Tropical Heat
GenreAction
Created bySam Egan
Starring
Opening theme"Any Way the Wind Blows"
ComposerFred Mollin
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes66 (list of episodes)
Production
Production locations
Running timeapprox. 48 minutes
Original release
Network
  • CBS (United States)
  • IO International, SafriTel
ReleaseApril 8, 1991 (1991-04-08) –
October 18, 1993 (1993-10-18)
Related
Criss Cross

Tropical Heat (known as Sweating Bullets in the United States[1]) is a Canadian action series produced in co-operation with Mexico and Israel that aired between April 8, 1991 to October 18, 1993.

The series ran for three seasons totaling 66 episodes. Season one was filmed in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; due to tax breaks the production was eligible for under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Season two was filmed in Eilat, Israel. Season three was filmed in Pretoria, South Africa, with some sequences shot in Mauritius.[1][2] In the United States, it aired as part of the CBS umbrella series Crimetime After Primetime.

Plot

The plot revolves around private investigator, Nick Slaughter, an ex-DEA agent, who after arriving in the fictional resort town of Key Mariah, Florida, and setting up a detective agency there, meets up with local tourist agent, beautiful Sylvie Girard, to solve a variety of different cases.

Cast

  • Rob Stewart as Nick Slaughter
  • Carolyn Dunn as Sylvie Girard
  • John David Bland as Ian Stewart (1991–92)
  • Ian Tracey as Spider Garvin (1992–93)
  • Eugene Clark as Ollie Porter (1991–92)
  • Pedro Armendáriz Jr. as Lt. Carillo (1991–92)
  • Ari Sorko-Ram as Sgt. Gregory (1992–93)
  • Allen Nashman as Rollie (1992–93)
  • Graeme Campbell as Rupert

Series overview

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
19April 8, 1991 (1991-04-08)June 3, 1991 (1991-06-03)
221September 9, 1991 (1991-09-09)June 1, 1992 (1992-06-01)
336September 14, 1992 (1992-09-14)October 18, 1993 (1993-10-18)

Popularity in Serbia

Nick Slaughter portrayed in Serbian comic "Strip protest", by Aleksa Gajić, released during the 1996–97 students' protests against Slobodan Milošević's regime.

The series was particularly popular in Serbia, where it gained cult status. In a tumultuous social environment – with a UN trade embargo imposed on the country and civil war raging nearby – Nick Slaughter's character became a tongue-in-cheek role model, particularly among urban youth, and eventually a symbol of opposition politics.

During the 1990s, the series was broadcast on four Serbian television stations – TV Politika (1992–93), NS+ (1993–94), RTS 3K (1994–95), and RTV Pink (1996–97) – and rerun numerous times.[3] Aside from its dry humor and exciting plot, the show was extremely well received because its idyllic tropical island atmosphere was an absolute contrast to mid-1990s Serbia. The reruns in the then-isolated country made the show immensely popular, turning it into a minor national cultural phenomenon.

Apparently, no one associated with the show was aware of its extraordinary popularity in Serbia until December 2008 when Canadian actor Rob Stewart who played Nick Slaughter in the series accidentally discovered it by stumbling upon a Facebook fan group named "Tropical Heat/Nick Slaughter" with some 17,000 (mostly Serbian) followers. After familiarizing himself with the cause and the circumstances of his Serbian fame, the mostly unemployed 48-year-old Stewart, along with a filmmaker friend Marc Vespi and his sister Liza, decided to attempt to make Slaughter Nick for President, a documentary about it.[4] To that end, they contacted the band Atheist Rap and it was soon arranged for Rob to appear on stage as their guest at the To Be Punk Festival in Novi Sad on June 6.

By late March 2009 the news was leaked to Serbian press and several media outlets carried items that Rob Stewart would be coming to Serbia in May or early June as guest of Atheist Rap in order to film a documentary on his character's popularity in the country during the 1990s.[5][6][7] Stewart and his partners contacted Srđa Popović, former activist of Otpor!, the Serbian student movement that played a significant role in eventually bringing down Milošević. On June 3, 2009, Stewart arrived in Belgrade to a hero's welcome with enormous media attention afforded to his visit.[8][9][10][11][12][13] With Atheist Rap and Popović as their hosts and guides through Serbia, and in between the documentary shooting schedule, Stewart made the media rounds, appearing on talk shows (Piramida[14] and Fajront Republika[15]), giving interviews, and making public appearances such as planting of the maple trees in Žarkovo with John Morrison, Canadian ambassador to Serbia.

Stewart believed that the popularity of the show was due to its portrayal of Nick Slaughter as a bumbling idiot.[16] Despite his flaws, Slaughter was however brave, honest and caring. Stewart noted that the Serbs have a very "self-deprecating" sense of humor, so Slaughter's bumbling idiot qualities appealed to them.[16] Stewart also noted during his visit to Serbia that he was told by countless people that they loved the character because of his indomitable qualities and his refusal to give up, which matches with the Serb self-image.[16]

As a result of their June 2009 stay in Belgrade and Novi Sad, a six-minute documentary promo was put together and entered in the Roma Fiction Fest in Rome, Italy on July 8, 2009 under the "work in progress" section.[17]

Movie sequel

Two episodes of the show were re-edited into a feature-length film, Criss Cross. IMDb states this received a release in 2001.

Home media

Tango Entertainment released the complete series on DVD on January 8, 2008 in a 9-disc set entitled Tropical Heat: Sweating Bullets Complete series.[18]

On March 16, 2021, Mill Creek Entertainment will release Tropical Heat- The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.[19]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Tim Brooks; Earle Marsh (2003). "Sweating Bullets (Detective)". The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present (Eighth ed.). New York City: Ballantine Books. p. 1158. ISBN 978-0-345-45542-0.
  2. ↑ "TROPICAL HEAT – Sweating Bullets". Members.tripod.com. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
  3. ↑ "How a Canadian TV detective became a political hero in Serbia". Daily Herald. June 30, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Canada's Batman of the Balkans". The Globe and Mail. Canada. July 27, 2009. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Nik Sloter u Srbiji!". MTSmondo.com. March 29, 2009. Archived from the original on June 1, 2009. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Nick Slaughter među Srbima". Popboks.com. March 30, 2009. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Nik Sloter u Srbiji". Blic.rs. March 29, 2009. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Sloter: Mislio sam da je sve šala". Blic.rs. March 4, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Nik Sloter: Promeniću sliku o Srbima". MTSMondo.com. June 3, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Sloteru Niče, Srbija ti kliče!". MTSMondo.com. June 3, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  11. ↑ ""Nik Sloter" stigao u Srbiju". B92.net. June 3, 2009. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
  12. ↑ "Kajsijevača je jaka, pijem je polako". Blic.rs. June 6, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Slaughter: Zarkovo is in my heart". Blic.rs. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  14. ↑ PECEMK1 (June 25, 2009). "Piramida". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved November 28, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ↑ balsaboskovic (July 3, 2009). "Fajront Republika". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
  16. 1 2 3 Belluz, Julia (July 24, 2009). "Meet Canada's Batman of the Balkans". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  17. ↑ inmexile. "Slaughter Nick For President – Quest for Serbia". Youtube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
  18. ↑ "Tropical Heat: Sweating Bullets Complete Series: Rob Stewart, Various: Movies & TV". Amazon.com. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
  19. ↑ "Tropical Heat - Complete Series". Amazon.com. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
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