Crime•Drama

The Best Episodes of The Lawless Years

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

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The Lawless Years is an American crime drama series that aired on NBC from April 16 1959, to September 22, 1961. The series is the first of its kind set set during the Roaring 20s,

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    The Lawless Years Season 1 Episode 10 - The Maxey Gorman Story
    7.5/10(14 votes)

    #1 - The Maxey Gorman Story

    S1:E10

    Ex-convict Maxey Gorman gets a Machiavellian character named A.J. to finance his entry into the bootlegging business. The two men become partners but when the dough starts pouring in Maxie looks for a way to rid himself of A. J.

    Director:Allen H. Miner
    Writer:Jo Eisinger

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  2. The Lawless Years Season 1 Episode 12 - Framed
    7.5/10(18 votes)

    #2 - Framed

    S1:E12

    When Ruditsky can't be bribed by a waterfront crime gang they attempt to frame him by making it look like he's on the take.

    Director:Allen H. Miner
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. The Lawless Years Season 1 Episode 13 - Four the Hard Way
    7.3/10(13 votes)

    #3 - Four the Hard Way

    S1:E13

    Ruditsky warns visiting high roller Big Ziggy to get out of town but before he can hit the road he get roped into a crooked poker game with three cardsharps.

    Director:Allen H. Miner
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. The Lawless Years Season 1 Episode 11 - The Muddy Kasoff Story
    7.2/10(14 votes)

    #4 - The Muddy Kasoff Story

    S1:E11

    Muddy Kasoff has been renting automobiles for gangsters to use but he has been secretly tippin the cops. When the hoods discover that Muddy has been informing they have him killed. Ruditsky investigates and discovers that a cigar band might be an important clue.

    Director:Allen H. Miner
    Writer:Jo Eisinger

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  5. The Lawless Years Season 1 Episode 16 - The Story of Lucky Silva
    7.2/10(22 votes)

    #5 - The Story of Lucky Silva

    S1:E16

    ucky Silva is a small-time hood who by a combination of circumstance, ambition, and drive rises quickly to a position of prominence in New York's Mafia.

    Director:Allen H. Miner
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. The Lawless Years Season 2 Episode 6 - The Joe Angelo Story
    7.2/10(17 votes)

    #6 - The Joe Angelo Story

    S2:E6

    A former union trucker who now owns a candy store is pressured by the Mob to leave New York City because he knows too much about their past labor racketeering activities. When he refuses to leave the city, the Mob bumps him off. The man's crippled son is the only witness to his father's killing.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of The Lawless Years

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  7. The Lawless Years Season 3 Episode 1 - The Jack 'Legs' Diamond Story
    7.2/10(7 votes)

    #7 - The Jack 'Legs' Diamond Story

    S3:E1

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. The Lawless Years Season 1 Episode 7 - No Fare
    7.1/10(14 votes)

    #8 - No Fare

    S1:E7

    The underworld bribes police detective Harry Kramer in order to get him to withhold information in a case.

    Director:Allen H. Miner
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. The Lawless Years Season 2 Episode 1 - The Al Brown Story
    7.1/10(15 votes)

    #9 - The Al Brown Story

    S2:E1

    When a young hoodlum named Al Brown destroys a blind man's shop it puts Ruditsky on his trail. But it will be under another name in another city that Brown becomes notorious.

    Director:Allen H. Miner
    Writer:Charles Larson

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  10. The Lawless Years Season 1 Episode 2 - The Immigrant
    7.0/10(25 votes)

    #10 - The Immigrant

    S1:E2

    An immigrant woman tries to get Ruditsky to set her son on the straight and narrow. It seems as though he's been hanging around with a gang of hoodlums. Ruditsky gives it his best effort but it could be a tough sell.

    Director:Allen H. Miner
    Writer:Jo Eisinger

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  11. The Lawless Years Season 2 Episode 5 - The Big Man
    7.0/10(14 votes)

    #11 - The Big Man

    S2:E5

    Gangster Louis Otto was once a childhood friend of Ruditsky's. Now he's wanted for the murder of an underling.

    Director:Allen H. Miner
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. The Lawless Years Season 1 Episode 1 - The Nick Joseph Story
    6.9/10(29 votes)

    #12 - The Nick Joseph Story

    S1:E1

    Detective Ruditsky relates the story of Nick Joseph, a small-time hood from Manhattan's Lower East Side, who rises from petty theft to become an ace contract killer for the syndicate's notorious Murder, Inc.

    Director:Allen H. Miner
    Writer:Jo Eisinger

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  13. The Lawless Years Season 1 Episode 4 - The Story Of Cutie Jaffe
    6.9/10(32 votes)

    #13 - The Story Of Cutie Jaffe

    S1:E4

    Cutie Jaffe, a small-time hood with big time ambitions, begins knocking over some of his brother-in-law's bootlegging trucks. Will Cutie rise in the underworld hierarchy or is he headed for a hard fall?

    Director:Allen H. Miner
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. The Lawless Years Season 1 Episode 14 - The Tony Morelli Story
    6.9/10(11 votes)

    #14 - The Tony Morelli Story

    S1:E14

    Dick Wilson (2) as Game Boy Miles | Harry Arnie as Benny | Brad Trumbull (2) as O'Neill | Lou Herbert as Titanic Thompson | Jack Kruschen as Laughing Boy | John Vivyan as Big Ziggy

    Director:Allen H. Miner
    Writer:Charles Larson

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  15. The Lawless Years Season 1 Episode 3 - The Jane Cooper Story
    6.8/10(23 votes)

    #15 - The Jane Cooper Story

    S1:E3

    Jane Cooper, recently paroled from prison, proves that she hasn't learned anything when she once again begins hanging around with underworld characters. Only this time it seems as though her mobster boyfriends keep dying off.

    Director:Allen H. Miner
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. The Lawless Years Season 2 Episode 3 - The Art Harris Story
    6.8/10(15 votes)

    #16 - The Art Harris Story

    S2:E3

    Ruditsky goes after Art Harris, a racketeer who's muscled his way into the political scene in order to protect his organized crime interests.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Charles Larson

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  17. The Lawless Years Season 3 Episode 11 - Little Augie
    6.8/10(8 votes)

    #17 - Little Augie

    S3:E11

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. The Lawless Years Season 1 Episode 5 - The Dutch Schultz Story
    6.7/10(28 votes)

    #18 - The Dutch Schultz Story

    S1:E5

    Dutch Schultz wants to bump off special prosecutor Thomas Dewey who has been after him. The syndicate bigwigs deny him permission to make the hit but the Dutchman proceeds with his plans anyway.

    Director:Allen H. Miner
    Writer:Jo Eisinger

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  19. The Lawless Years Season 2 Episode 2 - The Big Greeny Story
    6.7/10(15 votes)

    #19 - The Big Greeny Story

    S2:E2

    When the trail of a murdered garment factor owner leads back to the notorious Lepke Buchalter he sends the htman responsible, Big Greeny, to stay in Los Angeles under the auspices of the equally notorious Bugsy Siegal.

    Director:Allen H. Miner
    Writer:Jo Eisinger

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  20. The Lawless Years Season 2 Episode 4 - The Billy Boy 'Rockabye' Creel Story
    6.7/10(16 votes)

    #20 - The Billy Boy 'Rockabye' Creel Story

    S2:E4

    Mob boss Bobo Konig puts a bounty of $50,000 on psychotic gunman Billy Boy Creel who immediately goes underground. Ruditsky then tries to find Billy Boy before Konig's killers do.

    Director:Allen H. Miner
    Writer:Jo Eisinger

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  21. The Lawless Years Season 1 Episode 6 - The Lion And The Mouse
    6.6/10(18 votes)

    #21 - The Lion And The Mouse

    S1:E6

    Small time racketeer Eddie Safronek plots revenge against the hoods who beat him up and left him for dead.

    Director:Allen H. Miner
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. The Lawless Years Season 1 Episode 9 - The Marie Walters Story
    6.6/10(13 votes)

    #22 - The Marie Walters Story

    S1:E9

    The body of a murdered young woman is dragged from the Harlem River and the police ascertain that she was killed because she knew too much regarding the activities of a bootlegging gang. Ruditsky then becomes puzzled when the attorney of the chief suspect insists on going to trial as quickly as possible.

    Director:Allen H. Miner
    Writer:Jo Eisinger

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  23. The Lawless Years Season 1 Episode 18 - The Poison Ivy Story
    6.6/10(16 votes)

    #23 - The Poison Ivy Story

    S1:E18

    Ruditsky is temporarily assigned to duty in a Brooklyn precinct and must get the goods on a gang of hooligans who are pulling off a series of drug store robberies.

    Director:Allen H. Miner
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. The Lawless Years Season 2 Episode 8 - The Sonny Rosen Story
    6.5/10(14 votes)

    #24 - The Sonny Rosen Story

    S2:E8

    The Mob kidnaps the son of a millionaire and holds him for a ransom of $100,000. Or did they?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:George Bruce

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  25. The Lawless Years Season 1 Episode 8 - The Payoff
    6.3/10(21 votes)

    #25 - The Payoff

    S1:E8

    After a moll is found murdered, flashbacks tell her story and those of mobsters Tony Sappio and Big Ed Harper, who both loved not wisely but too well.

    Director:Allen H. Miner
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"The Maxey Gorman Story" is the best rated episode of "The Lawless Years". It scored 7.5/10 based on 14 votes. Directed by Allen H. Miner and written by Jo Eisinger, it aired on 6/25/1959. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Framed".