In the Heat of the Night

Harriet DeLong must fight for custody of her dead sister's son.

An old flame of Gillespie’s reappears in Sparta to ask him for some professional help in assuring that her land is willed directly to her daughter, the product of the affair that she and Gillespie had twenty years ago. Stella Stevens guest stars.

Bubba gets involved when his cousin Candace and her husband Kevin are being blackmailed by Waylon Davis, the birth father of their adopted baby. Davis threatens to contest the adoption unless they cooperate, but will they give in to his demands?

Jeanette Marshall is a teacher in Sparta who has eye for the gentlemen, but her multiple romances attract negative attention from the townsfolk, and eccentric Ashe Crowe makes it his mission to put a permanent stop to Jeanette's flirtatious ways.

The fun and games come to a halt when Edgar Van Buren, the wealthy host of an annual high-stakes poker party, is murdered. Gillespie and Tibbs must sift through the evidence of a case where everyone is a suspect, including the dead man’s wife.

Bubba finds himself in trouble when he is in involved in an accidental shooting while on the job. The only witness is Virgil's Aunt Ruda, whose grudge against Virgil may work against exonerating Bubba. Can anyone convince her to do what is right?

Bubba Skinner returns to Los Angeles to tie up some unfinished business on an arson case in Sparta that’s connected to the mob in L.A. He reunites with Mike Chin, the star witness against the mob, and sparks fly once again between Bubba and Pat Day.

Cyrus Chambers and Tom Dalton are business partners in town, but when Cyrus decides he wants out of the partnership the trouble starts. Money and a secret love affair drive Tom to stop at nothing to bring Cyrus down, not even murder.

Wilson Sweet is curious about the murder of his grandfather over forty years ago and finds the incident may not have happened like he was told. An old bluesman in town has written a song about the murder and brings light to what really happened.

For Bubba Skinner and his date Mary Ellen, a picnic ends in gunshots and the discovery of a large marijuana operation. When the wrong bullet slug is found on the ballistics report, Gillespie and Tibbs suspect that a Sheriff’s Deputy may be involved.

District Attorney Gerard Darnelle is tough on criminals and has made many enemies throughout his long career. When his daughter is kidnapped, the FBI arrives, but Gillespie and Tibbs sidestep them and follow their own leads to bring her home safely.

When Lonnie Jamison helps Francie Miller, an old high school crush who’s in deep trouble and hitting the bottle, he finds a connection between Francie’s low-life boyfriend, Nick Crews, and a recent armed robbery of a local Sparta supermarket.

A greedy slumlord in the Bottoms, Keen Philbrick, is notorious for the cruel and unfair treatment of his tenants, and his ownership of two drug dens. When he’s found murdered, Gillespie will need the help of savvy Bottoms informant, Jimmy Dawes.

The Sparta police look into the murder of a wealthy invalid whose philandering husband is having an affair with a local beautician. All the evidence points to the beautician as the prime suspect, but she soon finds her own life is in danger.

Jenny Sawyer, a victim of domestic abuse, is fearful of her husband, Wesley, but she constantly covers up for him and refuses help. When Wesley is murdered outside a local tavern, the police wonder if Jenny may have taken matters into her own hands.

Odessa Robbins is a civil rights hero in Sparta, and the town is planning a celebration of her life. Gillespie’s worries about old racial tensions resurfacing are sadly justified when the festivities are disrupted, putting Odessa’s life in danger.

A series of suspicious truck accidents on an old country road lead the Sparta police to a local drug ring. Gillespie and his team must find the dealer and put an end to the operation. Meanwhile, Virgil and Althea are at odds about taking a vacation.

Rebecca Ballard and her husband Peter own a fancy restaurant in Sparta; however, Rebecca is having a love affair with Brian Moss, who owns a local auto repair shop. They plan to kill Peter for a large life insurance policy, but their plan goes awry.

Warren Moseley, a highly respected man in Sparta, has two grown sons who are always at odds: Louis is dedicated to the family business, while Brian has wasted his years away gambling and partying. Will Brian's gambling debts destroy the family?

Roy Paxton served time for robbery and is released from a Texas prison with a mission: finding the stolen money. Unfortunately, his ex-wife found it first and ran away with her son to Sparta. Will he find the money before the Sparta police find him?

Sheriff McComb asks Chief Gillespie and Virgil Tibbs to help capture an escaped inmate, Ramon Salazar, but they’re both conflicted when they learn that Salazar is a victim of violent political injustice in his native country of war-torn El Salvador.

After the escape and death of refugee Ramon Salazar, Gillespie, Tibbs and Father DeMarco are all on trial for harboring a fugitive and obstructing justice. Meanwhile, mobster Alvin Epp wants Gillespie fired and will do anything to see that happen.