run as a possible candidate for Chief of Police to replace Gillespie, but Virgil wasn't interested in doing so; however the word gets out that Tibbs is after Gillespie's job, causing dissension between the two men. Althea, who was a stay at home wife in Season 1, is offered a position as a teacher and guidance counselor at the local high school by city Councilman Ted Marcus (Thom Gossom, Jr.).

Gone was Christian LeBlanc, who portrayed Officer Junior Abernathy and added were two new regular characters—Joanne St. John (played by Lois Nettleton), the chief's sometime girlfriend and owner of the local diner, The Magnolia Cafe; and rookie officer Wilson Sweet (Geoffrey Thorne), fresh out of the Police Academy. The season also introduced the first of several new recurring characters, including Doctor (or, "Doc") Frank Robb, the county coroner (played by veteran actor Dan Biggers). "The Creek" saw the introduction of the first new police character and the second prominent Georgia performer to claim a regular role on the series, Officer Randy Goode (1988–1993) played by Randall Franks, who was cast following the show's move to Covington. "Gunshot", where Virgil experiences extreme guilt and mental trauma after he shoots and kills a female robbery suspect, introduces a character that had a criminal past but later became invaluable in supplying Gillespie and the Sparta P.D. with information, Jimmy Dawes (Afemo Omilami).

Plots in this season included Gillespie witnessing the execution of a man whom he arrested years ago, an episode that Carroll O'Connor wrote himself under the pseudonym Matt Harris ("A Trip Upstate").

During the filming of the episode "Walkout", Carroll O'Connor began to experience fatigue. After being checked by the set doctor, it was discovered that he needed sextuple heart bypass surgery, due to years of heavy smoking. During the last four episodes of the season, Joe Don Baker was brought in as Tom Dugan, a replacement for Chief Gillespie, who was said to be away at a police training conference at Quantico. The episodes where Gillespie was away were "Fifteen Forever", "Ladybug, Ladybug", "The Pig Woman of Sparta" and "Missing". Dugan was appointed acting chief by Councilwoman White, but he was actually working undercover for the FBI in an attempt to stop the assassination of a civil rights preacher during a visit to the town by a white supremacist group (that is not revealed until the Season 3 episode "Anniversary"). The season finale "Missing" has the chief being kidnapped upon his return to Sparta by two men in pig masks, and the police and the FBI are at wit's end trying to locate him and those who are responsible. O'Connor wanted the chief to undergo heart surgery in the storyline, but the husband and wife producers came up with this storyline instead. It was the final straw in a long line of complaints; these producers were fired at the end of the season, with O'Connor becoming the executive producer for season three and beyond.[1]

Note: When Jeri Taylor and her husband decided to do the show, she was quoted as saying, "I was one of those in the '60's that was out marching for civil rights," and "I was one of those who thought the major work had all been done. When we (Taylor and her husband, Moessinger) decided to do the show, we took research trips to the South, and we saw that there had been an enormous amount of change. We came back with a renewed vigor but also with the realization that there is still a lot more to be done. There is still deeply entrenched racism. And addressing that became a much larger element in our thinking about the show."

"What makes race relations a constant in our show is the two lead characters—one is white and one is black," Moessinger said. "Whether they are angry at each other, whether they're happy or sad, we're showing the interaction of two men who are trying to do the best in life. If we never put one race issue into it, if we never said one word about it, the message is there because it's showing how people ought to interrelate, how they ought to work together, how they ought to get along."[3]

In the third season, Carroll O'Connor took complete control of the show, after firing husband and wife executive producing team David Moessinger and Jeri Taylor. From that point on, he brought aboard writers and showrunners who shared his vision of where he wanted the series to go.

Althea Tibbs grappled with the effects and aftermath of rape in the explosive Season 3 premiere after she was brutally assaulted and violated by the new music teacher at Sparta High. She had an uneasy relationship with him from the outset and it culminated in the attack. Althea and Virgil are frustrated trying to bring the rapist to justice because the new district attorney Gerard Darnelle (Wilbur Fitzgerald) doesn't have enough evidence to prosecute the teacher. Althea was blindfolded during the attack, so she didn't see him but she recognized his voice, and the teacher's wife always provides him with an alibi. However, after being thoroughly excoriated by Gillespie for her complicity, she finally comes forward and implicates him. The teacher invaded Virgil and Althea's home during this and attempted to assault her again, but Althea bravely fought him off and he was subsequently arrested.

The second part of the Season 2 finale, "Missing", is resumed in Episode 6, entitled "Anniversary" – a decision made by O'Connor that the network was not pleased with because the episodes were not shown in chronological order. The Season 2 cliffhanger was Gillespie being kidnapped and Dugan murdered and when the show returned, it was as if none of that ever happened. O'Connor selected the "Rape" episode to kick off the new season instead because he thought it was more powerful, and it would attract higher viewer ratings.

The character of Joanne St. John was eliminated to make room for Sparta city Councilwoman Harriet DeLong (Denise Nicholas) as Chief Gillespie's future love interest, first as a recurring character, then later, as a main cast member. An attractive, much younger African-American divorcée, DeLong was college-educated (an Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority pledge), outspoken, and brimming with attitude, which was a turn off to Gillespie at first and the two of them did not get along.

In "First Girl", Gillespie hires Christine Rankin, Sparta PD's first female officer. Her life is tragically cut short her first day on duty in a shootout with a drug dealer and murder suspect, causing Gillespie much despair and guilt. As a result, he is temporarily suspended from his duties as chief of police pending an investigation and intent on seeking out Rankin's killer. Her replacement was Officer LuAnn Corbin, played by Crystal R. Fox. LuAnn 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. LuAnn's hiring opened the door for more women police officers to join the force: Officer Dee Shepard (Dee Shaw) is hired later in the season.

In the two-part season finale, "Citizen Trundel" (written by O'Connor, Cynthia Deming, and William J. Royce), Harriet DeLong's sister Natalie is murdered by order of her secret lover and the married father of her nine-year-old son, millionaire businessman V.J. "Vidge" Trundel. The situation causes Harriet a tremendous amount of anguish, rage, and frustration, not only because of Natalie's murder but because Chief Gillespie is reluctant to pursue the powerful Trundel as a suspect. These are the first episodes in which we see Bill and Harriet's relationship begin to blossom. During this period, he is able to see beyond her hardened exterior and finds a vulnerable and sensitive woman behind it; she discovers his compassionate side. From this point on, a camaraderie is formed between the two.

This story arc was of special significance to series co-star Denise Nicholas, who played Harriet DeLong. Ten years before, her real-life sister had been murdered and the culprit had never been caught. When Carroll O'Connor approached Nicholas about the storyline, it had upset her greatly and she had to write him a note explaining the situation, as he was unaware of the circumstances. He offered to have her not appear in the episode, but she chose to do so to bring closure for her and her family. She was able to channel her unresolved grief into the role. Only O'Connor and director Leo Penn knew the truth during filming.[4]

During the back half of season 3, Howard Rollins took six weeks off when he entered a drug and alcohol rehab program to battle his addiction issues.[5] He missed five episodes: "King's Ransom", "Triangle", "Hello In There", "December Days", and "An Angry Woman". MGM worked around his rehab schedule. Episodes were not necessarily aired in the order they were filmed, which explains why Tibbs was present one week and not the next. To explain his absence, he was said to be in New Orleans working for the FBI. He considered suicide shortly before Christmas 1989, prompting his stay in rehab.[5] Carroll O'Connor threatened to sue a tabloid which published a story saying that MGM and Carroll had fired Rollins for being absent from the set due to his problems.[5] Denise Nicholas, who played Harriet DeLong, said "Carroll set the standard for loyalty. If he liked you, he really liked you and would be there for you." [TV Guide, July 14–20, 2001]

Cynthia Deming and William J. Royce were made main story editor(s).

The season opens with a two-hour movie entitled "Brotherly Love" and the birth of Virgil and Althea's twins. While Althea is waiting to go into labor, Tibbs' friend and ex-colleague from the Philadelphia P.D. is found dead, and it's at first labeled as a suicide. Tibbs heads up to the big city to attend his funeral, only to learn his friend's death was not by his own hand, but murder. Tibbs soon recognizes there is corruption going on within the police department, and his friend was framed for the murder of a drug dealer. In the process of trying to clear his friend's name, he first becomes a target, then framed for murder himself. Chief Gillespie travels to Philly to get Virgil out of jail, help him solve the mystery of what happened to his friend and seek justice for him, expose the corrupt officers and make it back home to Sparta in time for the twins' birth. William and Sarah Tibbs were welcomed into the world on September 18, 1990.

Other stories include Bubba going to Los Angeles to extradite a Sparta resident responsible for a fire that killed two people, which was actually the first of two backdoor pilots for a series that featured Alan Autry, but neither were picked up by the network.

The fifth season begins with the revelation that Chief Gillespie has a 19-year-old daughter by the name of Lana Farren, played by Christine Elise (formerly of Beverly Hills, 90210). The chief is now good friends with her mother, Georgia Farren, played by legendary actress Stella Stevens. Lana was conceived during a period where her mother was separated from her husband, and she and Gillespie had an affair. However, she was never divorced from her husband, Ken Farren.

In the episode "The More Things Change", Gillespie and Harriet share their first kiss after he drives her home after attending a party, and he finally reveals his affections for her. They both lament the very likely possibility that a relationship between the two of them would not be accepted by most in Sparta.

Other storylines include Sweet’s quest to discover the truth about the murder of his grandfather in 1948 and those responsible for it (a story loosely based on the murder of Medgar Evers, "Sweet, Sweet Blues"[6]) and racists sabotaging a celebration honoring a Sparta civil rights pioneer in "Odessa", the first of six scripts that Denise Nicholas wrote. She enjoyed her role as Harriet, but was bothered about the lack of black writers on the show. She complained to Carroll O'Connor about it, and he had to admit she was right. He asked her to write a script, which she did. When she submitted it to him, he liked it so much that he encouraged her to write others for the series.[7]

In the two-part season finale "Sanctuary" and "The Law on Trial", Sheriff McComb has Gillespie and Tibbs brought up on obstruction charges and harboring a fugitive after an escaped prisoner, who is an El Salvadoran immigrant seeking asylum, is given sanctuary in a monastery and the two don't arrest him when he refuses to give himself up. The prisoner is later shot to death in a standoff with the sheriff's department. Father DiMarco's heartfelt summation to the jury contributes to the case being dismissed (though that is not revealed until the start of Season 6). In between court appearances, Harriet pays Gillespie an inconspicuous visit and the two share a tender and romantic moment.

The conflict between Sheriff McComb and Chief Gillespie lingers on throughout the following season, and that conflict affects every crossover dealing with subsequent interactions between McComb's deputies and Gillespie's officers. It isn't until the arrival of Chief Hampton Forbes (Carl Weathers) in Season 7 that we see Sheriff McComb and Chief Gillespie as friends again.

The episode and the season end with both Gillespie and Tibbs awaiting the verdict in their respective residences the evening the case is given to the jury. At the end of the original and final broadcast on NBC, it was revealed that the jury couldn't reach a verdict, a mistrial is declared and the two men are freed. Bill and Harriet spend the night together for the first time.

At the beginning of Season 6, In the Heat of the Night moved from NBC to CBS. It was not publicly known at the time when Season 5 ended whether or not the show would continue. NBC had decided not to renew the series, although the ratings were still respectable and there were still some open ended plots that hadn't been resolved. A deal was made with rival network CBS to keep the show on the air. Originally, CBS opted to pick up the series for only 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 see the secret romance between Gillespie and DeLong intensify. They frequently meet in a studio apartment that doubles as Harriet's art studio.

Other highlights from the season include a faded country music singer (Robert Goulet) who ends up committing murder; the reconciliation between Gillespie and his estranged daughter Lana; and a two-part episode directed by Larry Hagman involves a white supremacist politician whose visit to Sparta has a couple of ulterior motives, including aspirations for a presidential run ("The Leftover Man"). Burgess Meredith (in one of his last acting roles) also appears as an eccentric judge overseeing a case (he would return for a brief cameo in Season 7.)

The season ends with Bill and Harriet forced to confront the impending execution of Harriet's ex-husband and Eugene's disapproval of their relationship.

Rollins was dropped from the show due to health reasons plus three outstanding warrants in Rockdale County and the city of Covington, GA.[8] He was replaced for season seven by Carl Weathers. Filming began on April 28, 1993. Rollins had not been seen on the set since January 1993, when season six wrapped. Despite numerous attempts by the media to contact Rollins, who was believed to be living in New York City, only series star Carroll O'Connor was in contact with Rollins during this period. It was hoped that Rollins would get his legal and personal issues resolved and return to the series —- but unfortunately, that was not the case.

After season 6, Anne-Marie Johnson and Geoffrey Thorne left the series alongside Rollins. Rollins would return occasionally as a guest star, while Johnson took a starring role on the final season of Fox's sketch comedy series In Living Color.

Thorne left to pursue a career as a novelist and screenwriter; his character simply vanished from the series without any explanation.

Season 7 opens with Bill Gillespie being forced out of office and former Memphis, Tennessee Police Department Inspector Hampton Forbes (Carl Weathers) is hired as the new police chief by the city council. After nearly three decades on the Sparta police force, Gillespie does not receive a new contract from the council because his romance with Harriet is now out in the open, although other excuses are made for his dismissal. He seems to be accepting of the outcome, while Harriet doesn't hesitate to show her fury over the decision. The transition from Gillespie being in charge to Forbes taking over is slightly uneasy at the very start, but soon things smooth out.

However, Gillespie is soon appointed as the acting Sheriff of Newton County when Nathan McComb suffers a heart attack and is too ill to continue his duties. This new appointment for Gillespie angers several on the city council. They want an investigation, which is upsetting and hurtful for Harriet.

Other cases involve a nine-year-old girl being killed because of a drunk driver (Hagman-directed), the return of Parker's stepfather, Roy Eversole (Pat Hingle, first seen in Season 6) and his lady friend Miss Roda (Anne Meara). Gillespie must once again confront his racist past when a new synagogue moves into Sparta and the rabbi (Jerry Stiller) detests Gillespie for being anti-Semitic back in the 1960s. Lana Farren also makes one final appearance as Bill's daughter in the Hagman-directed episode "A Love Lost", in which he must protect her from a former boyfriend who is involved in a gun-running scheme with someone in Sparta.

Virgil Tibbs returns from Jackson with his juris doctor — which explains his absence – in his new capacity as attorney in three episodes ("Virgil Tibbs: Attorney At Law", "Good Cop, Bad Cop", "Conspiracy of One") and assists the Sparta P.D. with several cases after having moved into Ben Taylor's law office. Virgil reveals to Gillespie in "Virgil Tibbs: Attorney At Law" that Althea has left him and took their twins back home to Philadelphia to live, fed up with her life in Sparta and traumatized from all that had happened to her while living there. She didn't want to make the marriage work and later files for divorce, which a heartbroken Virgil does not contest, although he has difficulty accepting his new status as a divorced man. The episode "Conspiracy of One", where Virgil suspects that one of his law firm's clients orchestrated an "accident" which resulted in his spouse's death, marks Howard Rollins' final appearance on the show (air date February 2, 1994).

In the episode "Ches and the Grand Lady", Bobby Short reprises his role as Ches Collins, the blues musician from "Sweet, Sweet Blues" in Season 5. The episode also guest stars Jean Simmons as the dying grand dame of Sparta who also happens to be Ches's old flame and the overbearing great-aunt of Lonnie Jamison. Harriet's son Eugene once again finds himself at odds with the police, endangering his parole trying to help a friend. Maybelle Chesboro (played by Elizabeth Ashley), the ex-madam, returns. (The role of Maybelle was initially played by Diane Ladd in Season 3's "Home Is Where The Heart Is".) She has returned to operate a legal phone sex business.

Finally, in "Dangerous Engagement", Gillespie and DeLong tie the knot at the same sanctuary involved in the "Sanctuary" case from Season 5. Chief Forbes serves as best man.

The season and the TV series wraps up with a two-hour movie of the week, "Give Me Your Life", starring Peter Fonda as Marcantony Appfel, leader of a religious cult in which the sexual abuse of children is rumored to have occurred. The story (by O'Connor and written by Cynthia Deming & William J. Royce) is loosely based on the real-life drama in Waco, Texas, in 1993 with the cult leader David Koresh and his followers.

Four made-for-television movies were produced during the 1994–95 season, which was supposedly the continuation of the series. Once released on DVD, these combined movies were considered the eighth season of the show.[9] The movies were:

• A Matter of Justice
• Who Is Geli Bendl? (directed by Larry Hagman)
• By Duty Bound
• Grow Old Along with Me

Carroll's son and series cast member Hugh O'Connor died by suicide nearly two months before the fourth film aired. He had been struggling with a substance abuse issue since his teen years which culminated in his demise.[10] When the film was broadcast in its original, two-hour format, a black screen was added in between the intro tag and the opening title; it read "In memory of Hugh O'Connor: 1962–1995".

During the series' 7-season run, many familiar, unfamiliar, and longtime character actors and actresses have made guest appearances, and others were newcomers who went on to become well-known. Some of those appearing in In The Heat of the Night episodes were:

Future Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman stars, Helene Udy, William Shockley and Chad Allen made guest appearances. Future Desperate Housewives star Doug Savant and veteran actor Kevin McCarthy also made their guest appearances on the two-part pilot episode, as well as O. J. Simpson (whom NBC executives originally wanted for the role of Virgil Tibbs, but O'Connor selected Rollins), who made a cameo appearance in Season 2. William Schallert, who played Mayor Schubert in the original 1967 film, also made an appearance on the show in Season 4.

The series also airs in broadcast syndication on Ovation and on WGN America. Ovation airs the show every Monday and Tuesday afternoon for five hours from 2:00 PM ET to 7:00 PM ET back to back. WGN America airs it every weekday morning starting at 11AM ET for 4 hours usaally until 3PM ET Monday through Thursday. WGN nows airs the show Fridays, too, at the same time. Ovation now has moved the show to Mondays mornings from 8 AM to 2 PM as part of their "Morning Mysteries" crime and mystery drama block, and Thursdays at 10 PM/9 PM ET/CT (or sometimes 11 PM/10 PM ET/CT.). The show also airs Tuesdays nights at 7PM ET, but it's going to be moving back to just a Thursday airing on a weeknight, once Crossing Lines begins to air on the network on December 7, 2020. MeTV also acquired the rights to the show and it began airing in around either 2018 or 2019. It airs on the network every weekday beginning at 11AM ET/10AM CT. MGM's This TV network, a classic movie-focused network, also airs the show weekdays. The show also aired on TNT from 1995 to 2005 until the show was removed. The show has remained relatively strong in syndication to this day, particularly airing on some local affiliate stations.