Un privé sous les tropiques

"Tropical Heat" aired in France on July 11, 1992 for the first time on national channel Antenne 2 (now France-2). Sadly it aired Saturdays nights at 23h30 to 0h30 when nobody was watching ! (But was re-run short after on Saturdays afternoons around 5:30 PM). It was a huge success then (and aired on 6 different channels until now : A2/France 2, RTL9, TMC, Canal Jimmy, Action & SyFy). I simply love the show : it's entertaining, full of fun & action, with a good cast (Rob Stewart/Carolyn Dunn & Ian Tracey) that really can act. All episodes are not constructed with the same aspect and some are really poor to watch. But there are only a few of them : the rest of the TV-series is really great. I bought the 3 seasons on DVD (TANGO Editions) and I love to watch them from time to time. I deplore too the fact that there never was a Final episode which got produced. I hoped that a TV-movie would be aired short after the end of the series, but it never came on screen... Too bad ! Thanx to the DVD(s) to make this show live again ! And if one day it'd start again, I'd be in front of my TV-screen...

Tropical Heat had 3 Seasons of 22 episodes each : First was shot in Mexico (Bucerias & Nuevo Vallarta, NAYARIT & Puerto Vallarta, JALISCO) aired in USA on CBS from April 8, 1991 to February 24, 1992. -according to Sam Egan, the creator of the series, the first episode ever shot was "This Year's Model", which would be considered as the real "Pilot" episode-. Second Season was shot in Eilat (Gulf of Aqaba near the Red Sea), Israel and aired on CBS from April 13, 1992 to March 1st, 1993. Last Season, the Third, was shot in Pretoria & Johannesburg, South Africa (+ beach scenes in Mauritius, at the Maritim Hotel). It aired from May 3 to October 18, 1993. CBS canceled the series because David Letterman came over to CBS and took the 11:30 pm slot for his "Late Show" - according to Rob Stewart for 4motion. Tropical Heat stopped after only 66 episodes... It was the end of a terrific TV-series...

A TV-movie was made from 2 episodes (#10&11) out of Season 2 : "CRISS CROSS : From The Files Of Tropical Heat" (released on DVD in 2008).

Check out the "Slaughter Nick For President" DVD : it's a 73 minutes-long documentary about the success of the TVseries in Eastern Countries as Serbia, released in 2012. On 4motion, Stewart said about a possible revival of the show "Is it probable ? No"... Well... We"ll wait... And see !. (More details below in the section 'discuss SWEATING BULLETS on IMDb Board').

The early 90's were a different time. 'Sweating Bullets' was kind to remind you that all one really needed to be happy was a cold beverage, nice scenery and some beautiful women. A little mystery and a catchy theme song didn't hurt neither. The tropical style of the fictional Key Mariah, Florida where the show is situated and the lead duos chemistry are largely responsible for the show's charm.

Private investigator Nick Slaughter (Rob Stewart) is a likable guy. He wears his shirt open to the heat, spots a ponytail and usually has a one liner ready to go given the right circumstances. While fierce redhead Sylvie Girard (Carolyn Dunn) served as his assistant. The management, the brains of the operation and just simmering with sexual tension between the two.

The plot from episode to episode was a pretty straightforward. Bad guys were typically pretty obvious and crimes always fell under the umbrella of what a PI would be hired to do. Find someone, investigate a disappearance, murder, help a friend or the local PD. Aside from the odd betrayal stories were somewhat predictable, but enjoyable. Occasional explosion, gunfight or fisticuffs mixed in with sometimes cheesy drama.

You can catch quite a few actors (predominately Canadian) doing guest spots on this show. Harking back to the show's roots - there's some tacked on silliness about Nick being both ex-DEA / ex-RCMP - but don't give it much thought. Initially shot in Mexico featuring supporting faces such as John David Bland, Pedro Armendáriz Jr and Eugene Clark was the show at its peak IMO. A relic of a day gone by, 'Sweating Bullets' is forever engrained in my memories.

"Sweating Bullets" is the best of the five "Crime Time After Prime Time" CBS-TV shows which rotated nightly at 11:30 P.M. A pleasing combination of action, beautiful women and sarcastic wit with Rob Stewart the ruggedly handsome--like a Steven Seagal/ Alec Baldwin--cool dude who can really deliver a line; with his clothes blazing in flames, he crashes through a 2nd floor window and lands in a swimming pool, face to face with a gorgeous young woman and says to her, "and I thought I was HOT!"

"Silk Stalkings" and the other 'Crime Time' shows were also good but not as charming.

Everyone would stagger in to our halls' common room still half cut and we'd watch late night music shows, Cinemattractions, weak sitcoms like Herman's Head/Flying Blind and the macabre sci-fi War of the Worlds. But Tropical Heat was by far our favourite, not least because of the array of gorgeous women who would weekly flock around our beloved beachcomber/private eye hero Nick Slaughter (Who is the bikini girl in the opening titles,? Her body is just FABULOUS!). That said I always had a thing for Carolyn Dunn too although I liked her better with straight hair (sadly she seems to have given up acting as of 2009 to become a businesswoman in alternative medicine whilst Rob Stewart and Ian Tracey never seem to have been off TV in the last decade). Never could figure out how Nick was in both the DEA and the Mounties, did he have dual nationality through his parents or something? Also hilarious how the show was supposedly set in the Florida Keys yet was clearly filmed in Mexico/Israel/South Africa, hence why Nick always flew El Al and there were mountains in the background which are sorely lacking on the Gold Coast? Watching the documentary 'Nick Slaughter for President' made me revisit the series, that this lightweight TV show could inspire resistance to the dictatorship in war torn Serbia is just too hilarious for words (a similar occurrence to Kojak being hugely popular in communist Poland because even the gritty crime ridden New York it depicted seemed aspirational to those trapped behind the Iron Curtain). Interesting to see Traci Lords on this show in what must have been her first post-porn role. Also The Avengers' Linda Thorson and The Magnificent 7's/Dirty Dozen's Clint Walker appearing in one ep as does Kenny Everett's buxom comedy foil Cleo Rocos. For my money I far preferred Spider in seasons 2-3 than Ian from season 1, equally Gregory was by far my favourite Key Maria cop. Adding recurring comedy relief such as the over-eager rookie officer and quirky coroner was welcome but the show had largely run its' course by season 3 and probably ended at the right time. Plus of course the theme music was infectiously brilliant! What happened to Nick and Sylvie? I think she eventually got married to Rollie the coroner, bought Nick out and expanded the business, he used the money to buy a half share in the bar and spent his autumn years seducing daddy's girls and playing beloved godparent/Uncle Nick to her kids. Because it would have ruined the legend if Nick Slaughter ever had to grow up. So if you want an undemanding combination of Miami Vice and Magnum PI this show is for you.

This show was extremely popular in Serbia during the wars in Former Yugoslavia. It was a pipe dream getaway for all of us being surrounded by the horrors of war. A few years ago the lead actor came to Belgrade, Serbia for a round of interviews and press conferences. I believe there was even a documentary in making about this show popularity and a cult status in Serbia phenomenon. A hidden gem and a must-see entertainment.