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Western•Action & Adventure•Drama

The Best Episodes of Wanted: Dead or Alive

Every episode of Wanted: Dead or Alive ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Wanted: Dead or Alive!

Binge this in 1d 2h•Peaking at 8.3/10

Wanted: Dead or Alive is an American Western television series starring Steve McQueen as the bounty hunter Josh Randall. It aired on CBS for three seasons from 1958–61. The black-and-white program was a spin-off of

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 3 Episode 20 - The Voice of Silence
    8.3/10(177 votes)

    #1 - The Voice of Silence

    S3:E20

    Josh is hired by Frank Hagen to protect his deaf-mute daughter Carol Hagen while he's away on business. During Josh's stay at the Hagen Farm, he encounters a strange drifter and former bank robber named Harry Brice accompanied by his criminal partners.

    Director:Richard Donner
    Writer:Ed Adamson

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  2. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 1 Episode 9 - The Fourth Headstone
    8.1/10(207 votes)

    #2 - The Fourth Headstone

    S1:E9

    Josh is hired on the help transport a female prisoner who has murdered three men to another jail.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Frank D. Gilroy

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  3. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 2 Episode 7 - The Empty Cell
    8.1/10(155 votes)

    #3 - The Empty Cell

    S2:E7

    Josh delivers a prisoner to the sheriff, in the morning Josh realizes that there was an impostor and that the prisoner has successfully escaped with his cohort.

    Director:Thomas Carr
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 2 Episode 31 - Prison Trail
    8.1/10(137 votes)

    #4 - Prison Trail

    S2:E31

    Josh and Jason are delivering four criminals unaware that a stranger is following them to seek revenge on those criminals.

    Director:Thomas Carr
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 1 Episode 14 - Die by the Gun
    8.0/10(178 votes)

    #5 - Die by the Gun

    S1:E14

    Aboard a stagecoach with prisoner in hand, Josh and the Coach driver are attacked by escapees heading for the Mexican border.

    Director:Don McDougall
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 1 Episode 28 - Railroaded
    8.0/10(159 votes)

    #6 - Railroaded

    S1:E28

    Josh comes to the defense of a boy accused of murdering an Undercover Pinkerton detective aboard the train.

    Director:Thomas Carr
    Writer:Unknown

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Wanted: Dead or Alive

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  7. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 2 Episode 6 - The Hostage
    8.0/10(160 votes)

    #7 - The Hostage

    S2:E6

    Josh delivers Jumbo Kane, a highly dangerous and already sentenced to death man. Soon after he has handed him over to the sheriff, Kane takes the sheriff by surprise and kills him.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Don Brinkley

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  8. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 2 Episode 8 - Bad Gun
    8.0/10(135 votes)

    #8 - Bad Gun

    S2:E8

    After selling a customer a defective gun, Josh is hired to retrieve the dangerous weapon.

    Director:Thomas Carr
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 2 Episode 9 - The Tyrant
    8.0/10(136 votes)

    #9 - The Tyrant

    S2:E9

    Recruited by the army, Josh seeks the horses and the deserter who stole them. And he finds both the horses and the man - in custody of the town's marshal. But the marshal, who's ruling the town with an iron fist, isn't willing to give them back.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Tom Gries

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  10. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 3 Episode 5 - The Twain Shall Meet
    8.0/10(151 votes)

    #10 - The Twain Shall Meet

    S3:E5

    Josh allows an Eastern newspaper reporter to go with him on a manhunt for a story.

    Director:Richard Donner
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 3 Episode 17 - Bounty on Josh
    8.0/10(134 votes)

    #11 - Bounty on Josh

    S3:E17

    Josh is asked to meet a client at the hotel, at his arrival he is shot. Josh tries to figure out who is behind the shooting.

    Director:Richard Donner
    Writer:Ed Adamson

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  12. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 1 Episode 3 - The Bounty
    7.9/10(195 votes)

    #12 - The Bounty

    S1:E3

    A vicious Bounty Hunter named Daimler is sought by Josh after Daimler gunned down an elderly fugitive.

    Director:Thomas Carr
    Writer:Samuel A. Peeples

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  13. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 1 Episode 11 - The Favor
    7.9/10(173 votes)

    #13 - The Favor

    S1:E11

    Josh searches for a robbery suspect in a town called VanHorne run by outlaws.

    Director:Thomas Carr
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 1 Episode 13 - Sheriff of Red Rock
    7.9/10(169 votes)

    #14 - Sheriff of Red Rock

    S1:E13

    The Sheriff of Red Rock allows his prisoners to escape, so two bounty hunters can collect the reward and split it three ways.

    Director:Thomas Carr
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 1 Episode 18 - Rope Law
    7.9/10(155 votes)

    #15 - Rope Law

    S1:E18

    Josh returns with his prisoner Brace Logan and a lynch mob overtakes him. A little too late the townspeople realize that Logan was innocent and that the guilty party is some well respected.

    Director:Thomas Carr
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 1 Episode 19 - Six-Up to Bannach
    7.9/10(167 votes)

    #16 - Six-Up to Bannach

    S1:E19

    Josh is on his way to Bannach to prevent the execution of an innocent man and he must travel by stagecoach one that is carrying boxes of dynamite.

    Director:Thomas Carr
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 1 Episode 23 - Call Your Shot
    7.9/10(153 votes)

    #17 - Call Your Shot

    S1:E23

    Josh is hired by Gabe Henshaw to find his son Will.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Fred Freiberger

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  18. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 1 Episode 30 - The Kovack Affair
    7.9/10(156 votes)

    #18 - The Kovack Affair

    S1:E30

    Josh is called by his old friend Jesse to help Meaghan keep her hotel from the hands of corrupt Kovack.

    Director:Thomas Carr
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 2 Episode 14 - Man on Horseback
    7.9/10(130 votes)

    #19 - Man on Horseback

    S2:E14

    Charley Red Cloud is blamed for the murder of Will Bascomb. Bascomb's brother, Merv places a high bounty on Red Cloud.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 2 Episode 21 - Jason
    7.9/10(146 votes)

    #20 - Jason

    S2:E21

    Josh caught 'Doc' Phillips, the partner of Clell Fennon, and now wants to use him as a bait to get Fennon - worth $5.000 - himself.

    Director:George Blair
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 3 Episode 3 - Journey for Josh
    7.9/10(146 votes)

    #21 - Journey for Josh

    S3:E3

    Josh is delivering a female prisoner and becomes smitten with her, unknown to him is her accomplice, who is following them to break her loose.

    Director:Harry Harris
    Writer:Ed Adamson

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  22. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 3 Episode 13 - Three for One
    7.9/10(129 votes)

    #22 - Three for One

    S3:E13

    Josh with prisoner Tom Fellows in tow, stops in the town of Center City overnight, unaware that one of Tom's cohorts is devising a plan to free him.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 3 Episode 21 - El Gato
    7.9/10(113 votes)

    #23 - El Gato

    S3:E21

    A timid photographer named Archie Warner comes west with hopes of being the first to shoot a photo of a famous Mexican bandit. Josh happens to be a friend of 'El Gato', and is hired by Archie to met him.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Ed Adamson

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  24. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 3 Episode 25 - Dead Reckoning
    7.9/10(102 votes)

    #24 - Dead Reckoning

    S3:E25

    Paul Decker is wanted for murder. His wife asks Josh to find her husband and bring him back alive before the Taggert brothers catch up with him for murdering their brother.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Ed Adamson

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  25. Wanted: Dead or Alive Season 1 Episode 6 - The Giveaway Gun
    7.8/10(178 votes)

    #25 - The Giveaway Gun

    S1:E6

    Josh is looking for an unknown gunman which can only be identified by the peculiar way he draws his gun.

    Director:Don McDougall
    Writer:Frank D. Gilroy

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Best Episodes Summary

"The Voice of Silence" is the best rated episode of "Wanted: Dead or Alive". It scored 8.3/10 based on 177 votes. Directed by Richard Donner and written by Ed Adamson, it aired on 2/15/1961. This episode scored 0.2 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Fourth Headstone".