The Worst Episodes of Checkmate
Every episode of Checkmate ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Checkmate!
Checkmate is an American detective television series starring Anthony George, Sebastian Cabot, and Doug McClure. The show aired on CBS Television from 1960 to 1962 for a total of 70 episodes and was produced by Jack Benny's production company, "JaMco Productions" in co-operation with Revue Studios. Guest stars included Charles Laughton, Peter Lorre, and Lee Marvin, among many other commensurately prominent performers.
Lowest Rated Episodes Summary
The worst episode of "Checkmate" is "The Terror from the East", rated 5.5/10 from 14 user votes. It was directed by Herschel Daugherty and written by N/A. "The Terror from the East" aired on 1/7/1961 and is rated 0.1 point(s) lower than the second lowest rated, "Juan Moreno's Body".
5.5/10 14 votes#1 - The Terror from the East
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 1/7/1961
No description available
Director: Herschel Daugherty
Writer: N/A
- 5.6/10 12 votes
#2 - Juan Moreno's Body
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 11/8/1961
The son of a prominent businessman has been murdered in San Felipe. The town suspects Juan Moreno, a migrant worker, but the men at Checkmate think he is being railroaded. They investigate, and in the process, uncover details that are embarrassing to both the defendant and the victim's family.
Director: Tom Gries
Writer: Anthony Spinner
- 5.7/10 18 votes
#3 - Hot Wind in a Cold Town
Season 1 Episode 34 - Aired 6/10/1961
No description available
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 5.9/10 12 votes
#4 - The Bold and the Tough
Season 2 Episode 31 - Aired 5/16/1962
After an attempt is made on the life of bankrupt ranch owner Harl Stoner, the Checkmate agency goes undercover at the ranch's stockholder's meeting, where a ruthless business man sets out to take the ranch and split it up for sale and profit.
Director: Don Taylor
Writer: N/A
- 5.9/10 14 votes
#5 - Side by Side
Season 2 Episode 34 - Aired 6/20/1962
The personal relationship between entertainer Johnny Kay and his singing partner Pete O'Mara has hit a sour note. Corey (Anthony George), who has been asked to keep a protective eye on them, shows up during one of their recording sessions - which angers Johnny into storming out of the studio.
Director: Robert Ellis Miller
Writer: N/A
- 6.1/10 12 votes
#6 - A Slight Touch of Venom
Season 1 Episode 35 - Aired 6/17/1961
No description available
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.2/10 15 votes
#7 - Hour of Execution
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 1/21/1961
No description available
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.2/10 12 votes
#8 - The Crimson Pool
Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 11/22/1961
Zoe Kamens is an artist who just wants to paint honestly by copying masterpieces, but her husband, a man of questionable ethics, has been pressuring her to make copies and pass them off as originals. He in turn is being pressured by a crooked art dealer. Zoe turns to Checkmate, but keeps changing her story because of her shifting feelings for her husband, and complicating matters is the fact that she and Don were once an item, something Don has trouble forgetting.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.2/10 10 votes
#9 - An Assassin Arrives, Andante
Season 2 Episode 19 - Aired 2/21/1962
Victor Ragar, a cellist at a music conservatory that fronts for an Eastern Bloc freedom movement of which he is the leader, is in danger of being assassinated by a compatriot who accuses him of betraying the cause. The would-be assassin, Paul Delorio, also has a personal motive- Victor ran off with Paul's wife while Paul was in prison in the old country. The conservatory's director, also a member of the movement, hires Checkmate to protect Victor.
Director: Tom Gries
Writer: N/A
- 6.2/10 12 votes
#10 - Trial by Midnight
Season 2 Episode 24 - Aired 3/28/1962
Checkmate is hired to protect the life of Judge Leland McIntyre, who is conducting a series of lectures concerning a trial over which he presided eight years ago resulting in him sending a man to the gas chamber. Checkmate suspects that one of the students may be connected to the case and signed up for the course to get to him. In the course of their investigation, the judge begins to question his own conduct in the trial.
Director: Alexander Singer
Writer: Eric Ambler, Mark Rodgers
- 6.2/10 12 votes
#11 - In a Foreign Quarter
Season 2 Episode 27 - Aired 4/18/1962
The Checkmate team is in Chinatown on behalf of a colleague of Dr. Hyatt's, a Dr. James Low, who claims his Chinese wife may try to kill a man who is supposedly blackmailing her in an attempt to ingratiate himself into Chinese society. Their investigation reveals that they are being used as pawns in an elaborate web of deceit, greed, and possibly murder.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.2/10 13 votes
#12 - Rendezvous in Washington
Season 2 Episode 30 - Aired 5/9/1962
Wealthy industrialist Frederick Haley, who has been appointed to an important position at a humanitarian foundation, asks Checkmate to find out who has been threatening his mistress, whom he plans to marry after leaving his wife.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.3/10 15 votes
#13 - Target: Tycoon
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 11/5/1960
No description available
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.3/10 14 votes
#14 - A Brooding Fixation
Season 2 Episode 22 - Aired 3/14/1962
The death of powerful business magnate Arnold Brack from an apparent gun accident, and his widow's and brother's apparent lack of emotion, leaves his grieving son, Daniel, to suspect it was no accident. His father recorded all of his dealings on tape, and Daniel searches for a recording of the moment of his father's death to find out what really happened. Checkmate is hired to aid in the investigation.
Director: Robert Ellis Miller
Writer: Oliver Crawford
- 6.4/10 13 votes
#15 - The Mask of Vengeance
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 12/3/1960
No description available
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.4/10 13 votes
#16 - State of Shock
Season 1 Episode 36 - Aired 6/24/1961
No description available
Director: James Wong Howe
Writer: N/A
- 6.4/10 18 votes
#17 - A Chant of Silence
Season 2 Episode 23 - Aired 3/21/1962
Two convicts, both former Catholic schoolboys, escape by shooting a policeman, then hole up in a monastery while Dr. Hyatt is visiting and hold the Father Abbot and Dr. Hyatt hostage. Dr. Hyatt appeals to the penitential instincts of one of the men in an effort to end the situation.
Director: William A. Graham
Writer: N/A
- 6.4/10 15 votes
#18 - Ride a Wild Horse
Season 2 Episode 25 - Aired 4/4/1962
Checkmate is hired to protect rodeo star Len Kobalsky from his girlfriend Marcy Lowell's brother, who disapproves of their relationship and prefers she marry someone from a wealthy family such as theirs. As it turns out, the real threat to Len is from one of his fellow rodeo riders.
Director: N/A
Writer: Harold Jack Bloom
- 6.4/10 10 votes
#19 - The Someday Man
Season 2 Episode 29 - Aired 5/2/1962
In a tour-de-force performance, Don Taylor guest stars as an ex-pro football player, now fronting a cheap health club and always on the make for one big score. Wealthy thrill seekers enlist him in an elaborate conspiracy to convince his college football protege to throw the big game. The detectives at Checkmate attempt to untangle the deceptions and restore Taylor's pride.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.5/10 12 votes
#20 - The Princess in the Tower
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 12/31/1960
No description available
Director: Herschel Daugherty
Writer: N/A
- 6.5/10 13 votes
#21 - Melody for Murder
Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 2/25/1961
No description available
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.5/10 13 votes
- 6.5/10 14 votes
#23 - Kill the Sound
Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 11/15/1961
Sid Caesar appears as Johnny Wilder, a highly popular but guilt-ridden, somewhat neurotic San Francisco disk jockey who believes that a former rival whose own career went on the skids blames Johnny and wants to kill him. The station's owner hires Checkmate to protect Johnny- maybe from himself.
Director: James Wong Howe
Writer: N/A
- 6.5/10 13 votes
#24 - Death Beyond Recall
Season 2 Episode 17 - Aired 2/7/1962
John Baker, a lawyer friend of Dr. Hyatt's with a mysterious past, is threatened with disbarment. He decides he wants to die, and asks a friend to arrange for his death, then changes his mind. When his friend is found murdered, he fears his death has already been arranged, and goes to Checkmate for protection.
Director: Herman Hoffman
Writer: Max Ehrlich
- 6.5/10 14 votes
#25 - Down the Gardenia Path
Season 2 Episode 33 - Aired 6/6/1962
A young hotel convention hostess is being used to escort businessmen attending the convention to their rooms, and then have her picture taken with them for the purpose of blackmail. The proprietress, Mary Reed, is suspicious and asks the men from Checkmate to investigate.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A