History Trivia / InTheHeatOfTheNight

* TropeNamer:
** TheyCallMeMisterTibbs

* AlanSmithee: Carroll O'Connor was also the series' Story Editor, using the pseudonym Matt Harris.
* CaliforniaDoubling: The TV series was still set in Mississippi, but was filmed in Louisiana for the first season, and then in Covington, Georgia for seasons 2-6.

* CreatorsFavoriteEpisode: Creator/SidneyPoitier frequently cited this as his favorite of all the films he made.

* CreatorsFavoriteEpisode: This is frequently cited as Creator/SidneyPoitier's favorite of all the films he's done.

* MethodActing: Rod Steiger spoke in the southern dialect consistently for the duration of filming.

* ThrowItIn: The scene that took place at the sheriff's house featured dialog that came out of improvisations between Creator/SidneyPoitier and Rod Steiger.

* ProducedByCastmember: Creator/CarrollOConner also served as one of the series' executive producers.

* BannedInChina: The film was banned by the South African Publications Control Board, as were many of Creator/SidneyPoitier's films.

* CaliforniaDoubling: Though the film is set in Mississippi, the '60s racial and political climate necessitated filming in Illinois. Specifically, Creator/SidneyPoitier refused to shoot south of the Mason-Dixon line. Why? Because of an unpleasant experience some months earlier involving himself, Creator/HarryBelafonte, and a group of Klansmen. (A few scenes were, however, shot in Tennessee -- most notably Endicott's cotton field, which Illinois couldn't provide.)

* IronyAsSheIsCast: Warren Oates and Lee Grant were among Hollywood's group of actors and actresses who played racist roles, or were in racism-centric films, but were themselves up front and vocal in support of the civil rights movement at the same time.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece:
** The old-fashioned soda bottles, as well as the weird folded-out paper cup that Sam pours his Coke into.
** Colbert's car receives a 30-second sequence dedicated to its motorized convertible roof, something that was quite novel at the time, but these days just comes across as filler.

* EnforcedMethodActing: Denise Nicholas (Harriet [=DeLong=]) channeled her grief over her RealLife sister's unsolved murder into the storyline which had her character dealing with the same thing. Carroll O'Connor was actually completely unaware of this when he wrote the storyline and offered to nix it, but she decided to go ahead as a way of dealing with her grief.
* TheOtherDarrin: Among others, Carroll O'Connor replaces Rod Steiger as Chief Gillespie, and Howard Rollins replaces Creator/SidneyPoitier as Detective Tibbs.
* ProducedByCastmember: Carroll O'Conner also served as one of the series' executive producers.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/{{NBC}} originally wanted Creator/OJSimpson to play Detective Tibbs on the series before Howard Rollins was brought in for the part (though Simpson would appear as a guest star in Season 2's "Walkout"), which would have made for an extremely awkward situation when Simpson was charged with the murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and friend Ronald Goldman; especially since the arrests came just over a month after the final episode as a regular series aired[[note]]the series concluded with four [[MadeForTVMovie 2-hour television movies]] that served as an ad-hoc Season 8[[/note]]

* UsefulNotes/AFIS100YearsSeries:
** AFIS100Years100HeroesAndVillains: #19 Hero, Virgil Tibbs
** AFIS100Years100MovieQuotes: #16, "They call me Mister Tibbs!"
** AFIS100Years100Cheers: #21
** AFIS100Years100Movies10THAnniversaryEdition: #75

* DawsonCasting: Quentin Dean was twenty-two when she played the sixteen year old Delores Purdy.

* CaliforniaDoubling: Though the film is set in Mississippi, the '60s racial and political climate necessitated filming in Illinois. Specifically, Creator/SidneyPoitier refused to shoot south of the Mason-Dixon line. Why? Because of an unpleasant experience some months earlier involving himself, Music/HarryBelafonte, and a group of Klansmen. (A few scenes were, however, shot in Tennessee -- most notably Endicott's cotton field, which Illinois couldn't provide.)

** The old-fashioned cola bottles, including the weird folded-out paper cup that Sam pours his Coke into.