In the Heat of the Night

I watch this show every chance I get. Acting is superb by all. I have no complaints with any aspect of this show. Opening music is sensual and delicious, and sets the stage for some good old southern intrigue, mystery and once in awhile romance.

Most pleasant is the way they throw you off the track, always keep you guessing as to ..who done it.. There is some racial tension-- although not to offensive.. It is usually resolved in a satisfactory manner..... A gentle reminder to us all to be fair and open-minded. No nudity or profanity, a nice change from todays stuff. A must watch....

This show starring Carroll O'Connor is one of the best shows done for TV. Every show taught you a lesson about real life in the south. It showed racial problems and how they could be solved; it showed how drugs and drinking can tear a family apart and how to deal with it. It showed a police force so caring and understanding of what people go through. This is a tv show that was made from a movie and it will go on and on in reruns because it was done so well. Again we have to thank CARROLL O'CONNOR for doing such a great job.

It's extremely rare these days to find a film-to-tv spin-off that actually works (anybody remember 'Working Girl'?) but this 'Heat' is a worthy exception. It also has a strong, original slant of it's own -- the quirky (and, since this is the fictional South, sometimes downright eccentric) ways that ordinary people behave in extraordinary situations. Of course, in lazier moments this can sometimes mean genre cliches. And as the years go on it becomes increasingly difficult -- due to a series of well-publicized internal troubles -- to find ALL the stars together in the same episode. But at its best, the show has some powerful things to say about the human condition...and at its worst, it's still a beautifully produced hour spent with some very likable characters.

ITHOTN is my second favorite hour long TV series( right behind the Rockford files 1974-80.) The first season,while well acted and produced isn't as good as season two and three. The episodes filmed in Hammond Louisiana recapture the atmosphere of the motion picture with its run down buildings and the racist behavior of " Bill Gillespie". The stories just don't measure up, with the exception of " Road Kill" One of the entire series best episodes!.The four Joe Don Baker episodes (while Carroll O' Connor was recuperating from heart surgery) are among my favorites. "15 forever " is unsettling in its depiction of teenagers killed by a drunk driver.( Spartas district attorney! ) " The pig woman of Sparta" is funny and atmospheric. "Lady bug,lady bug"is dark and brutal."Vengeance" and "Sparta Gold" are two of Alan Autrys best. Scott Brian Higgs is hilarious as the eccentric "Randy Calhoun", a recurring character on the show.Lois Nettleton is very good as Bill Gillespies love interest and her shady past is revealed in the excellent "Aka Kelly Kay". I was so impressed with the series that we traveled through Covington Georgia on our way to Florida a few years ago. We saw a lot of the filming locations and toured the ITHOTN/ Dukes of Hazzard museum. Carroll O' Connor was totally believable as "Bill Gillespie", Howard Rollins upstaged the entire cast, bringing more depth to the "Virgil Tibbs" character than Sidney Poitier did in the '67 film. Hugh O' Connor who obviously wasn't a trained actor,actually grew into his "Jameson" role and was good enough to carry several episodes by himself! The last season was wearing pretty thin but had a very good run with some truly memorable stories. RIP Carroll,Hugh and Howard.

I found that the series was very realistic, and in some cases very funny. The characters seem real, and the plots are interesting. The cast that was chosen could not have been better. That acting was done well, and it was very sincere. Especially, when the show got into the heart of difficult issues. This might sound a bit silly, but the show meant a lot to me, because it was one of the last shows that was true to what it was, and one of the best series that has ever been produced in my mind.The one thing that I would really like to know, if someone somewhere is trying to come up with a DVD collection of the series. I know that I would probably be first in line. It is a show that I enjoyed, and miss watching a great deal.