In the Heat of the Night (1988)
TVPG
Crime drama
Mystery
Based on the classic film, a police chief and his team tackle crime and social issues in the small town of Sparta, Mississippi, navigating racial tensions and personal dramas.
Cast & Crew
Carroll O'Connor William Gillespie
Howard E. Rollins Virgil Tibbs
Anne-Marie Johnson Althea Tibbs
Alan Autry Bubba Skinner
Denise Nicholas Harriet DeLong
David Hart Parker Williams
Hugh O'Connor Lonnie Jamison
Christian LeBlanc Junior Abernathy
Lois Nettleton Joanne St. John
Fred Silverman Executive Producer
⨁Full Cast & Crew
Upcoming TV Airings
The airings below are based on a generic national schedule. Times and dates can vary by TV provider.
Wednesday, April 22
Paper Castles
Season 4 • Episode 17
Tibbs tries to protect a friend from a shady real-estate venture, but the man is killed.
Wednesday, April 22
Laid to Waste
Season 4 • Episode 18
A blind woman hears an apparent murder in a neighboring duplex, and Parker uncovers a motive.
Wednesday, April 22
First Deadly Sin
Season 4 • Episode 19
A man forbids his son to tell police he saw a rape, for fear of the youth's chances for seminary.
Thursday, April 23
Just a Country Boy
Season 4 • Episode 20
Bubba searches Los Angeles for a Sparta fugitive who jumped bail.
Thursday, April 23
No Other Road
Season 4 • Episode 21
Tibbs and Jamison urge Harriet DeLong's son to persevere after his father's death sentence.
Thursday, April 23
A Turning
Season 4 • Episode 22
Gillespie and Tibbs pursue the killers of drug dealers; Althea worries about her husband's safety.
Friday, April 24
A Woman Much Admired
Season 5 • Episode 1
Gillespie leaves town to investigate an ex-lover's murder and must face the daughter he never knew.
Friday, April 24
Baby for Sale
Season 5 • Episode 2
Threatened with losing his adopted son, Bubba aids the natural father in a robbery.
Friday, April 24
Obsession
Season 5 • Episode 3
Gillespie and Tibbs face legal obstacles when protecting a woman.
Sunday, April 26
My Name Is Hank
Season 3 • Episode 9
A young Vietnamese robbery suspect may be the son of a former Sparta police officer.
Sunday, April 26
King's Ransom
Season 3 • Episode 10
A down-and-out boxer who witnessed a murder ignores Gillespie's advice to cooperate with the FBI.
Sunday, April 26
Epitaph for a Lady
Season 3 • Episode 11
A doctor is murdered after his misdiagnosis causes the death of the wife of Gillespie's friend.
Sunday, April 26
Triangle
Season 3 • Episode 12
Gillespie tries to prevent a man who shot his wife and her lover from harming anyone else.
Sunday, April 26
Hello in There
Season 3 • Episode 13
A councilwoman tries art therapy on a mute boy who may have witnessed his father's murder.
Sunday, April 26
December Days
Season 3 • Episode 14
A retired detective assists Gillespie's probe of a murder at a rest home; guest Louise Fletcher.
Monday, April 27
Liar's Poker
Season 5 • Episode 4
Gillespie comes under scrutiny for trying to clear a prostitute charged with killing a wealthy man.
Monday, April 27
Ruda's Awakening
Season 5 • Episode 5
Virgil's aunt (Fran Bennett) lets anger cloud her recollection of a young black man's shooting.
Monday, April 27
Unfinished Business
Season 5 • Episode 6
In Los Angeles for a murder trial, Bubba encounters killers targeting the key witness.
Tuesday, April 28
The More Things Change
Season 5 • Episode 7
Gillespie and DeLong try romance; a blackmailer is charged with her father's murder.
Tuesday, April 28
Sweet, Sweet Blues
Season 5 • Episode 8
A blues singer claims he witnessed the 40-year-old race-motivated slaying of Sweet's grandfather.
Tuesday, April 28
Sparta Gold
Season 5 • Episode 9
Bubba can't get another county's authorities to cooperate after discovering marijuana-farming there.
Wednesday, April 29
An Eye for an Eye
Season 5 • Episode 10
Despite FBI presence, Gillespie and Tibbs search for the kidnapper of a DA's daughter.
Wednesday, April 29
The Littlest Victim
Season 5 • Episode 11
A robbery suspect threatens the lives of a boozing woman (Denise Miller) and her infant.
Wednesday, April 29
The Landlord
Season 5 • Episode 12
Gillespie is leery of the evidence in the murder of an abusive landlord.
Thursday, April 30
Fool for Love
Season 5 • Episode 13
Tibbs and Gillespie suspect a doctor who made his girlfriend the prime suspect in his wife's murder.
Thursday, April 30
Love, Honor and Obey
Season 5 • Episode 14
A mugging investigation uncovers the plight of an abused wife.
Thursday, April 30
Odessa
Season 5 • Episode 15
The honoring of Sparta's first black woman voter may touch off a racial incident.
Friday, May 1
A Time to Trust
Season 5 • Episode 16
Virgil tries to gather evidence on a drug dealer connected to a student of Althea's.
Friday, May 1
By Means Most Foul
Season 5 • Episode 17
A suspected revenge bombing may be a smoke screen for a restaurateur's insurance scam.
Friday, May 1
Trundel's Will Be Done
Season 5 • Episode 18
A wealthy widow claims Harriet DeLong's nephew, saying her husband fathered him.
Sunday, May 3
A Loss of Innocence
Season 3 • Episode 15
Problems arise when a teenage girl's father is found dead and her mother is reported missing.
Sunday, May 3
Bubba's Baby
Season 3 • Episode 16
The search for the parents of an abandoned baby leads Gillespie on a trail of blackmail and murder.
Sunday, May 3
Home Is Where the Heart Is
Season 3 • Episode 17
The madam (Diane Ladd) of a traveling bordello is suspected of murdering a preacher who opposed her.
Sunday, May 3
An Angry Woman
Season 3 • Episode 18
Gillespie investigates the hit-and-run death of a young woman.
Sunday, May 3
Indiscretions
Season 3 • Episode 19
Althea does not know that a visiting friend is a fugitive from justice.
Sunday, May 3
Night of the Killing
Season 3 • Episode 20
Tibbs and Gillespie clash over a black murder suspect, whose arrest causes racial strife.
Monday, May 4
Moseley's Lot
Season 5 • Episode 19
A man comes to his son's rescue when the lad is caught gambling with someone else's money.
Monday, May 4
Family Reunion
Season 5 • Episode 20
An ex-convict learns his wife has spent his cache of stolen cash.
Monday, May 4
Sanctuary
Season 5 • Episode 21
Gillespie and Tibbs try to prevent a political refugee's extradition.
Tuesday, May 5
The Law on Trial
Season 5 • Episode 22
The sheriff argues that Tibbs and Gillespie's obstruction of justice led to Salazar's death.
Tuesday, May 5
A Small War
Season 6 • Episode 1
Gillespie's affair with DeLong draws her son's wrath, which confirms her concerns.
Tuesday, May 5
A Small War
Season 6 • Episode 2
Eugene (Rugg Williams) agrees to identify the killers, over his mother's objections.
Wednesday, May 6
Brother's Keeper
Season 6 • Episode 3
Corbin (Crystal Fox) pursues her brother (Meshach Taylor), an ex-con who robbed a bar in town.
Wednesday, May 6
A Frenzied Affair
Season 6 •
Man accused of killing teen stepdaughter's married lover.
Wednesday, May 6
Discovery
Season 6 • Episode 5
The suicide of an ex-boyfriend pushes Althea to the brink of a nervous breakdown; guest Allan Arbus.
Thursday, May 7
Random's Child
Season 6 • Episode 6
Gillespie's estranged daughter from a brief romance returns to Sparta to settle her mother's estate.
Thursday, May 7
An Occupational Hazard
Season 6 • Episode 7
An unemployed man is accused of murdering his wife's boss, who was sexually harassing her.
Thursday, May 7
Last Rights
Season 6 • Episode 8
The doctor (Earl Holliman) of Virgil's terminally ill aunt is suspected of mercy killings.
Friday, May 8
When the Music Stopped
Season 6 • Episode 9
A country singer accused of stealing songs accidentally kills his accuser.
Friday, May 8
Flowers From a Lady
Season 6 • Episode 10
DeLong warns Gillespie about a carjacking victim, who has taken a romantic interest in Bubba.
Friday, May 8
Private Sessions
Season 6 • Episode 11
A waitress under a psychiatrist's care dies mysteriously; Virgil's friend is a suspect.
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