
Carroll O'Connor stars as a small-town police chief (and later a sheriff) in fictional Sparta, Miss. For a small town, Sparta has its share of murder, rape, corruption, racism and drunken driving, so O'Connor's Chief William Gillespie has his hands full. The TV series is based on the novel and film of the same name.

A murderer (John Diehl) is on the run, and Gillespie (Carroll O'Connor) does everything he can to prevent him from killing again. With Alan Autry.

A councilwoman (Denise Nicholas) tries art therapy on a mute boy who may have witnessed his father's murder.

A retired detective (Ken Curtis) assists Gillespie's probe of a murder at a rest home; guest Louise Fletcher.

Althea suspects a student has problems at home, then learns one parent is dead, the other is missing.