Grow Old Along with Me (16 May 1995)

An ex-cop's marriage to a wealthy woman spawns a blackmail attempt by an old flame.

Director:

Winrich Kolbe

Writers:

Cynthia Deming, John Ball (characters),

Stars:

Carroll O'Connor, Carl Weathers, Alan Autry

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Carroll O'Connor	...	Bill Gillespie
Carl Weathers	...	Chief Hampton Forbes
Alan Autry	...	Capt. Bubba Skinner
David Hart	...	Sgt. Parker Williams
Hugh O'Connor	...	Lt. Lonnie Jamison
Crystal R. Fox	...	Sgt. LuAnn Corbin (as Crystal Fox)
Denise Nicholas	...	Harriet Delong Gillespie (credit only)
Constance McCashin	...	Pauline Given Ryan
Bill Cross	...	John Ryan
John Byner	...	Tom Harwood
Wilbur Fitzgerald	...	Dist. Atty. Gerard Darnell (as Wilbur T. Fitzgerald)
Dan Biggers	...	Dr. Frank Robb
Lane Bradbury	...	Trina (as Janette Lane Bradbury)
Dee Shaw	...	Sgt. Dee Shepard
Harvey E. Lee Jr.	...	Officer Ken Covey

Storyline

Two hour episode. Ex-cop John Ryan marries wealthy widow Pauline Medford, with Sheriff Bill Gillespie as best man. Drunken Trina Mallin, one-time girlfriend of Ryan, almost breaks up the ceremony. She tries to extort $50,000 from him to keep quiet about a long ago incident. Trina's present lover and bankrupt lawyer, Tommy Harwood, wants her to leave Sparta with him, but she has other plans. John and Pauline set up Trina as a DUI driver, inadvertently causing a fatal accident. Trina is charged with vehicular manslaughter. Gillespie and Chief Hampton Forbes cooperate in the investigation.

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Plot Keywords:

sergeant | police | sequel | murder

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Genres:

Drama | Crime | Mystery

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 May 1995 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fred Silverman Company, JADDA Productions, MGM Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally broadcast 6 weeks or so after the suicide of Hugh O'Connor. Ironically, one of Hugh's first lines of dialogue in the movie was when his character recalled a warning he once gave to an alcoholic woman: "You're gonna hurt someone or you're gonna kill yourself".

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Crazy Credits

When originally broadcast on CBS, a black screen appeared in between the intro teaser and the opening title with the caption "In memory of Hugh O'Connor 1962-1995".

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Connections

Follows In the Heat of the Night (1988)

User Reviews

Decent

In the Heat of the Night: Grow Old Along with Me (1995)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

An ex-police officer marries a rich woman and soon has an old flame trying to blackmail him. Unwilling to pay the money, his new wife comes up with a plan to destroy the blackmailers life but soon two kids are dead and all three are wrap up in a secret from the past. I never watched the television show when I was a kid but I do recall seeing bits and pieces from my grandfather watching it. I had always been a fan of Carroll O'Connor so I decided to check out this made-for-TV film and it turned out pretty good as a way to kill time. The movie has all the elements of a made-for-TV movie including the cliffhanger segments as well as rather lackluster direction but the story here isn't too bad. It really seemed like a message as trying to be given on the effects of drunk driving but it never got too preachy. Carl Weathers is pretty good in his role but he doesn't get too much to do here. O'Connor is neglected to several brief scenes, which was a tad bit disappointing because he really didn't have much to do. His son Hugh also has a part here and apparently this was shown just a few weeks after his suicide. Again, I've never watched a full episode of the TV show but this movie did feel like an extended version of what I'm guessing the show was like. The writing was good but nothing great and the same is true with the pay off to the crime.