The Name of the Game backdrop
Action & Adventure•Sci-Fi & Fantasy

The Best Episodes of The Name of the Game

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

Binge this in 4d 6h•Peaking at 7.9/10

The Name of the Game is an American television series starring Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and Robert Stack that ran from 1968 to 1971 on NBC, totaling 76 episodes of 90 minutes. It was a

Airs on
NBC
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons3

All123

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Click to reveal
    The Name of the Game Season 2 Episode 6 - Goodbye Harry
    7.9/10(22 votes)

    S2:E6

    Roving reporter Sam Hardy's boss, Crime magazine publisher Glenn Howard (GB), sends Hardy and magazine researcher Peggy Maxwell on a dangerous fact-finding mission. Their quarry is American missile scientist Harry Roarke. While it appears as though Harry has defected to Cuba, he may very well be hiding out in the States, in fear for his life.

    Director:Barry Shear
    Writer:Gene L. Coon

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  2. The Name of the Game Season 1 Episode 5 - Nightmare
    7.8/10(27 votes)

    S1:E5

    Dan Farrell patiently prepares to exact his revenge upon the robbers that murdered his wife.

    Director:Alvin Ganzer
    Writer:Ed Adamson

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  3. The Name of the Game Season 1 Episode 11 - The White Birch
    7.8/10(51 votes)

    S1:E11

    Glenn Howard travels to Prague, Czechoslovakia, where he and other rival journalists try to get custody of an ailing author's latest work.

    Director:Lamont Johnson
    Writers:Dean Hargrove, Luther Davis

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  4. The Name of the Game Season 3 Episode 9 - All the Old Familar Faces
    7.8/10(23 votes)

    S3:E9

    Howard (GB) tries to find out who is behind a series of death threats levelled against him. He interviews several likely suspects who, in flashback, explain just what might have prompted them to kill.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  5. The Name of the Game Season 1 Episode 23 - A Wrath of Angels
    7.7/10(18 votes)

    S1:E23

    Dan Farrell (RS) investigates as a man and a priest try to clean up the slums and end up having a showdown with a powerful Mafioso.

    Director:Alvin Ganzer
    Writers:Dick Nelson, Gilbert Ralston

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  6. The Name of the Game Season 3 Episode 1 - So Long Baby, and Amen
    7.7/10(26 votes)

    S3:E1

    Dan Farrell (RS) reports his findings at a Congressional committee hearing on addictive drugs. Later he finds himself entangled with a self-destructive, drug-addicted young girl.

    Director:Marvin J. Chomsky
    Writer:Steven Bochco

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 WORST Episodes of The Name of the Game

    READ
  7. The Name of the Game Season 1 Episode 10 - Ordeal
    7.6/10(30 votes)

    S1:E10

    A woman sitting on death row hopes that Dan Farrell can find enough evidence to prove that she did not murder her husband.

    Director:Ralph Senensky
    Writer:Alvin Sapinsley

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  8. The Name of the Game Season 2 Episode 5 - Chains of Command
    7.6/10(19 votes)

    S2:E5

    Farrell (RS) is investigating charges that the officials of a prison on the Mexican border are shipping out forced labor to local farms. It has been further charged that the officials are getting rich on kickbacks. Assuming a false identity and taking a job in the border town becomes very hazardous.

    Director:Robert Day
    Writer:Carol Sobieski

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  9. The Name of the Game Season 2 Episode 16 - Island of Gold and Precious Stones
    7.6/10(19 votes)

    S2:E16

    A late millionaire's millions have disappeared, and reporter Jeff Dillon (TF) wants to find out why. Together with his crack researcher Peggy Maxwell, Dillon checks out the deceased man's relatives. Each, it seems, has a reason for wanting the man dead, and each had opportunity to make off with the inheritance.

    Director:John Newland
    Writer:Anthony Skene

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  10. The Name of the Game Season 3 Episode 3 - Cynthia Is Alive and Living in Avalon
    7.6/10(22 votes)

    S3:E3

    Cynthia is a reclusive jet-setter who has of late become a political activist. She refuses all interviews and keeps hidden in a rambling house on the island of Avalon. At the urging of his pal, reporter Paul Tyler decides to make a name for himself by getting the exclusive story on Cynthia.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  11. The Name of the Game Season 2 Episode 7 - Give Till It Hurts
    7.5/10(14 votes)

    S2:E7

    The object of Farrell's (RS) latest investigation is a professional fundraiser. The editor recognizes him as a notorious con man, so it should be no problem to expose his racket. But problems there are, especially when an unknown gangster type pressures him to lay off.

    Director:Marc Daniels
    Writer:William D. Gordon

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  12. The Name of the Game Season 2 Episode 24 - Jenny Wilde Is Drowning
    7.5/10(22 votes)

    S2:E24

    When a young actress becomes suicidal, Jeff Dillon (TF) attempts to prevent her suicide attempts.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  13. The Name of the Game Season 3 Episode 2 - A Love To Remember
    7.5/10(9 votes)

    S3:E2

    At his college class reunion, Howard (GB) meets a strange, beautiful woman who tells him how a crush she once had on him has ruined her life.

    Director:Nicholas Colasanto
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  14. The Name of the Game Season 3 Episode 13 - Aquarius Descending
    7.5/10(10 votes)

    S3:E13

    Glenn Howard (GB), who is instrumental in discrediting a corrupt politician. Seeking revenge, the politician orders a young hard-case to romance Howard's impressionable 17-year-old niece. The plan is to involve the girl in a scandal and ruin Howard and his magazine.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  15. The Name of the Game Season 1 Episode 1 - Fear of High Places
    7.4/10(39 votes)

    S1:E1

    Jeff Dillon investigates the death of a beautiful model, which involves an industrialist who is about to assume an important government post.

    Director:William A. Graham
    Writer:Mark Rodgers

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  16. The Name of the Game Season 1 Episode 3 - The Taker
    7.4/10(31 votes)

    S1:E3

    Crime Magazine publisher Glenn Howard refuses to support a powerful businessman who backs a crooked political candidate and finds himself in a battle of wits over the takeover of his publishing empire.

    Director:Harvey Hart
    Writers:Richard Levinson, William Link

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  17. The Name of the Game Season 1 Episode 6 - Incident in Berlin
    7.4/10(18 votes)

    S1:E6

    Glenn Howard goes to Berlin to arrange the release of one of his top editors, who has been arrested in East Germany as a spy.

    Director:Seymour Robbie
    Writers:Richard Levinson, William Link

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  18. The Name of the Game Season 1 Episode 9 - The Protector
    7.4/10(21 votes)

    S1:E9

    Glenn Howard goes up against a bigoted millionaire who sets out to solve the nation's racial problems with his own private army.

    Director:Richard Irving
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  19. The Name of the Game Season 1 Episode 17 - The Inquiry
    7.4/10(30 votes)

    S1:E17

    Howard (GB) is called before a Senate committee to answer charges that he stole a fortune in U.S. Army funds while serving with the OSS in Italy during World War II.

    Director:Sutton Roley
    Writer:Harold Livingston

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  20. The Name of the Game Season 3 Episode 5 - The Enemy Before Us
    7.4/10(23 votes)

    S3:E5

    Crime Magazine reporter Jeff Dillon (TF) is back in his old neighborhood in New York's ""Little Italy"", Dillon hopes to take a break from his hectic responsibilities and recapture ""something real"" from his younger days. Unfortunately, he is bombarded by pain and disillusionment from every side: his stepmother is gravely ill, and her son is deeply involved with drug dealing.

    Director:Barry Shear
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  21. The Name of the Game Season 1 Episode 19 - Love-In At Ground Zero
    7.3/10(25 votes)

    S1:E19

    Howard (GB) is kidnapped by a group of protestors who demand he witness their suicide and then write an expose of the army's testing of chemical warfare weapons.

    Director:Richard Irving
    Writers:Dean Hargrove, Shimon Wincelberg

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  22. The Name of the Game Season 1 Episode 26 - An Agent of the Plaintiff
    7.3/10(20 votes)

    S1:E26

    Howard (GB) is the victim of a conspiracy hatched by his own attorney, the lovely-but-lethal Bethany Cromwell, and plaintiff Harold Wyler.

    Director:John Llewellyn Moxey
    Writers:Marion Hargrove, Dean Hargrove

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  23. The Name of the Game Season 3 Episode 10 - I Love You, Billy Baker (1)
    7.3/10(20 votes)

    S3:E10

    Las Vegas superstar Billy Baker, who is known far and wide for his reluctance to grant interviews,is particularly close-mouthed on the subject of a beautiful young dancer with whom he'd once been in love--and who now is very much dead. Crime magazine reporter Jeff Dillon (TF) wants to know why.

    Director:Barry Shear
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  24. The Name of the Game Season 1 Episode 2 - The Witness
    7.2/10(21 votes)

    S1:E2

    When a Mafia informant is assassinated, Dan Farrell, senior editor of Crime Magazine, looks for the only other witness to a major mob crime. She allegedly committed suicide eight years earlier.

    Director:Lamont Johnson
    Writer:Dick Nelson

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  25. The Name of the Game Season 1 Episode 12 - High On A Rainbow
    7.2/10(17 votes)

    S1:E12

    When drugs start appearing in the hands of schoolchildren, Dan Farrell and Peggy pose as a truck driver and car-hop as they investigate a narcotics ring.

    Director:Richard A. Colla
    Writers:Robert L. Collins, Irv Pearlberg

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

Best Episodes Summary

"Goodbye Harry" is the best rated episode of "The Name of the Game". It scored 7.9/10 based on 22 votes. Directed by Barry Shear and written by Gene L. Coon, it aired on 10/24/1969. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "Nightmare".