In the Heat of the Night backdrop
Crime•Drama

The Best Episodes of In the Heat of the Night

Every episode of In the Heat of the Night ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of In the Heat of the Night!

Binge this in 6d 6h•Peaking at 9.2/10

In the Heat of the Night is an American television series based on the motion picture and novel of the same name starring Carroll O'Connor as the white police chief William Gillespie, and Howard Rollins

Airs on
NBCCBS
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons8

All12345678

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Click to reveal
    In the Heat of the Night Season 3 Episode 1 - Rape
    9.2/10(151 votes)

    #1 - Rape

    S3:E1

    After being released by his captors, the chief discovers that his abduction is part of a plot to assassinate a visiting civil rights leader.

    Directors:Paul Lynch, Harry Harris
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  2. In the Heat of the Night Season 4 Episode 5 - And Justice For Some
    9.0/10(108 votes)

    #2 - And Justice For Some

    S4:E5

    Gillespie and his officers are outraged when a drug courier who ran down the son of Virgil's next door neighbor makes a deal with the F.B.I. to avoid prosecution.

    Director:Harry Harris
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  3. In the Heat of the Night Season 7 Episode 4 - A Depraved Heart
    9.0/10(93 votes)

    #3 - A Depraved Heart

    S7:E4

    The daughter of an old friend asks Bubba to arrest the man who knowingly gave her AIDS.

    Director:Harry Harris
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  4. In the Heat of the Night Season 2 Episode 5 - Prisoners
    8.9/10(129 votes)

    #4 - Prisoners

    S2:E5

    Sweet risks his life to prove that the Sheriff of a neighboring county is guilty of the racially motivated murder of a young man that Sweet was friends with in high school.

    Director:Russ Mayberry
    Writer:Lee Maddux

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  5. In the Heat of the Night Season 2 Episode 11 - A Trip Upstate
    8.9/10(153 votes)

    #5 - A Trip Upstate

    S2:E11

    In this thought provoking episode.Gillespie is surprised when a man he arrested asks to see him on the eve of his execution.He must confront his feelings about the death penalty when the prisoner asks him to witness his death.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  6. In the Heat of the Night Season 5 Episode 7 - The More Thing's Change
    8.9/10(91 votes)

    #6 - The More Thing's Change

    S5:E7

    A man murders his business partner and frames the man's illegitimate daughter for the crime in an attempt to gain the man's business and his wife.

    Director:Russ Mayberry
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 WORST Episodes of In the Heat of the Night

    READ
  7. In the Heat of the Night Season 2 Episode 2 - Don't Look Back (2)
    8.8/10(104 votes)

    #7 - Don't Look Back (2)

    S2:E2

    Tibbs,Gillespie and Bubba pursue different leads in a bizarre murder case and the Chief realizes that the killer has plans for him.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  8. In the Heat of the Night Season 4 Episode 4 - Perversions of Justice
    8.8/10(94 votes)

    #8 - Perversions of Justice

    S4:E4

    A mild mannered school teacher is accused of child molestation.

    Director:Harry Harris
    Writer:Robert Bielak

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  9. In the Heat of the Night Season 3 Episode 22 - Citizen Trundel (2)
    8.7/10(102 votes)

    #9 - Citizen Trundel (2)

    S3:E22

    Harriet's efforts to bring V.J. Trundel to trial are fruitless.The Chief does not believe they will ever get enough evidence to get an indictment,so he tries another method to bring Trundel to justice.

    Director:Harry Harris
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  10. In the Heat of the Night Season 5 Episode 1 - A Woman Much Admired
    8.7/10(108 votes)

    #10 - A Woman Much Admired

    S5:E1

    Gillespie's old flame returns to Sparta to settle some business matters and see Bill. When she is murdered he travels to Gulfport and meets his daughter Lana for the first time.

    Director:Harry Harris
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  11. In the Heat of the Night Season 5 Episode 8 - Sweet, Sweet Blues
    8.7/10(127 votes)

    #11 - Sweet, Sweet Blues

    S5:E8

    The lyrics to a blues song recall a murder that happened 50 years earlier.The victim - Sweet's grandfather.And the only people left with the answers are the bluesman who wrote the song and a retired sheriff.

    Director:Vincent McEveety
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  12. In the Heat of the Night Season 5 Episode 14 - Love, Honor and Obey
    8.7/10(77 votes)

    #12 - Love, Honor and Obey

    S5:E14

    Parkers investigation into a purse snatching reveals an abused woman.

    Director:Reza Badiyi
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  13. In the Heat of the Night Season 6 Episode 22 - A Correct Settling
    8.7/10(57 votes)

    #13 - A Correct Settling

    S6:E22

    Eugene hopes a well known minister can save his father from Death Row.But someone runs the Reverend off the road on his way into town and the Sparta police try to protect him and track down his assailent.Meanwhile Harriet struggles with what her part in her ex-husbands appeal should be and is even more unsettled when Eugene demands that she break up with Bill.

    Director:Harry Harris
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  14. In the Heat of the Night Season 7 Episode 1 - Child's Play
    8.7/10(72 votes)

    #14 - Child's Play

    S7:E1

    Chief Gillespie is fired by the city council and Sparta's new police chief Hampton Forbes arrives in town.Bill's last case with Sparta P.D. is a murder investigation in which a young boy has been implicated.

    Director:Harry Harris
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  15. In the Heat of the Night Season 7 Episode 3 - Hatton's Turn (2)
    8.7/10(72 votes)

    #15 - Hatton's Turn (2)

    S7:E3

    Wade and Sarah try to keep young Henry from being punished for a crime he did not commit and Forbes and his officers search for the two men who are really responsible.

    Director:Carroll O'Connor
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  16. In the Heat of the Night Season 7 Episode 7 - Singin' the Blues
    8.7/10(77 votes)

    #16 - Singin' the Blues

    S7:E7

    Luann moonlights as a singer at a nightclub and finds romance with the clubs owner.Her happiness is shortlived when she realizes that the bartender is dealing drugs.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  17. In the Heat of the Night Season 7 Episode 22 - Dangerous Engagement
    8.7/10(65 votes)

    #17 - Dangerous Engagement

    S7:E22

    Bill and Harriet's wedding plans are interrupted by a sniper who mistakes Bill for Sheriff McComb.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  18. In the Heat of the Night Season 3 Episode 4 - First Girl
    8.6/10(118 votes)

    #18 - First Girl

    S3:E4

    An unhappy wife asks her lover to place a bomb in her abusive husband's truck.

    Directors:Gene Reynolds, Winrich Kolbe
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  19. In the Heat of the Night Season 3 Episode 5 - Crackdown
    8.6/10(143 votes)

    #19 - Crackdown

    S3:E5

    Sparta P.D. gets it's first black policewoman.

    Director:Gene Reynolds
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  20. In the Heat of the Night Season 3 Episode 8 - Vengeance
    8.6/10(98 votes)

    #20 - Vengeance

    S3:E8

    An outlaw family seeks revenge against Bubba after he is forced to shoot one of them during a holdup.The chief wants him to stay out of sight until they are arrested - a suggestion that does not set well with Bubba.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  21. In the Heat of the Night Season 4 Episode 1 - Brotherly Love (1)
    8.6/10(96 votes)

    #21 - Brotherly Love (1)

    S4:E1

    Virgil goes to Philadelphia to investigate a friends death.And Bubba (reluctantly) fills in as Althea's Lamaze coach.

    Director:Harry Harris
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  22. In the Heat of the Night Season 6 Episode 1 - A Small War (1)
    8.6/10(78 votes)

    #22 - A Small War (1)

    S6:E1

    Big city crack dealers invade Sparta.Eugene witnesses the drive by shooting of a friend and his offer to help the police identify the shooters leaves Harriet frightened and angry at Bill.

    Director:Harry Harris
    Writer:Joe Gannon

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  23. In the Heat of the Night Season 6 Episode 2 - A Small War (2)
    8.6/10(68 votes)

    #23 - A Small War (2)

    S6:E2

    The police wage war against the big city drug dealers who have moved into Sparta.Eugene identifies the men who murdered his friend.And Bubba is teamed with and intrigued by a lady police lieutenant from Jackson.

    Director:Harry Harris
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  24. In the Heat of the Night Season 1 Episode 1 - Pilot (1)
    8.5/10(245 votes)

    #24 - Pilot (1)

    S1:E1

    Virgil Tibbs returns to Sparta and joins the police force as chief of detectives.His arrival is met with resistance from police chief Bill Gillespie - who resents having an officer hired without his approval.Virgil has trouble adjusting to the small, antiquated police force.Tibbs' first case is a racially charged murder case that is soon complicated when the suspect is murdered in his cell.

    Director:David Hemmings
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  25. In the Heat of the Night Season 1 Episode 6 - Blind Spot (2)
    8.5/10(90 votes)

    #25 - Blind Spot (2)

    S1:E6

    An angry Gillespie seeks answers when an old friend is shot.And Virgil narrowly escapes death after trying to ascertain the real reason behind an old adversary's return to Sparta.Nan finds herself in danger after she finds out the truth about her new love.

    Director:David Hemmings
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

Best Episodes Summary

"Rape" is the best rated episode of "In the Heat of the Night". It scored 9.2/10 based on 151 votes. Directed by Paul Lynch, Harry Harris and written by Unknown, it aired on 10/24/1989. This episode scored 0.2 points higher than the second highest rated, "And Justice For Some".