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The Best Episodes of Riverboat

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

Riverboat is a 44-episode western television series starring Darren McGavin and Burt Reynolds broadcast on the NBC television network from September 13, 1959 until January...
Genre:Western
Network:NBC

Best Episodes Summary

"The Barrier" is the best rated episode of "Riverboat". It scored 8.5/10 based on 16 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 9/20/1959. This episode scored 0.3 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Faithless".

  • The Barrier
    8.5/1016 votes
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    #1 - The Barrier

    Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 9/20/1959

    Young Jefferson Carruthers has been assigned to a new post as an Indian agent. He and his wife board the Enterprise to travel to their new home. Also on board is Vance Muldoon, who plans to offer Carruthers money if he will smuggle liquor to the Indians.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Faithless
    8.2/1016 votes
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    #2 - The Faithless

    Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 11/22/1959

    Prisoner Paul Drake is being returned to custody by a prison guard. Because Drake has already tricked him once, the guard shackles his prisoner to a deckhouse on the Enterprise.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Sellout
    8.0/108 votes
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    #3 - The Sellout

    Season 1 Episode 31 - Aired 4/18/1960

    The Enterprise is badly in need of repairs and Holden has got to accept Nick Logan's offer. He will repair the boat, if afterward, he and his partner can use it.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Strange Request
    7.9/1012 votes
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    #4 - Strange Request

    Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 12/13/1959

    Actress Lorna Langton wants to charter the Enterprise and a skeleton crew for a trip to St. Louis. The actress has been told that her young son, kidnapped some years before, is being held in another town.

    Director: John Rich

    Writer: N/A

  • Race to Cincinnati
    7.8/1012 votes
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    #5 - Race to Cincinnati

    Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/4/1959

    John Jenkins has placed a large down payment on land owned by three ruthless farmers. Jenkins is planning to deliver a shipment of peaches, via the Enterprise, to Cincinnati, as a final payment for the land. But the farmers plot to block the boat so the shipment of peaches will be spoiled.

    Director: Jules Munshin

    Writer: N/A

  • The Face of Courage
    7.8/109 votes
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    #6 - The Face of Courage

    Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 12/27/1959

    The Enterprise steams upriver with a cargo of arms and recruits for the Fort Union outpost. At Akins Landing, Grey Holden is told by Homer Atkins that the Sioux have been watching the boat and are planning an uprising.

    Director: William Witney

    Writer: N/A

  • Landlubbers
    7.8/109 votes
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    #7 - Landlubbers

    Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 1/10/1960

    The Enterprise, tied up overnight, is boarded and highjacked by a vicious crew, who kill the three men left to guard the boat. Captain Grey Holden and Ben Fraser return to the scene in time to see their craft heading down the river. They set out overland to head her off.

    Director: William Witney

    Writer: N/A

  • The Fight Back
    7.7/1016 votes
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    #8 - The Fight Back

    Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 10/18/1959

    Ansel Torgin hires the Enterprise for his daughter's wedding. Captain Grey Holden recognizes the bridegroom as a drifter he once threw off his riverboat.

    Director: Jules Munshin

    Writer: N/A

  • Three Graves
    7.7/109 votes
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    #9 - Three Graves

    Season 1 Episode 26 - Aired 3/14/1960

    The crew of the Enterprise planned a big night on the town. But when they dock, they find the place completely deserted, except for three new graves.

    Director: William Witney

    Writer: N/A

  • About Roger Mowbray
    7.6/1017 votes
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    #10 - About Roger Mowbray

    Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 9/27/1959

    Wealthy Roger Mowbray's marriage is threatened when an old sweetheart intimates that Roger married for money. Because he really loves his wife, Roger is doubly upset to discover that his father seems to be involved in the scheme to break up the marriage.

    Director: Felix E. Feist

    Writer: Hagar Wilde

  • Jessie Quinn
    7.6/1011 votes
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    #11 - Jessie Quinn

    Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 12/6/1959

    Lt. Perry Quinn, an officer in Sam Houston's Texas Army, hires the Enterprise to deliver a cargo of lead down river. Captain Grey Holden is warned that Santa Ana's agents may try to sabotage the shipment.

    Director: Jules Munshin

    Writer: N/A

  • The Wichita Arrows
    7.6/1010 votes
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    #12 - The Wichita Arrows

    Season 1 Episode 24 - Aired 2/29/1960

    Dan Duryea steps into the leading role for the first of two episodes.

    Director: William Witney

    Writer: N/A

  • Fort Epitaph
    7.5/1015 votes
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    #13 - Fort Epitaph

    Season 1 Episode 25 - Aired 3/7/1960

    Dan Duryea has the leading role in the second of two episodes.

    Director: John Brahm

    Writer: N/A

  • The Unwilling
    7.4/1024 votes
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    #14 - The Unwilling

    Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 10/11/1959

    Riverboat pilot John Murrell plans to hijack a shipment from rival pilot Dan Simpson. Murrell arranges to have Lela Candida take a job on Simpson's boat as a dancing girl, so that she can signal his raiders when to attack.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Witness No Evil
    7.4/1016 votes
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    #15 - Witness No Evil

    Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 11/1/1959

    Otto Justin, dealer in wild animals, is escorting a shipment of his captured beasts to St. Louis aboard the Enterprise. Widow Abby Saunders and her young son Paddy are both impressed with Justin's manner.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Guns for Empire
    7.4/1013 votes
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    #16 - Guns for Empire

    Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 12/20/1959

    Anthony Lorrimer charters the Enterprise to deliver a cargo of farm machinery to his thriving community of Lorrimer City. Captain Grey Holden is unaware that the cargo is actually arms and ammunition.

    Director: William Witney

    Writer: N/A

  • Salvage Pirates
    7.4/108 votes
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    #17 - Salvage Pirates

    Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 1/31/1960

    Louise Harrison and her boy friend, the only survivors of a boat tragedy, do some quick thinking. Realizing that a fortune in jewels went down with the ship, they appeal to their rescuer, Grey Holden, to help them retrieve Louise's ""dowry.""

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Chicota Landing
    7.4/1010 votes
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    #18 - Chicota Landing

    Season 2 Episode 10 - Aired 12/5/1960

    The Enterprise arrives at Chicota Landing with a cargo of gunpowder for the Army. Before they can unload it, the boat is taken over by a gang of Mexican bandits led by Juan Cortilla.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • A Night At Trapper's Landing
    7.2/1019 votes
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    #19 - A Night At Trapper's Landing

    Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/8/1959

    French playboy Andre Devereaux has become an American lieutenant. Assigned to lead some troops into Indian Territory, he finds that the normally peaceful Indians have been provoked to violence.

    Director: Felix E. Feist

    Writer: N/A

  • The Two Faces of Grey Holden
    7.2/1012 votes
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    #20 - The Two Faces of Grey Holden

    Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 10/3/1960

    To Captain Holden, his romance with Marie Tourette was just a pleasant interlude, until he discovers she is passing him off as her fiancé. While her family is in on the deception, they expect Grey to follow through and marry

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Zigzag
    7.2/1011 votes
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    #21 - Zigzag

    Season 2 Episode 12 - Aired 12/26/1960

    In town to have an aching tooth removed, Carney stops at the saloon for a bolstering drink. This makes him late for the dentist, so Blake undertakes to separate Carney from his tooth.

    Director: Sidney Lanfield

    Writer: N/A

  • Payment In Full
    7.1/1026 votes
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    #22 - Payment In Full

    Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/13/1959

    For a price, simple-minded Hunk Farber is only happy to reveal the whereabouts of his boss, Monte, who accidentally killed a senator's son. The reward in his pocket, Hunk heads for Captain Holden's riverboat. There he is eager to impress a young lady aboard the Enterprise.

    Director: Douglas Heyes

    Writer: Douglas Heyes

  • The Boy From Pittsburgh
    7.1/1019 votes
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    #23 - The Boy From Pittsburgh

    Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 11/29/1959

    Tommy Jones, a young stowaway, is discovered aboard the Enterprise. Also on board is a pair of thieves, who plan to blow up the boat to collect insurance on some diamonds they are shipping to St. Louis.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: George Tibbles

  • Forbidden Island
    7.0/108 votes
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    #24 - Forbidden Island

    Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 1/24/1960

    While the Enterprise makes a stop for wood, a group of Cajuns board the vessel and hijack a part of the cargo. Two people are shot during the incident.

    Director: Sidney Lanfield

    Writer: N/A

  • The Treasure of Hawk Hill
    7.0/107 votes
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    #25 - The Treasure of Hawk Hill

    Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 2/8/1960

    Bank robbers have a falling-out over some hidden loot. One of the men manages to give a map of the hiding place to his son, before he is killed. The boy heads up river on a raft to deliver it to his uncle.

    Director: William Witney

    Writer: N/A