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The Worst Episodes of Ironside

Every episode of Ironside ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Ironside!

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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 the police department. Detective Sergeant Ed Brown and policewoman Eve

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    Ironside Season 1 Episode 29 - Return of the Hero
    1.0/10(2 votes)

    #1 - Return of the Hero

    S1:E29

    A decorated Vietnam war hero is found guilty of murder, but the Chief, amongst others, does not believe that he is guilty. Whilst he is trying to find out the truth, somebody else is killing off the witnesses, and the Chief himself may be next on the list.

    Director:Ralph Senensky
    Writer:Robert Pirosh

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  2. Ironside Season 6 Episode 3 - Programmed for Panic
    5.7/10(70 votes)

    #2 - Programmed for Panic

    S6:E3

    After a murder is committed in a San Francisco park, the Chief takes part in a live TV broadcast in the hope of provoking such a panic in his prime suspect that the man will make a mistake, or lead Ed to some hard evidence.

    Director:Daniel Petrie
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Ironside Season 3 Episode 16 - Eden Is the Place We Leave
    6.3/10(66 votes)

    #3 - Eden Is the Place We Leave

    S3:E16

    A young boxer from San Francisco's Samoan community is anxious to break free from the old traditions of his people, which he feels are holding him back. He finds the process a lot more distressing than he had imagined, however; and his own life, and those of the people he spars with, are put at risk.

    Director:Daniel Petrie
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Ironside Season 3 Episode 8 - The Machismo Bag
    6.5/10(73 votes)

    #4 - The Machismo Bag

    S3:E8

    Mark encounters a group of freedom fighters at his local college, who appear to have more attitude than sense. When it turns out that they also have a roomful of stolen automatic weapons, the Chief has to decide whether or not they represent a threat to the security of San Francisco.

    Director:Don Weis
    Writer:William Douglas Lansford

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  5. Ironside Season 1 Episode 22 - All in a Day's Work
    6.6/10(88 votes)

    #5 - All in a Day's Work

    S1:E22

    During a night on the town, Eve Whitfield kills an armed robber who tries to shoot her. When he turns out to be a boy just turned seventeen, she doubts her abilities as a police officer, particularly when half of the town seems convinced that he was a model teenager. It soon turns out that this is far from the truth.

    Director:Charles S. Dubin
    Writer:Evan Hunter

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  6. Ironside Season 4 Episode 16 - From Hrûska, with Love
    6.6/10(61 votes)

    #6 - From Hrûska, with Love

    S4:E16

    The Chief and his team are detailed to escort a spy to Mexico, in order to make an exchange with the Russians for an American scientist. When Ironside and the spy are kidnapped by a Mexican political group, Ed has to keep the Russians at bay long enough to get the pair back, so that the exchange can be made.

    Director:Alf Kjellin
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Ironside Season 7 Episode 5 - The Armageddon Gang
    6.6/10(59 votes)

    #7 - The Armageddon Gang

    S7:E5

    A scientist disappears, sparking fears at the research centre where he works that he might have defected. Suspicious at the nature of the evidence and concerned for a wife clearly devoted to her missing husband, the Chief investigates further, and finds that another of the scientists at the centre is developing some very dangerous technology indeed.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Ironside Season 8 Episode 2 - Raise the Devil (2)
    6.6/10(57 votes)

    #8 - Raise the Devil (2)

    S8:E2

    The Chief links his case with a psychiatrist, who turns out to be a psychopath with a passion for brainwashing. Before he can get his evidence together, however, Fran is taken as the next victim of the doctor's peculiar brand of therapy, and is programmed to kill Ironside. Meanwhile Susan has to face past guilt over the death of her brother before she can be safe from herself.

    Director:Russ Mayberry
    Writers:Jimmy Sangster, Anthony Lawrence

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  9. Ironside Season 4 Episode 19 - Escape
    6.7/10(63 votes)

    #9 - Escape

    S4:E19

    Ed and Eve travel to Mexico to assist in the interrogation of a former suspect in a murder case, who has been arrested for a similar offence across the border. The local police are determined to convict him, but Ed and Eve are equally certain that he is innocent; and when he is helped to escape from police custody, suspicion falls on them.

    Director:John Florea
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Ironside Season 8 Episode 1 - Raise the Devil (1)
    6.7/10(62 votes)

    #10 - Raise the Devil (1)

    S8:E1

    A woman is killed in a locked room, and her daughter Susan confesses to the murder after apparently becoming possessed by the spirit of her long-dead younger brother. The Chief enlists a psychic to help him in his investigations, but the clues that she offers him seem to confuse more than they assist.

    Director:Russ Mayberry
    Writers:Jimmy Sangster, Anthony Lawrence

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  11. Ironside Season 2 Episode 19 - And Be My Love
    6.8/10(74 votes)

    #11 - And Be My Love

    S2:E19

    Following a series of robberies amongst San Francisco's richest inhabitants, Eve Whitfield falls in love with one of the victims, only to discover that he is the Chief's prime suspect. Whilst the rest of the team worry about how to catch the thief, however, Eve is wondering if it may be time to quit the force to get married.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Dale Eunson

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  12. Ironside Season 3 Episode 21 - Warrior's Return
    6.9/10(59 votes)

    #12 - Warrior's Return

    S3:E21

    An ex-thief on parole is suspected of a jewel robbery, but the Chief, who has supported him since his release, is sure that he is innocent. Of all those with the means to commit the crime however, it seems that only this man and his young cousin are likely suspects. The fate of an entire rehabilitation programme may hang on Ironside's ability to prove his friend innocent.

    Director:Don Weis
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Ironside Season 6 Episode 18 - The Ghost of the Dancing Doll
    6.9/10(52 votes)

    #13 - The Ghost of the Dancing Doll

    S6:E18

    An old friend of Ed's goes missing after promising to take him on a fishing trip, and it soon becomes clear that he has become involved in a Mob killing. Ed is determined to prove his friend's innocence, but the evidence soon mounts up; and Ed finds himself having to argue against even the Chief in order to show that his friend is not a killer.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Ironside Season 4 Episode 24 - Lesson in Terror
    7.0/10(60 votes)

    #14 - Lesson in Terror

    S4:E24

    A gang of violent anarchists springs a protestor from prison and, when he is recaptured, try to force the police into releasing him again by kidnapping the son of a prominent lawyer. The boy, however, is in on the scheme, until he begins to realise just how far his new friends are prepared to go.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Ironside Season 5 Episode 23 - His Fiddlers Three
    7.0/10(58 votes)

    #15 - His Fiddlers Three

    S5:E23

    A violin tutor at a conservatory in San Francisco is murdered, and the suspects include an eclectic mix of talented musicians. The only clue possessed by the Chief is a message sent by the dead man to one of his students, hidden in a collection of pieces of classical music.

    Director:Alf Kjellin
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Ironside Season 6 Episode 17 - Love Me in December
    7.0/10(50 votes)

    #16 - Love Me in December

    S6:E17

    When her fiancé is accused of murder, a young woman comes to Ironside for help; but when it transpires that the fiancé in question is an old Naval acquaintance of the Chief's, a man with whom he did not get along, the assistance is both offered and accepted somewhat grudgingly. It soon becomes clear, however, that the prejudice which exists in the couple's home town is in serious danger of destroying an innocent man's life.

    Director:Don Weis
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Ironside Season 1 Episode 15 - Girl in the Night
    7.1/10(93 votes)

    #17 - Girl in the Night

    S1:E15

    Ed falls for a girl he meets after hearing her playing the piano in a bar in Las Vegas. While they are out together Ed is knocked unconscious and the girl disappears. Ed, Ironside and the team try to figure out the mysterious circumstances behind her disappearance.

    Director:Ralph Senensky
    Writers:Dean Riesner, True Eames Boardman

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  18. Ironside Season 1 Episode 25 - Perfect Crime
    7.1/10(83 votes)

    #18 - Perfect Crime

    S1:E25

    Lecturing on a law course at a local college, the Chief finds that one of the students is planning to prove that the perfect crime can be committed. The person responsible appears to be particularly cold and calculating, and the Chief finds that he is facing true genius.

    Director:Charles S. Dubin
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Ironside Season 4 Episode 12 - The Laying on of Hands
    7.1/10(63 votes)

    #19 - The Laying on of Hands

    S4:E12

    Pablo Esteban, a young Mexican boy, is brought to San Francisco by some businessmen who claim that he can heal people just by touching them. Placed on the case to find out whether it is for real, the Chief develops a close friendship with the boy, and has to help him when he finds out that it is all just a money-making scam.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Ironside Season 4 Episode 22 - The Summer Soldier
    7.1/10(63 votes)

    #20 - The Summer Soldier

    S4:E22

    An old Armenian, the uncle of a friend of Eve's, appears to be hiding some secret that has his niece deeply worried. It soon transpires that his two nephews are involved in the manufacture of narcotics, drugs which are then being sold to children. But the fact that their uncle is keeping quiet about it suggests that he too has something to hide.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Ironside Season 6 Episode 2 - The Savage Sentry
    7.1/10(63 votes)

    #21 - The Savage Sentry

    S6:E2

    A man with an uncanny ability to tame vicious guard dogs commits a series of robberies in San Francisco. The Chief has a plan to stop him, but it calls for a dog of his own and a willingness to put himself right in the line of fire.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Ironside Season 6 Episode 5 - Camera...Action...Murder!
    7.1/10(61 votes)

    #22 - Camera...Action...Murder!

    S6:E5

    The Chief receives a series of films showing the murders of young women, and his investigation is assisted by a filmmaker currently wooing Fran Belding. This man becomes the Chief's prime suspect, much to Fran's distress; but trouble looms larger when Fran herself is marked as the next victim.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Ironside Season 6 Episode 14 - Ollinger's Last Case
    7.1/10(66 votes)

    #23 - Ollinger's Last Case

    S6:E14

    The Chief receives a worrying phone call from Ted Ollinger, an old friend, and he sends Ed to investigate. In the tiny town of Grant Bay Ed can find no sign of his former colleague; but he soon discovers that the locals are determined to hide something from him and that at least one of them will stop at nothing to keep him from the truth.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Ironside Season 7 Episode 1 - Confessions from a Lady of the Night
    7.1/10(64 votes)

    #24 - Confessions from a Lady of the Night

    S7:E1

    A sleazy magazine prints stories against the SFPD, and Ironside in particular, using the tale of a vanished actor as an example of the department's uselessness. When those involved with the story start receiving parcel bombs, it becomes clear that somebody does not want the disappearance investigated; and the Chief is all the more determined to uncover the truth.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Ironside Season 1 Episode 8 - Tagged for Murder
    7.2/10(105 votes)

    #25 - Tagged for Murder

    S1:E8

    An apparently accidental death occurs, but Ed risks his shield on the certainty that it was murder. When Ironside gets on the case a murky tale of murdered ex-servicemen and an old robbery is soon uncovered.

    Director:Charles S. Dubin
    Writer:Unknown

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Return of the Hero" is the worst rated episode of "Ironside". It scored 1/10 based on 2 votes. Directed by Ralph Senensky and written by Robert Pirosh, it aired on 4/4/1968. This episode scored 4.7 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Programmed for Panic".