Ironside backdrop
Ironside poster
Crime
Drama
Mystery

The Best Episodes of Ironside

Every episode of Ironside ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Ironside!

The Best Episodes of Ironside

When an assassin's bullet confines him to a wheelchair for life ending his career as Chief of Detectives, Robert T. Ironside becomes a consultant to...

Filter By Season8

  1. 8.8/10(71 votes)

    #1 - Gentle Oaks

    S5:E12

    A string of deaths at a convalescence home leads the Chief to go undercover as a patient, whose two children (Fran Belding and Ed) hint that they wish he were "no longer their problem". It soon appears that violence and murder are considered due care by certain members of the staff.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  2. 8.6/10(77 votes)

    #2 - One Hour to Kill

    S3:E20

    Ironside becomes trapped in his office on his own, when a man comes looking for revenge. With Mark at school and Ed dragged to the opera by Eve, the Chief has to improvise a series of defences, whilst his team gradually come to realise that something is very wrong.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Writer:N/A
  3. 8.5/10(91 votes)

    #3 - Rundown on a Bum Rap

    S2:E16

    Mark's old boxing coach, an alcoholic, is found at the scene of a serious assault, and nobody seems prepared to entertain the theory that he might just be innocent. Mark battles to prove that he has been falsely accused, assisted by the rest of the team, and in the process wins the affections of his law school teacher.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:Allen Reisner
    Writer:N/A
  4. 8.5/10(60 votes)

    #4 - Contract: Kill Ironside

    S5:E2

    Due to give evidence, the Chief discovers that there is a contract out on his life, and that the chosen killer is a highly dedicated man. Whilst the authorities see only the lethal killer, however, it seems that everybody has another side to their personality.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:Don Weis
    Writer:N/A
  5. 8.4/10(69 votes)

    #5 - Walls Are Waiting

    S4:E26

    A parole officer famed for his hard line against drug pushers begins to fear for his life after a shooting. The line of suspects, however, as well as including one of his current clients, also seems to include that client's lawyer, and even the parole officer himself.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  6. 8.4/10(53 votes)

    #6 - The Best Laid Plans

    S6:E22

    The Chief is in the bank when it is robbed by a gang of three men, planning to await the arrival of a payroll delivery truck. The threesome are at odds with each other from the start, and Ironside plans to work on the antagonism between them, but they are wise to his plans and will stop at nothing to get what they want.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 WORST Episodes of Ironside

    READ
  8. 8.4/10(52 votes)

    #7 - A Taste of Ashes

    S7:E18

    A girl thought to have died years previously turns up at the home of her mother just as her brother is found murdered. Clearly somebody is trying to kill the family off, but is it connected to the girl, and is she really who she says she is?

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  9. 8.3/10(65 votes)

    #8 - Dora

    S3:E14

    A fruit seller is threatened by a protection racket, who obtain false photographs of her lawyer son in an attempt to coerce her into letting them invest in her business on the docks. The racket has not reckoned on the tenacity of Dora and her son, however; or on her good friend Chief Ironside.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:John Florea
    Writer:N/A
  10. 8.3/10(59 votes)

    #9 - Little Jerry Jessup

    S3:E22

    A thirteen year old boy is the only witness to his mother's murder, but finds it hard to co-operate with the Chief, knowing that it was Ironside who put his father in prison. Allowing Marty Jessup a temporary pass is the only way for the Chief to solve the murder and to lessen his conscience at the same time.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:Don Weis
    Writer:N/A
  11. 8.3/10(56 votes)

    #10 - The Riddle in Room Six

    S4:E21

    A court case is put in jeopardy when it seems that the jury is irrevocably hung over its verdict; until the Chief realises that one member must surely be on the take. He has a race against time to unmask the guilty party, however, before the judge must dismiss the jury and let the defendant walk free.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:John Florea
    Writer:N/A
  12. 8.3/10(59 votes)

    #11 - Down Two Roads

    S6:E4

    Mark's graduation from law school coincides with the arrest of a caretaker that he has befriended. Believing the man innocent, he finds the weight of the law stacked against him, and quickly becomes disillusioned with his new career. Should he turn his back on law altogether, though, or should he just find another way to devote himself to justice?

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  13. 8.3/10(59 votes)

    #12 - Murder by One

    S7:E2

    The teenage son of a friend of Fran's appears to commit suicide, however the evidence seems to point in a number of different directions. Did he kill himself, or was it a murder made to look like suicide? Or, alternatively, was a suicide made to look like it could have been murder? The Chief has to unravel the story, but he has little real evidence to help him along.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  14. 8.3/10(53 votes)

    #13 - What's New with Mark?

    S8:E3

    Mark and his girlfriend come across a murder whilst on a date, but decide to defend the killer when it transpires that he acted in self defence. During the case the pair get married, and Ed decides to move in with the Chief in Mark's place.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Writer:N/A
  15. 8.2/10(101 votes)

    #14 - The Monster of Comus Towers

    S1:E11

    An ingenious art theft takes place at Comus Towers Art Museum, and a guard is murdered in the process. Chief Ironside takes the case, but another death is to follow; this time the proprietor of the museum, who is an old friend of the Chief's.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:Don Weis
    Writer:N/A
  16. 8.2/10(104 votes)

    #15 - A Very Cool Hot Car

    S1:E13

    Cars are being stolen in worryingly high numbers, and with the numbers recovered falling dramatically, the signs point to a crooked cop somewhere in the department. Mark is convinced that the cop in question is innocent, but nobody else seems very sure.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
  17. 8.2/10(77 votes)

    #16 - Reprise

    S2:E9

    When Eve is injured during a shooting, the rest of the team recall their early encounters with her, and the Chief wonders if he was right ever to have encouraged her to join the force. Meanwhile, Ed worries over whether he wants to arrest Eve's attacker, or just kill the man outright.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  18. 8.2/10(57 votes)

    #17 - The Man on the Inside

    S4:E10

    When a drug pusher is arrested following a spate of botched drug raids he fingers Ironside as a gang informer. Ed is press-ganged onto a team set up to investigate the Chief, which leads to conflict with Eve. Meanwhile Ironside himself seems to be taking the investigation very calmly, which leads to concern all round.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  19. 8.2/10(50 votes)

    #18 - And Then There Was One

    S5:E19

    A military-issue fragmentation grenade is used in an attack on two Vietnam veterans, one of whom - a friend of Mark's - is killed. When it transpires that another of the pair's old unit has come under similar attack, the Chief sets out to trap the killer, using Ed in a cunning disguise as bait.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  20. 8.2/10(79 votes)

    #19 - Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Murder

    S5:E21

    The small daughter of a friend of the Chief's dabbles in witchcraft, and becomes convinced that she is responsible for the death of her parents' landlord. Taking to the case to show her that the truth is otherwise, Ironside discovers that the man arrested for causing the death might be equally innocent.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Writer:N/A
  21. 8.2/10(44 votes)

    #20 - Close to the Heart

    S7:E20

    When a woman crashes her car into the Chief's van after suffering a minor heart attack, doctors discover a bullet lodged in her chest, where it has apparently been for several years. When she claims to have no knowledge of ever being shot, the Chief investigates, and soon links her case to that of an unsolved murder.

    0 Comments
    View all
  22. 8.2/10(58 votes)

    #21 - Riddle at 24,000

    S7:E22

    A man dies of a heart attack whilst flying his plane, but the town medical examiner, a charmingly eccentric Cuban doctor, is convinced that there was foul play. By chance Ironside and Ed are on their way to visit and soon become involved in his investigations; but between pregnant ducks and volatile banana cocktails they have their work cut out as never before.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:Don Weis
    Writer:Lane Slate
  23. 8.1/10(108 votes)

    #22 - The Taker

    S1:E6

    A policeman known to Ironside for some years is shot dead whilst on an investigation. The evidence points to him being crooked, but the Chief is determined to prove otherwise.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:Don Weis
  24. 8.1/10(84 votes)

    #23 - Force of Arms

    S1:E17

    A local businessman sets up an organized vigilante force to try to clean up San Francisco. When a key member is murdered, it becomes clear that the "Second Force" has got severely out of hand.

    0 Comments
    View all
  25. 8.1/10(100 votes)

    #24 - Something for Nothing

    S1:E23

    A compulsive (and unlucky) gambler is in debt to a local mobster for $32,000. Ironside wants to put the mobster away, but only can if the gambler is prepared to turn state's evidence. The Chief has to persuade him to turn against the man who is offering him a way out of debt. (NB - The second episode to feature original song From The Day You're Born.)

    0 Comments
    View all
  26. 8.1/10(80 votes)

    #25 - The Sacrifice

    S2:E3

    A policeman friend of Ironside and the team is the prime suspect in a murder investigation. Is he really guilty, though, or is the evidence just a little too damning?

    0 Comments
    View all
    Writer:N/A

Best Episodes Summary

"Gentle Oaks" is the best rated episode of "Ironside". It scored 8.8/10 based on 71 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 11/25/1971. This episode scored 0.2 points higher than the second highest rated, "One Hour to Kill".