In the Heat of the Night

Premise

The show is a sequel to the 1967 film, whose events are said to have occurred "a few years ago" despite the show being set in the late 1980s–1990s, contemporary to its original broadcast. The show became known for the chemistry between the two lead actors, its engaging crime stories, and social commentary on issues that still carry relevance today. It was presumed that most people already knew the theme of the show based on the popularity of the original motion picture, with three of the major characters from the film brought to the series: Virgil Tibbs, Chief Gillespie and Courtney, who was renamed Parker.

To develop it as a weekly series, there were obvious changes that would have to justify Virgil Tibbs returning to Sparta, a sleepy but racially divided little hamlet in Mississippi. In the original film, he was from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and had no connection to this small Southern town aside from passing through it on the way back home from visiting his mother. Neither he nor Chief William "Bill" Gillespie were married in the film. In the series, Tibbs is married and an original Sparta native before he moved away after high school graduation. He has become fully acclimated to being a Northerner over the years and sees his hometown as backwards and slow. Gillespie, a World War II veteran, is a widower who lost both his Italian war bride and infant son within days of each other years before during childbirth.

Pilot

In the pilot episode, the meticulous African-American Philadelphia homicide detective and criminal profiler Virgil Tibbs (Rollins) has returned to his hometown of Sparta, Mississippi for his mother's funeral. He is persuaded by Mayor James Findlay to remain in Sparta as Chief of Detectives, ranking right under the blustery older "good old boy" Bill Gillespie (O'Connor), the police chief with whom he fostered a relationship during a previous murder investigation. Gillespie is not pleased; he assumes the hiring of Tibbs is part of an attempt to oust him as chief. Findlay's motive for hiring Virgil is partially political: he wants to run for Congress, and hiring Tibbs to integrate the all-white Sparta police department would improve his record on civil rights. Tibbs' appointment as Chief of Detectives will also help to overcome the local squad's reputation of being racist, regressive and underskilled.

Another reason for Findlay to hire Tibbs is the detective's reputation as being one of the finest homicide cops in Philadelphia. Findlay doesn't have much confidence in Chief Gillespie solving the slaying of a popular young Sparta woman on his own. As a result, Gillespie and Tibbs are forced to team up to solve the crime. An innocent black man is framed for her death and jailed, and later he's found lynched in his cell. Gillespie is quick to call it a suicide and close the case, but Tibbs isn't convinced. The evidence from the murders of the young woman and innocent prisoner ultimately leads to the spoiled and entitled son of the rich prominent cotton mill owner in Sparta, who has been covering up his son's misdeeds.

Although the team suffers friction over Tibbs' dissatisfaction with the department's limited resources and racial attitudes and Gillespie is annoyed at the detective's condescending remarks about his hometown, the two men prove highly effective in enforcing the law. Over time, they develop a close friendship and become almost familial.

Themes

For a small town, Sparta certainly had its share of controversies, malefactions and corruption. The show dealt with a variety of relevant issues over the seasons, including racism, police brutality, interracial relationships, rape, hate crimes, drug trafficking, drug addiction, teen pregnancy, adultery, alcoholism, AIDS, environmental crimes, incest, child abuse, sexual harassment, illegal immigration, euthanasia, anti-Semitism, labor strikes, political corruption, prostitution, domestic violence, mental disorders, dysfunctional families, suicide, capital punishment, poverty and drunk driving.

Broadcast history

The series debuted as a midseason replacement for the NBC series J.J. Starbuck, premiering on Sunday, March 6, 1988, before moving into its regular time slot on Tuesday nights. The series ran on the network until May 19, 1992, when it moved to CBS and aired until May 16, 1995.

Seasons overview

First season, 1988

The first season was filmed on location in Hammond, Louisiana. Hammond was selected by James Lee Barrett, who wrote the pilot and was also the executive consultant for the show, to represent the small southern town of Sparta, Mississippi. The producers had difficulty finding usable filming locations, because other, more modern structures were close enough to be picked up in the images. 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 on May 3.

Many conflicts arose between Juanita Bartlett and Carroll O'Connor over the writing of the series. At first, Bartlett allowed O'Connor 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 scripts, 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. Scripts would be given to him marked "FINAL: NO REWRITES", but O'Connor often rewrote scripts anyway, angering the production staff members, who felt they were burning up fax machines with the changes. O'Connor described Bartlett as a very arrogant person. If the show was going to be renewed, then O'Connor was not interested and threatened to quit the show unless the writing improved and Bartlett was 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.

Second season, 1988–1989

First season ratings of Heat were good enough for NBC to give the series a second season spot on their fall schedule. Season 2 premiered late that year on Sunday, December 4, 1988 due to the five month long Writers Guild of America strike; like the pilot, it aired on Sunday, then went back to its regular prime time slot on Tuesdays. The season introduced a whole new look, cast changes and a new set of executive producers, Jeri Taylor and her husband David Moessinger, with on-location shooting moved from Hammond, 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 bizarre copycat murder of one that Gillespie had investigated 20 years earlier, and he himself is also one of the targets for the unknown killer. Also, the Sparta city council was pushing Virgil Tibbs to run as a possible candidate for Chief of Police to replace Gillespie, but he showed little interest in doing so. Regardless, a rumor surfaces that Tibbs is after Gillespie's job, adding to the existing dissension between the two men. Gillespie's concerns about retirement, his age and his personal health also bother him and contributes to a bitter blow up between he and Tibbs. Virgil also bumps heads with Parker and Bubba, making an already uncomfortable atmosphere even more so. Althea Tibbs, who was a stay-at-home wife in the first season, is offered a position as a teacher and guidance counselor at local Sparta High School by city Councilman Ted Marcus (Thom Gossom Jr.).

Gone was Christian LeBlanc, who portrayed Officer Junior Abernathy in the first season and in his place, Hugh O'Connor's smaller role as Officer Lonnie Jamison was expanded. Added were two new regular characters—Joanne St. John (Lois Nettleton), the chief's sometime girlfriend and owner of the local diner, The Magnolia Cafe; and a cocky, young rookie officer, Willson Sweet (Geoffrey Thorne), fresh out of the police academy and the second black officer hired to serve on Sparta's police force.

The season also introduced the first of several new recurring characters, including general practitioner / county coroner Dr. Frank Robb (Dan Biggers). "The Creek" saw the introduction of 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 guilt and mental distress after he shoots and kills an unarmed female robbery suspect, introduces a character with a criminal past who later becomes invaluable as an informant to Gillespie and the Sparta P. D., Jimmy Dawes (Afemo Omilami).

Third season, 1989–1990

Season 3 premiered October 24, 1989 and by this time, O'Connor had taken complete control of the show as a scriptwriter and executive producer after firing Taylor and Moessinger. From that point on, he brought aboard writers and showrunners who shared his vision of where he wanted the series to go.

Althea Tibbs deals with the effects and aftermath of rape in the explosive season premiere. Upon returning home from the grocery store one afternoon after school, she is ambushed and sexually assaulted in her kitchen by Sparta High School's new music teacher, Stephen Ainslee (Ken Marshall). Althea had a strained relationship with him from the beginning because he objected to her authority and it culminated in the attack. The episode shows the Tibbs' and the Sparta police's exasperating attempts to bring the teacher to justice, with Althea having great difficulty coping afterwards.

The second part of the Season 2 finale, "Missing", is resumed in the third season's sixth episode, "Anniversary", where the Chief is freed by his captors after Dugan's murder; he recounts his experience after returning to Sparta and the story continues from there. It was supposed to be the original Season 3 premiere — the decision made by O'Connor to delay it displeased NBC because those episodes were not shown in chronological order. With the displacement of the episodes, it took longer for the audience to find out what the outcome of the finale was, or wondering if it was going to be addressed at all. O'Connor selected the "Rape" episode to kick off Season 3 instead because he felt it was more powerful and would attract higher ratings.

The crack cocaine epidemic takes hold amongst the youth of Sparta in the nightmarish "Crackdown", but Gillespie is in denial about how serious it really is, dismissing it as a big city problem. In this heartbreaking episode, Sweet risks his career to try to save the life of a 13-year-old addict, against Gillespie's orders. A young Vietnamese refugee arrives in town right before Christmas, claiming to be the son of a Sparta resident who was killed during the war. Bubba becomes a target of a backwoods family after he shoots and kills one of their brothers while they are robbing a store. Parker is upset when a woman he's interested in is a suspect in the death of a private investigator from New York who comes to Sparta looking for her.

In "First Girl", Gillespie hires Christine "Chris" Rankin, Sparta's first black policewoman, who is later killed during her first day on duty in a shootout with a drug dealer and murder suspect, causing Gillespie despair and guilt. As a result, he is temporarily suspended from his duties as chief of police pending an investigation of the incident and the Sparta P. D. itself by the city council. Feeling responsible for what happened, he becomes intent on seeking out Rankin's killer. Her replacement was Officer LuAnn Corbin (Crystal R. Fox), who would remain a prominent character throughout the rest of the series, although Fox was listed in the ending credits as a guest star until Season 7 where she finally appeared in the opening credits. Hiring LuAnn opens the door for more policewomen to join the force; Officer Dee Shepard (Dee Shaw) is hired later in the season.

Fourth season, 1990–1991

Cynthia Deming and William J. Royce were promoted to main story editors. The season opens with a two-part episode entitled "Brotherly Love", which storyline hints at a similar theme as a Clint Eastwood film, Magnum Force, and the birth of Virgil and Althea's twins, William and Sarah. Althea had revealed her pregnancy at the end of the third season.

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 demise was not by his own hand, but a homicide. Tibbs soon finds out that his friend was framed for the murder of a drug dealer and that sparked a fraudulent internal affairs investigation against him. Rogue cops were murdering criminals that ended up being released on technicalities, and Virgil's friend discovered this. There is corruption going on within the IA division of the Philly police department, and in the process of trying to clear his friend's name, Tibbs first becomes a target, then framed for murder himself. Chief Gillespie travels north to Pennsylvania to get Virgil out of jail, help him solve the mystery of what happened to his friend and seek justice for him, expose the dishonest officers who are responsible, 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. Virgil's aunt Etta Kibbee moves into the Tibbs' household to help Althea care for the new babies.

Other stories include a quiet and unassuming teacher wrongfully accused of the molestation of a student, which ends with tragic consequences. Virgil's younger cousin is the prime suspect in a rash of burglaries that go terribly wrong, and jeopardizes Virgil's attempts to reunite his extended family. Gillespie and Harriet's growing friendship gets complicated once her ex-husband Vic Glendon returns to Sparta and is arrested for his participation in a robbery with two other men that resulted in murder; Harriet's teenage son Eugene is somehow involved out of loyalty to his father, and his dislike for the chief doesn't make things any easier. (This storyline continues towards the end of the season with Glendon's trial, where he is found guilty of first degree murder and receives a death penalty sentence.)

Sweet is devastated when an elderly friend of his is found by her husband murdered in her bookstore; Parker falls for a blind woman who is the only 'ear'-witness to the disappearance and eventual murder of her next door neighbor. Gillespie becomes the guardian of a pre-teen black boy whose family is torn apart by death, drugs and prison. Bubba going to Los Angeles to extradite a Sparta resident for arson where two people died was actually the first of two backdoor pilots for a series that would star Alan Autry, but neither were picked up by the network.

Fifth season, 1991–1992

The fifth season begins with the revelation that Chief Gillespie has a 19-year-old daughter, Lana (Christine Elise, formerly of Beverly Hills, 90210), who is unaware of whom her biological father is. The chief still is quite smitten with her mother, Georgia Farren (Stella Stevens), a free-spirited and indiscriminate woman who is in town to settle some personal business over property. Gillespie is only happy to assist. Lana was conceived when her mother was estranged from her spouse and she and Gillespie had an affair. However, she was never divorced from her husband, Ken, and they've remained separated since. Ken has harbored a grudge ever since and is looking for the opportunity to settle a score by deadly means.

Throughout the past season there was a tacit and very modest attraction blossoming between Chief Gillespie and Harriet DeLong. Their friendship had been respectful and strictly professional, although it started out acrimonious. However, in the episode "The More Things Change", it escalates beyond that when Gillespie summons the courage to finally reveal his affections and kisses her after he drives her home one night from a dance. They both lament the likelihood that an interracial / May—December love relationship between the two of them would be frowned upon by most in Sparta. While the majority of the viewing audience responded positively to the Gillespie / DeLong romantic arc, there were others who were not pleased with the direction the series was taking with it, and were quite vocal in making it known to the actors via fan mail. NBC network executives also were nervous that a Gillespie / DeLong love affair would hurt ratings, especially among those viewers in the South, and tried to talk O'Connor out of it. However, he was adamant and would not budge. He was willing to put his own reputation on the line and push past the boundaries that most other television shows shied away from. The interracial pairing was something he had advocated hard for against the network, and won.

Other storylines include D. A. Darnelle's daughter being kidnapped; Virgil's estranged Aunt Ruda is the only witness who can clear Bubba's name in a police shooting; Sweet's quest to discover the truth about the racially motivated murder of his grandfather in 1948 and those responsible for it (a story loosely based on the murder of civil rights activist Medgar Evers, "Sweet, Sweet Blues") and racists sabotaging a celebration honoring a Sparta civil rights pioneer in "Odessa", the first of six episodes written by Denise Nicholas. Despite enjoying her role as Harriet, she was bothered by the fact that although the show featured many storylines about black people, it lacked any black writers on staff. She complained about it to O'Connor, who admitted that she was right. He asked Nicholas if she could come up with a script idea for an episode, he would consider it. When she completed and submitted it, O'Connor liked it so much that he helped and encouraged her to write others for the series.

Sixth season, 1992–1993

At the beginning of Season 6, In the Heat of the Night moved from NBC to CBS. It was not publicly known when filming for Season 5 ended whether or not the show would continue. Even though the series still had respectable ratings, viewership had slipped slightly and by then, it was considered to be "on the bubble" — a phrase that describes something that is uncertain or at risk of being eliminated. It was speculated that the network wanted to focus more on shows that appealed to a younger and more urban demographic à la L. A. Law, Homicide: Life on the Street (which was still in development at this time), Blossom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Law & Order; much of Heat's viewing audience was older. NBC had been hesitant in renewing the series, while other programs on the network had already been given the green light to return. Fearing being dropped without a chance to give the series a proper finale, Heat producers began to negotiate elsewhere. NBC ultimately decided to cancel the show, but only after rumors that a deal with a competitive network was imminent turned out to be true. Originally, CBS opted to pick up the series for only a set of six two-hour movies, a format that had been popular with other crime dramas that had been on the air for a while. However, it was eventually picked up for a full 22-episode order.

The first two episodes of the season see the surreptitious romance between Gillespie and DeLong intensify. They frequently meet in a small apartment that doubles as Harriet's art studio. However, they fall out when Harriet's son, Eugene, who disapproves of his mother's relationship with the police chief, witnesses a violent drive-by shooting involving rival drug dealers that took the life of his best friend. At first, he is unwilling to cooperate with the authorities, but later changes his mind. Eugene's decision to help the police angers Harriet, and she makes the painful choice to put distance between herself and Gillespie for a while.

Other highlights from the season include a faded country music singer (Robert Goulet) who ends up committing murder; Althea is on the brink of a nervous breakdown after witnessing a student's brutal suicide; Gillespie and his estranged daughter Lana reconcile and develop a close relationship; LuAnn's slacker ex-con brother (Designing Women star Meshach Taylor) comes to town; a law school friend of Virgil's (future Chicago P. D. star Jason Beghe) is suspected of being involved in the death of an ex-girlfriend. Sweet is accused of soliciting a bribe from two racist car salesmen during an arrest; Bubba experiences his own type of fatal attraction when a woman he helped during a carjacking becomes obsessed with him. A two-part episode directed by Larry Hagman (who was a close friend of Carroll O'Connor's, directed several later season Heat episodes) involves a white supremacist politician whose visit to Sparta has a couple of ulterior motives, including aspirations for a presidential run ("The Leftover Man").

Seventh season, 1993–1994

Season 7 opens with a new beginning for all in Sparta. With Virgil Tibbs away on a leave of absence, now living in Jackson and attending law school full time, Chief Bill Gillespie is forced out of office and into involuntary retirement. In his place, former Memphis, Tennessee Police Department Inspector Hampton Forbes (Carl Weathers) is hired by the city council as Sparta's first black police chief and makes his first appearance in the season premiere.

After nearly three decades on the Sparta police force, Gillespie is not offered a new contract from the council partly because his love affair with Harriet DeLong is now out in the open, bringing his tenure as chief to an end. He seems to be accepting of the outcome, while Harriet doesn't hesitate to show her fury over the decision. She constantly asks the council to vote again, but her requests are rejected. Meanwhile, Gillespie looks to the future with the purchase of a new home, with the hope that Harriet will eventually move in with him.

The transition from Gillespie being in charge to Forbes taking over is slightly uneasy at the very start, but soon things smooth out. Gillespie's final case as Sparta's chief of police is a fatal shooting of a neighbor by a nine year old boy and it must be decided what is to be done with him.

However, Gillespie is soon appointed as the interim Sheriff of Newton County when Nathan McComb suffers a heart attack and is too ill to continue his duties. Gillespie's function was solely to finish out McComb's term. This new appointment for Gillespie angers his enemies on the city council. They want an investigation, which is upsetting and hurtful for Harriet. However, Gillespie and Forbes seem unbothered by the drama and find that they get along and work together well.

Other cases involve a nine-year-old girl being killed because of a drunk driver; Christine Elise, who had several guest spots during Season 6, makes one final appearance as Bill's daughter in the episode "A Love Lost", in which Gillespie must protect her from her on-again/off-again boyfriend involved in a gun-running scheme in Sparta. Forbes has to juggle mentoring a young boxing protégé who can't seem to stay out of trouble, and a fiancée from Memphis who has very different plans for their future together; Parker's oddball stepfather, Roy Eversole (Pat Hingle, first seen in Season 6) returns from Florida with his lady friend Miss Roda (Anne Meara) in a comedic episode; Gillespie must once again confront his bigoted past when a new synagogue moves into Sparta and is repeatedly vandalized. The rabbi (Jerry Stiller) detests Gillespie, who in the 1960s was serving as an officer on the all-white racist Sparta police force, and the police refused to investigate the arson of the city synagogue back then, despite knowing the identity of the felon.

TV movies and Hugh O'Connor's death

Four made-for-television movies were produced for CBS during the 1994–95 season, continuing the series. Once released on DVD, these movies were considered the eighth and final season of the show. The movies were:

A Matter of Justice (October 21, 1994)

Who Was Geli Bendl? (December 9, 1994)

By Duty Bound (February 17, 1995)

Grow Old Along with Me (May 16, 1995)

Howard Rollins was not the only cast member who had struggled with addiction issues. O'Connor's son and Heat cast member Hugh O'Connor died by suicide nearly two months before the fourth film aired, having fought with substance abuse problems since his teen years and had been in and out of rehab numerous times. 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".

Cast and characters

Main

Carroll O'Connor as Chief William O. "Bill" Gillespie

Howard Rollins as Chief of Detectives Virgil Tibbs (seasons 1–6; guest season 7)

Alan Autry as V. L. "Bubba" Skinner

Anne-Marie Johnson as Althea Tibbs (seasons 1–6)

David Hart as Parker Williams

Christian LeBlanc as Junior Abernathy (season 1)

Lois Nettleton as Joanne St. John (season 2)

Geoffrey Thorne as Willson Sweet (seasons 2–6)

Hugh O'Connor as Lonnie Jamison

Carl Weathers as Chief Hampton Forbes (seasons 7–8)

Crystal R. Fox as LuAnn Corbin (seasons 3–8)

Denise Nicholas as Sparta City Councilwoman Harriet DeLong (seasons 3–8)

Randall Franks as Randy Goode (seasons 2–6)

C.C. Taylor as Charlie Peake (seasons 3–8)

Dee Shaw as Dee Shepard (seasons 3–8)

Harvey E. Lee Jr. as Ken Covey (seasons 6–8)

Mark Johnson as Luke Everett (seasons 6–8)

Recurring

Thom Gossom Jr. as Sparta City Councilman Ted Marcus (seasons 2–8)

Tonea Stewart as Etta Kibbee (season 4–7)

Dan Biggers as Dr. Frank "Doc" Robb (seasons 2–8)

Wilbur Fitzgerald as District Attorney Gerard Darnelle (seasons 3–8)

Afemo Omilami as Jimmy Dawes (seasons 2–6)

Rugg Williams as Eugene Glendon (seasons 4–7)

John Wesley as Vic Glendon (seasons 4–6)

Fran Bennett as Ruda Gibson (seasons 4–6)

Christine Elise as Lana Farren (seasons 5–7)

Ron Culbreth as Sheriff Nathan McComb (seasons 3-7)

Burgess Meredith as Judge Cully (seasons 6–7)

Joe Don Baker as retired Captain Tom Dugan (season 2)

Pat Hingle as Roy Eversole (seasons 6–7)

Jen Harper as Dr. Winona Day (seasons 5–7)

Dennis Lipscomb as Mayor Jim Findlay (season 1)

Bob Penny as Louis Alvin Epp (seasons 3–6)

Scott Brian Higgs as Randy Calhoun (seasons 3–7)

Wallace Merck as Earl "Holly" Colmer Sr. (seasons 5–8)

Writing staff

Carroll O'Connor (1989–1995) as Matt Harris

Kathy McCormick (1988)

Mark Rodgers (1989–1990)

David Moessinger (1988–1989)

Jeri Taylor (1988–1989)

Edward Deblasio (1989–1990)

Nancy Bond (1988–1990)

William J. Royce (1989–1994)

Cynthia Deming (1990–1994)

Robert Bielak (1990–1991)

Mitch Schneider (1990–1994)

Joe Gannon (1991–1994)

Denise Nicholas (1992–1994)

Terri Erwin (1989–1991)

Bill Taub (1991)

Awards

Both Carroll O'Connor and Howard Rollins received prestigious awards for their work on the show in 1989. O'Connor received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, and was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama. O'Connor is a part of an elite class of few actors who has ever won Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actor in both the comedy and drama categories. Howard Rollins' performance on the series earned him the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series, his second. Anne-Marie Johnson was also nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Althea Tibbs that year, and also Lois Nettleton was an Emmy nominee for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.

In the Heat of the Night won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Drama Series (formally Outstanding Drama Series, Mini-Series or Television Movie), two years in a row, 1992 and 1993. The 1992 win was specifically for the Season 5 episode, "Sweet, Sweet Blues".

Locations

Like the original movie, the television series also took place in a fictionalized version of Sparta, Mississippi. While there is a real Sparta located in Chickasaw County, Mississippi, the version of Sparta shown on television is very different from the real town. For example, the TV Sparta is situated along Interstate 20 in Newton County, 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, to an area east of Atlanta and it remained there for the rest of its run. The principal area of Sparta was in fact downtown Covington, Georgia. Rural scenes were filmed in a wide surrounding area, in the Georgia counties of Newton (where Covington is located), Rockdale, Walton, Morgan, and Jasper. Decatur in Dekalb County was used as a stand-in for an episode as the Mississippi Capital city of Jackson, and Atlanta itself was used in one episode, in which Bubba worked on a case there. 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.

Home media and syndication

TGG Direct released the first season on DVD in Region 1 on August 30, 2012. The eighth and final season was released on June 11, 2013.

On October 23, 2012, TGG Direct released an 8-disc best-of set entitled In the Heat of the Night – 24hr Television Marathon.

TGG Direct released seasons 4 and 5 onto DVD on December 10, 2013. However, due to licensing issues, the following episodes are missing from the box set: Brotherly Love, Shine On Sparta Moon, Sweet, Sweet Blues, Sanctuary, Law On Trial.

TGG Direct released seasons 2 & 3 in a single boxed set onto DVD on March 11, 2014. However, due to clearance issues, the following episodes are excluded –

Season 2 Excluded Episodes: The Family Secret, The Hammer and the Glove, A Trip Upstate, Intruders, Sister Sister, Walkout;

Season 3 Excluded Episodes: Fairest of Them All, Crackdown, Anniversary, My Name is Hank, King's Ransom, A Loss of Innocence, Home is Where the Heart Is, Indiscretions, Citizen Trundel Part 1 and Part 2

TGG Direct also released seasons 6 and 7 in individual boxed sets onto DVD on March 11, 2014. However, due to clearance issues, the following episode is excluded from Season 6: Random's Child and the following episodes are excluded from Season 7: Singin' The Blues, Every Man's Family, Maybelle Returns, Ches and the Grand Lady, Dangerous Engagement.

Syndication

The series entered into syndication in early 1996, after its initial run ended on CBS in May, 1995. It was first available to be seen on the Atlanta-based basic cable network TNT from that time on and since then, it has never left the air. The reruns have remained popular over the years, gaining new viewers who didn't watch the series the first time around.

Heat airs in broadcast syndication on Ovation. 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 previously aired the series every weekday morning starting at 11AM ET for 4 hours usually until 3PM ET Monday through Thursday. WGN aired the show Fridays, too, at the same time. Ovation now has moved the show to Monday 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.). This TV also aired the show in 2013 until 2020. The show also aired Tuesdays nights at 7PM ET, but was scaled down to just a Thursday airing starting December 7, 2020. MeTV also acquired the rights to the show and it began airing in around either 2018 or 2019, running it every weekday beginning at 11AM ET/10AM CT until 2025. The show previously aired on TNT from 1996 to 2005. The show has remained relatively strong in syndication to this day, particularly airing on some local stations. Bounce TV began airing reruns of the series starting September 13, 2021.

Paid streaming platforms Amazon Prime, MGM+, Apple TV and other free ad-supported platforms such as Tubi, Plex, The Roku Channel and Pluto TV also show the series on a regular basis or on demand.

Soundtrack

The theme song, "In the Heat of the Night", was originally recorded by Quincy Jones, featuring Ray Charles on vocals and piano for the movie. It is usually paired with "They Call Me Mr. Tibbs" on albums. Bill Champlin of the band Chicago sang the opening theme song for the television series.

The original song itself is supposed to be from Virgil's point of view, being a stranger in a hostile environment. In the case of the TV series, the lyrics refer to both main characters fighting crime in the tiny town of Sparta.

Randall Franks and Alan Autry 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. It was released Christmas 1991 and 1992, and was among the top holiday recordings of those years around the South and Midwest.