The Best Episodes of Route 66 Season 1
Every episode of Route 66 Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Route 66 Season 1!
Route 66 is an American TV series in which two young men traveled across America in a Chevrolet Corvette sports car. The show ran weekly on Fridays on CBS from October 7, 1960 to March 20, 1964. It starred Martin Milner as Tod Stiles and, for the first two and a half seasons, George Maharis as Buz Murdock. Maharis was ill for much of the third season, during which time Tod was shown traveling on his own. Tod met Lincoln Case, played by Glenn Corbett, late in the third season, and traveled with him until the end of the fourth and final season. Among the series more notable aspects were the featured Corvette convertible, and the program's instrumental theme song, which became a major pop hit.
Season 1 Ratings Summary
The best episode of "Route 66" season 1 is "Black November", rated 7.5/10 from 273 user votes. It was directed by Philip Leacock and written by Stirling Silliphant. "Black November" aired on 10/7/1960 and is rated 0.7 point(s) higher than the second highest rated, "A Lance of Straw".
7.5/10 273 votes#1 - Black November
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 10/7/1960
Tod's father dies leaving Tod the Corvette. Buz worked for Tod's father and the two decide to start driving. The Corvette breaks down in a small Mississippi town with some very nasty residents. The boys discover that the town hosted a POW camp during WW II and that the town boss had an escaped prisoner lynched when his son was killed in action. The boss plans to lynch Tod and Buz to keep the town's secret. Filming Location: Concord, Kentucky
Director: Philip Leacock
Writer: Stirling Silliphant
6.8/10 158 votes#2 - A Lance of Straw
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 10/14/1960
Shrimp boat captain Charlotte Duval hires Tod and Buz as a crew for her boat. Suitor Jean Boussard gets very jealous of the male crew members. Buz falls in love with the captain. Filming Location: Grand Isle, Louisiana
Director: N/A
Writer: Stirling Silliphant
6.9/10 147 votes#3 - The Swan Bed
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/21/1960
Tod and Buz arrive in New Orleans during a parrot-fever epidemic. They meet a girl named Carrie Purcell and ask her out for a date. Carrie doesn't have money to afford nice clothes. Filming Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Director: Elliot Silverstein
Writer: Stirling Silliphant
7.5/10 156 votes#4 - The Man on the Monkey Board
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/28/1960
Tod and Buz are working at a Louisana Gulf of Mexico off-shore oil-drilling tower. Lew Ayres plays a Nazi-hunter hunting an escaped Nazi on the drilling rig. Filming Location: Denage and Venice, Louisana
Director: N/A
Writer: Stirling Silliphant
7.5/10 153 votes#5 - The Strengthening Angels
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 11/4/1960
Tod and Buz give a lift to Lotti Montana, a migrant worker who is going to help pick the peach crop. As they approach the town of Sparrow Falls she begs them to drive through as quickly as possible. They take her to the Coronet Club and the Silver Dollar cafe. Sheriff Hingle keeps her from leaving town. The boys work with a revivalist. Filming Location: Needles, California
Director: Arthur Hiller
Writer: Stirling Silliphant
7.5/10 161 votes#6 - Ten Drops of Water
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 11/11/1960
Vergil and Helen Page with their young brother Homer are owners of the family ranch. Fighting a desperate battle against drought they're too proud to accept Tod and Buz's offer to help. Filming Location: Kanab, Utah
Director: Philip Leacock
Writer: Howard Rodman
6.9/10 144 votes#7 - Three Sides
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 11/18/1960
The boys work on a ranch and encounter a rancher's son. Joey dances on a table. Filming Location: Grants Pass, Oregon
Director: Philip Leacock
Writer: Stirling Silliphant
6.9/10 122 votes#8 - Legacy for Lucia
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 11/25/1960
Tod and Buz are working as loggers in Oregon. They meet an Italian girl, Lucia Trapani, who has come from Sicily to buy a new Madonna for her church. She plans to do it by selling her only possessions. Filming Location: Merlin, Oregon
Director: Philip Leacock
Writer: Stirling Silliphant
6.6/10 135 votes#9 - Layout at Glen Canyon
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 12/2/1960
A group of models are sent to a construction camp at Glen Canyon to do some fashion shots for a magazine. Jeff Grady head of the crew working at the dam appoints Tod and Buz as bodyguards. Filming Location: Glen Canyon Dam and Page, Arizona
Director: Elliot Silverstein
Writer: Stirling Silliphant
7.2/10 120 votes#10 - The Beryllium Eater
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 12/9/1960
Jack McConkie makes a find of Beryllium, a rare ore. Mine operator Fred Durant insists that he sell his claim. The old man refuses and is found badly beaten. Filming Location: Eureka, Arizona
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.5/10 114 votes#11 - A Fury Slinging Flame
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 12/30/1960
The boys meet scientist Mark Christopher and his friends who intend to remain in Carlsbad Caverns until a predicted nuclear war is over. Filming Location: Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico
Director: Elliot Silverstein
Writer: Stirling Silliphant
7.2/10 129 votes#12 - Sheba
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 1/6/1961
Laura Church is paroled from a Texas prison and prepares to take up a new life. Then she discovers that the man assigned as her advisor is none other than Woody Biggs, the rancher who sent her to jail in the first place. The boys work as cowboys. Filming Location: El Paso, Texas
Director: William Claxton
Writer: Stirling Silliphant
7.0/10 115 votes#13 - The Quick and the Dead
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 1/13/1961
Tod and Buz work at the Riverside race track for the Grand Prix stock-car races. They get involved with a family's problems, including whether the father should continue stock-car racing. Tod drives a racecar. Filming Location: Riverside Racetrack and Mission Inn, Riverside, California
Director: N/A
Writer: Stirling Silliphant
7.2/10 128 votes#14 - Play It Glissando
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 1/20/1961
Tod and Buz watch a show at a local night club where trumpeter Gabe Johnson and his group are appearing. While driving away, they witness Jana Johnson, Gabe's wife, crash her car. She tells the boys that Gabe is insanely jealous and tried to kill her. The boys watch over her. Gabe shoots Tod but Tod tells the hospital it was an accident. When Jana goes back with Gabe, the boys realize that Jana will keep returning to Gabe no matter what. Filming Location: Malibu, California
Director: Lewis Allen
Writer: Stirling Silliphant
6.7/10 110 votes#15 - The Clover Throne
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 1/27/1961
The boys work on Adam Darcey's date farm. Adam loves his ward, ""Sweet Thing"", who wants to leave the farm. Adam is also trying to stop a road from being built on his property. Filming Location: Indio, California
Director: Arthur Hiller
Writer: N/A
8.0/10 108 votes#16 - Fly Away Home (1)
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 2/10/1961
Tod goes to work for the Windus Dusting Company as a crop duster. He meets Summers, a pilot. The company is losing money. Filming Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Director: Arthur Hiller
Writer: Stirling Silliphant
7.7/10 96 votes#17 - Fly Away Home (2)
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 2/17/1961
A farmer wants his crops dusted with sulfur, which is very dangerous to the pilots. However, the risk means more money to for the crop-dusting company. Filming Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Director: Arthur Hiller
Writer: Stirling Silliphant
6.7/10 100 votes#18 - Sleep on Four Pillows
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 2/24/1961
Tod and Buz meet a teenage girl who claims to be running from gangsters. The girl's wealthy mother thinks her daughter has been kidnapped and calls the police and a detective. Filming Location: Hollywood and Los Angeles, California
Director: Ted Post
Writer: Stirling Silliphant
7.0/10 97 votes#19 - An Absence of Tears
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 3/3/1961
A blind widow listens for the voices of her dead husband's murderers. She asks Tod and Buz to buy her a pistol for self-protection. Filming Location: Hollywood, California
Director: N/A
Writer: Stirling Silliphant
7.9/10 123 votes#20 - Like a Motherless Child
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 3/17/1961
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: N/A
7.0/10 106 votes#21 - Effigy in Snow
Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 3/24/1961
A psychotic killer is killing women at the Squaw Valley ski resort. He leaves a body in the snow. Filming Location: Squaw Valley, California
Director: David Lowell Rich
Writer: Stirling Silliphant
8.2/10 104 votes#22 - Eleven, the Hard Way
Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 4/7/1961
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
8.2/10 105 votes#23 - Most Vanquished, Most Victorious
Season 1 Episode 23 - Aired 4/14/1961
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: N/A
Writer: Stirling Silliphant
8.2/10 100 votes#24 - Dont Count Stars
Season 1 Episode 24 - Aired 4/28/1961
Tod and Buz meet a hotel owner Mike, who drinks and gambles. Mike is the guardian for his niece Linda, a little girl. Linda's executor wants to remove the child from her uncle, and she asks Tod and Buz for help. Filming Location: San Diego, Sands Hotel, California
Director: N/A
Writer: Stirling Silliphant
7.5/10 97 votes#25 - The Newborn
Season 1 Episode 25 - Aired 5/5/1961
Tod and Buz work on a ranch belonging to Frank Ivy. Frank's son dies leaving an Indian girl Kawna pregnant. Frank and Kawna's relatives fight over the baby. The boys arrange an ""adoption"" of the baby after the mother dies. Filming Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Director: Arthur Hiller
Writer: Stirling Silliphant