The WORST episodes of In the Heat of the Night

#1 - The Rabbi

Season 7 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/9/1994

A Rabbi returns to Sparta after many years.Racists vandalize his synagogue and soon after their Torah is stolen.Forbes investigates but the Rabbi refuses to trust Bill because of his inaction while investigating a hate crime many years ago.

#2 - Leftover Man (1)

Season 6 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/3/1993

A white supremacist politician plans to have his wife's lover murdered and blame it on black radicals.

#3 - By Duty Bound

Season 8 - Episode 3 - Aired 2/17/1995

Acting Sheriff Gillespie must decide whether he should run for sheriff or retire from law enforcement.It soon becomes apparent that the other candidate is corrupt and dangerous.

#4 - A Matter of Justice

Season 8 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/21/1994

The daughter of a close friend of Forbes is murdered and the officers must prove that the deranged grandson of a retired judge is guilty.

#5 - A Dish Best Served Cold

Season 6 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/17/1993

A swindlers homecoming upsets his wife and the families of his victims - especially Etta.

#6 - Time's Long Shadow

Season 7 - Episode 20 - Aired 3/16/1994

Harriet tries to stop an arrogant developer from destroying an important archeological site.

#7 - Private Sessions

Season 6 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/13/1993

One of Virgil's classmates from law school is arrested following the death of his former girlfriend, but the man insists that her death was the result of her relationship with her psychiatrist.

#8 - Give Me Your Life (2)

Season 7 - Episode 24 - Aired 5/11/1994

Bill and Harriet return home. The cult kidnaps the girl from her foster home. Forbes and his men arrest a man who has been supplying drugs used to keep the cult members under control.Soon a standoff develops and the officers realize that they have no intention of surrendering. Sarah is taken hostage.As they attempt to rescue the women and children Lonnie and Parker find themselves defusing a bomb and Bubba risks his life to rescue a small child from the building.

#9 - Incident at Brewer's Pond

Season 7 - Episode 5 - Aired 9/30/1993

A night of revelry at a local pond turns deadly.

#10 - Sanctuary

Season 5 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/12/1992

A political prisoner who entered the country illegally,seeks sanctuary in a monastary.Gillespie and Tibbs find themselves at odds with Sheriff McComb when they try to help the man.

#11 - Hello in There

Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/30/1990

Bubba refuses to believe that a former teamate embezzled funds from the bank where he worked.And sets out to prove that his friend was framed and murdered.Harriet hopes that art therapy can help the man's traumatized son,who becomes a target himself when the killer realizes he witnessed the crime.

#12 - My Name is Hank

Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/19/1989

A young refugee claims to be the son of a Sparta cop who died in the war.But quickly becomes a suspect in a murder/robbery after he accepts a ride with the criminals who actually committed the crime.Gillespie looks into his story, while Virgil and the boys track down the shooter.Meanwhile, the young mans presence triggers a surprisingly bitter reaction from Parker, who views him as a painful reminder of the war.

#13 - Flowers from a Lady

Season 6 - Episode 10 - Aired 1/6/1993

A city councilwoman becomes dangerously obsessed with Bubba.

#14 - A Baby Called Rocket

Season 7 - Episode 10 - Aired 10/25/1993

A neglected baby stirs maternal feelings in Luann.

#15 - Your Own Kind

Season 7 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/16/1993

#16 - Singin' the Blues

Season 7 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/28/1993

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.

#17 - A Love Lost

Season 7 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/14/1993

Lana's ex- boyfriend comes to see her and brings a load of stolen rifles with him.

#18 - Sparta Gold

Season 5 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/3/1991

A deputy provides protection for a cotton grower who is running a pot growing operation.But the deputy makes a big mistake when he wounds Bubba's girlfriend.

#19 - Unfinished Business

Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/12/1991

Bubba returns to Los Angeles to testify at a murder trial and is reunited with Pat Day as they try to protect Mike from killers sent to prevent him from testifying.

#20 - A Turning

Season 4 - Episode 22 - Aired 4/30/1991

Althea thinks Virgil needs a new line of work after seeing the aftermath of a deadly shooting at a roadhouse.Virgil finds himself in danger when they arrest the man who committed the crime.

#21 - Blessings

Season 4 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/18/1990

In this Christmas episode the officers share memories with a reporter from the Sparta Herald.

#22 - Family Matters

Season 4 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/4/1990

Virgil's dream of a better relationship with his Aunt Ruda and her son is shattered when his cousin takes part in a string of burglaries that result in murder.

#23 - A Woman Much Admired

Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/1/1991

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.

#24 - Shine on Sparta Moon

Season 4 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/8/1991

A bottle of spiked moonshine leads to an accident that claims the life of one teen and blinds another.

#25 - An Execution of Trust

Season 4 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/15/1991

A psychiatrist tells Gillespie that one of her patients has confessed to a crime that another man is about to be executed for, but she refuses to divulge his identity.