Thriving in Heat of Adversity : Television: Despite heart bypass surgery and the personal problems of his co-star Howard Rollins, Carroll O’Connor is happy in his work.

Carroll O’Connor is sitting at a corner table in his Beverly Hills restaurant, contemplating the past year. He’s never been through anything like it.

“No, I certainly haven’t,” he says, shaking his head.

A year ago this month, O’Connor underwent heart bypass surgery at an Atlanta hospital, a short drive from the Covington, Ga., set of his NBC series, “In the Heat of the Night.”

He recovered quickly, returned to the show and, instead of easing off, increased his workload by taking over as co-executive producer.

The police series has also undergone another crisis in its two years on the air as O’Connor’s co-star, Howard Rollins, fought his own private battle, which first came to light following his 1988 arrest in Louisiana for drug possession and drunk driving.

O’Connor says he’s “very fond” of the talented young actor, who, he adds, has a “life’s task” of recovery--but is also a valuable partner on the show.

Despite this history of headaches, “In the Heat of the Night” powered into the Top 10 programs in this week’s national ratings--an amazing survivor of a chain of events that might have killed off another series.

O’Connor’s dedication to the show, in which he plays a Southern police chief and Rollins is his top detective, has been typically relentless.

“I’m satisfied we’ve turned in a good season in my first season as executive producer (with Fred Silverman),” says O’Connor, 65. “But I’m not satisfied with that. I think we can do even better.”

He adds: “The only thing that was on my mind after last season, counting in the operation and recuperation, was to get control of this series. And I wasn’t thinking of backing off or taking any rest or vacations.”

The success of the program, which was renewed Wednesday for next season, has finally given O’Connor a new image to replace his greatest role--that of the bigot Archie Bunker in “All in the Family.”

But has the extra work been worth it? How’s O’Connor feeling a year after the surgery?

Digging into a luncheon salad at The Ginger Man restaurant, soon to be renamed Carroll O’Connor’s Place, the actor says:

“I’m glad to be able to tell all prospective heart patients that I feel better than I did before the operation. I had six blockages that they bypassed, and now the arteries are open. It’s bound to make you feel better.

“I ride the stationary bicycle. When I was down in Georgia, I walked a treadmill. Back home, I can go down to the beach in Malibu and walk. They told me I didn’t have to get into calisthenics. I don’t walk as much as I should. I’ve got to get with it more.”

O’Connor’s year to remember was full of highlights--including one that “delighted” him, a fifth Emmy Award for best leading actor, honoring him for “In the Heat of the Night.” He was also inducted into the TV academy’s Hall of Fame.

But his consuming passion, he says, has been the scripts for “In the Heat of the Night.” He writes some and “I’ve rewritten everything. You do not have the freedom to do your best acting working with a piece of material in which you have no belief, no confidence, because then you’re bound up with inhibitions and fear and you can’t act.

“I know the first thing is your health. But assuming I wasn’t going to devote the rest of my life, or what’s left, to making sure I get as many years as I can--once I said I’ll keep working--then the first priority was controlling the series creatively. There was no sense in going on with it and not having control because I simply would have had a heart attack in spite of the bypasses, because the stress of doing things that you detest is indescribable. It is for me. I just cannot live with something that I not only don’t like, but don’t respect.”

Following his successful surgery, O’Connor took out a Hollywood trade paper ad humorously suggesting that he might be easier to get along with.

“A lot of executives in the business,” he laughs, “have found me to be, to say the least, a cranky fellow. So I was really saying to them that I was feeling better and that I might be a more acceptable personality.

“We’re back to the writing again. From the time I did ‘All in the Family,’ I’ve always been very cranky about the material, and I used to get into bitter arguments with writers, directors and producers, saying, ‘This is wrong’ or ‘I don’t like this’ or ‘This is not funny.’ And they’d become furious. I wasn’t always right. And I’m very sorry for losing my temper and being a boor during ‘All in the Family.’ ”

Doing “In the Heat of the Night,” says O’Connor, “I tend not to be a bully, but”--he admits--”now and then I give way to temper and take up a bullying stance, for which I’m sorry. It’s all about material.”

The material, plus the teaming of O’Connor and Rollins, has indeed worked wonders in head-on competition with ABC’s top-rated “Roseanne.” In last week’s ratings, for instance, “Roseanne” drew 33% of the national audience while “In the Heat of the Night” was a strong contender with 27%. In the past season, the O’Connor-Rollins series cut “Roseanne’s” advantage in total TV homes by 28%.

During their personal health tribulations while on the weekly one-hour program, O’Connor and Rollins have expressed concern for each other’s well-being. Each missed several episodes because of their problems, Rollins just a few months ago. O’Connor acknowledges that actors with problems can ask to leave a project, but bristles at the notion that Rollins might not be back on the show next season.

“First of all,” says O’Connor, “I missed him professionally from the show. Second of all, I missed him personally because I’m very fond of this man. He is a very charming, endearing person. He’s witty. He’s fun. He’s a very amiable companion.”

O’Connor says that he phoned his co-star several times when he was recovering in a clinic during his recent absence.

“I’d just ask him, ‘You want a report on what we’re doing?’ ‘Yeah, tell me.’ I’d say, ‘Well, we did this and this and this.’ It’s kind of silly to give advice. A person is in a recovery place, he’s getting advice from people and suggestions and orders all day long. You spend about three or four minutes on the phone. You try to be funny and cheerful and say, ‘We love you and we miss you.’ ”

During the past year, “In the Heat of the Night” almost seemed jinxed. In addition to the problems of O’Connor and Rollins, Silverman also suffered a heart attack, from which he, too, has recovered. “I have thought the very same thing,” says O’Connor. “We’ve had a lot of bad luck.”

But now it’s on to next season, and O’Connor says he no longer wants to spend seven months a year on location in Georgia doing “In the Heat of the Night.” MGM-TV President David Gerber, Silverman and the actor are deciding on filming plans, based on cost and how to retain the flavor of the show if some or most of it is shot here.