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The Best Episodes of The Rookies

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

The Rookies is an American crime drama series that aired on ABC from 1972 until 1976. It follows the exploits of three rookie police officers...
Genres:DramaCrime
Network:ABC
Episodes
92
Avg. Rating
NaN
S1
S2
S3
S4
E1
E2
E3
7.0
8.1
8.2
8.1
7.5
8.4
8.5
6.5
6.8
8.5
8.8
5.8

Best Episodes Summary

"Dead Heat" is the best rated episode of "The Rookies". It scored 9.3/10 based on 19 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 12/2/1975. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Late Mr. Brent".

  • Dead Heat
    9.3/10(19)
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    #1 - Dead Heat

    Season 4 Episode 13

    Aired 12/2/1975

    Chris and Terry have their patrol car stolen by teenage vandals while investigating a major robbery in a department store and three heavily armed killers trap them there.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Late Mr. Brent
    9.2/10(27)
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    #2 - The Late Mr. Brent

    Season 2 Episode 16

    Aired 1/28/1974

    Mike and Jill Danko's marriage is strained by Mike's protective interest in the widow of a man Mike was forced to kill in the line of duty.

    Director: Gene Nelson, Barry Shear

    Writer: N/A

  • Something Less Than a Man
    9.0/10(20)
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    #3 - Something Less Than a Man

    Season 2 Episode 19

    Aired 2/18/1974

    An old friend of Ryker's, once a good policeman and now a pathetic drunk, is framed for the murder of a gangster who has terrorized the neighborhood. To gain favor from his daughter and neighbors, he pleads guilty, but Lt. Ryker, with the help of the rookies, finds a better way to give the man back his dignity.

    Director: Philip Leacock

    Writer: N/A

  • From Out of the Darkness
    9.0/10(20)
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    #4 - From Out of the Darkness

    Season 4 Episode 19

    Aired 1/20/1976

    Terry vows to find the murderer of Dan Kennedy, a retired cop turned security guard. Dan was the father of a blind girl, Terry's former girlfriend.

    Director: Randal Kleiser

    Writer: N/A

  • Three Hours to Kill
    8.9/10(30)
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    #5 - Three Hours to Kill

    Season 1 Episode 19

    Aired 2/12/1973

    An extremely ill young boy is desperately waiting for a suitable bone marrow donor; without a bone marrow transplant, he will die shortly. However, the biggest obstacle is that the boy's father, who has compatible marrow and is the only possible donor, is currently on the run. He is trying to evade the police as well as the syndicate.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Down Home Boy
    8.9/10(25)
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    #6 - Down Home Boy

    Season 2 Episode 11

    Aired 11/19/1973

    A telethon featuring an extremely famous country western singer requests of the police department extra protection. The rookies are assigned to the event. Their placement on this assignment results in their protecting the singer from a couple of bitter and unforgiving country folk from Tennessee. The hillbillies hold the singer responsible for the death of their sister, who died while she was giving birth.

    Director: Leonard Horn

    Writer: Paul Savage

  • Eyewitness
    8.9/10(32)
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    #7 - Eyewitness

    Season 2 Episode 18

    Aired 2/11/1974

    A young man with a Jekyll - Hyde personality becomes a puzzle for Terry and Willie when he gives them a description of a suspected cop-killer. But for Mike and Ryker he poses a different problem: extreme danger.

    Director: Barry Shear

    Writer: N/A

  • Snow Job
    8.8/10(22)
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    #8 - Snow Job

    Season 1 Episode 17

    Aired 1/29/1973

    An old friend of Terry Webster's unleashes an attack on a patrol car officer. Webster investigates further to try and discover the logic behind the seemingly nonsensical incident.

    Director: Gene Nelson, Ralph Senensky

    Writer: William Douglas Lansford

  • A Matter of Justice (a.k.a.) Justice for Jill Danko
    8.8/10(24)
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    #9 - A Matter of Justice (a.k.a.) Justice for Jill Danko

    Season 2 Episode 7

    Aired 10/22/1973

    Jill Danko is seriously wounded by a seemingly demented gunman while dining with her husband Mike. Later, they find out that the gunman is unable to be prosecuted in court, because he is suffering from a brain tumor which appears to be the cause of his action. The rookies take it upon themselves to prove the man is dangerous and can place society in jeopardy.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Legacy of Death
    8.8/10(26)
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    #10 - Legacy of Death

    Season 3 Episode 3

    Aired 9/30/1974

    Chris is partnered with a patrolman who gets involved in suicidal situations so that he might be killed in the line of duty and his family would be secure with financial compensation.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Shield
    8.8/10(24)
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    #11 - The Shield

    Season 3 Episode 19

    Aired 2/10/1975

    The rookies are involved in a case of mistaken identity when they charge the wrong man with the murder of a policeman.

    Director: Fernando Lamas

    Writer: N/A

  • S.W.A.T. (1)
    8.8/10(21)
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    #12 - S.W.A.T. (1)

    Season 3 Episode 20

    Aired 2/17/1975

    Harrelson is the head of the Special Weapons and Tactics team, a unit trained to handle unusually volatile situations. His hard-nosed attitude about police work irks rookie Terry Webster. (This Rookies episode served as the pilot for the S.W.A.T. series).

    Director: N/A

    Writer: Robert Hamner

  • Easy Money
    8.7/10(26)
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    #13 - Easy Money

    Season 1 Episode 23

    Aired 3/19/1973

    No description available

    Director: Lou Antonio

    Writer: N/A

  • Code 261
    8.7/10(29)
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    #14 - Code 261

    Season 2 Episode 9

    Aired 11/5/1973

    A young nurse suffers a terrifying ordeal when she is raped in the underground garage of Memorial Hospital. The rookies attempt to help the woman by offering support. They offer encouragement and assistance as the woman proceeds through the legal formalities which often are unsympathetic to the rape victim, and sometimes humiliate her.

    Director: William Claxton

    Writer: N/A

  • A Bloody Shade of Blue
    8.6/10(28)
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    #15 - A Bloody Shade of Blue

    Season 1 Episode 12

    Aired 12/11/1972

    Easy Wyatt is a cop with many years behind him on the force. His ranch has recently been the target of destruction in a new plan to build a freeway. Wyatt is becoming mentally unstable, and his instability is slowly spiraling deeper and deeper. Once the best officer in the squad, Wyatt's shaky state is evident when he attempts to prevent the bulldozers from digging by holding them at gunpoint.

    Director: William Claxton

    Writer: N/A

  • Rabbits on the Runway
    8.6/10(33)
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    #16 - Rabbits on the Runway

    Season 1 Episode 14

    Aired 12/25/1972

    Gillis enters a tough situation when he is presented with a boy who is trapped in a police car which is on fire. He chooses to shoot the boy, promptly catching the internal affairs division's attention. They launch an investigation into the event and Gillis to see if he has committed a mercy killing, and to try to get closure in the case.

    Director: Gene Nelson

    Writer: N/A

  • A Farewell Tree from Marly
    8.6/10(28)
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    #17 - A Farewell Tree from Marly

    Season 1 Episode 22

    Aired 3/5/1973

    The rookies may be confronted with a problem worse than the nurse who holds a grudge against all police officers: they discover that her younger brother is associating with thugs who are the organizers of a current neighborhood protection scandal.

    Director: Harry Falk, Lou Antonio

    Writer: N/A

  • Blood Brother
    8.6/10(22)
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    #18 - Blood Brother

    Season 2 Episode 8

    Aired 10/29/1973

    Like many Vietnam veterans returning home after the war, Jimmy Webster is angry at society for treating him as if he was an outsider, and not openly accepting him. He is unable to find employment and is left with an important decision to make: either he can fall back on his cousin, Terry Webster, and turn to him for support, or he can join a robbery operation and make a large amount of money.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Time Lock
    8.6/10(17)
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    #19 - Time Lock

    Season 2 Episode 21

    Aired 3/4/1974

    A brilliant young felon holds Terry and three women, one of whom is pregnant, hostage in a bank vault in order to free his partner from jail.

    Director: Lee Philips

    Writer: Daniel B. Ullman

  • A Deadly Image
    8.6/10(38)
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    #20 - A Deadly Image

    Season 3 Episode 22

    Aired 2/24/1975

    A look into Lt. Ryker's more sensetive side has him befriending a young, mixed-up girl who reminds him of the daughter he was forced to give up for adoption. The girl's boyfriend persuades her to use her friendship with Ryker for his criminal gain.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Ladies Day (a.k.a.) Ladies Kill, Too
    8.6/10(26)
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    #21 - Ladies Day (a.k.a.) Ladies Kill, Too

    Season 4 Episode 5

    Aired 10/7/1975

    Jill is working in a womens prison, fighting an outbreak of diphtheria. In order to protest for better food and working conditions, inmates take Jill Danko and Dr. Malcolm hostage.

    Director: Fernando Lamas

    Writer: N/A

  • To Taste of Terror
    8.5/10(38)
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    #22 - To Taste of Terror

    Season 1 Episode 10

    Aired 11/20/1972

    The rookies are given the task of protecting a controversial Army General who has recently returned to the country after serving in Vietnam. The rookies must deal with mob control, as well as actively track down a sniper who hits the General. The rookies most valuable clue is an old army rifle, used in the General's shooting, whose owner the rookies must uncover.

    Director: Ralph Senensky, Jerry Jameson

    Writer: N/A

  • Deadly Cage
    8.5/10(22)
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    #23 - Deadly Cage

    Season 2 Episode 3

    Aired 9/24/1973

    Webster is asked to play the role of a prisoner at the State Prison. He disguises himself as an inmate, in an effort to aid the issue of prison reform. However, when the other prisoners discover that Webster is merely pretending to be a fellow inmate, pandemonium results.

    Director: Leonard Horn

    Writer: N/A

  • Prayers Unanswered, Prayers Unheard
    8.5/10(22)
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    #24 - Prayers Unanswered, Prayers Unheard

    Season 2 Episode 10

    Aired 11/12/1973

    Lieutenant Ryker is selected to be personally in charge of an important investigation. A priest is murdered and a nun is badly beaten in a destitute neighborhood, and the community worries that religious restlessness with arise. As the investigation progresses, the rookies uncover a completely different motive.

    Director: Leonard Horn

    Writer: William Blinn

  • Lots of Trees and a Running Stream
    8.5/10(24)
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    #25 - Lots of Trees and a Running Stream

    Season 2 Episode 12

    Aired 12/2/1973

    Jill is confronted by her past when a former lover of hers appears at her home. Mike is currently out of town. The unanticipated visitor gives the impression that he is fatally ill, thereby luring Jill into becoming involved with him, despite her uncertainty. Only after a period of time does Jill realize the great lengths this former lover will go to try to get her back and claim her as his own.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A