In the Heat of the Night: Season 1

Chief Gillespie reluctantly accepts visiting Sparta native Virgil Tibbs as his new Chief of Detectives in the midst of a high-profile murder investigation.

Gillespie and Tibbs learn to get used to each other's working habits and bond as workers and friends to solve the murder.

Despite compelling evidence, Gillespie refuses to believe that his best friend used another person's playful gunfire to cover up for the murder of his alcoholic wife.

Racial tensions boil over in Sparta when a married, white woman has an extramarital affair with a black businessman.

When two local locksmiths uncover a cocaine fencing operation, all evidence points to the personal staff of Virgil Tibbs' former high school rival.

Tibbs gets a long overdue dose of self-satisfaction when the Sparta Police close in on the masterminds of the drug trafficking operation.

Gillespie and Tibb's reluctant investigation of a bigamy case becomes absurd with the accused's half dozen wives, and serious when he is found dead in his cell.

Althea Tibbs is kidnapped and taken hostage by the prime suspect in a serial murder investigation.