Every season of The Man and the Challenge ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best seasons of The Man and the Challenge!

In order to test human stamina at high altitudes, Barton and two other men go up in a balloon. When one panics and fails the required standards he is replaced by a woman which draws a hostile response from the remaining pilot.

The Sphere of No Return

Barton sends two men into the frozen north to test their endurance in extreme levels of cold and isolation. He wants to determine the best way to train men for high security jobs in the Arctic.

Maximum Capacity

Odds Against Survival

To study the effects of gravity on potential astronauts, Barton goes to France to learn free fall parachuting from a brother-and-sister team of skydivers: Suzanne and Georges Bolet.

Sky Diving

Experiments in Terror

In a hostile country, three Americans are being held captive. Barton is asked by a Washington official to form a clandestine athletic unit to free them.

Invisible Force

In order to test the U2-21 drug which supposedly increases a man's ability to retain oxygen at great heights, Barton puts a group of mountaineers through a rigorous test in the Rockies before sending them to the Himalayas for a final test.

Escape to Nepal

Two antagonistic jet pilots are entered into a Mexican auto race to prove that a team can overcome obstacles better than any single person could.

Border to Border

Barton enters an active volcano to test a new type of fire suit. He nearly loses his life in the experiment.

Trial by Fire

Barton researches hypothermia in Antarctica by reducing the body temperature of two doctors. He hopes the experiment will lead to an understanding of how to freeze astronauts to withstand certain aspects of interplanetary flight.

White Out

A volunteer is sealed in a cell for 30 days and is subjected to psychological torment in order to determine his breaking point.

The Breaking Point

Glenn Barton is sent on a dual mission: test survival techniques in the Amazon Basin and determine the fate of four lost fliers.

Jungle Survival

I've Killed Seven Men

Barton uses a chemical names LSD-25 on a firefighter. The chemical removes fear, but raging forest fires prove that fear is a necessary part of courage.

Man Without Fear

The Visitors

Glenn Barton is asked to clear the reputation of a man who died mysteriously.

The Storm

On a cliff above the Colorado River, Barton rescues a parachuted pilot.

Killer River

Barton investigates the effects of a new rocket belt at a rodeo.

Rodeo

A crack test pilot crashes his aircraft. After the crash he experiences a self-induced paralysis that slowly  destroys his career and marriage. Barton restores the pilot's confidence by using hypnotic techniques.

The Windowless Room

Barton tests candidates for command positions in space.

Nightmare Crossing

Barton looks individuals that subconsciously want to destroy themselves. He wants to learn why some men desire death.

The Lure of Danger

Recovery

Barton experiments with Yoga to show that it can be helpful in adverting tragedy.

Buried Alive

A warden's daughter is held hostage by four escaped convicts.

Recondo

Barton performs and experiment to show that ignorance and fear cause lack of efficiency.

Flying Lab

Barton conducts a test on a pilot to prove that he can be switched successfully to a desk job.

Hurricane Mesa

Barton puts four women against four men in order to prove that woman can equal and perhaps surpass males as astronauts.

Astro Female

In order to prove that emotional stress promotes telepathy, Barton parachutes from a high precipice.

The Extra Sense

Barton conducts a survival test on the surface of the ocean.

Man in a Capsule

The Dropper

High Dive

Barton puts the king of syut drivers through an incredibly dangerous test believing that the secret to survival lies in body chemical reactions.

Daredevils

Barton almost dies when a scientist ignoring his own physical limits and Barton's warnings misreads important test instruments.

Shooter McLaine

Early Warning

Breakoff

Barton researches highway hypnosis by subjecting himself to driving conditions that have killed five truck drivers.

Highway to Danger

The Man and the Challenge is a 36-segment half-hour television adventure/science fiction series which ran new episodes on NBC from September 12, 1959, to June 11, 1960. It starred George Nader as Dr. Glenn Barton, a research scientist for the Institute of Human Factors, an agency that conducted experiments designed to measure human endurance for the United States government. The series was produced by Ivan Tors.

Nader's costars included Jack Ging as Dan Wright, Michael Masters as Bill Locke, the Canadian-born Joyce Meadows as Lynn Allen, and Michael Keith as Matt Adams. The episodes focused on various individuals setting world records of strength, endurance, and mastery of various difficult skills.

The program also featured appearances by Bethel Leslie as Eleanor Beck in "The Early Warning", Ted Knight, as Dr. Herter in the episode "Daredevils", and Raymond Bailey, in the role of Dr. Kramer on the series opener "The Sphere of No Return". Joining Knight in that segment was Paul Burke.

The Best Seasons of The Man and the Challenge

The Best Seasons of The Man and the Challenge

Season 1