Episode Detail: Pilot Episode - In the Heat of the Night
Debut: Picking up where the 1967 film left off, Carroll O'Connor is Mississippi police chief Bill Gillespie and Howard Rollins is Philadelphia detective Virgil Tibbs. First up: Tibbs returns to Sparta, Miss., for his mother's funeral, and is asked by the mayor to stay as chief of detectives. Part 1 of two. Harold LaPeer: Kevin McCarthy. Scott LaPeer: Doug Savant.