In the Heat of the Night is an American television series based on the motion picture and novel of the same name starring Carroll O'Connor as the white police chief William Gillespie, and Howard Rollins as the African-American police detective Virgil Tibbs. It was broadcast on NBC from 1988 until 1992, and then on CBS until 1995. Its executive producers were Fred Silverman, Juanita Bartlett and Carroll O'Connor. TGG Direct released the first season of the series to DVD on August 28, 2012.
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Best Episodes of In the Heat of the Night
Pilot (2)
S1 Ep2
8.1
6th Mar 1988
The investigation into the brutal murders of a young girl and the suspect in her death, leads Tibbs and Gillespie to the son of one of Sparta's wealthiest and most influential citizens.As they come closer to the truth things become dangerous for Virgil.
The Hammer and the Glove
S2 Ep4
8.0
13th Dec 1988
Virgil is delighted when Matthew his former partner from Philidelphia comes to visit.But he soon learns his friend has another purpose for coming to Sparta.Althea is uncomfortable because she and Matthew were romantically involved before she met Virgil and she realizes that he is unwilling to accept the fact that she chose Virgil over him.Meanwhile the F.B.I. enlist Sparta P.D.'s aid in hiding a witness.
Pilot (1)
S1 Ep1
7.9
6th Mar 1988
Virgil Tibbs returns to Sparta and joins the police force as chief of detectives.His arrival is met with resistance from police chief Bill Gillespie - who resents having an officer hired without his approval.Virgil has trouble adjusting to the small, antiquated police force.Tibbs' first case is a racially charged murder case that is soon complicated when the suspect is murdered in his cell.
Citizen Trundel (1)
S3 Ep21
7.9
1st May 1990
Harriet's sister is murdered on the orders of the wealthy white man who fathered her child.
Blind Spot (2)
S1 Ep6
7.9
5th Apr 1988
An angry Gillespie seeks answers when an old friend is shot.And Virgil narrowly escapes death after trying to ascertain the real reason behind an old adversary's return to Sparta.Nan finds herself in danger after she finds out the truth about her new love.
Family Secret
S2 Ep3
7.8
6th Dec 1988
The murder of well respected man turns up a shocking secret about his family.
Don't Look Back (2)
S2 Ep2
7.8
4th Dec 1988
Tibbs,Gillespie and Bubba pursue different leads in a bizarre murder case and the Chief realizes that the killer has plans for him.
Tear Down the Walls
S2 Ep10
7.8
31st Jan 1989
A minister who was integrating his church(by inviting Virgil and Althea to attend services)is poisoned.
Prisoners
S2 Ep5
7.8
20th Dec 1988
Sweet risks his life to prove that the Sheriff of a neighboring county is guilty of the racially motivated murder of a young man that Sweet was friends with in high school.
Intruders
S2 Ep14
7.7
7th Mar 1989
The police search for a burglar who preys on elderly women.And the prime suspect is the son of a city councilwoman.
Don't Look Back (1)
S2 Ep1
7.7
4th Dec 1988
A copycat recreates a shocking unsolved murder from the past.Gillespie feels threatened after Ted Marcus suggests that Virgil should become the Chief.The situation becomes more tense after Virgil criticizes Parker and Bubba's actions.
The Pig Woman of Sparta
S2 Ep21
7.7
9th May 1989
It seems that a serial killer has been burying his victims in a wooded area owned by a wealthy hermit that Virgil refers to as ""Sparta's Howard Hughes"". Suspicion immediately falls on an eccentric woman who lives in the woods with her pigs and chases away trespassers with a shotgun.The officers ask the landowner's disturbed son for help and Bubba is surprised to find that a woman he attended high school with is working as the man's ""nurse"".Also Parker and Sweet compete with one another to solve the case.
Accused
S2 Ep18
7.7
4th Apr 1989
Bubba tries to rescue a woman from a rapist, but she mistakes him for her attacker.Gillespie tangles with an ambitious district attorney who plans to use the case to further his career.
A Trip Upstate
S2 Ep11
7.7
7th Feb 1989
In this thought provoking episode.Gillespie is surprised when a man he arrested asks to see him on the eve of his execution.He must confront his feelings about the death penalty when the prisoner asks him to witness his death.
Road Kill
S1 Ep3
7.6
15th Mar 1988
The affair between the husband of a wealthy woman and her distant cousin leads to her murder. Virgil immediately suspects the pair.But he has a difficult time persuading Gillespie, who is a long time friend of the man and Bubba, who has been seeing the cousin.Bubba and Virgil clash again and Virgil is frustrated when the Chief rejects his theory about the crime.
Walkout
S2 Ep17
7.6
28th Mar 1989
A bitter strike leads to a murder investigation on a snowy day in Sparta.
Fate
S1 Ep4
7.6
22nd Mar 1988
Racial tensions run high when a married white woman has an affair with a black businessman from New York.Meanwhile Virgil is not happy when the Chief enlists his aid in tracking down Bubba's cousin, a suspected moonshiner.
Fifteen, Forever
S2 Ep19
7.6
25th Apr 1989
Sparta grieves after a drunk driver causes a fatal crash with high school cheerleaders on their way home from a game.While the officers try to find other driver, Althea tries to help the victim's families deal with their loss. The accident brings back painful memories for retired officer Tom Dugan.Meanwhile, district attorney Dutton accuses the department of being inadequate.
A.k.a Kelly Kay
S2 Ep12
7.6
14th Feb 1988
The past comes back to haunt JoAnn in the form of an escaped convict.
...And Then You Die
S1 Ep8
7.6
3rd May 1988
The Sparta police search for a killer and his girlfriend.But the case becomes personal when they take Althea and the grandson of one of the victims hostage.
Hot Nights
S2 Ep6
7.6
27th Dec 1988
Bubba is seduced by an alluring writer who has more on her mind than romance.Bill and Virgil worry that he is in over his head.Bubba tries to protect her from her estranged husband, but things get complicated after she shoots someone.
Sweet, Sweet Blues
S5 Ep8
7.5
26th Nov 1991
The lyrics to a blues song recall a murder that happened 50 years earlier.The victim - Sweet's grandfather.And the only people left with the answers are the bluesman who wrote the song and a retired sheriff.
Fairest of Them All
S3 Ep2
7.5
31st Oct 1989
Virgil struggles to help Althea after she is raped by a fellow teacher.Darnell does not think they can get a conviction because the man's wife has given him an alibi.Virgil tries to control his anger - until the man returns to intimidate Althea.And Gillespie tries to convince the wife to tell the truth.
A Necessary Evil
S1 Ep7
7.5
12th Apr 1988
In this humorous episode Virgil and the Chief arrest a man for bigamy.It soon becomes a polygamy case after an endless parade of wives come to visit their husband.
Conspiracy of One
S7 Ep17
7.4
2nd Feb 1994
Virgil accepts a position at a prominent law firm.But as a former police officer he feels conflicting emotions when he realizes that one of their clients is guilty of murder.
Time of the Stranger
S3 Ep7
7.4
5th Dec 1989
After a private investigator searching for a missing child is found dead, the evidence points to a local dance teacher - a neighbor that Parker has become very fond of.
Stranger in Town
S2 Ep9
7.4
17th Jan 1989
Gillespie suspects that JoAnn's new cook is connected to the murder of a young prostitute.But Virgil suspects the culprit maybe a local pimp who has been intimidating the women.
Night of the Killing
S3 Ep20
7.4
27th Mar 1990
Racial tensions run high when a white cabbie is murdered in the bottoms.
Gunshots
S2 Ep7
7.3
3rd Jan 1989
Virgil is forced to shoot a suspect in an armed robbery.He has trouble dealing with the consequences of his actions, after he realizes the person he shot was a teenaged girl - and no one can locate the gun he believed she was pointing at him.
An Eye for an Eye
S5 Ep10
7.3
10th Dec 1991
The father of a man Gerard prosecuted kidnaps the DA's daughter.
Perversions of Justice
S4 Ep4
7.3
2nd Oct 1990
A mild mannered school teacher is accused of child molestation.
Blind Spot (1)
S1 Ep5
7.3
29th Mar 1988
Virgil refuses to let go of a grudge against a wealthy former classmate who cheated him out of a scholarship.The man has promised city leaders that he will move his business to Sparta,but not all of his business interests are legal.The nephew of an old friend of Gillespie's finds his life in danger after he steals drugs stored in the businessman's mansion.
Ruda's Awakening
S5 Ep5
7.3
5th Nov 1991
Virgil's Aunt Ruda is the only witness to a struggle between Bubba and a young robbery suspect that ends in the young mans death.But her prejudice against the police -- and Virgil clouds her memory of the incident.
Citizen Trundel (2)
S3 Ep22
7.3
8th May 1990
Harriet's efforts to bring V.J. Trundel to trial are fruitless.The Chief does not believe they will ever get enough evidence to get an indictment,so he tries another method to bring Trundel to justice.
Hard Choices
S7 Ep19
7.3
9th Mar 1994
Eugene tries to protect a friend who was an unwilling accomplice to a robbery and in doing so endangers his probation -- and his life.
Ladybug, Ladybug
S2 Ep20
7.2
2nd May 1989
With the Chief in Quantico Bubba and Virgil try to catch a serial arsonist.Things get complicated after a man dies in one of the fires.And Councilwoman White stirs things up by appointing Tom Dugan acting chief of police in Gillespie's absence.
First Girl
S3 Ep4
7.2
14th Nov 1989
An unhappy wife asks her lover to place a bomb in her abusive husband's truck.
Child of Promise
S4 Ep16
7.2
5th Feb 1991
A story of two brothers one an honor student that Althea has great plans for, the other a dangerous drug dealer as they struggle to influence a younger sibling.
A Final Arrangement
S4 Ep10
7.2
27th Nov 1990
Sweet is heartbroken when an elderly woman who befriended him is murdered in her bookstore.
An Angry Woman
S3 Ep18
7.2
13th Mar 1990
First the mother,then the father of two young children are murdered.Althea takes responsibility for the children. The killings appear to be related to a shady trucking firm.
The Littlest Victim
S5 Ep11
7.2
17th Dec 1991
Lonnie makes a heartbreaking discovery about a woman he dated in high school.
Triangle
S3 Ep12
7.2
23rd Jan 1990
A man murders his wife and her lover after he catches them together,then flees to a remote cabin with his daughter who does not know what he has done.The chief and the boys hope to talk him into surrendering without resorting to violence.
Rape
S3 Ep1
7.1
24th Oct 1989
After being released by his captors, the chief discovers that his abduction is part of a plot to assassinate a visiting civil rights leader.
Worst Episodes of In the Heat of the Night
The Rabbi
S7 Ep18
5.3
9th Feb 1994
A Rabbi returns to Sparta after many years.Racists vandalize his synagogue and soon after their Torah is stolen.Forbes investigates but the Rabbi refuses to trust Bill because of his inaction while investigating a hate crime many years ago.
The Leftover Man (1)
S6 Ep16
5.9
3rd Mar 1993
A white supremacist politician plans to have his wife's lover murdered and blame it on black radicals.
A Dish Best Served Cold
S6 Ep18
6.0
17th Mar 1993
A swindlers homecoming upsets his wife and the families of his victims - especially Etta.
In the Heat of the Night: A Matter of Justice
S8 Ep1
6.0
21st Oct 1994
In the Heat of the Night: A Matter of Justice is a film directed by Reza Badiyi released on Oct 21, 1994.
By Duty Bound
S8 Ep3
6.0
17th Feb 1995
Acting Sheriff Gillespie must decide whether he should run for sheriff or retire from law enforcement.It soon becomes apparent that the other candidate is corrupt and dangerous.
Time's Long Shadow
S7 Ep20
6.2
16th Mar 1994
Harriet tries to stop an arrogant developer from destroying an important archeological site.
Private Sessions
S6 Ep11
6.3
13th Jan 1993
One of Virgil's classmates from law school is arrested following the death of his former girlfriend, but the man insists that her death was the result of her relationship with her psychiatrist.
My Name is Hank
S3 Ep9
6.3
19th Dec 1989
A young refugee claims to be the son of a Sparta cop who died in the war.But quickly becomes a suspect in a murder/robbery after he accepts a ride with the criminals who actually committed the crime.Gillespie looks into his story, while Virgil and the boys track down the shooter.Meanwhile, the young mans presence triggers a surprisingly bitter reaction from Parker, who views him as a painful reminder of the war.
Hello in There
S3 Ep13
6.3
30th Jan 1990
Bubba refuses to believe that a former teamate embezzled funds from the bank where he worked.And sets out to prove that his friend was framed and murdered.Harriet hopes that art therapy can help the man's traumatized son,who becomes a target himself when the killer realizes he witnessed the crime.
Sanctuary
S5 Ep21
6.3
12th May 1992
A political prisoner who entered the country illegally,seeks sanctuary in a monastary.Gillespie and Tibbs find themselves at odds with Sheriff McComb when they try to help the man.
Incident at Brewer's Pond
S7 Ep5
6.3
30th Sep 1993
A night of revelry at a local pond turns deadly.
Give Me Your Life (2)
S7 Ep24
6.3
11th May 1994
Bill and Harriet return home.The cult kidnaps the girl from her foster home.And Forbes and his men arrest a man who has been supplying drugs used to keep the cult members under control.Soon a standoff develops and the officers realize that they have no intention of surrendering.Sarah is taken hostage.As they attempt to rescue the women and children Lonnie and Parker find themselves defusing a bomb and Bubba risks his life to rescue a small child from the building.
Flowers from a Lady
S6 Ep10
6.4
6th Jan 1993
A city councilwoman becomes dangerously obsessed with Bubba.
A Baby Called Rocket
S7 Ep10
6.4
25th Nov 1993
A neglected baby stirs maternal feelings in Luann.
A Turning
S4 Ep22
6.4
30th Apr 1991
Althea thinks Virgil needs a new line of work after seeing the aftermath of a deadly shooting at a roadhouse.Virgil finds himself in danger when they arrest the man who committed the crime.
Unfinished Business
S5 Ep6
6.4
12th Nov 1991
Bubba returns to Los Angeles to testify at a murder trial and is reunited with Pat Day as they try to protect Mike from killers sent to prevent him from testifying.
Sparta Gold
S5 Ep9
6.4
3rd Dec 1991
A deputy provides protection for a cotton grower who is running a pot growing operation.But the deputy makes a big mistake when he wounds Bubba's girlfriend.
A Love Lost
S7 Ep6
6.4
14th Oct 1993
Lana's ex- boyfriend comes to see her and brings a load of stolen rifles with him.
Singin' the Blues
S7 Ep7
6.4
28th Oct 1993
Luann moonlights as a singer at a nightclub and finds romance with the clubs owner.Her happiness is shortlived when she realizes that the bartender is dealing drugs.
Family Matters
S4 Ep11
6.5
4th Dec 1990
Virgil's dream of a better relationship with his Aunt Ruda and her son is shattered when his cousin takes part in a string of burglaries that result in murder.
Blessings
S4 Ep13
6.5
18th Dec 1990
In this Christmas episode the officers share memories with a reporter from the Sparta Herald.
A Woman Much Admired
S5 Ep1
6.5
1st Oct 1991
Gillespie's old flame returns to Sparta to settle some business matters and see Bill. When she is murdered he travels to Gulfport and meets his daughter Lana for the first time.
Family Reunion
S5 Ep20
6.5
7th Apr 1992
An ex-convict attempts to retrieve his loot from his wife and her new husband in this tongue-in-cheek episode.
The Law on Trial
S5 Ep22
6.5
19th May 1992
Gillespie,Tibbs and Father DiMarco must stand trial for harbouring a fugitive and obstructing justice.
A Small War (2)
S6 Ep2
6.5
4th Nov 1992
The police wage war against the big city drug dealers who have moved into Sparta.Eugene identifies the men who murdered his friend.And Bubba is teamed with and intrigued by a lady police lieutenant from Jackson.
Random's Child
S6 Ep6
6.5
25th Nov 1992
Lana Gillespie comes to Sparta to claim her inheritance,but is stalked by a mobster who dated her mother.Meanwhile Harriet encourages Bill to talk to his daughter,but Lana doesn't seem to be interested.Officer Randy Goode helps keep the bad guys at bay by playing them a little tune on the guitar.
Last Rites
S6 Ep8
6.5
9th Dec 1992
Virgil fears for his Aunt Ruda's safety after several killings occur in the hospital where she is being treated.
When the Music Stopped
S6 Ep9
6.5
16th Dec 1992
Singer Eddie Larran returns to Sparta for a concert,but not everyone is a fan.An angry man insists that Eddie owes him money.And their dispute soon ends in violence.
Judgement Day
S6 Ep12
6.5
20th Jan 1993
A judge schemes to get rid of his wife after she tries to blackmail him into giving her a divorce and a generous settlement by revealing a secret from his past.
The Leftover Man (2)
S6 Ep17
6.5
3rd Mar 1993
A white supremacist politician plans to have his wife's lover murdered and blame it on black radicals.
Hatton's Turn (2)
S7 Ep3
6.5
18th Sep 1993
Wade and Sarah try to keep young Henry from being punished for a crime he did not commit and Forbes and his officers search for the two men who are really responsible.
Every Man's Family
S7 Ep9
6.5
10th Nov 1993
Bubba travels to Atlanta to help his nephew after the boy overdoses on drugs.He soon teams up with a street wise cop to take down the drug ring.
The Last Round
S7 Ep15
6.5
19th Jan 1994
Forbes is delighted when his fiancee Angela comes to see him,but is disappointed when he realizes that they have very different plans for the future.
In the Heat of the Night: Give Me Your Life
S7 Ep23
6.5
11th May 1994
In the Heat of the Night: Give Me Your Life is a film directed by Russ Mayberry released on May 11, 1994.
Who Was Geli Bendl ?
S8 Ep2
6.5
9th Dec 1994
A famous Italian actress returns to Sparta to take care of some unfinished business and rescue her younger sister from a life of drugs and poverty.
Execution of Trust
S4 Ep15
6.5
15th Jan 1991
A psychiatrist tells Gillespie that one of her patients has confessed to a crime that another man is about to be executed for, but she refuses to divulge his identity.
By Means Most Foul
S5 Ep17
6.5
25th Feb 1992
A restaurateur and her mechanic boyfriend plot to eliminate her husband, but their scheme backfires.Gillespie takes heat over a string of mailbox bashings.And Virgil soon regrets ignoring Parker's theory regarding where the vandals would strike next.
Hatton's Turn (1)
S7 Ep2
6.6
18th Sep 1993
Hampton Forbes assumes the office of Chief of Police and Bill becomes the Sheriff of Newman county.Former Spartan Wade Hatton returns to Sparta hoping to make sense of his life and rekindle his relationship with Sarah Hallisey.Bubba and Covey take the new chief on a tour of Sparta and Bill takes Wade to visit some distant cousins.Meanwhile two young criminals involve a mentally handicapped young man in a terrible crime.
A Time to Trust
S5 Ep16
6.6
18th Feb 1992
Althea fears for one of her students after her mother's boyfriend is linked to a criminal operation that has resulted in the deaths of several truckers.
Moseley's Lot
S5 Ep19
6.6
31st Mar 1992
Gillespie learns that the son of an old friend is a compulsive gambler.The young man wants his father to pay off his losses.But when two gangsters show up from New Orleans to collect, his jealous sibling sees the perfect opportunity to get rid of his troubled brother.
An Occupational Hazard
S6 Ep7
6.6
2nd Dec 1992
A secretary takes drastic measures to protect herself from sexual harassment.
Virgil Tibbs, Attorney at Law
S7 Ep8
6.6
4th Nov 1993
Attorney Virgil Tibbs returns to Sparta and is soon assigned his first case as a defense attorney.
Indiscretions
S3 Ep19
6.6
20th Mar 1990
Althea does not realize that an old friend from Philly is hiding a dark secret, nor does Sweet who has fallen in love with the woman.
In the Heat of the Night Episode Guide
Pilot (1)
S1 Ep1
7.9
6th Mar 1988
Virgil Tibbs returns to Sparta and joins the police force as chief of detectives.His arrival is met with resistance from police chief Bill Gillespie - who resents having an officer hired without his approval.Virgil has trouble adjusting to the small, antiquated police force.Tibbs' first case is a racially charged murder case that is soon complicated when the suspect is murdered in his cell.
Pilot (2)
S1 Ep2
8.1
6th Mar 1988
The investigation into the brutal murders of a young girl and the suspect in her death, leads Tibbs and Gillespie to the son of one of Sparta's wealthiest and most influential citizens.As they come closer to the truth things become dangerous for Virgil.
Road Kill
S1 Ep3
7.6
15th Mar 1988
The affair between the husband of a wealthy woman and her distant cousin leads to her murder. Virgil immediately suspects the pair.But he has a difficult time persuading Gillespie, who is a long time friend of the man and Bubba, who has been seeing the cousin.Bubba and Virgil clash again and Virgil is frustrated when the Chief rejects his theory about the crime.
Fate
S1 Ep4
7.6
22nd Mar 1988
Racial tensions run high when a married white woman has an affair with a black businessman from New York.Meanwhile Virgil is not happy when the Chief enlists his aid in tracking down Bubba's cousin, a suspected moonshiner.
Blind Spot (1)
S1 Ep5
7.3
29th Mar 1988
Virgil refuses to let go of a grudge against a wealthy former classmate who cheated him out of a scholarship.The man has promised city leaders that he will move his business to Sparta,but not all of his business interests are legal.The nephew of an old friend of Gillespie's finds his life in danger after he steals drugs stored in the businessman's mansion.
Blind Spot (2)
S1 Ep6
7.9
5th Apr 1988
An angry Gillespie seeks answers when an old friend is shot.And Virgil narrowly escapes death after trying to ascertain the real reason behind an old adversary's return to Sparta.Nan finds herself in danger after she finds out the truth about her new love.
A Necessary Evil
S1 Ep7
7.5
12th Apr 1988
In this humorous episode Virgil and the Chief arrest a man for bigamy.It soon becomes a polygamy case after an endless parade of wives come to visit their husband.
...And Then You Die
S1 Ep8
7.6
3rd May 1988
The Sparta police search for a killer and his girlfriend.But the case becomes personal when they take Althea and the grandson of one of the victims hostage.
