About this season
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.
Episodes (22)
1. A Woman Much Admired
Aired 1 October 1991 • 60 min
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.
2. Baby for Sale
Aired 8 October 1991 • 60 min
After Bubba's cousin adopts a baby her husband is blackmailed by the child's real parents - they want him to help them steal the payroll where he works.
3. Obsession
Aired 22 October 1991 • 60 min
A flirtatious schoolteacher is stalked by a madman.
4. Liar's Poker
Aired 29 October 1991 • 60 min
A game of high stakes poker ends in murder.
5. Ruda's Awakening
Aired 5 November 1991 • 60 min
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.
6. Unfinished Business
Aired 12 November 1991 • 60 min
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.
7. The More Thing's Change
Aired 19 November 1991 • 60 min
A man murders his business partner and frames the man's illegitimate daughter for the crime in an attempt to gain the man's business and his wife.
8. Sweet, Sweet Blues
Aired 26 November 1991 • 60 min
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.
9. Sparta Gold
Aired 3 December 1991 • 60 min
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.
10. An Eye for an Eye
Aired 10 December 1991 • 60 min
The father of a man Gerard prosecuted kidnaps the DA's daughter.
11. The Littlest Victim
Aired 17 December 1991 • 60 min
Lonnie makes a heartbreaking discovery about a woman he dated in high school.
12. The Landlord
Aired 7 January 1992 • 60 min
A drug dealing slumlord is murdered by his accomplices.
13. Fool for Love
Aired 14 January 1992 • 60 min
A doctor plots to eliminate his wife -- and his mistress.
14. Love, Honor and Obey
Aired 4 February 1992 • 60 min
Parkers investigation into a purse snatching reveals an abused woman.
15. Odessa
Aired 11 February 1992 • 60 min
Racists target a ceremony honoring a civil rights pioneer.
16. A Time to Trust
Aired 18 February 1992 • 60 min
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.
17. By Means Most Foul
Aired 25 February 1992 • 60 min
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.
18. Trundel's Will Be Done
Aired 3 March 1992 • 60 min
V.J. Trundel's widow takes Harriet to court to gain custody of Eric.But Harriet is determined that her nephew will not be raised in the home of the man who ordered the murder of her sister.
19. Moseley's Lot
Aired 31 March 1992 • 60 min
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.
20. Family Reunion
Aired 7 April 1992 • 60 min
An ex-convict attempts to retrieve his loot from his wife and her new husband in this tongue-in-cheek episode.
21. Sanctuary
Aired 12 May 1992 • 60 min
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.
22. The Law on Trial
Aired 19 May 1992 • 60 min
Gillespie,Tibbs and Father DiMarco must stand trial for harbouring a fugitive and obstructing justice.