Nick Slaughter
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''Tropical Heat'' (known as ''Sweating Bullets'' in the United States) is a Canadian
action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...
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 Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican resort city near the Bahía de Banderas on the Pacific coast of the Mexico, Mexican state of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadalajara ...
, Mexico; due to tax breaks the production was eligible for under the
North American Free Trade Agreement The North American Free Trade Agreement (, TLCAN; , ALÉNA), referred to colloquially in the Anglosphere as NAFTA, ( ) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that created a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The ...
(NAFTA). Season two was filmed in
Eilat Eilat ( , ; ; ) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port of Eilat, port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan as the Gulf of Aqaba. The c ...
, Israel. Season three was filmed in
Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...
, South Africa, with some sequences shot in
Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
. In the United States, it aired as part of the
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
umbrella series ''
Crimetime After Primetime ''Crimetime After Primetime'' is the umbrella title for a group of late-night crime-investigation shows that debuted at various times on CBS in 1991 and 1992, running through late summer of 1993. History Prior to 1989, CBS aired the similarly f ...
''.


Plot

The plot revolves around
private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a wikt:private eye, private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. ...
, Nick Slaughter, an ex-
DEA The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domes ...
agent, who after arriving in the fictional resort town of Key Mariah,
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, and setting up a detective agency there, meets up with local tourist agent, beautiful Sylvie Girard, to solve a variety of different cases. When the series was dubbed into the Spanish language for Spanish television, the series location was changed as being set in the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
American Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and a territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located ...
.


Cast

* Rob Stewart as Nick Slaughter *
Carolyn Dunn Carolyn Dunn is a Canadian actress. Her most notable role was her portrayal of Sylvie Gerard, the business partner/sidekick on ''Tropical Heat,'' which was retitled ''Sweating Bullets'' when transmitted in the United States. In 1994, she starre ...
as Sylvie Girard *John David Bland as Ian Stewart (1991–92) *
Ian Tracey Ian Tracey (born June 26, 1964) is a Canadian actor.Ian Tracey's bio
at www.northernstars.ca
Ove ...
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


Popularity in Serbia

The series was particularly popular in
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
, where it gained
cult status A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, book ...
. 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 Television (TV) is a telecommunications, telecommunication media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of signal transmission, ...
(1992–93), NS+ (1993–94),
RTS 3K RTS may refer to: Medicine * Rape trauma syndrome, the psychological trauma experienced by a rape victim * Revised Trauma Score, a system to evaluate injuries secondary to violent trauma * Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome, a condition characterized by ...
(1994–95), and
RTV Pink Pink is a privately owned, national brand of radio stations and TV channels in Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem ...
(1996–97) – and rerun numerous times. 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. 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 Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...
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. Stewart and his partners contacted Srđa Popović, former activist of
Otpor! Otpor ( sr-Cyrl, Отпор!, , stylized as Otpor!) was a political organization in Serbia (then part of FR Yugoslavia) from 1998 until 2004. In its initial period from 1998 to 2000, Otpor began as a civic protest group, eventually turning into ...
, 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. 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'' and '' Fajront Republika''), giving interviews, and making public appearances such as planting of the
maple ''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...
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. 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. 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. 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.


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''. On March 16, 2021, Mill Creek Entertainment released ''Tropical Heat- The Complete Series'' on DVD in Region 1.


See also


References


External links

*
Unofficial fan page

Slovenian page about Tropical Heat
{{Crimetime After Primetime 1990s Canadian crime drama television series 1991 Canadian television series debuts 1993 Canadian television series endings CBS original programming Canadian English-language television shows Television shows set in Florida Television shows filmed in Mexico Television shows set in Israel Television shows filmed in South Africa Television shows filmed in Israel Television shows filmed in Mauritius 1990s in Serbian television Canada–Serbia relations