I had forgotten how good this show was. I had watched this series growing up because my mom was, and still is, a huge fan of the
show.
Summary
-Bill Gillespie was once a police chief but is now sheriff of the small town of Sparta, Mississippi. He investigates crimes relating to racial tension, which seems to be a frequent theme in the small, sleepy Southern town, along with cases involving politics. He is aided by investigator Virgil Tibbs, "Bubba" Skinner and the other members of the Sparta Police Department. Bill's personal life is also shown on the show.
Cast
-Carroll O'Connor: Chief William O 'Bill' Gillespie
-Alan Autry: Capt. V.L. 'Bubba' Skinner
-David Hart: Officer Parker Williams
-Hugh O'Connor: Lt. Lonnie Jamison
-Howard E. Rollins Jr.: Chief of Detectives Virgil Tibbs
-Anne-Marie Johnson: Althea Tibbs
-Geoffrey Thorne: Sgt. Wilson Sweet
-Crystal R. Fox: Officer Luann Corbin
-C.C. Taylor: Officer Charlie Peake
-Dee Shaw: Cpl. Dee Shepard
-Randall Franks: Officer Randy Goode
-Denise Nicholas: Harriet DeLong
Did You Know?
-Actor Carroll O'Connor, who plays Sheriff Gillespie, wrote scripts under the pseudonym Matt Harris. He feared that if he used his real name, it would not be taken seriously by television critics
-Whenever Gillespie's office is shown, there is a photo behind his desk. It is of Rod Steiger, who played Police Chief Bill Gillespie in the film
In the Heat of the Night
-The small white house that Gillespie lived in was an actual residence in Covington, GA. It sat empty for years until someone bought it and refurbished it
-When the series ended. the house where Virgil Tibbs lived was bought and divided up for use as office space
-When the outside of the Sparta Police Department was shown, it was actually the Newton County Library, which was formerly the Porter Memorial Library, in Covington, GA.
-The season after Howard E. Rollins, who played Virgil Tibbs, left the cast, he did do several guest appearances. Anne-Marie Johnson, who played Tibbs' wife Althea, had left to join the cast of
In Living Color. Her absence was suggested as being due to the stress of being married to a police officer and emotional problems stemming from her rape, that caused her and Virgil to separate
-There was a time when Howard E. Rollins was in rehab for a personal problem. His absence was explained as Virgil was in Jackson, MS finishing his law school studies. Carroll O'Connor was having heart surgery at the time and his absence was explained as being him attending a police convention
-When Carroll O'Connor was having heart surgery, he was replaced, on a temporary basis, by Joe Don Baker, who played Acting Chief Tom Dugan. Carroll wanted his heart surgery figured into the show, but NBC denied it
-Hammond, Louisiana is where the first season was filmed. Then after season one, filming moved to Conyers, Georgia and finally Covington, Georgia
-Despite the fact that Virgil was often referred to as "Detective", his actual rank was Captain
-Dan Biggers, who plays Dr. Frank Robb on the show, had a great grandfather who was the sheriff of Newton County, GA, the actual county where the show was filmed
-Some of the exterior shots were other buildings in real life. The Mason-Dixon Line bar was actually a beauty parlor. The police department was actually a library.
