In the Heat of the Night (1 Viewer)

[Daniel Gurecky]

Does anyone know who owns the right to this show? I'm very surprised that it hasn't made the jump to DVD. Has anyone heard any news on it?

 

[Tony S]

I think it is owned by MGM. I would like to have this one too.

 

[WaveCrest]

If the MGM MOD program started releasing TV titles again, would In the Heat of the Night be a good possibility for release?

I remember ITV showing this series late at night back in the late 80's/early 90's, but I don't think they showed the entire series. Sky One later showed the series.

Anyone else remember this series? I read on Larry Hagman's IMDb filmography that he directed some episodes and one of the post-series TV movies.

 

[Brent S]

IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT Season 1 is on DVD.
MGM has put it into WalMart/Sam's Club, via the studio's recent distribution deal with TGG Direct Marketing. My local WalMart has it in their $5 bargain bins, along with RETURN TO GREEN ACRES (1990) and Best of BAT MASTERSON Season 1.

 

[Dave Lawrence]

Does anyone know how good TGG's track record is in terms of quality and completeness? As happy as I am to learn that this show is finally getting a DVD release, a few things have me concerned. Looking at the listing on Amazon, the photo used for this Season 1 cover includes Geoffrey Thorne, who didn't join the cast until Season 2, yet it doesn't have Howard Rollins. Also, per the listing, this is a 1-disc set. I know the first season is a short one, but still... Plus, there was never any mention of this release on TVSOD. Brent's post above is the first notice I had seen about this release.
"Heat" has been one of the series near the top of my wish list among shows that still hadn't made it to DVD, but now I'm also feeling hesitant and wondering if anyone has any further information.
(At the very least, this news got me to finally sign up and post after lurking for awhile.)

 

[FanCollector]

For what it's worth, the set actually contains two discs, according to the rear photo posted in the Bat Masterson thread.

 

[TV_Fan]

I bought the set yesterday. I've never seen the show before but being an AITF fan I wanted to see Carol O Connor in another role. So far I've only watched the pilot. The transfer looks great. Just going by what I've seen so far you wouldn't think this was a $5 set. It is 2 discs. I did hear copyrighted music but I have no idea what music was on the show so I can't say if music is or isn't replaced. This is definitely a legit release. The back cover has MGM's logo and says it was licensed from MGM/ Fox but Fox's logo is not on it. I have no idea if the other seasons will be released but for $5 you can't go wrong with the season 1 set if you can find it. It took me about 10 minutes of rummaging through Wal Mart's $5 dump bin to find it.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Thanks for the heads up.
I don't go into Wal-Marts very often, but I made a trip into one while I was out today to see if I could find a copy... and did.
Someone keep us updated if more seasons get released. This was a great deal.

 

[WaveCrest]

Regarding TGG's DVD release of the first season of In the Heat of the Night (referring to the rear boxart posted in post #25 on page 1 of the Bat Masterson, Season 1: Volumes 1 and 2 thread), is the pilot episode presented on the first disc with the two parts edited together, or are they presented separately?

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Regarding TGG's DVD release of the first season of In the Heat of the Night (referring to the rear boxart posted in post #25 on page 1 of the Bat Masterson, Season 1: Volumes 1 and 2 thread), is the pilot episode presented on the first disc with the two parts edited together, or are they presented separately?

They're not edited together, They're presented in what I would guess was their original TV Movie format.
So. yeah, the pilot is one hour and 36 minutes long, with no closing and opening credits in the middle.
And on that note, I find it funny that a five dollar bin release with no fanfare has gotten better treatment than some shows with $40 dollar releases from major companies.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Oh well. Looks like the good times might be over already...
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Heat-Night-24-Hour-Television-Marathon/17521
Nothing more than a hit and miss job of episodes from, at least, seasons 2, 3, and 4.
Hopefully the seasons will continue coming at some point, otherwise my collection ends with season 1.
Although the good part is that it doesn't look like they cramming episodes onto discs the way a company like Mill Creek does.

 

[FanCollector]

The episodes actually span seasons 2-7 of the show. I'd prefer season sets, but I'll take these. My biggest fear was that they would throw some first season ones on there again.

 

[Gary OS]

I only wish the company had consulted me before picking the episodes they did, because about half of them are turkeys in an otherwise very solid series. Don't get me wrong, as a big fan of this show I'm happy to see a release even though I've got an alt set. But I really think they could have done much better in their selection of episodes. Some are standouts, but others are extremely forgettable.


Gary "of course season sets would be best - that's always the case" O.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

If they wanted to do this "24 hours of television" thing, it would have been easy enough to slap all of season 2 and enough season 3 episodes on the set to make it 24 hours, without explicitly saying that's what it was.
But for me, random episodes are a no sale. If, at some point, all the episodes are released on sets like these, I might give 'em a chance. But I see no good reason to do random episode sets after starting out with a complete season. Actually, I see no reason for random episode sets at all, unless it's a greatest hits release from an already released show, or something like Carol Burnette or Rowan and Martin-like variety show releases or MST3K, which have rights issues that would make complete seasons nigh impossible.

 

[WaveCrest]

Did see on Amazon.com in the week that they were selling (although the last time I checked, they were out of stock) the first season set of In the Heat of the Night. Is it definite that there won't be a second season set released by TGG? Could it simply be that this compilation release is inbetween releases of season sets?

 

[Tony S]

Any word on when or if further seasons are coming???