 Inspired by the movie which starred Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger. Howard Rollins and Caroll O Connor are playing their respectively. Rollins plays Virgil Tibbs a detective from Philadelphia, who returns to his home of Sparta, Mississipi and is asked by a politician, who wants to use him as pawn to garner the black vote, if he wants to be the police department s Chief of Detectives. Of course, Bill Gillespie the Police Chief, who is played by O Connor, has his reservations but somehow they learn to work together and quite well. Rollins who would have some problems, would not be there regularly, and would eventually be written off, as having his character become a lawyer and leave the police department. Gillespie would be removed as the Police Chief and would be replaced by Hampton Forbes, and would be named County Sheriff and would work with Forbes.