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The Best Episodes of Route 66

Every episode of Route 66 ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Route 66!

Binge this in 4d 20h•Peaking at 9.0/10

After discovering that his late father has gone through most of the family fortune, Tod Stiles hits the title trans-America highway in his Corvette in search of adventure with friend Buz Murdock, a survivor of

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Route 66 Season 2 Episode 3 - Good Night, Sweet Blues
    9.0/10(209 votes)

    #1 - Good Night, Sweet Blues

    S2:E3

    Ethel Waters is a dying blues singer who asks Tod and Buz to locate her old jazz band for one last show. Filming Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

    Director:Jack Smight
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Route 66 Season 3 Episode 8 - Welcome to the Wedding
    8.6/10(103 votes)

    #2 - Welcome to the Wedding

    S3:E8

    While waiting for his date in a Cleveland railroad station Tod encounters convict Justin Lezama who is being moved to another prison. Lezama wants to call his brother and when the guard refuses Tod agrees to make the contact. Lezama takes Tod as a hostage. Filming Location: Cleveland, Ohio

    Director:George Sherman
    Writer:Howard Rodman

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  3. Route 66 Season 4 Episode 8 - I Wouldn't Start From Here
    8.6/10(85 votes)

    #3 - I Wouldn't Start From Here

    S4:E8

    Tod and Linc work for a Vermont farmer and get involved in a pulling horse race. Filming Location: Vermont

    Director:Allen H. Miner
    Writer:Ernest Kinoy

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  4. Route 66 Season 2 Episode 7 - The Mud Nest
    8.5/10(152 votes)

    #4 - The Mud Nest

    S2:E7

    In the small Maryland town of Hester, Buz meets some people who physically resemble him (played by Maharis' relatives). He has been looking for his mother and thinks she may be in the town. Filming Location: Near Baltimore, Maryland

    Director:James Sheldon
    Writer:Stirling Silliphant

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  5. Route 66 Season 2 Episode 24 - Even Stones Have Eyes
    8.5/10(105 votes)

    #5 - Even Stones Have Eyes

    S2:E24

    Buz is blinded in an accident. At a school for the blind he falls for a blind girl (Celia). His sight returns and he has to leave her. Filming Location: Austin and Kerrville, Texas

    Director:Robert Gist
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Route 66 Season 3 Episode 5 - Voice at the End of the Line
    8.5/10(113 votes)

    #6 - Voice at the End of the Line

    S3:E5

    Tod and Buz encounter a downtrodden stock clerk who is involved in a telephone romance. Filming Location: Chicago, Illinois

    Director:David Lowell Rich
    Writer:Unknown

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Route 66

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  7. Route 66 Season 2 Episode 1 - A Month of Sundays
    8.4/10(143 votes)

    #7 - A Month of Sundays

    S2:E1

    Buz falls in love with actress Arlene Sims who has a fatal disease and has returned to her home town to die. Filming Location: Butte, Montana

    Director:Arthur Hiller
    Writer:Stirling Silliphant

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  8. Route 66 Season 2 Episode 25 - Love is a Skinny Kid
    8.4/10(137 votes)

    #8 - Love is a Skinny Kid

    S2:E25

    Tod and Buz encounter Miriam, who steps off a bus wearing a mask. Filming Location: Lewisville, Texas.

    Director:Jack Smight
    Writer:Stirling Silliphant

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  9. Route 66 Season 2 Episode 17 - A City of Wheels
    8.2/10(105 votes)

    #9 - A City of Wheels

    S2:E17

    Tod and Buz work with wheel chair patients at a veteran's hospital. Nurse Lori Barton falls in love with patient Frank Madera. Filming Location: Long Beach (Veterans Hospital), California

    Director:David Lowell Rich
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Route 66 Season 1 Episode 28 - The Opponent
    8.1/10(124 votes)

    #10 - The Opponent

    S1:E28

    A has-been boxer Johnny Copa is now throwing fights. Johnny trains Buz in boxing. Filming Location: Youngstown, Ohio

    Director:David Lowell Rich
    Writers:Leonard Freeman, Stirling Silliphant

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  11. Route 66 Season 1 Episode 30 - Incident on a Bridge
    8.1/10(122 votes)

    #11 - Incident on a Bridge

    S1:E30

    Buz and Tod go to work for Volovich and live at his house. Two other boarders are courting Volovich's mute daughter. Filming Location: Cleveland, Ohio

    Director:David Lowell Rich
    Writer:Stirling Silliphant

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  12. Route 66 Season 2 Episode 4 - Birdcage on My Foot
    8.1/10(133 votes)

    #12 - Birdcage on My Foot

    S2:E4

    Buz uses his experience as a former drug addict in an attempt to rehabilitate heroin addict Arnie. Filming Location: Boston, Massachusetts

    Director:Elliot Silverstein
    Writer:Stirling Silliphant

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  13. Route 66 Season 2 Episode 11 - The Thin White Line
    8.1/10(134 votes)

    #13 - The Thin White Line

    S2:E11

    While at a party, Tod is accidentally given a powerful psychosis-producing drug. Buz tries to keep him from killing himself. Filming Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    Director:David Lowell Rich
    Writer:Leonard Freeman

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  14. Route 66 Season 2 Episode 15 - A Long Piece of Mischief
    8.1/10(112 votes)

    #14 - A Long Piece of Mischief

    S2:E15

    Ollie Crump is a rodeo clown who is in love with Babe Hunter. Filming Location: Mesquite, Texas

    Director:David Lowell Rich
    Writer:Stirling Silliphant

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  15. Route 66 Season 2 Episode 21 - Shoulder the Sky My Lad
    8.1/10(99 votes)

    #15 - Shoulder the Sky My Lad

    S2:E21

    Tod and Buz befriend a Jewish boy whose family is a victim of anti-Semitism. Filming Location: Phoenix, Arizona

    Director:David Lowell Rich
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Route 66 Season 3 Episode 1 - One Tiger to a Hill
    8.1/10(113 votes)

    #16 - One Tiger to a Hill

    S3:E1

    Buz and Tod hire out as deck hands on Anna Gustafson's salmon fishing trawler where Tod becomes involved with Anna's daughter. Filming Location: Astoria, Oregon (From a contributor) The opening scene is unforgettable. Buz and Tod are driving along a sandy beach in their classic corvette while Nelson Riddle's theme song is playing in the background. Buz and Tod land jobs as fishermen and deck hands for a widower named Anna Gustafson. While at her home they get a glimpse of her beautiful daughter, Toika, who has a ""bounce in her step"" as she walks by them. Immediately Anna takes a liking for both Buz and Tod but she notices their differences. It is evident to her that Tod is college educated and the type of guy for Toika. Meanwhile, Karno, played by David Janssen, is a veteran and also the boyfriend of Toika. He despises Tod because Tod went to college while he was drafted into the war. Furthermore, Toika, who has been rejected by Karno, is drawn to Tod. When Karno sees the

    Director:David Lowell Rich
    Writer:Stirling Silliphant

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  17. Route 66 Season 3 Episode 11 - Hey Moth, Come Eat The Flame
    8.1/10(85 votes)

    #17 - Hey Moth, Come Eat The Flame

    S3:E11

    Tod and Buz encounter Muddy Mullins, a piano playing ex-con and his son Arnie. Filming Location: St. Louis, Missouri

    Director:Jack Smight
    Writer:Stirling Silliphant

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  18. Route 66 Season 3 Episode 30 - Shadows of an Afternoon
    8.1/10(90 votes)

    #18 - Shadows of an Afternoon

    S3:E30

    Tod and Linc are working in a Florida town. Linc is accused of stabbing an unfriendly dog and is arrested. Filming Location: Cape Coral, Florida

    Director:James Sheldon
    Writer:Leonard Freeman

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  19. Route 66 Season 4 Episode 9 - A Cage in Search of a Bird
    8.1/10(81 votes)

    #19 - A Cage in Search of a Bird

    S4:E9

    Tod and Linc meet Stephanie. Filming Location: Denver, Colorado.

    Director:James Sheldon
    Writer:Stirling Silliphant

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  20. Route 66 Season 1 Episode 20 - Like a Motherless Child
    8.0/10(141 votes)

    #20 - Like a Motherless Child

    S1:E20

    Tod and Buz pick up a small boy who has run away from an orphanage. Tod wants to return the boy but Buz, who has bad memories of an orphanage, refuses. The boys also get involved with showgirls. Filming Location: Reno, Fallon, and Carson City, Nevada

    Director:David Lowell Rich
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Route 66 Season 1 Episode 22 - Eleven, the Hard Way
    8.0/10(121 votes)

    #21 - Eleven, the Hard Way

    S1:E22

    The gown of Broken Knee hand their money over to famous gambler Sam Keep to gamble it in Reno. Filming Location: Reno and Broken Knee, Nevada

    Director:William A. Graham
    Writer:Stirling Silliphant

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  22. Route 66 Season 1 Episode 23 - Most Vanquished, Most Victorious
    8.0/10(123 votes)

    #22 - Most Vanquished, Most Victorious

    S1:E23

    Tod's aunt Kitty asks Tod to find her daughter Carole. The boys find that she was living in a Los Angeles slum and has been killed. Filming Location: Los Angeles, California

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Stirling Silliphant

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  23. Route 66 Season 1 Episode 29 - Welcome to Amity
    8.0/10(139 votes)

    #23 - Welcome to Amity

    S1:E29

    Joan Maslow wants to bury her mother in the cemetery outside of Amity. The entire community is determined to stop her. Filming Location: Amity, Ohio

    Director:Arthur Hiller
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Route 66 Season 2 Episode 18 - How Much a Pound is Albatross
    8.0/10(115 votes)

    #24 - How Much a Pound is Albatross

    S2:E18

    Tod and Buz meet Vicki Russell who is cruising around on her motorcycle. Vicki doesn't have a driver's license and the bike hasn't got plates. Filming Location: Tucson, Arizona

    Director:David Lowell Rich
    Writer:Stirling Silliphant

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  25. Route 66 Season 3 Episode 23 - Fifty Miles From Home
    8.0/10(95 votes)

    #25 - Fifty Miles From Home

    S3:E23

    Tod meets a Lincoln Case who has just completed a six-year Army enlistment including two years in Vietnam as an Army ranger. Linc decides not to re-enlist but to join Tod on the cross-country odyssey. Filming Location: Houston, Texas

    Director:James Sheldon
    Writer:Stirling Silliphant

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Best Episodes Summary

"Good Night, Sweet Blues" is the best rated episode of "Route 66". It scored 9/10 based on 209 votes. Directed by Jack Smight and written by Unknown, it aired on 10/6/1961. This episode scored 0.4 points higher than the second highest rated, "Welcome to the Wedding".