Night Heat

While I can empathize with Canadain viewers who like seeing Canadian actors in roles, and enjoy seeing Toronto and other major Canadian cities on American television, etc., I also can't get past being bothered when a show made anywhere in Canada pretends to be from a gritty American city like New York, especially the New York underworld which would generate the most activity for criminals and work for detectives. Sorry, but Canada is just too sanitized. I had the same problem with "Police Surgeon" in the 1970s. In any event, however, the theme music and opening of "Night Heat" was terrific. I still have a sound recording and play it, even though it runs less than a minute, just because I like it!

I Feel the Niiiiiight Heat! I feel your HEEAAAAAAAAAART-beat! Something ain't right!" Theme song written by B.J. Cook from Skylark- David Foster's old band and wife. She also wrote the memorable theme from CBC's "Airwaves." OH Night Heat! What a program! Well-written, well-acted and totally classic. Crime solvers and a good team and a dash of humour at the end. I'd like to think this is really what detectives do/did. Giambone was a real favourite! On a Canadian tip, I learned EVERY Canadian actor's name and style from guest spots done on Night Heat. Everyone passed through the Night Heat set and like Law & Order, it was story-driven so you could just watch and enjoy without a lot of character melodrama.

I remember staying up late every week night to watch this wonderful show that no one knew about. I was in college at the time and used up a lot of valuable study time. Action, drama and a little romance - greatest detective show since Kojak!

The actors in the show, I assume, were Canadian but every once in awhile I would see one of them in something else("Three Men and a Baby", "Spenser: For Hire") and I would have a flashback to all of those wonderful late-night adventures.

Unfortunately I did not own a VCR at the time so I do not have it on tape and it hasn't been on since the '80s. Put it on DVD!!! Please!!!

Guess I'm biased! It was a great Canadian series, shot in Toronto (my birthplace). Being from Toronto, the background scenery was very familiar and added to the realism. My wife and I enjoyed all the actors, although some were being re-cast as different guest villains,etc. a little too much. We especially like the "confrontations" between cops "Kevin & Frank" and "Whitey".

This lasted several years despite the late hour it was on.

Like a lot of 80's crime dramas, it looked cold. Both physically and figuratively. This isn't a bad thing though. And the (obviously) low budget actually worked in it's favor. Gritty during a time when 'slick' was in.

Allan Royal's wraparound segments as the news writer gave it a slight edge.

The only actors I remembered were Scott Nylands (Earthquake) and Tony Rosato (SCTV). The cast of barely knowns was a good thing because one could see the group as a whole and not as a bunch of people supporting a 'star.' And yes, that's a young Clark Johnson (Homicide) in a recurring spot.

I hope a DVD release is in the future. Someone out there wanna get on that?