Sweating Bullets

The early 90's were a different time. 'Sweating Bullets' was kind to remind you that all one really needed to be happy was a cold beverage, nice scenery and some beautiful women. A little mystery and a catchy theme song didn't hurt neither. The tropical style of the fictional Key Mariah, Florida where the show is situated and the lead duos chemistry are largely responsible for the show's charm.

Private investigator Nick Slaughter (Rob Stewart) is a likable guy. He wears his shirt open to the heat, spots a ponytail and usually has a one liner ready to go given the right circumstances. While fierce redhead Sylvie Girard (Carolyn Dunn) served as his assistant. The management, the brains of the operation and just simmering with sexual tension between the two.

The plot from episode to episode was a pretty straightforward. Bad guys were typically pretty obvious and crimes always fell under the umbrella of what a PI would be hired to do. Find someone, investigate a disappearance, murder, help a friend or the local PD. Aside from the odd betrayal stories were somewhat predictable, but enjoyable. Occasional explosion, gunfight or fisticuffs mixed in with sometimes cheesy drama.

You can catch quite a few actors (predominately Canadian) doing guest spots on this show. Harking back to the show's roots - there's some tacked on silliness about Nick being both ex-DEA / ex-RCMP - but don't give it much thought. Initially shot in Mexico featuring supporting faces such as John David Bland, Pedro Armendáriz Jr and Eugene Clark was the show at its peak IMO. A relic of a day gone by, 'Sweating Bullets' is forever engrained in my memories.

"Tropical Heat" aired in France on July 11, 1992 for the first time on national channel Antenne 2 (now France-2). Sadly it aired Saturdays nights at 23h30 to 0h30 when nobody was watching ! (But was re-run short after on Saturdays afternoons around 5:30 PM). It was a huge success then (and aired on 6 different channels until now : A2/France 2, RTL9, TMC, Canal Jimmy, Action & SyFy). I simply love the show : it's entertaining, full of fun & action, with a good cast (Rob Stewart/Carolyn Dunn & Ian Tracey) that really can act. All episodes are not constructed with the same aspect and some are really poor to watch. But there are only a few of them : the rest of the TV-series is really great. I bought the 3 seasons on DVD (TANGO Editions) and I love to watch them from time to time. I deplore too the fact that there never was a Final episode which got produced. I hoped that a TV-movie would be aired short after the end of the series, but it never came on screen... Too bad ! Thanx to the DVD(s) to make this show live again ! And if one day it'd start again, I'd be in front of my TV-screen...

Tropical Heat had 3 Seasons of 22 episodes each : First was shot in Mexico (Bucerias & Nuevo Vallarta, NAYARIT & Puerto Vallarta, JALISCO) aired in USA on CBS from April 8, 1991 to February 24, 1992. -according to Sam Egan, the creator of the series, the first episode ever shot was "This Year's Model", which would be considered as the real "Pilot" episode-. Second Season was shot in Eilat (Gulf of Aqaba near the Red Sea), Israel and aired on CBS from April 13, 1992 to March 1st, 1993. Last Season, the Third, was shot in Pretoria & Johannesburg, South Africa (+ beach scenes in Mauritius, at the Maritim Hotel). It aired from May 3 to October 18, 1993. CBS canceled the series because David Letterman came over to CBS and took the 11:30 pm slot for his "Late Show" - according to Rob Stewart for 4motion. Tropical Heat stopped after only 66 episodes... It was the end of a terrific TV-series...

A TV-movie was made from 2 episodes (#10&11) out of Season 2 : "CRISS CROSS : From The Files Of Tropical Heat" (released on DVD in 2008).

Check out the "Slaughter Nick For President" DVD : it's a 73 minutes-long documentary about the success of the TVseries in Eastern Countries as Serbia, released in 2012. On 4motion, Stewart said about a possible revival of the show "Is it probable ? No"... Well... We"ll wait... And see !. (More details below in the section 'discuss SWEATING BULLETS on IMDb Board').

This show was extremely entertaining. I would highly recommend it. I remember in the early 90's watching this show on CBS crime time after prime time at 11:35pm. Right after the CBS news. The scenery and the music puts you in the mood and makes you feel like you're there. I never understood why they stopped filming this show. I wanted to visit Key Mariah myself and have a drink at the Tropical Heat bar. I bought season 1 on DVD. I only hope Tango entertainment puts the rest of the episodes on DVD. Even better.. wouldn't it be great if they brought back the show today? I hope you read this Sam Egan(creator),Rob Stewart(Nick Slaughter)!! Thumbs up!!

This show was extremely popular in Serbia during the wars in Former Yugoslavia. It was a pipe dream getaway for all of us being surrounded by the horrors of war. A few years ago the lead actor came to Belgrade, Serbia for a round of interviews and press conferences. I believe there was even a documentary in making about this show popularity and a cult status in Serbia phenomenon. A hidden gem and a must-see entertainment.

i used to watch tropical heat when i lived in south Africa. loved it! i was actually looking to buy the 3 series because i was lucky enough to be in an episode. its the episode mentioned by another user with the main man jumping ablaze from a roof into a swimming pool where a woman was swimming, (me, Tina). that was filmed in Johannesburg s.a. around Sept/Oct 92.i don't know if they filmed the whole series there, but i know they were in S.A. for a while.seems like a lifetime ago for me. Rob was really nice. very professional & helpful as i was extremely nervous, but i loved every minute of it. it was the episode "may divorce be with you"