On any given summer day in the late ’80s, the square of a small Georgia town would routinely be filled with curious bystanders and the flashing lights of police cars. With roads blocked off and officers roaming through the streets, one might have thought it was a crime scene or traffic accident rather than the filming of a popular television series.
Thirty-five years ago this month, the television series “In the Heat of the Night” premiered on NBC. The new series, starring the late television legend Carroll O’Connor and Academy Award nominee Howard Rollins, depicted the lives, relationships and political and social relations among the police force and residents of the fictional small town of Sparta, Mississippi.
The show resonated with many Georgia residents who were excited about it being set in the South. One fan was country singer Randall Franks, who went on be cast as Officer Randy Goode for five of the series’ seven seasons.
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