This show aired late at night and received very little fan-fare inspite of an excellent cast and good writers. T J Hooker ran until 1986, and Hill Street Blues ran through 1987. So its safe to say that this Canadian production without the mega million advertiser's from the states had hard competition not because of content or the fame status of its actors but because money talks baby. After the seventies; George Kennedy-The Blue Knight, and the full series of Police Story the whole of major networks shifted towards Hill Street soap opera's and mega star grandiosity episodes. The budget was managable for Night Heat and as was mentioned earlier the newness of the series actors gave space to evolve thier characters without the pre supposed personalities. The only regret seems to be the lack of high quality in the saving of all these episodes. Thats Television.
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Filmlaundrymat1 December 2021
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goleafs8418 February 2004I used to enjoy watching this show. Since this was on CBS Late Night and through the years it was on, due to work or college, I wasn't able to watch it when it was on. Thank goodness for VCRs!!! Otherwise I would've missed out on a great show.
It featured a great cast was great with Scott Hylands, Jeff Wincott, Sean McCann, Deborah Grover and Susan Hogan. Stephen Mendel as Detective Freddie Carson and Eugene Clark as Detective Colby Burns were the perfect comic relief. Both had great chemistry together and played off each other well. In addition, Tony Rosato as "Whitey" was hilarious as well playing Detective O'Brien and Giambone's "stoolie". I used to love the one liners "Whitey" would lob at both O'Brien and Giambione like, "Hey Giambonie, you need to lighten up on the hairspray", or "you two need to wear more pastels and you can look like those guys on Miami Vice" as they left him when they got the information they needed. Clark Johnson as Detective Dave Jefferson was both sleazy and funny at the same time, not always telling "O.B." and Giambone what they needed to know when Vice ended up getting linked to their cases, but in the end, they got it, but had to work for it.
In some of their episodes, you'll find guest appearances from Danny Aiello and from future stars like Keanu Reeves. I best remember him (Reeves) as the stoner punk villain. He played the role well.
Back in the late summer of 1987, CBS used this show as a summer replacement for a month at the 10 o'clock time slot on a Tuesday night. It did well in the Neilsens, but CBS chose to keep this on their Late Night lineup.
Sometimes, I pull one of these tapes out, blow off the dust and put it in my vcr. It was a great show.
I still have the shows on tape and have blown the dust off and popped them in the VCR. I still enjoy the show. -
erikateacher2416 May 2006I Feel the Niiiiiight Heat! I feel your HEEAAAAAAAAAART-beat! Something ain't right!" Theme song written by B.J. Cook from Skylark- David Foster's old band and wife. She also wrote the memorable theme from CBC's "Airwaves." OH Night Heat! What a program! Well-written, well-acted and totally classic. Crime solvers and a good team and a dash of humour at the end. I'd like to think this is really what detectives do/did. Giambone was a real favourite! On a Canadian tip, I learned EVERY Canadian actor's name and style from guest spots done on Night Heat. Everyone passed through the Night Heat set and like Law & Order, it was story-driven so you could just watch and enjoy without a lot of character melodrama.
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haildevilman11 October 2006This lasted several years despite the late hour it was on.
Like a lot of 80's crime dramas, it looked cold. Both physically and figuratively. This isn't a bad thing though. And the (obviously) low budget actually worked in it's favor. Gritty during a time when 'slick' was in.
Allan Royal's wraparound segments as the news writer gave it a slight edge.
The only actors I remembered were Scott Nylands (Earthquake) and Tony Rosato (SCTV). The cast of barely knowns was a good thing because one could see the group as a whole and not as a bunch of people supporting a 'star.' And yes, that's a young Clark Johnson (Homicide) in a recurring spot.
I hope a DVD release is in the future. Someone out there wanna get on that? -
sinakit-116 November 2006i just wanted to say that when i was young my favorite t.v show back in the day was night heat. I loved the characters and the plot of the show. I thought that it was an excellent show and still do to this day. I enjoy watching the reruns and I am a big fan.I love the way the characters played off one another.I would always stay up late to watch my favorite show with my mother who also was a big fan. Now I can enjoy watching my show again and listening to the theme song.Which I thought was a cool song for the show.My favorite characters were Scott Hylands and Jeff Wincott.I enjoyed watching these handsome guys take down the bad boys.
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super marauder23 June 2013Night Heat is a police drama, but as the title suggests it takes place at night. Kevin is a veteran police detective and Frank is the good looking tough guy, but he's a softy at heart. Tommy is a reporter for "The Eagle" who writes about these super cops.
The show follows a formula, at the beginning we here a voice over from Tommy describing what just happened with a social comment, Frank and Kevin look for clues, they stop at Nichole's, and they usually solve the crime. Standard formula right? What sells me are the characters. All of them are likable, and they look real, not your typical Hollywood beautiful tough cops. The all were human like Tommy is a recovering alcoholic and drinks milk at the bar. Nichole is the widow of Kevin's former partner who was killed in front of Kevin and they formed a relationship. The supporting cast are great too. Lt. Hogan is the crusty veteran who seen it all, and Colby is the tough street smart guy and is paired with Freddy who is the sensitive guy.
I had no idea this was filmed in Canada for the longest time, (not that it makes any difference) but maybe that's why this show was so good. It was edgy, gritty, and a little raw for the time. Don't forget this was the 80s and this was a time when American television was really becoming sanitized.
So, at this point it's been a while since I have seen them, but I am going to hunt them down. Believe me this show is so good I might go out and buy me a blue K-Car! -
stasynadavid16 March 2024For those who live in Toronto, this is a hidden gem. The locations are known spots and even in some episodes they use the same streets... "Polson Pier" for example, even though the show is said to be set in NYC.
Overall, it is one of the best Canadian cop dramas, and perhaps top 10 of the 80s for "cop" shows.
Sadly, the only copy of this that remains is on YouTube from someone who VHS-ripped it from TVTropolois reruns in about 2003? So Kudos to "D" on YouTube.
No other release anywhere available, no VHS boxset, no bluray no DVDs to be found, anywhere.
It was interesting that Scott Hylands would cameo in a show years later that i was watching "True Deteective, Stussy"... and i didm't even know it.
For me, this is on par with "Wiseguy" - season 3 of that show is arguably the best season of any tv show ever made. It is a downward spiral of emotion and "life" that like a runaway train just cannot be stopped, jumps the tracks and explodes in a fiery that doesnt come close. Except for Night Heat...
When you hear the signature "Night Heat" with different chorus and verse suddenly pop up 3/4 into the episode, you know its about to GET HOT!
Overall, my god, what talent here... what writing... I wish Allan Royal was a bit ... grittier... (he should be a drunk)... instead he drinks milk-toast... fittingly... I'm onto saeson 4 now, and I know it will end soon. And that makes me a little sad.
THe show is varied enough that you could do a re-watch years later and not really pick it up like you can with Law/Order or Seinfeld repeats.
The soundtrack is unbelievable and I cannot tell you how hard I rock out to it when its a tense scene and it plays. Reminds me of the North of 60 theme song. -
rosemcgowanrulez200116 January 2002Night Heat is one of the best TV Series Cop Shows for sure. A great Canadian cast and was shot at night entirely all over Toronto,Ontario. I remember seeing the show being filmed all the time and for us that live in Toronto, it was always fun to figure out where abouts the scenes were shot when watching. Jeff Wincott stole the show with his under rated acting. Too bad that his brother Michael Wincott has been alot more successful that him. Scott Hylands, Sean McCann show there experiemce acting in the show as well. McCann is always great in whatever role he gets, also is a nice guy when you run into him on the streets of Toronto. The entire cast had great chemistry, one of those rare drama shows where the entire cast is talented. Too bad CBS scrapped thier CBS Late Night timeslot, but when they wanted in on the Late Night Talk Show circuit, well Night Heat had to be the sacrifice. Reruns are un up here in Canada I don't know about in the USA. One great thing about the show was they always had good guest stars like Danny Aiello, and Hector Elizondo and they were great with the cast. Another few Canadian shot shows to check out if you can are Hot Shots, Sirens and Diamonds. You will see the same Canadian actors playing bit parts in these ones. If you can catch the Night Heat reruns, I say do so. Not cheesy at all.
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drad3 June 2005I remember staying up late every week night to watch this wonderful show that no one knew about. I was in college at the time and used up a lot of valuable study time. Action, drama and a little romance - greatest detective show since Kojak!
The actors in the show, I assume, were Canadian but every once in awhile I would see one of them in something else("Three Men and a Baby", "Spenser: For Hire") and I would have a flashback to all of those wonderful late-night adventures.
Unfortunately I did not own a VCR at the time so I do not have it on tape and it hasn't been on since the '80s. Put it on DVD!!! Please!!! -
hgilbert6818 August 2005I didn't start watching this show until the late 80s, but really enjoyed it. Very unique police program, and great cast as well. Eventually the show ended it's run, and the re-runs were hard to come by, so hopefully I can get a few on video. Very intriguing episodes, as they all occurred at night. While many of the actors, including Eugene Clark, Clark Johnson (Homicide fame) and Jeff Wincott.
It was definitely a break from the American cop shows, in that it had a certain mystique and roughness to it. Don't get me wrong..I love the American shows, but Night Heat more or less broke the mold. I also enjoyed other Canadian shows such as "Hot Shots" and "Diamonds". -
pd91129 April 2005I loved watching this show late at night. I was a shift worker and would get home late at night, just in time to watch the network late shows and this one was one of the best, very original. I would love to have these on VHS or DVD. I used to tape it, and of course,no cable at the time, so I had to rely on good reception on my TV, not always getting it when the outside antenna would blow around. This is one of those shows that would be a great addition to my collection. Scott Hylands and Jeff Wincott were fantastic. I loved watching them play off each other. I can see some of the police officers I work with in the two of them.
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n1bhh29 October 2005This showed the gritty side of police work in a big metropolitan city. I watched every single episode and Scott Hylands and Jeff Wincott had superb chemistry. The one line that stuck with me was, "Something ain't right." This line was incorporated into Domenic Troiano's theme song and was used regularly by nearly all the detectives. I know , it sounds hokey, but that was the tag line that kept you watching. I wish someone would release these shows on DVD, I would be the first in line to get them. Every episode kept me glued to the screen. In my area I could see the same episode twice in a night because I could watch it on two different stations. One would show it an hour later than the other. If I missed something first time I could catch it second time around.
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Night Heat was an awesome police TV drama show. I liked the actors and they were well casted for their roles. Thats true that Jeff Wincott did not get much better roles as I thought he might get at the time. I was sure he will. Instead, this series started off well for other people and other shows.. such as several Law & Order series and NYPD. Night Heat was the pioneer of more realistic drama police show than others prior or during Night Heat.
Clarke Johnson was the actor from the series went on to another realistic police drama Homicide TV Series.
Yes, I agree that the series was filmed in Toronto since I recoginized so many places in this wonderful city near my birthtown in Upstate NY. This series brought more closer to home than Law & Order since the background and lifestyle was close to my hometown (Appx. 4 hours drive).
I would love to see reunion shows but I was disappointed not seeing the series in closed captioned for hearing impaired.
The series was on at the right time since I was busy in evenings and I was settled into bed watching the series.
This series really showed alot of hard work to make it successful made by the Canadians and I really liked their style of programming. Sadly, I dont see much of our neighbor's shows in the states. It would be nice to have their network aired in the states!
One drawback I didnt like that they had repeating guest stars playing roles of villians or victims. Perhaps there was a reason for this that I do not know.
Overall, the series was a 5 star out of 5. Why? It showed at different time (night time) of the detectives. That is original! -
Guess I'm biased! It was a great Canadian series, shot in Toronto (my birthplace). Being from Toronto, the background scenery was very familiar and added to the realism. My wife and I enjoyed all the actors, although some were being re-cast as different guest villains,etc. a little too much. We especially like the "confrontations" between cops "Kevin & Frank" and "Whitey".
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sterlinglevy23 January 2006While I can empathize with Canadain viewers who like seeing Canadian actors in roles, and enjoy seeing Toronto and other major Canadian cities on American television, etc., I also can't get past being bothered when a show made anywhere in Canada pretends to be from a gritty American city like New York, especially the New York underworld which would generate the most activity for criminals and work for detectives. Sorry, but Canada is just too sanitized. I had the same problem with "Police Surgeon" in the 1970s. In any event, however, the theme music and opening of "Night Heat" was terrific. I still have a sound recording and play it, even though it runs less than a minute, just because I like it!