8.4/10174 votesLoading...#1 - Operation Stuart
Season 2 Episode 15 - Aired 11/14/1998
The kids take in a really ratty stray cat that they find near the dumpster, naming it Stuart.
Director: Chuck Sheetz
Writer: Katy Ballard
8.4/10167 votesLoading...#2 - Dodgeball City
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 9/18/1999
The main kids discover that Gus was once a notorious dodgeball player who went by the name of El Diablo.
Director: Howy Parkins
Writer: Mark Drop, Phil Walsh, Gil Evans
8.1/10146 votesLoading...#3 - Gus' Last Stand
Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 10/3/1998
Gus winds up the new target of the school bully's wrath.
Director: Chuck Sheetz
Writer: Jonathan Rosenthal
8.0/10154 votesLoading...#4 - Omega Kids
Season 2 Episode 20 - Aired 12/12/1998
The main kids wish they could have the overcrowded school to themselves, then surprisingly get their wish.
Director: Chuck Sheetz
Writer: Steve Bannos
8.0/10143 votesLoading...#5 - Gretchen and the Secret of Yo
Season 2 Episode 12 - Aired 10/31/1998
Gretchen turns to former yo-yo champ Tommy Tate to learn how to master the yo-yo.
Director: Chuck Sheetz
Writer: Doria Biddle
8.0/10129 votesLoading...#6 - The Rules
Season 4 Episode 14 - Aired 11/7/1999
The original 1935 edition of The Rules of the Playground is discovered in the library.
Director: Howy Parkins
Writer: Etan Cohen, Bart Jennett
7.9/10175 votesLoading...#7 - Parents' Night
Season 1 Episode 25 - Aired 1/17/1998
Spinelli will do anything to keep her parents from attending parents' night and meeting the others.
Director: Chuck Sheetz
Writer: Holly Huckins
7.9/10155 votesLoading...#8 - The Break-Up
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 9/12/1998
The gang breaks up when they are forced to choose a best friend to write about.
Director: Chuck Sheetz
Writer: Michael L. Kramer
7.9/10153 votesLoading...#9 - Economics of Recess
Season 2 Episode 19 - Aired 12/12/1998
When the playground goes on the monsticker standard T.J. goes down the path from poverty to wealth.
Director: Howy Parkins
Writer: Mark Drop, Phil Walsh, Rick Gitelson
7.9/10149 votesLoading...#10 - Operation Field Trip
Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 10/3/1998
All the kids go on a big field trip to MISOOE (The Museum of Industry, Science, Oceanography, Oddities and Energy). But Ol' Smokey, the beloved school bus, breaks down in the middle of nowhere.
Director: Chuck Sheetz
Writer: Michael L. Kramer
7.9/10131 votesLoading...#11 - Lost Leader
Season 6 Episode 5 - Aired 11/4/2001
When one of T.J.s plans goes wrong and Gus breaks his leg he won't make another plan. It's up to the others to get T.J. back to his old self
Director: Howy Parkins
Writer: Bart Jennett, Randy Fechtor
7.8/10198 votesLoading...#12 - The Experiment
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 9/20/1997
The kids carry out a crucial experiment to see if it's really true that kissing each other is an inevitable part of their future.
Director: Chuck Sheetz
Writer: Lesa Kite
7.8/10146 votesLoading...#13 - Outcast Ashley
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 9/19/1998
Ashley A. hooks up with Gretchen when she sins against the clique so gravely as to get thrown out.
Director: Chuck Sheetz
Writer: Doria Biddle
7.8/10129 votesLoading...#14 - The Big Prank
Season 4 Episode 2 - Aired 9/12/1999
The kids rope T.J. into a challenge to play a prank on King Bob before the end of the school day.
Director: Chuck Sheetz
Writer: Gregg Taylor
7.8/10128 votesLoading...#15 - Schoolworld
Season 4 Episode 21 - Aired 11/21/1999
The school gets a new technology system installed called the SAL 3000 which controls everything.
Director: Howy Parkins
Writer: Scott Shelley
7.8/10129 votesLoading...#16 - Soccer Boy
Season 4 Episode 34 - Aired 2/27/2000
Mikey makes the other kids regret not letting them play on their team for the playground's soccer tourney.
Director: Howy Parkins
Writer: Bart Jennett, Scott Redman
7.7/10190 votesLoading...#17 - Jinxed
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 9/27/1997
The Ashleys jinx Gus according to the playground rules so that he can't talk until his friends say his name.
Director: Chuck Sheetz
Writer: Scott Shelley
7.7/10143 votesLoading...#18 - Mama's Girl
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 9/19/1998
Spinelli gets labelled a mama's girl when she inadvertantly calls Ms. Grotke ""Mama.""
Director: Chuck Sheetz
Writer: Mark Drop
7.7/10156 votesLoading...#19 - The Story of Whomps
Season 2 Episode 17 - Aired 1/9/1999
Principal Prickly and Miss Finster deem T.J.'s word "whomps" as a cuss and punish him for it, starting a scandal that leads all the way to the board of education.
Director: Chuck Sheetz
Writer: Mark Drop
7.7/10143 votesLoading...#20 - The Challenge
Season 2 Episode 9 - Aired 10/10/1998
A visit from Principal Prickly's brother Paul leads to a challenge between 3rd Street and 98th Street kickball teams.
Director: Chuck Sheetz
Writer: Jonathan Greenberg
7.7/10145 votesLoading...#21 - The Girl Was Trouble
Season 2 Episode 13 - Aired 11/7/1998
Gretchen's search for her stolen laptop leads her on a journey among the school's delinquents that ultimately brings about her downfall.
Director: Chuck Sheetz
Writer: Mark Drop
7.7/10139 votesLoading...#22 - Lord of the Nerds
Season 3 Episode 10 - Aired 11/6/1999
T.J. breaks his clavicle and now has to spend recess with the ""pale kids"" in Room 51.
Director: Chuck Sheetz, Howy Parkins
Writer: Ford Riley
7.7/10143 votesLoading...#23 - The Ratings Game
Season 3 Episode 16 - Aired 1/22/2000
Everyone is segregrated once the Ashley's start giving ratings to everyone on the playground.
Director: Howy Parkins
Writer: Holly Huckins, Ilana Wernick
7.7/10127 votesLoading...#24 - The First Picture Show
Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 9/12/1999
Señor Fusion: the Movie finally opens and T.J. vows to be there at its first screening.
Director: Chuck Sheetz
Writer: Richard Whitley
7.7/10131 votesLoading...#25 - The Dude
Season 4 Episode 23 - Aired 11/28/1999
T.J. and the gang meet Mr. Dudicoff, a student teacher who was a legend at 3rd Street School back in the day.
Director: Howy Parkins
Writer: Richard Whitley
The Best Episodes of Recess
Every episode of Recess ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Recess!
Join a group of six fourth-grade best friends at Third Street Elementary School on their fun-filled adventures in their school playground. Through the ups-and-downs of...
Genres:AnimationKidsComedy
Best Episodes Summary
"Operation Stuart" is the best rated episode of "Recess". It scored 8.4/10 based on 174 votes. Directed by Chuck Sheetz and written by Katy Ballard, it aired on 11/14/1998. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Dodgeball City".