The BEST Episodes of China, IL
Every episode ever - ranked by fan votes!
Last Updated: Mar 1, 2021
Network: Adult Swim
Frank and Steve Smith are brothers who teach in the history department of a state university in China, Illinois. They also happen to be legends in their own minds who will often sacrifice facts, lessons and syllabi for the sake of being awesome.
#1 - Rewind, Pause, Pay!
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired Oct 2, 2011
Ronald Reagan wants revenge on the unstable Steve in the premiere of this animated comedy chronicling the hijinks of a pair of brothers who teach at a state university.
8.97 
#2 - Magical Pet
Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired Jun 14, 2015
The season ends with an hour-long musical. Baby Cakes wants a magical pet; Frank learns why women find him unattractive; Pony and Steve try to prove they are good people.
8.53 
#3 - The Dream Reamer
Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired Feb 26, 2012
Baby cakes accidentally meets his old imaginary friend one day, and must travel into his own mind to defeat the beast before said friend destroys his real body.
8.47 
#4 - Dean's List
Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired Mar 4, 2012
Different departments on campus are selected for The Dean's List, an annual scavenger hunt that is much more dangerous than it sounds.
8.40 
#5 - China-man Begins
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired Oct 27, 2013
Frank bets that he will be the focus of the "Person of the Day" news segment.
8.28 
#6 - Diamond Castle
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired Oct 13, 2013
Frank discovers that Thomas Jefferson's mythical Diamond Castle is real.
8.22 
#7 - Is College Worth It?
Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired Sep 29, 2013
Pony must take drastic measures to afford a recently raised tuition.
8.18 
#8 - The Perfect Lecture
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired Sep 22, 2013
Frank wants to give a perfect lecture on the first day of school.
8.15 
#9 - Dean Vs. Mayor
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired Oct 9, 2011
The Mayor is tired of the riots sparked by UCI, and challenges The Dean to an arm wrestling contest for control of the school.
8.05 
#10 - Total Validation
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired Nov 3, 2013
Total Validation, China, IL's newest counselling service, will determine who is right or wrong in any relationship.
8.05 
#11 - Secret Society
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired Oct 30, 2011
Steve realizes life after tenure isn't as exciting as he suspected, and Pony finds out that the Dean has a secret that he'd do anything to keep hidden.
7.93 #12 - Displays of Manhood
Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired May 17, 2015
In order to prove his masculinity, Frank challenges a boxing legend to a fight; Baby Cakes and Pony compete in a game of Dungeons & Dragons.
7.86 
#13 - Life Coaches
Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired May 31, 2015
Steve, Frank, Baby Cakes and Pony all become life coaches for each other.
7.85 
#14 - Prom Face/Off
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired Nov 6, 2011
The Staff-Only Prom is thrown in a condemned building formerly used by Professor Cakes who experimented on hippies there.
7.83 
#15 - Frankensteve
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired Feb 19, 2012
After both Frank and Steve sustain life-threatening injuries during a wrestling match, Dr. Falgot performs surgery on them turning Frankensteve into a super brother.
7.83 
#16 - Chinese New Year
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired Dec 26, 2011
The professors join together to build robotic replicas of themselves to take their place.
7.80 
#17 - Surfer God
Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired Nov 10, 2013
God returns to Earth in the form of a surfer dude and starts rewriting his own Ten Commandments, but his appearance leads to the spread of a Beach Boys theme around campus, which Steve can't tolerate. Meanwhile, Professor Cakes uses Frank to test out his new invention, the "Haardvark."
7.76 
#18 - Crow College
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired Apr 26, 2015
Since crows have the intelligence of 4-year-old humans, the dean enrolls a murder of them as new students.
7.75 
#19 - Kenny Winker Rules
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired Oct 20, 2013
Kenny Winker is giving away a ticket to hang with him on his tour bus.
7.73 
#20 - Do You Know Who You Look Like?
Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired Oct 6, 2013
The history department hires a new professor who looks just like Steve. Pony reveals she can't speak Spanish.
7.70 
#21 - Charlize
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired Apr 19, 2015
Steve, Frank and Baby Cakes start a band in order to gain the attention of a beautiful celebrity.
7.65 
#22 - Coming Out Of The Casket
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired Oct 23, 2011
Student registration for the History Department sinks to an all-time low after the death of Harold, one of the faculty's best professors. Steve must come up with a plan to save their jobs while Frank becomes convinced that he's getting unsolicited attention from a paranormal being.
7.64 
#23 - Prank Week
Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired Nov 17, 2013
Frank becomes a Buddhist monk after being exiled from the university for playing a forbidden prank on Steve during "Prank Week". After dreaming about Joe McCarthy's "witch hunts" during a lecture, Baby Cakes decides to capture various professors who he suspects are witches, leading to rumors of a serial killer roaming China, IL.
7.64 
#24 - Bi-Topping-Ality
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired May 3, 2015
The Mayor bans eating anchovies in town; Trump's child is the newest student at UCI.
7.64 
#25 - Wild Hogs
Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired Nov 24, 2013
The UCI history professors place suggestion boxes in their classrooms, but one student's prank message in Frank's box convinces him to turn anorexic. Baby Cakes helps a foreign transfer student he calls "Aladdin" around campus, convinced that he's a genie. Overwhelmed by his worst fear, an infestation of wild "brown hogs" on campus, The Dean shuts himself off from the world and gives Pony carte blanche to bring the problem under control.
7.60