Episode list for
"In the Heat of the Night" (1988)

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Episode Count: 146
Season: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
Year: 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | unknown

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Season 1

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Season 1, Episode 1: Pilot: Part 1

Original Air Date: 6 March 1988
Philadelphia police lieutenant Virgil Tibbs and his wife Althea have returned to Sparta to attend the funeral of Virgil's mother. While in town and unknown to Chief Bill Gillespie, Virgil is offered the position of Chief of Detectives. At the same time, a white girl is found murdered in the Bottoms, which allows Virgil the opportunity to begin work. The police force is rife with racism and devoid of proper police procedures. An African-American man, Willie Jones, is brought in on flimsy evidence. Before Virgil can investigate, Jones is found hanged in his cell. Gillespie and Tibbs are at complete loggerheads over how to proceed with the investigation and institute measures to clean up the department.

Season 1, Episode 2: Pilot: Part 2

Original Air Date: 6 March 1988
Continuation of Episode #1.1. "Pilot: Part 1" Nan Woodall, the murder victim in the previous episode, is buried and the community is devastated. While investigating Nan's and Willie Jones' murders, Virgil is badly beaten by redneck thugs. Surprisingly, Chief Gillespie is sympathetic and cooperative, and he dresses down every police officer who is reluctant to work with Virgil Tibbs. The case leads into the seamy side of life in Sparta, including orgies and pornographic videotapes. Working together, Tibbs begins to carve out a place in the department, and Gillespie turns out to be a superb, insightful investigator.

Season 1, Episode 3: Road Kill

Original Air Date: 15 March 1988
Shots are fired at night from a moving pickup, rousing all the gun control advocates. Sonny Mims has a gun store, which belongs in reality to his wife Margaret who is a drunk. Sonny is having an affair with Margaret's cousin, Pauline Slade, and vows he will ask for a divorce. Pauline persuades Sonny to kill Margaret under the guise of a random shooting, which he does. Chief Gillespie, Virgil Tibbs and Bubba Skinner have a shouting match over details of the investigation. Pauline plays up to Bubba to get information, which makes Sonny jealous. Evidence points to Joe Ed Thaxton, who fired the original shots from his pickup, but the lead goes nowhere. Pauline and Sonny set their sights on slow-witted Gilmore Hodges, which leads to a deeper quagmire.

Season 1, Episode 4: Fate

Original Air Date: 22 March 1988
When an affluent married white woman have an affair with a black businessman from New York, racial tensions reach a breaking point in Sparta. Also, Detective Tibbs isn't too thrilled when Chief Gillespie gets his help in searching for Bubba's cousin who is a suspect in a moonshining operation.

Season 1, Episode 5: Blind Spot: Part 1

Original Air Date: 29 March 1988
Chief Gillespie and Miss Dee are having a quiet dinner with Virgil and Althea Tibbs when a fight breaks out. Barbara Giles and New Yorker Steve Vincent are interrupted by Buddy Trent, Barbara's erstwhile boyfriend, and three ruffians. Gillespie and Tibbs break up the mêlée. Vincent represents Ritchie Epman, a wealthy businessman, in a new enterprise in Sparta. Meanwhile, Wallace Posey and Eddie Lee, two locksmiths working at Epman's estate, discover a large shipment of uncut cocaine. They try to sneak out with a bag of coke, but two thugs, Logan and Bass, spot the men and open fire, killing Lee. Searching for the cocaine,the thugs critically wound Wallace's uncle, John Reeves, a long-time friend of Gillespie. Trying to leave Sparta, Wallace sets up a meeting with Virgil, but the two are ambushed by Logan and Bass.

Season 1, Episode 6: Blind Spot: Part 2

Original Air Date: 5 April 1988
Continuation of Episode #1.5. Virgil Tibbs was not injured in the ambush by Logan and Bass, but Wallace Posey was killed. Chief Gillespie "calls in a favor" from Rattler, a flamboyant African-American drug dealer, through unusual methods of intimidation not found in police manuals. The favor leads to the investigation of Ritchie Epman for wholesale drug trafficking and murder. In a desperate effort to tie up loose ends, Bass tries to kill John Reeves in the hospital. Bass attacks Althea, who is visiting Reeves. The climax at the hospital and at Epman's estate is powerful. Even Buddy Trent get in his licks on the side of the good guys.

Season 1, Episode 7: A Necessary Evil

Original Air Date: 12 April 1988
Henley Davenport is arrested for drunk & disorderly, and his sister Eugete wants him released into her custody. Elmyra Carroway, Henley's intended, argues that he should be in her care instead. James Jeffson's wife accuses him of bigamy. However, the charge escalates to polygamy when six women claim to be Mrs. James Jeffson. Things turn serious when Jeffson dies in his cell of arsenic poisoning.

Season 1, Episode 8: ...And Then You Die

Original Air Date: 3 May 1988
Convict Lester Sprode and his girlfriend, Audine Higgs, rob and kill store owner Miss Elnora. The crime is witnessed by Elnora's young grandson Scooter. Chief Gillespie and Detective Virgil Tibbs investigate as Althea Tibbs attends the boy. Lester and Audine go on a crime spree, robbing and killing shop owner Mr. Randall, shooting a customer at the store, and murdering a car owner when they switch cars. Lester and Audine hole up in a remote cabin. At the lake, Althea counsels Scooter as Lester and Audine take them hostage and steal Althea's car. Police road blocks force everyone back to the cabin. At Althea's urging, Audine and Scooter escape but Althea is recaptured by Lester. Gillespie and Tibbs search for clues, and Bubba Skinner steps up to the plate.

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Season 2

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Season 2, Episode 1: Don't Look Back: Part 1

Original Air Date: 4 December 1988
It is 1968. A young woman, Billie Jo Bradley, is murdered and her heart cut out. Her husband, Bo Bradley, is later executed for the crime. Now it is 1988, and Sparta is preparing to celebrate its 150th centennial. Curiously, another young woman, Michelle Carpenter, is murdered and her heart removed. Newspaper editor Reed Nicholson, who was suspected in the earlier murder, comes under suspicion again. Chief Bill Gillespie is anonymously threatened, and Virgil Tibbs is attacked during the investigation. The case may connected to Marie Babineaux, the local voodoo queen.

Season 2, Episode 2: Don't Look Back: Part 2

Original Air Date: 4 December 1988
Continuation of "Don't Look Back Part 1" (#2.1). Chief Gillespie receives a human heart in a gift box. Voodoo queen Marie Babineaux is brought in for questioning, but released for lack of evidence. Newspaper editor Reed Nicholson is murdered. The chief and Virgil Tibbs work at detente in conducting the investigation.

Season 2, Episode 3: The Family Secret

Original Air Date: 6 December 1988
A magnificent statue of a Confederate officer is unveiled in the Sparta town square, the gift of the well respected Merrill family, Stuart and Bernice, who are in attendance with their granddaughter Mary Lynn. Bill Gillespie and his inamorata, Joanne St. John, are there along with Bubba Skinner. Embarrassingly, Claudia Merrill, Stuart and Bernice's daughter and Mary Lynn's mother, is not at the ceremony because she is "indisposed" (drunk) at home. That evening Stuart is murdered in his art glass studio, which is a shambles of broken art objects. Gillespie and Virgil Tibbs question Bernice, who blames Claudia. At the police station, Claudia confesses to the murder, but refuses to reveal her motive. Against Gillespie's advice, Virgil probes the case, which proves more sordid than anyone imagines.

Season 2, Episode 4: The Hammer and the Glove

Original Air Date: 13 December 1988
Matthew Pogue, Virgil Tibbs' former partner in Philadelphia, arrives in Sparta. Now a private investigator, Matt tries to entice Virgil to work with him in their old mode of "hammer and glove." At the station, FBI agent McGraw asks Chief Gillespie for cooperation in protecting an important witness. At the Tibbs' dinner party, Althea tells Joanne that she had a history with Matt before Virgil came along. During the night, Matt slips out, steals a car and kills two FBI agents and their witness. When the crime is discovered, Matt offers to help Virgil with forensics, which gives him the opportunity to doctor the evidence. Later Matt invades McGraw's motel room and murders him in revenge. The solution to the case is devastating.

Season 2, Episode 5: Prisoners

Original Air Date: 20 December 1988
Officer William Sweet apprehends a holdup man, Eric Gray, running away from a store. Eric, a school friend of Sweet, confesses that he broke out of Butler County jail, where he had been beaten by the brutal Sheriff Ed Thompson, a close friend of Chief Bill Gillespie. Thompson and two deputies transfer Eric from the Sparta jail, with the prisoner frantically declaring that he will be killed in Butler County. The next day Bubba Skinner gets word that Eric died during the night. The coroner's x-rays show the cause of death as blunt force trauma. Bill and Sweet feel individually responsible. Eric's sister Jenny blames Sweet, although Mrs. Gray absolves him of any blame. Bill and Virgil Tibbs resolve to avenge the offense, but Sweet rashly takes matters into his own hands, placing himself in great danger.

Season 2, Episode 6: Hot Nights

Original Air Date: 27 December 1988
Writer Jacqueline Holt is ticketed by Bubba Skinner for running a red light and is immediately attracted to him. Jackie stays in Sparta to work on a book, renting a cabin outside town. The first evening, she calls Bubba to report a prowler, saying that her dangerous ex-husband, Frank Van Dorn, is after her with a gun. When Bubba responds to the call, the romance begins. Frank calls Jackie, threatening to harm her, so Bubba teaches her to fire a revolver. Bubba spends so much time with Jackie he gets behind in his duties. One night Bubba is awakened by gunshots, runs downstairs and finds Jackie standing over a dead man who is not Frank. Instead, the victim is Tom Anderson, a private investigator/bounty hunter who is after Frank. In despair, Bubba turns in his badge.

Season 2, Episode 7: Gunshots

Original Air Date: 3 January 1989
Detective Virgil Tibbs responds to an armed robbery in which he is confronted with shooting a suspect. Afterwards, Virgil has problems coming to grips with results of his actions because the person he shot happened to be a teenage girl and to make things worse, the gun Virgil believed that was aimed at him cannot be found.

Season 2, Episode 8: Country Mouse, City Mouse

Original Air Date: 10 January 1989
Detective Virgil Tibbs niece from Philadelphia comes to Sparta to visit but soon becomes bored with the happenings of small town life until she meets Bubba's nephew. They both get a little more adventure than they hoped for when they come across a dangerous ex-con who is out on parole.

Season 2, Episode 9: Stranger in Town

Original Air Date: 17 January 1989
In the red light district of the Bottoms, Topaz/Roberta Strutt finds her friend Charmaine Rogers murdered. The Sparta police are called to investigate. Virgil Tibbs rousts a high profile pimp, Atticus Paul, for trying to take over Sparta's prostitution trade. Overhearing a discussion of the case in the Magnolia Cafe, attorney Royce Johnson is appalled. The owner of the Magnolia and Bill Gillespie's lady friend, Joanne St. John, hires drifter Clay Caulder as the new short order cook, which is not to Bill's liking. In a sweep of the Bottoms, Bill and Virgil find Clay with a sixteen-year-old hooker. Bill, of course, considers Clay the likely suspect in Charmaine's murder, but Virgil naturally likes Atticus for the deed.

Season 2, Episode 10: Tear Down the Walls

Original Air Date: 31 January 1989
Detective Virgil Tibbs and Althea gets invited to attend services by a minister who is trying to integrate his all white church, but soon afterwards Detective Virgil Tibbs must investigate whats behind the mysterious poisoning of the minister.

Season 2, Episode 11: A Trip Upstate

Original Air Date: 7 February 1989
Two parallel plots. (1) George Browlow sends word to Bill Gillespie that he wants to see the Chief at Parchman prison on the day of his execution. George was the driver in a bank holdup. Two bank robbers killed a guard and a customer before Bill killed them in return. As an accomplice, George was sentenced to die. (2) Bubba Skinner and a girl are fishing on the lake when Bubba spots two murder suspects, Melvin Nally and Lenny Cowes, near a camper trailer in the park. Virgil investigates, and the two men fire on him before being captured and arrested. At Parchman, Bill sees George, who persuades Gillespie to stay until he is gone. The execution is devastating to the Chief. Back in Sparta, District Attorney Hutton wants to "snuff" the two murder suspects.

Season 2, Episode 12: A.K.A. Kelly Kay

Original Air Date: 14 February 1989
Joanne St. John must confront something that she thought she left behind in the past, when a escaped convict comes to Sparta looking for her.

Season 2, Episode 13: These Things Take Time

Original Air Date: 21 February 1989
An pregnant African-American teen-age girl, Shawna Hughes, is caught shoplifting a jacket for her younger brother. Virgil Tibbs interrogates her, and Bill Gillespie releases her. She goes to the freight company to confront Dan Mackey, father of her child, who is unconcerned. That night she has premature contractions, sneaks out of the house, and has her baby in the woods. Unknown to Shawna, someone witnesses the birth. The dead infant is discovered at the city dump, and Althea Tibbs guesses who the mother is. Martin Campbell, Shawna's step-father, and her mother, Louise Hughes, are thoroughly supportive. When Virgil questions Shawna, she admits killing the baby, but Virgil thinks she is covering for someone.

Season 2, Episode 14: Intruders

Original Air Date: 7 March 1989
The Sparta P.D. is on the lookout for a burglar who is terrorizing the small town by targeting senior citizens that happen to be women who live alone, in which the main suspect is a city councilwoman's son.

Season 2, Episode 15: The Creek

Original Air Date: 14 March 1989
Virgil Tibbs spots young woman, Lauren Casey, on the bank of the creek half in, half out of the water. She has been beaten badly. Taken to the hospital, Lauren describes a black man as the attacker, who is similar to a local man, Jimmy Dawes. Brought in for questioning, Dawes is released for lack of evidence. Bill Gillespie does not believe Lauren. Throughout the investigation, Virgil suffers horrifying flashbacks to his childhood along the creek. Bill solves the case with the help of Althea.

Season 2, Episode 16: Sister, Sister

Original Air Date: 21 March 1989
Sibling rivalry is at the core of this episode, when Detective Virgil Tibbs' childhood friend comes back home to Sparta to see about her ill father, although she doesn't exactly get a warm reception from her sister for her visit. The sisters then become murder suspects when their father is poisoned.

Season 2, Episode 17: Walkout

Original Air Date: 28 March 1989
An intense strike at a local factory leads to the police having to investigate a murder on a rare snowy day in Sparta.

Season 2, Episode 18: Accused

Original Air Date: 4 April 1989
A woman mistakenly accuses Capt. Bubba Skinner as her attacker when he tries to rescue her from a rapist. Meanwhile, Chief Gillespie goes up against a driven district attorney who plans to use the case for the good of his career.

Season 2, Episode 19: Fifteen Forever

Original Air Date: 25 April 1989
Sparta is in grief when a drunk driver causes a fatal car crash with high school cheerleaders on their way home after a game. Althea tries to counsel the victim's families to cope with their loss, while the Sparta P. D. is searching for the other driver. Acting Chief Tom Dugan has to deal with bad memories that come back to him due to this tragedy. Also the police department is up against D.A. Dutton after he accuses them of not properly handling the investigation.

Season 2, Episode 20: Ladybug, Ladybug

Original Air Date: 2 May 1989
Capt. Bubba Skinner and Detective Virgil Tibbs must team up to stop a serial arsonist while Chief Gillispie is in Quantico. Meanwhile, Tom Dugan is officially appointed acting chief by Councilwoman Lorraine White, which doesn't go over too well in the police department.

Season 2, Episode 21: The Pig Woman of Sparta

Original Air Date: 9 May 1989

Season 2, Episode 22: Missing

Original Air Date: 16 May 1989

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Season 3

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Season 3, Episode 1: Rape

Original Air Date: 24 October 1989

Season 3, Episode 2: Fairest of Them All

Original Air Date: 31 October 1989

Season 3, Episode 3: Murder Most Ancient

Original Air Date: 7 November 1989

Season 3, Episode 4: First Girl

Original Air Date: 14 November 1989
Chief Bill Gillespie (Carroll O'Connor) introduces Officer Christine Rankin (Sheryl Lynn Piland) to the Sparta City Council as the first African American woman to serve in the police department. Officer Rankin is sent out on a case almost immediately.

Season 3, Episode 5: Crackdown

Original Air Date: 21 November 1989

Season 3, Episode 6: Anniversary

Original Air Date: 28 November 1989

Season 3, Episode 7: Time of the Stranger

Original Air Date: 5 December 1989

Season 3, Episode 8: Vengeance

Original Air Date: 12 December 1989

Season 3, Episode 9: My Name Is Hank

Original Air Date: 19 December 1989

Season 3, Episode 10: King's Ransom

Original Air Date: 2 January 1990

Season 3, Episode 11: Epitaph for a Lady

Original Air Date: 16 January 1990

Season 3, Episode 12: Triangle

Original Air Date: 23 January 1990

Season 3, Episode 13: Hello in There

Original Air Date: 30 January 1990

Season 3, Episode 14: December Days

Original Air Date: 13 February 1990

Season 3, Episode 15: A Loss of Innocence

Original Air Date: 20 February 1990

Season 3, Episode 16: Bubba's Baby

Original Air Date: 27 February 1990

Season 3, Episode 17: Home Is Where the Heart Is

Original Air Date: 6 March 1990

Season 3, Episode 18: An Angry Woman

Original Air Date: 13 March 1990

Season 3, Episode 19: Indiscretions

Original Air Date: 20 March 1990

Season 3, Episode 20: Night of the Killing

Original Air Date: 27 March 1990

Season 3, Episode 21: Citizen Trundel: Part 1

Original Air Date: 1 May 1990

Season 3, Episode 22: Citizen Trundel: Part 2

Original Air Date: 8 May 1990

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Season 4

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Season 4, Episode 1: Brotherly Love: Part 1

Original Air Date: 18 September 1990
Philadelphia Detective Dwight Walker calls Virgil Tibbs, planning to come to Sparta for the twins' birth after he wraps up a big case. Dwight sees three Philadelphia policemen break up a drug buy and kill the buyer and pusher. Dwight then is found hanged at home. Celia, Dwight's wife, asks Virgil to help find the killers. Meanwhile, Bubba Skinner is drafted to assist Althea with her Lamaze classes.

Season 4, Episode 2: Brotherly Love: Part 2

Original Air Date: 18 September 1990
Continuation of episode #4.1. Detective Virgil Tibbs is framed by three Philadelphia policemen and arrested as an accomplice to murder. Chief Bill Gillespie goes to Philadelphia to help. Hannah, a bag lady/informant to Dwight Walker, is killed to prevent her from talking. Bill and Virgil investigate the case as Althea and Bubba rush to the hospital with contractions.

Season 4, Episode 3: Lessons Learned

Original Air Date: 25 September 1990

Season 4, Episode 4: Perversions of Justice

Original Air Date: 2 October 1990

Season 4, Episode 5: And Justice for Some

Original Air Date: 23 October 1990

Season 4, Episode 6: Hearts of Gold

Original Air Date: 30 October 1990
Recently widowed Christine Millings (Kerrie Keane) ignites an old flame with Bubba Skinner (Alan Autry), who gives her a gold heart-shaped locket. Christine's attorney (Don Galloway) is murdered, and Bubba is conflicted when it appears that Christine may have been involved with the lawyer. The locket plays a decisive part in resolving the plot.

Season 4, Episode 7: Quick Fix

Original Air Date: 6 November 1990
Fishing at the lake on his day off, Bubba Skinner discovers a newborn infant buried near the shore. The investigation turns toward the two Mastin girls, Kitty and Willa, as the baby was buried in a shoebox traced to their father George. Eighteen-year-old Willa is retarded and was thought to have been getting shots to prevent pregnancy, but fourteen-year-old Kitty stopped giving the shots because they were painful. The father of the infant turns out to be a neighbor, handyman Tucker Carnes. What is the best thing now for Willa and her family?

Season 4, Episode 8: Homecoming

Original Air Date: 13 November 1990

Season 4, Episode 9: A Problem Too Personal

Original Air Date: 20 November 1990
Vic Glendon (Wesley), Harriet DeLong's (Nicholas) ex-husband is caught and charged with armed robbery, and her son Gene (Williams) may also be involved.

Season 4, Episode 10: A Final Arrangement

Original Air Date: 27 November 1990

Season 4, Episode 11: Family Matters

Original Air Date: 4 December 1990

Season 4, Episode 12: Bounty Hunter

Original Air Date: 11 December 1990
Jack Whearty, a shiftless slacker, rushes from Houston to Sparta to seek help from his sister Kathleen. Tiny Randall, a relentless bounty hunter, leaves a collection of bodies in his wake as he pursues Jack.

Season 4, Episode 13: Blessings

Original Air Date: 18 December 1990
In this Christmas episode, members of the Sparta Police Department are interviewed for an article in the Sparta Herald. Reporter Millie Turnby (Judith Robinson) has a preconceived notion regarding the article and spins the information to suit her agenda. Flashbacks show the SPD's growing pains after Virgil Tibbs (Howard Rollins Jr.) joins the force, especially in his relationships with Chief Bill Gillespie (Carroll O'Connor) and Sergeant Bubba Skinner (Alan Autry). As the officers read the article at a Christmas party, Gillespie puts it and the newspaper into proper perspective.

Season 4, Episode 14: Shine on Sparta Moon

Original Air Date: 8 January 1991
Bubba and Parker break up a teen-age kegger, but not before someone spikes the moonshine and tragedy ensues.

Season 4, Episode 15: An Execution of Trust

Original Air Date: 15 January 1991
A psychiatrist, Dr. Lureen Allcott (Christina Pickles), has confidential information about a murder for which Ray Garrett (Robert Walker Jr.) is set to be executed in two days. Dr. Allcott is ethically, and perhaps legally, precluded from revealing any details to the authorities, but it appears that Garrett may have been wrongly accused and time is running out.

Season 4, Episode 16: Child of Promise

Original Air Date: 5 February 1991
As the recipient of a full scholarship, Terry Johnson (Shaun Baker) will be the first person in his neighborhood to go to college. Terry is torn between wanting to leave the "Bottoms" and his dope-dealing older brother Derek (Kenneth Edwards), and his concern for his younger brother Bobby (Chris Lobban).

Season 4, Episode 17: Paper Castles

Original Air Date: 12 February 1991

Season 4, Episode 18: Laid to Waste

Original Air Date: 19 February 1991
Julie Lofton (Suzanne Snyder) reports to the Sparta police that she heard a disturbance in her neighbor's apartment, but she can't recognize the man who was there because she is blind. The police find nothing in the apartment to go on. However, Julie says she can positively identify the man's voice, but the district attorney is reluctant to proceed without a dead body.

Season 4, Episode 19: First Deadly Sin

Original Air Date: 26 February 1991
Two plots are interconnected. The first concerns a serial rapist who preys on young, single blond women. The second concerns a teacher who tutors a prospective seminarian in her spare time. In each case the perpetrator is caught, and Chief Gillespie wraps up the episode by revealing what is the first deadly sin.

Season 4, Episode 20: Just a Country Boy

Original Air Date: 19 March 1991
Lt. Bubba Skinner (Autry) goes to Los Angeles to extradite a suspect. He meets a beautiful LAPD detective, Pat Day (Sandlund), in a story reminiscent of Clint Eastwood in "Coogan's Bluff" and Dennis Weaver in "McCloud."

Season 4, Episode 21: No Other Road

Original Air Date: 26 March 1991
Follow-up to episode "A Problem Too Personal" (#4.9). Harriet's ex-husband Vic Glennon is tried for felony murder, although he did not fire his weapon or harm anyone. Harriet must decide how much public support to show for Vic and how to deal with their son Gene.

Season 4, Episode 22: A Turning

Original Air Date: 30 April 1991
The constant stress of danger, drugs and murder put a strain on Althea and Virgil's marriage. She wishes he would consider a new profession, but he cannot imagine himself as other than a policeman.

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Season 5

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Season 5, Episode 1: A Woman Much Admired

Original Air Date: 1 October 1991
Georgia Farren (Stella Stevens) returns to Sparta, squired by her latest love interest, Ramon Palez (George DiCenzo). She asks her former lover, Chief Bill Gillespie (Carroll O'Connor) to assist in several legal matters concerning her real estate holdings, her husband Ken Farren (Tony Mockus Jr.), and her nineteen-year-old daughter Lana (Christine Elise). Things are not as amicable as they seem, however, and the consequences are tragic for everyone, especially the Chief.

Season 5, Episode 2: Baby for Sale

Original Air Date: 8 October 1991

Season 5, Episode 3: Obsession

Original Air Date: 22 October 1991
Ashe Crowe, a local taxidermist, has an unhealthy preoccupation with Jeanette Marshall, a Sparta high school teacher. He stalks her and tries to change her lifestyle with disastrous results.

Season 5, Episode 4: Liar's Poker

Original Air Date: 29 October 1991
Edgar Van Buren (Robert Colbert) holds an annual high-stakes poker game at his home, featuring booze, drugs, and women. His wife Annabelle (Tippi Hedrin) stays in her suite during the weekend to protect the dignity of her home. This year a close friend of Annabelle, Dalton Sykes (John Saxon), is invited to talk business with Edgar. But Edgar is murdered during the party, and his paramour, Laverne Carter (Cynthia Bond), is the chief suspect.

Season 5, Episode 5: Ruda's Awakening

Original Air Date: 5 November 1991

Season 5, Episode 6: Unfinished Business

Original Air Date: 12 November 1991
Follow-up to "Just a Country Boy" (#4.20), in which Bubba Skinner's (Alan Autry) prisoner was killed. Bubba is back in Los Angeles to testify in the case. Meanwhile, the Mississippi arm of the gang is investigated by Chief Bill Gillespie (Carroll O'Connor) and the Sparta police. Bubba renews his friendship with Mike Chin (Chi Moui Lo) and rekindles a romance with LAPD detective Pat Day (Debra Sandlund).

Season 5, Episode 7: The More Things Change

Original Air Date: 19 November 1991
Cyrus Chambers (Mert Hatfield) threatens to sell his business and leave for an extended trip with his wife Irene (Marj Dusay), to the dismay of his junior partner, Tom Dalton (Ben Murphy), who is having a torrid affair with Irene. Chambers also has financial problems with his illegitimate African-American daughter, Faith Todd (Kimberly Hawthorne). Subsequent events bring disaster and redemption.

Season 5, Episode 8: Sweet, Sweet Blues

Original Air Date: 26 November 1991
Blues man Ches Collins (Bobby Short) sings a song in his nightclub act that recounts the 1948 murder of Louis Sweet, Sgt. Wilson Sweet's (Geoffrey Thorne) grandfather. Neither Louis' body nor his brand-new Packard sedan was ever found. The only official witness to the crime, Delbert Mueller (Roy Lind), is at death's door but will not reveal any further details. The sheriff who took Mueller's original statement, Nathan Bedford (James Best), knows more than he will say, which frustrates Sgt. Sweet's quest for the truth.

Season 5, Episode 9: Sparta Gold

Original Air Date: 3 December 1991
Warning shots are fired at Captain Bubba Skinner (Alan Autry) and Mary Ellen Lasso (Emily Woodward) at a remote picnic area. Investigation shows they have wandered onto a prime location for marijuana growth. The weed is so rich it is called "Sparta Gold" and is harvested mainly for export.

Season 5, Episode 10: An Eye for an Eye

Original Air Date: 10 December 1991
When District Attorney Gerard Darnelle's (William Fitzgerald) daughter Becky (Jonna Kae Volz) is kidnapped, he is caught between concurrent investigations (turf wars) by the Sparta police and the FBI. Benjamin Sloan (Claud Akins) is quickly identified as a likely suspect, but his motive is not clear at first. Chief Gillespie (Carroll O'Connor) plays a wily game with the FBI in pursuing the case, but it is up to Captain Skinner (Alan Autry), Lieutenant Jamison (Hugh O'Connor) and their four-footed friends to wrap up the chase.

Season 5, Episode 11: The Littlest Victim

Original Air Date: 17 December 1991
Lt. Lonnie Jameson (Hugh O'Connor) is sadly reunited with a Sparta High School girlfriend, Francie Miller (Denise Miller), when her younger brother Jimmy (Jason Presson) is beaten up by her boyfriend, Nick Crews (Michael H. Moss). Lonnie's investigation leads to charges of child abuse (infant neglect) against Francie and an intense hunt for Crews.

Season 5, Episode 12: The Landlord

Original Air Date: 7 January 1992

Season 5, Episode 13: Fool for Love

Original Air Date: 14 January 1992
Dr. Vance Talbot secretly romances Sally Nash, but is found out by his disabled wife Ardiss. His solution to the problem is too clever by half.

Season 5, Episode 14: Love, Honor and Obey

Original Air Date: 4 February 1992
Parker Williams's high school friend, Jenny Sawyer, refuses to discuss her recent bruises and fractures with him, although the Sparta police suspect she is a battered wife.

Season 5, Episode 15: Odessa

Original Air Date: 11 February 1992
As the city of Sparta plans to celebrate its first registered African American voter, Odessa Robbins (Deborah Duke), memories of the civil rights struggles bring tense feelings between members of the community. As an old time Southern policeman, Bill Gillespie (Carroll O'Connor) is conflicted, especially because Harriet DeLong (Denise Nicholas) was integral to the civil strife and is central to the celebration. The resolution of the conflict is unexpected.

Season 5, Episode 16: A Time to Trust

Original Air Date: 18 February 1992

Season 5, Episode 17: By Means Most Foul

Original Air Date: 25 February 1992
Garage owner Brian Moss (Brett Rice) sets a truck bomb that kills Kevin Riley (J. Don Ferfuson) and by chance only injures Peter Ballard (Scott Higgs), leaving him brain-dead and on life support. Peter's wife Rebecca (Shannon Eubanks), who is having a torrid affair with Moss, must now decide how to care for him.

Season 5, Episode 18: Trundel's Will Be Done

Original Air Date: 3 March 1992
Harriet DeLong (Denise Nicholas) wants to raise Eric (Nicholas Cowan), her dead sister's son by magnate V. J. Trundel (Jordan Williams), but V. J.'s wife Emily (Adair Simon) also seeks custody of the boy. Follow-up to "Citizen Trundel: Part 1" (#3.21) and "Citizen Trundel: Part 2" (#3.22).

Season 5, Episode 19: Moseley's Lot

Original Air Date: 31 March 1992
Two enforcers from New Orleans, Rene Balcer (Tom Turbiville) and Tony Bressak (Nick Savage), trace Brian Moseley (Justin Lazard) to Sparta to collect a huge gambling debt (actually stolen money). Brian's father, Warren Moseley (Graham Jarvis), wants to settle the debt, but his brother, Louis Moseley (Kevin Page), resents the perceived overindulgence. In this variation on the story of the prodigal son the innocent definitely suffer more than the guilty.

Season 5, Episode 20: Family Reunion

Original Air Date: 20 April 1992
After fourteen years in prison for armed robbery, Roy Paxton (Robert Donner) arrives in Sparta, looking for his son Laine (Terry Hobbs) and his ex-wife Vidalia (Robby Preddy), who is holding $750,000 loot. Roy kills an insurance investigator to cover his tracks, but he is no match for Chief Gillespie (Carroll O'Connor) and the Sparta police. The episode alternates between drama and light spoofery.

Season 5, Episode 21: Sanctuary

Original Air Date: 12 May 1992
Ramon Salazar (Francesco Quinn), a political refugee from El Salvador, escapes from a Newman County road gang and seeks sanctuary in the local monastery. Father DiMarco (Cesare Danova) protects Ramon and prohibits even his good friend Chief Gillespie (Carroll O'Connor) from arresting the fugitive.

Season 5, Episode 22: The Law on Trial

Original Air Date: 19 May 1992

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Season 6

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Season 6, Episode 1: A Small War: Part 1

Original Air Date: 28 October 1992
Crack cocaine comes to Sparta bringing military style weapons to establish a beachhead. When his friend is killed making a score, Eugene Haskell, Harriet DeLong's son, will not tell the police what he witnessed.

Season 6, Episode 2: A Small War: Part 2

Original Air Date: 4 November 1992
Follow-up to "A Small War: Part One" (#6.1). Crack cocaine overruns the Sparta schools. Bubba Skinner teams up with police Lt. Katherine Keller from Jackson in fighting the war on drugs. Eugene, Harriet DeLong's son, decides to cooperate with the police.

Season 6, Episode 3: Brother's Keeper

Original Air Date: 11 November 1992
Officer Luann Corbin is exasperated when her ne'er-do-well brother Tyler returns to Sparta. She is convinced he has larceny on his mind, but her mother Dahlia is in denial.

Season 6, Episode 4: A Frenzied Affair

Original Air Date: 18 November 1992
Seventeen-year-old Megan Fowler is trysting at the lake with a married man, Lyle Ridley, when he is killed by an unknown assailant with a high-powered rifle. Garth Williams is an immediate suspect because he has been infatuated with Megan for some time. Buford Fowler, Megan's step-father, is implicated in the shooting because his rifle and muddy boots are found in a closet. Althea Tibbs counsels Garth during this life shattering incident.

Season 6, Episode 5: Discovery

Original Air Date: 18 November 1992
Follow-up to "Discovery" (#6.5). Two weeks have passed since Althea Tibbs witnessed Garth Watkins' suicide by shotgun. Althea suffered almost a complete breakdown and is on leave from the high school. Megan Fowler has found a new boyfriend, an outlaw biker from Alabama, and Buford hits on Megan in disgust. The boyfriend robs a store and wounds a personal friend of Chief Gillespie.

Season 6, Episode 6: Random's Child

Original Air Date: 25 November 1992
Lana Farren, Chief Bill Gillespie's daughter, comes to Sparta to settle her mother's affairs. Gillespie protects her from Carl DeLissa, the mother's common-law husband.

Season 6, Episode 7: An Occupational Hazzard

Original Air Date: 2 December 1992
As the sole breadwinner in the family, Rose Murphy must keep her job at all costs, although it means tolerating a flirtatious boss and not telling her husband. When flirtation turns ugly, Rose takes matters into her own hands.

Season 6, Episode 8: Last Rights

Original Air Date: 9 December 1992
Dr. Frank Robb (Dan Biggers), the county coroner, reports several suspicious deaths by morphine overdose at Newton General Hospital to Chief Bill Gillespie (Carroll O'Connor). In addition, a considerable quantity of narcotics is missing from the hospital pharmacy. Cora Lucas (Suzanne Stewart), Aunt Ruda Gibson's (Fran Bennett) roommate in the hospital is the latest victim. Suspicion falls on Dr. Lambert (Earl Holliman), who has access to hospital narcotics and has attended each of the dead patients, as well as Ruda Gibson. Virgil Tibbs (Howard Rollins) is convinced his Aunt Ruda knows more than she is willing to admit about the situation.

Season 6, Episode 9: When the Music Stopped

Original Air Date: 16 December 1992
Songwriter Ace McCabe (Joe Dorsey) accuses country/western singing star Eddy Larren (Robert Goulet) of stealing his most popular hit. McCabe heckles Larren for alleged unpaid royalties and pulls a gun. McCabe is killed in the fight, and Eddy's manager, Mal Talbot (Gary Crosby), takes the blame. In the investigation Bubba Skinner (Alan Autry) must face the difference in hype and reality.

Season 6, Episode 10: Flowers from a Lady

Original Air Date: 6 January 1993
Serena Grimes (Linda Gehringer) is attacked and her car stolen by a man and a woman. When Bubba Skinner (Alan Autry) consoles her after the incident, she mistakes his good intentions for something more personal. She sends him flowers at the police station as her affection becomes an obsession.

Season 6, Episode 11: Private Sessions

Original Air Date: 12 January 1993
Rebecca Lewis and Mark Meyers have a lover's quarrel in a secluded place along the river bank. Suddenly Rebecca dashes away and throws herself off the river bridge, plunging to her death. Foolishly, Mark does not consult his friend and law school colleague, Virgil Tibbs, but instead tries to hide all traces of his being there. Unbeknown to Mark, however, a witness is found who places him at the scene, and Virgil has no choice but to arrest his friend.

Season 6, Episode 12: Judgement Day

Original Air Date: 20 January 1993
Judge Lawton Gray is running for Congress, but his wife Muriel is an alcoholic. Muriel's personal assistant, Eleanor Brooks, spies the judge kissing Sparta Town Councilwoman Roslyn Douglas and tells Muriel about it. When Muriel confronts her husband with this information, he sets up a scheme that thickens the plot into a witches' brew.

Season 6, Episode 13: Falsely Accused

Original Air Date: 3 February 1993
Bill Gillespie's and Harriet DeLong's quiet evening at a local nightclub is disturbed by Bob Pinkney and Al Merck, who insult the couple with racist remarks. When the men are asked to leave, they cause a drunken disturbance outside, and Sweet arrests them. Pinkney tries unsuccessfully to bribe Sweet, then accuses Sweet of soliciting a bribe. The investigation leads down several trails to an unexpected conclusion.

Season 6, Episode 14: A Step Removed

Original Air Date: 10 February 1993
Sgt. Parker Williams' drunken step-father, Daddy Roy Eversole, is arrested in a bar fight, and Parker appears in court to pay the fine. Roy asks Norbert Clemens for his old job back but is thrown off the property. Roy threatens to kill Clemens. When Clemens is killed, Roy is arrested.

Season 6, Episode 15: A Deadly Affection

Original Air Date: 17 February 1993
Rickie Wilson, a young circular delivery boy, witnesses a fatal beating by a local slumlord, Sonny Roper. Det/Lt Lonnie Jamison and Sgt Luanne Corbin investigate, but the incident is in county territory under Sheriff Will McComb's jurisdiction. Ricky eludes Lonnie and Luanne and flees the scene, and McComb is incensed, escalating the bad blood between the sheriff's office and the Sparta police. When Roper serves an eviction notice on a young widow, Sarah Hallisey, Harriet DeLong gets involved, against the strong advice of Chief Bill Gillespie.

Season 6, Episode 16: The Leftover Man: Part 1

Original Air Date: 3 March 1993
Senatorial candidate George Deschamps, a racist bigot leftover from a former era, sets up a fake assassination attempt on himself to garner sympathy and votes. Meanwhile, Chris Pastore, a campaign worker, is having an affair with Deschamps' wife. The assassination plan is risky, and Pastore is critically injured. Is it an accident or on purpose?

Season 6, Episode 17: The Leftover Man: Part 2

Original Air Date: 3 March 1993
The assassination plot goes sour when the shooters are not paid as much as promised. Chris Pastore dies, and the Sparta police must discover who is really to blame.

Season 6, Episode 18: A Dish Best Served Cold

Original Air Date: 17 March 1993
Etta Kibbey, Virgil Tibb's aunt, recognizes Jimmy Ray, who was in partnership with Etta's husband Marcus twenty years before and embezzled and fled with the company funds, indirectly causing Marcus' untimely death. Jimmy has come to reconcile with his estranged wife Carla, who wants no part of him. Jimmy also embezzled all of Lester Meacham's money, which left Lester a broken man. Now Lester lives with his daughter Connie and son Perry, who has sworn vengeance against Jimmy Ray. Carla variously entertains Lance Carter romantically and connives with Perry Meacham. Etta is conflicted in her feelings of outrage against Jimmy Ray and her religious principle of forgiveness.

Season 6, Episode 19: Legacy

Original Air Date: 24 March 1993
Candace Sloan, a young African-American woman lawyer, makes a claim against the estate of Horace Sloan Sr. At probate three decades earlier, the executor, Horace Jr., cheated Candace's family out of their promised heritage. The white heirs balk at reopening the will, although Horace Jr. is in favor of awarding the full amount. In a struggle with his son Lamar, Horace Jr. dies unintentionally. Lamar stages a break-in to cover his father's death and the theft of the will. In the investigation the heirs blame Candace for the break-in.

Season 6, Episode 20: Even Nice People

Original Air Date: 28 April 1993
Big land developers from New Orleans, with reputed connections to the mob, want to buy a large tract of land near Sparta for a reservoir and housing development. By chance, Lana Farren's (Bill Gillespie's daughter) property is a major part of the plan, but she does not want to sell. To make the deal work, Sparta real estate agent Betty Simms and lawyer Alvin P. Epp conspire with arsonist Ron Griff to torch Lana's house.

Season 6, Episode 21: Lake Winahatchie

Original Air Date: 5 May 1993
Follow-up to "Even Nice People" (#6.20). In the previous episode Ron Griff was killed in the act of setting fire to Lana Farren's house. Now Carl DeLissa turns himself in to the Sparta police to secure a plea bargain. He offers to give up all claim to Sparta assets in exchange for a suspended sentence, which the doddering old Judge Cully grants. Newly freed, DeLissa tries to extort money from the mob-related land developers for his silence, which proves to be a most dangerous game.

Season 6, Episode 22: A Correct Setting

Original Air Date: 12 May 1993
African-American Bishop William Prinn is forced off the road and injured on his way to Sparta. He plans to meet with Harriet DeLong's son, Eugene Glendon, to devise a strategy that will get Eugene's father, Vic Glendon, off of death row. In the hospital the bishop is somewhat uncooperative in finding the perpetrator, wishing to keep a low profile in the undertaking. Harriet is persuaded to join the campaign, although she is reluctant.

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Season 7

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Season 7, Episode 1: Child's Play

Original Air Date: 16 September 1993
The episode concerns two separate but intertwined sub-plots. In the first, the Sparta City Council refuses to renew Chief Bill Gillespie's contract because of his open relationship with councilwoman Harriet DeLong. They have invited Inspector Hampton Forbes of Memphis to interview for the position. Gillespie faces the facts stoically. In the second, Gillespie solves his final crime. Two nine-year-old boys who have been harassed by a vicious farmer seek drastic revenge.

Season 7, Episode 2: Hatton's Turn: Part 1

Original Air Date: 18 September 1993
Wade Hatton, a prominent attorney, returns to Sparta to gather material for a book. A Sparta City Council meeting is interrupted by loud rap music, which is blamed on ex-Chief Bill Gillespie's lack of discipline. Racist council member Holly Colmer has his way, and Hampton Forbes is appointed new Chief of Police. Bill is almost immediately appointed Acting Sheriff to replace the ailing Sheriff McComb. Coley Hiffern and Nat Bream plan to rob a family that is rumored to keep $1,000,000 in their home. Nat persuades slow-witted Henry Ulmer to drive his foster father's car to the job. Henry is the ward of prominent citizens Arvin and Joanna Allenby. Coley and Nat rob and kill the Barron family, and Henry becomes a suspect.

Season 7, Episode 3: Hatton's Turn: Part 2

Original Air Date: 18 September 1993
Continuation of Episode #7.2. Chief Hampton Forbes investigates his first case in Sparta. Coley Hiffern and Nat Bream take Henry Ulmer to a remote location to kill him, but Nat cannot go through with it. After Henry escapes Coley kills Nat and steals Henry's car. When Henry is arrested, Wade Hatton refuses to act as his attorney, preferring to let Sarah Hallisey defend the young man. Coley hijacks a car and kills the driver. Henry confesses to being on the scene of the robbery/murder and blames it on Indian Tilly for spreading the rumors about the great sums of money in the victims' home. Forbes and Gillespie forge strong bonds of joint action in the investigation.

Season 7, Episode 4: A Depraved Heart

Original Air Date: 23 September 1993
As Lori Foster breaks into David Monroe's house and steals a bottle of AZT, prescription medication for AIDS, she is seen by a next-door neighbor who reports it to the police. At the same time, Monroe romances Tamara Naylor while showing her a home for sale. They are spied by Tamara's husband Carl. When questioned, Lori accuses Monroe of murder for willfully infecting her with HIV. After reflection, District Attorney Darnelle agrees to try the case as evidence of a "depraved heart." Before charges can be filed, Monroe is killed by two gunshots through the window by an unknown assailant. The investigation reveals AIDS as a gift that keeps on giving.

Season 7, Episode 5: Incident at Brewer's Pond

Original Air Date: 30 September 1993
Harley Eaton's watermelon patch is raided and vandalized by Cowboy Habersham, Donnie Cole and their rowdy friends. At Brewer's Pond the men engage in a swimming contest with a greased watermelon. After the game is over, the couples pair up and leave the pond. The next day Donnie is missing. Rumor says that Donnie has been romancing Cowboy's wife, Marlene, and that Cowboy is indifferent to the situation. Marlene is a waitress at a cafe owned by Cal Sims, who has offered a generous amount to buy Cowboy's sporting goods store. Sheriff Bill Gillespie and Chief Hampton Forbes cooperate in the investigation.

Season 7, Episode 6: A Love Lost

Original Air Date: 14 October 1993
Sheriff Bill Gillespie's daughter Lana's boyfriend from Gulfport, Lee Thompson, shows up in Sparta. He is part of a gunrunning plot with sporting goods store-owner Raymond Mercer. Lana is conflicted whether or not she wants Lee around, and Bill can't help her make a decision.

Season 7, Episode 7: Singin' the Blues

Original Air Date: 28 October 1993
Troy Davis asks Luann Corbin to sing at the new nightclub he manages. Drug dealer Brent Shaw coerces Troy into hiring a new bartender and offers Troy free drugs to hook him again. Troy hires the bartender but declines the drugs. Luann is a huge success at the club. She notices that the bartender is dealing and overhears plans for a big delivery. Luann reports everything to the Sparta police but is conflicted about Troy. Is he really clean?

Season 7, Episode 8: Virgil Tibbs: Attorney at Law

Original Air Date: 4 November 1993
Ex-Chief of Detectives Virgil Tibbs returns to Sparta as a full-fledged lawyer. He and his wife Althea have separated, and she has taken their twins back to live in Philadelphia. At Virgil's first appearance in court, Judge Sims appoints him to represent pro bono an accused murderer, Delbert Pike. Pike wants to plead self-defense, but a dying declaration from the victim, Eli Chambers, blames Pike directly. Notorious womanizer Pike was sleeping with Chambers' wife Amanda, who offers to testify against her lover as a witness for the prosecution.

Season 7, Episode 9: Every Man's Family

Original Air Date: 10 November 1993
Matt Skinner, Bubba's nephew, is in critical condition in an Atlanta hospital, overdosed on heroin. Bubba flies to Atlanta. Heroin is found in Matt's apartment, and his pusher, Derrick, tries to collect for past sales. Bubba follows Derrick and almost blows undercover Atlanta police officer Walker Harris' cover. Bubba puts Matt in rehab and takes a leave of absence from the Sparta police to help his nephew and find Derrick's supplier. Bubba and Walker team up.

Season 7, Episode 10: A Baby Called Rocket

Original Air Date: 25 October 1993
There is a drive-by shooting in the Bottoms that almost hits Ned, an African-American youth. Parker Williams and Luann Corbin investigate and find an abandoned biracial infant boy in the house. Luann is attracted to the infant, and child welfare worker Lilly Baker asks her to take the boy for a few days until permanent foster care can be arranged. Chief Hampton Forbes questions slumlord Barton Stone about the wretched condition of the house and threatens to begin proceedings to take the property from him. Stone is killed. The investigation turns up the infant's Caucasian mother, Cassie Green, who accuses Ned of being the father of her child, Rocket. Luann becomes increasingly more attached to Rocket and is distressed that child welfare policy favors returning abandoned children to their natural parents.

Season 7, Episode 11: Little Girl Lost

Original Air Date: 9 December 1993
A drunk driver, eighteen-year-old Holly Maynard, runs down a skateboarder, ten-year-old Deenia Larson, and flees the scene. Eddie the ice cream man reports the incident to the police. Holly confesses the hit-and-run to her mother Cynthia, pleading for help. Driving recklessly to leave town, Holly is arrested for DUI and speeding. When her car is identified and Deenia dies in the hospital, a charge of vehicular manslaughter is added. Irate citizens demonstrate against Holly outside City Hall. A judge orders Holly undergo a psychological examination, but the Sparta City Council has no funds for such things. A psychiatrist friend of Sheriff Gillespie, Dr. Atwill, offers his service pro bono, but the treatment comes too late for the devastated Holly.

Season 7, Episode 12: Your Own Kind

Original Air Date: 16 December 1993
Harriet Delong helps open a new art gallery on the Sparta square to benefit pregnant teenagers, as the Sparta High School track team prepares for an upcoming meet with Capt. Bubba Skinner and Lt. Lonnie Jamison as volunteer coaches. The team is racially mixed, evidencing the peaceful "new South" of the time. During a practice, Marissa Rask, a Caucasian girl, and David Collins, an African-American boy, embrace and kiss. The moment is cut short by a sniper's bullet into Marissa's back. The sniper turns out to be ultra-racist Brent Lunay (episode #5.15, "Odessa"), who is seen by Skip Coopersmith leaving the area. Marissa may not walk again. The high school principal accuses Lonnie of neglect in allowing the shooting to occur. A major question for investigators is: who was the target?

Season 7, Episode 13: Good Cop, Bad Cop

Original Air Date: 6 January 1994
Sgt. Parker Williams sees his ex-fiancée, Beverly Ross, and her new love, Ned Phelps, buying cocaine from a suspected drug dealer. Parker stakes out Beverly's home and reports her for holding. Before police back-up arrives, Parker bursts in and fights with Phelps, who goes down seriously wounded. In the hospital, Phelps accuses Parker of attempted murder, which Beverly corroborates. District Attorney Darnelle has to file charges against Parker before the grand jury, which indicts on Beverly's perjured testimony. Parker asks Virgil Tibbs to defend him.

Season 7, Episode 14: Maybelle Returns

Original Air Date: 12 January 1994
Ex-madam Maybelle Cheseboro returns to Sparta to set up a phone-sex operation under the guise of a communications business. The City Council objects and Lonnie goes to check on the enterprise. One of the most vocal opponents, city planner Drew Ward, takes one of Maybelle's women, Jessica Lund, to a motel where she dies of an epileptic seizure. Lindy, who sat next to Jessica at the phone shop, tries to extort money from Ward. Chief Forbes investigates while Sheriff Gillespie renews an old acquaintance with Maybelle.

Season 7, Episode 15: The Last Round

Original Air Date: 19 January 1994
Angela Dolphy, Chief Forbes's fiancée, is in Sparta from Memphis for a week to entice Forbes to change professions before they get married. The chief arranges a dinner with Bill Gillespie and Harriet DeLong to coax Angela to relocate to Sparta. An example of Forbes's work is the new boxing program for at risk young men. Unfortunately, the finest boxer, African-American Kevin "Cat" Brooks, is involved with a professional burglar, Caucasian Dennis Cantrell, in a series of home invasions and robberies. Forbes and Angela must come to terms with their personal goals and the impact on their relationship.

Season 7, Episode 16: Ches and the Grand Lady

Original Air Date: 26 January 1994
Follow-up to Episode #5.8 "Sweet, Sweet Blues." Blues man Ches Collins has a history with the grande dame of Sparta, Cordelia Woodlin. When Cordelia is at his nightclub, Ches sings autobiographical ballads that have special meaning for the great lady. Because the relationship is an open secret, Ches has received death threats from "The Goblin." Cordelia has two directly opposite nephews. One, Lonnie Jamison, is a straight arrow police officer. The second, Raoul Woodlin, is a scoundrel who would be glad to see his aunt dead. Raoul sets up the theft of Ches's car, and in the process Jerry Shelby, Cordelia's chauffeur, is seriously attacked. Shots are fired at Ches, and Lonnie and Chief Forbes investigate the case.

Season 7, Episode 17: Conspiracy of One

Original Air Date: 2 February 1994
Council member Holly Colmer heatedly insists that Chief Forbes separate Virgil Tibbs from the Sparta Police Department. Virgil is now an attorney in the law firm of Ben Taylor. At a party given by Taylor, Abby Booker fights with her husband Chuck. On their way home Chuck purposely unbuckles Abby's seat belt and drives into a tree, killing his wife. A moonshiner, Goody Tate, witnesses the incident. Virgil is suspicious and, much to Taylor's chagrin, assists the police in their investigation. Virgil refuses to represent Booker and resigns from the firm. He must decide if he is a detective or a lawyer.

Season 7, Episode 18: The Rabbi

Original Air Date: 9 February 1994
Rabbi Hillel Feldman returns to Sparta to open a new temple in the old Methodist church, a gift to the Jewish community. The temple is vandalized by two teenagers, Kevin Powell and Pete Retson. Chief Hampton Forbes and Harriet DeLong, a high school friend of the rabbi, offer help, which Feldman accepts. However, he eschews calling in Sheriff Bill Gillespie because of old anti-Semitic feelings. The Sparta City Council are generally opposed to the temple's existence. The temple custodian, Jack Bicks, vandalizes the temple and steals a valuable Torah, which he tries to sell to the antiques store owner. Dissatisfied with the price offered, Bicks kills the store owner. Bill Gillespie must face old resentments and old sins, and try to make amends.

Season 7, Episode 19: Hard Choices

Original Air Date: 9 March 1994
Juvenile criminal Zack Hayes and his sidekick Lambert return to Sparta for revenge. They lure Justin Coates into driving his car to a convenience store holdup that turns into a murder. Eugene Glendon, Harriet DeLong's son, arrives to persuade Justin to leave the scene as shots are fired. Racist store owner Carl Buford accuses Eugene of being involved in the incident. Eugene's friend, Daphne Gordon, provides a false alibi, which the police quickly disprove.

Season 7, Episode 20: Time's Long Shadow

Original Air Date: 16 March 1994
Womanizer Frank Davenport is the general contractor on a large residential project in Sparta that threatens an area of Native American artifacts. He is also having a torrid affair with his new secretary, Cindy Jenk, whose father Gus is a protective hot head. There are hard feelings, even fights, among the townspeople who either support or oppose stopping the construction project to save the antiquities. It is a toss-up who will get to Davenport first.

Season 7, Episode 21: Poor Relations

Original Air Date: 30 March 1994
Follow-up to Episode #6.14, "A Step Removed". Daddy Roy Eversole, Sgt. Parker Williams' shiftless step-father, returns to Sparta with his current love, Roda, and breaks into Parker's house. As the police arrive to investigate, Roy unloads a painting under the watchful eye of Oscar Vollen, master art thief. Oscar summons his henchman, Bitsy Mergere, to help retrieve the painting. Sheriff Bill Gillespie reminds Roy that he was not welcome in Sparta, and recognizes the painting as a valuable art object. Victor Dufoxe, a tough insurance investigator, follows the painting to Sparta from Miami where it was stolen. The plot is a spoof with a touch of Keystone Crooks, and a classic family squabble.

Season 7, Episode 22: Dangerous Engagement

Original Air Date: 4 May 1994
The Sparta Herald reports that Bill Gillespie and Harriet DeLong will be married in New Orleans, provoking an egg attack on Harriet's car along with well-wishers from the community. A sniper fires a rifle at the two, apparently in response to their impending marriage. But in reality the sniper, Lucas DeFete from Amarillo, Texas, has seen Bill Gillespie's picture in a newspaper which misidentifies him as Sheriff Will McComb, who sent his father Earle DeFete to death row. Lucas kills Harlan, who owns the property where the sniper has been holed up, and kills Roger Owen, an innocent citizen whose car he steals. In spite of their difficulties, Bill and Harriet resolve to be married by Abbot John Dalton at the monastery in Sparta.

Season 7, Episode 23: Give Me Your Life: Part 1

Original Air Date: 11 May 1994

Season 7, Episode 24: Give Me Your Life: Part 2

Original Air Date: 11 May 1994

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Season 8

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Season 8, Episode 1: A Matter of Justice

Original Air Date: 21 October 1994

Season 8, Episode 2: Who Was Geli Bendl?

Original Air Date: 9 December 1994
Movie star Geli Bendl, born Gilda Burrows, returns to Sparta to rescue her sister Laura from the Bottoms and cocaine pusher Donnie Muir. Donnie is involved with members of a drug ring from Jackson who are suspected in a murder case in Sparta. Geli calls on her friend, Sparta police Sgt. Dee Shepard, for help.

Season 8, Episode 3: Episode #8.3

Original Air Date: ????

Season 8, Episode 4: Grow Old Along with Me

Original Air Date: 16 May 1995
Two hour episode. Ex-cop John Ryan marries wealthy widow Pauline Medford, with Sheriff Bill Gillespie as best man. Drunken Trina Mallin, one-time girlfriend of Ryan, almost breaks up the ceremony. She tries to extort $50,000 from him to keep quiet about a long ago incident. Trina's present lover and bankrupt lawyer, Tommy Harwood, wants her to leave Sparta with him, but she has other plans. John and Pauline set up Trina as a DUI driver, inadvertently causing a fatal accident. Trina is charged with vehicular manslaughter. Gillespie and Chief Hampton Forbes cooperate in the investigation.

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