Tensión en la noche

I 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!!!

I 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.

This 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?

I 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.

While 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!