MovieChat Forums > In the Heat of the Night (1988) Discussion > Am I the only one who dont like Harriet ...

Am I the only one who dont like Harriet DeLong?

posted 12 years ago by dark_seed81
48 replies | jump to latest

I dont know exctally what it is, but her character really pisses me off most of the time? She seems really stuck up and very much a hypocrite about her views on race!!

And I personaly was never a fan of her and the chiefs love affair. I mean, it was believable that he changed his racist ways to accept blacks as equals but for him to fall in love with a black woman whos kinda anti white lol was a bit of stretch to me! Anyone feel the same??

If that sounds racist, I really dont mean it that way, just cant think any other way to say it!

[–] Patrice12 12 years ago

I agree that Harriet Delong, when she first appeared, was very hard to swallow. She was always upset and angry. When Harriet and Bill began to check each other out, they definantly softened her character and she became likeable. Her son on the other hand, I could not stand him.

[–] jbwphoto1 12 years ago

Harriet always had issues, but looking at her family and her job, you can see why. Ex-husband cheated on her with a white secretary at his job for everyone in Sparta to see, sister had a baby by a white man who had her killed then his wife wanted custody and her son...well, nothing seemed to be going right with Eugene especially after his father came back to Sparta in one of the most memorable episodes IMO.

But I have always LOVED the actress Denise Nicholas, so I learned to "deal with" Harriet DeLong.

No, in real life, that relationship would have never happened. Yes, I'm going with never, no hell or high water, but NEVER. They would have eventually been cordial to each other in public and maybe even shared an inside joke having lived in Sparta their wholes lives and I will even go with Chief wanted to see her sometime, but no, Harriet had too much anger in her.

[–] 95CrownVictoriaP74 11 years ago

No, I too dislike Harriet DeLong.

"My family has always been in meat."

[–] dini0519 11 years ago

She seemed moody most the time. I didn't feel much fondness for her. Someone mentioned they didn't like Althea either, but I thought she was a little warmer at least.

Dini

[–] Chris_RL 11 years ago

She looks almost identical to my sister-in-law, so I don't mind her.

[–] sjbang 10 years ago

you definitely are not the only one who does not care for Harriet DeLong. she's painfully PC...she butts into everyone's business...and over the course of time completely ruined the Chief. robbing him of his personality.

[–] sjbang 10 years ago

the character was bad enough, but then the actress playing Ms.DeLong actually wrote a few episodes, which were probably the worst in the shows history. the entire Harriet DeLong story arc was miserable.

[–] lferrigon-1 10 years ago

The one time I did not like her was in that episode where she and this annoying guy were stopping construction of a project that would help create jobs. Mr. Davenport even said that if his men came upon anything like pottery, they would set it aside which was reasonable and the idiot with Miss DeLong said it was not good enough and went to the courts to hold it up. I would have voted with the city council on that issue.

[–] sparksfire1 10 years ago

I got tired of Tibb's wife.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Naberrie218 10 years ago

I like the character, but I admit that I found her a bit annoying in the earlier episodes. I hated the wishy-washy stance she had at first with her relationship with Gillespie. Like the times she didn't want to be seen with him or was afraid that people would know they were together, when clearly the Chief didn't care about what people thought, and was very genuine and sincere about how he felt for her. It was unfair how she treated him in the beginning, that's now how you treat someone who genuinely loves you for you, that's what made her character so frustrating. It's like she couldn't understand that she was perpetuating what she claimed she was against (the status quo of racism/segregation in the town).

The character I disliked the most was her whiny brat of a son, she should have told him off, and it was none of his business whom his mother chose to be with, yet he couldn't get that into his thick skull. He needed to mind his own business. The only time he would have had a right to object to his mother's relationship is if Bill was abusing her or him, and obviously Bill was very kind to his mother, and really loved her, so that bratty son needed to just shut up and be happy for them instead of making their lives miserable with his terrible attitude. So those are really the only qualms I had about Harriet's character and story, in the later episodes she did become a lot more likable and I was glad that they got married and bought a house together.

[–] sparksfire1 10 years ago

Bill became a big wimp when he started to date her.

[–] traitorjoe666 10 years ago

I think she (Denise) played the character exactly as intended, and it's a tribute to her that she played the part so annoyingly well. :D

Just like Elaine and Kramer from "Seinfeld". I couldn't stand the characters, but it's JLD's and MR's talent as actors letting them play the characters you love to hate, *so* annoyingly if not frustratingly well. Frankly, I was amazed that Jerry just never had Kramer killed for being so annoying. :D

And for the record, oooooh, how I *hated* CO from his Archie Bunker days. Not the man, obviously, but he played the part *so* well, you almost couldn't help but to think he actually felt that way in real life! It was a visceral thing. And then the pendulum swung the opposite way, and after *loving* the way he played Bill Gillespie, I finally was able to separate the man from the part he played. (And he was the *perfect* choice to follow Rod Steiger.)

So yeah, Harriet the character was an abrasive busybody at first, then softened a lot, then, yeah, totally pussified and domesticated Bill's character. Blame the writers for that.

Althea, yeah, especially in later eps, she had this annoying Claire Huxtable thing going on, and I could almost hear that condescending "Now, Cliff, you're not going to go out wearing *that*, are you??" tone when lecturing Virgil (and others). Again, blame the writers, not AMJ, because she pulled it off really well.

And LuAnne? Hot, hot, hot! 'Nuff said. Always liked Crystal as an actress *and* her character.

[–] decamefo 10 years ago

I like what traitorjoe666 said. I have a soft spot for Harriet. Her uptight attitude makes Bill falling for her all the more intriguing. They were both very complex characters. Anyway, can you blame her for being so uptight when she has a son like Eugene? If I dislike any character on the show it's him. His opinions aside he should have been there for his mom, supported her. But that's MY opinion.

Re: Archie Bunker: Did you really hate the character "traitorjoe666"...? I think part of Carroll's acting genius was making such a bigoted character lovable. Deep down and when push came to shove, Archie always did the right thing. Well, most of the time anyway. IDK. I always liked the character. I saw the good in him more times than I should have I'm sure. He was harmless.

[–] traitorjoe666 10 years ago

Honestly, I couldn't much stand the show (and watched little of it), as pretty much *all* the characters were so annoying and grating. Dingbat mother, shrill daughter, meathead son-in-law, and dimbulb father, a dysfunction-fest of 2D cardboard characters, pretty much grated on me like fingernails on a blackboard. To be honest, though, Archie was my "favorite" (ie, least-despised) character on the show. :D

At least it wasn't "Maude", though. Man, I **HATED** that show with a passion. :P

But to this day, I still perpetuate some Archie-isms, like calling the AFL-CIO the "UFO-CIA". :D *How* I still recall that after all these years, I have *no* idea. :D

But yeah, it's a tribute to the actor that he could pull it off like he did.

Oh, speaking of annoying yet "doing the right thing" characters, I feel the same about Ralph Kramden. Such a shallow and selfish SOB, always taking advantage of Norton (prime example, the teevee they went halfies on, yet it was to stay in Ralph's apartment and poor Ed couldn't even watch it). Plus, the failings like going nuts and wanting "a boat with 3 propellers" when he found the suitcase full of cash, thinking himself a great thespian, a music know-it-all, etc., basically the worst of what humanity has to offer. Yet, yeah, he'd do the right thing and be willing to donate blood when he thought Ed was hurt, etc. He needed that whack upside the haid with a 2x4 first, though.

Dunno, but I didn't find that very "endearing", either.

The show was funny when he *wasn't* being such an ass-hat. When he was, though, I just wanted to smack him repeatedly with something long and weighty.

[–] reginaldbp 10 years ago

I feel that the show started to go downhill when Harriet Delong was being featured more, she was okay in short bursts. I felt that the more she was being featured, the became all about Bill and Harriet's relationship (Especially the last three seasons) and not about the small town police solving cases.

However, I have to say that I absolutely HATED her son, Eugene. That guy was weak and very whiny.