In the Heat of the Night

In the Heat of the Night
Premiere	March 6, 1988
Finale	May 16, 1995
Airs	Weekdays at 11 AM on MeTV
Based on	the characters from the novel by John Ball
Developed by	James Lee Barrett
Network/Provider	NBC (seasons 1-6) CBS(seasons 7-8)
Style	60-minute crime drama
Company	Fred Silverman Productions, JADDA Productions (season 1), Juanita Bartlett Productions (seasons 2–8), MGM Television
Distributor	MGM Television (1995–2005, 2006– ) Sony Pictures Television (2005–2006)
Seasons	8
Episodes	146
Origin	USA

In the Heat of the Night is a crime drama that aired on NBC for six seasons and CBS for two seasons.

In the premiere episode, Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia detective, has returned home to the fictional Sparta, Mississippi for his mother's funeral. By virtue of his relationship with town police chief William Gillespie from a previous murder investigation in which he assisted, Tibbs is persuaded to remain in Sparta as Chief of Detectives, in an effort to help overcome the local squad's reputation of being racist and underskilled. Although the team experiences friction over Tibbs' dissatisfaction with the department's limited resources and racial attitudes while Gillespie is annoyed at Tibbs' condescending suspicion of his hometown, they prove highly effective in enforcing the law.

Eventually becoming a lawyer, Tibbs resigned to practice in Jackson, Mississippi with occasional cases in Sparta while Gillespie was dismissed as Police Chief by the Sparta city council and replaced by Hampton Forbes, the town's first African-American in that position. Fortunately, Gillespie finds a new post of equivalent authority as County Sheriff, and the two senior police officers find they get along in excellent fashion both in the professional and personal spheres.

Cast

Actor	Character	Duration
Main Cast		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Carroll O'Connor	Chief/Sheriff William O. "Bill" Gillespie	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Howard Rollins	Det. Virgil Tibbs	*	*	*	*	*	*	o
Alan Autry	Sgt./Capt. V.L. "Bubba" Skinner	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Anne-Marie Johnson	Althea Tibbs	*	*	*	*	*	*
David Hart	Dep./Sgt. Parker Williams	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Christian LeBlanc	Patrolman Junior Abernathy	*
Lois Nettleton	Joanne St. John		*
Geoffrey Thorne	Sgt. Willson Sweet	*	*	*	*	*	*
Hugh O'Connor	Dep./Lt. Lonnie Jamison	o	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Carl Weathers	Chief Hampton Forbes							*	*
Crystal Fox	Sgt. Luanne Corbin			o	o	o	o	*	*
Denise Nicholas	Harriet DeLong			*	*	*	*	*	*
Orange/Red/o indicates a recurring or guest role during that season. Dark Green indicates top billing during that season.
Supporting/Recurring Cast		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Dan Biggers	Dr. Frank Robb		*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Randall Franks	Off. Randy Goode		*	*	*	*	*
Joe Don Baker	Tom Dugan		*
Dee Shaw	Cpl. Dee Shepard			*	*	*	*	*	*
Tonea Stewart	Etta Kibbey					*	*	*

Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale				#
NBC
Season One	March 6, 1988	May 3, 1988				8
Season Two	December 4, 1988	May 16, 1989				22
Season Three	November 28, 1989	May 8, 1990				22
Season Four	September 18, 1990	April 30, 1991				22
Season Five	October 1, 1991	May 19, 1992				22
Season Six	October 28, 1992	May 12, 1993				22
CBS
Season Seven	September 16, 1993	May 11, 1994				24
Season Eight	October 21, 1994	May 16, 1995				4

In-Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series

DVD Releases

Title			Release			Discs
Season Sets  (Region 1)
Season 1			August 30, 2012	purchase		1
Seasons 2 & 3			March 11, 2014	purchase		7
Season 4			December 10, 2013	purchase		5
Season 5			December 10, 2013	purchase		5
Season 6			March 11, 2014	purchase		5
Season 7			March 11, 2014	purchase		5
Season 8			June 11, 2013	purchase		4
Episode Collections  (Region 1)
Television Marathon			October 23, 2012	purchase		8

External Links

• In the Heat of the Night on IMDb

• opening credits for season 4on YouTube