The WORST episodes of Dirty Jobs
Every episode of Dirty Jobs ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Dirty Jobs!
DIRTY JOBS profiles the unsung American laborers who make their living in the most unthinkable -- yet vital -- ways. Our brave host and apprentice Mike Rowe will introduce you to a hardworking group of men and women who overcome fear, danger and sometimes stench and overall ickiness to accomplish their daily tasks.
#1 - Manhole Rehab / Clock Caretaker
Season 10 - Episode 7 - Aired 1/29/2023
Mike Rowe descends into the depths of an aging manhole, coating it with a polyurea liner to extend its warranty in Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Mike joins an horologist and a priest to set the time right as he restores a historic clocktower.
#2 - Beaver Relocator / Slime Master
Season 10 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/5/2023
Mike Rowe goes to the mountains in Utah and gives a dam to a couple nuisance beavers causing havoc for municipalities; Mike gets a little sticky while working with a special effects artist at a glue factory in LA.
#3 - Combat Surgeon / Iguana Hunter
Season 9 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/6/2022
Mike Rowe trains as a trauma surgeon using hyper-realistic scenarios and specialized equipment to learn under simulated battlefield conditions. He then controls an invasive mess of iguanas which are posing health risks to humans on the Florida coast.
#4 - Escalator Maintainer / Scorpion Sweeper
Season 9 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/30/2022
Mike Rowe crams into a hockey arena's escalator where he scrapes and cleans a special kind of shmutz from the bottom. Then, he and a zoo keeper venture into the hot, treacherous Arizona desert at night to round up neurotoxic stinging scorpions.
#5 - Goose Down Plucker
Season 4 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/27/2009
Mike heads to Meridian, California to find out what it takes to harvest walnuts. Then he spends some time in Tulelake where he learns how to make goose down pillows and comforters.
#7 - Brown Before Green
Season 3 - Episode 33 - Aired 6/16/2008
Mike looks back on several of the Dirty Jobs that help to clean up the environment. From geothermal drilling, to wood and tire salvage, to building cobb homes, one thing seemed constant: in order to be green, you usually have to get brown first.
#8 - Steam Ship Cleaner
Season 2 - Episode 44 - Aired 3/13/2007
Mike heads off to San Diego to learn the dirty job of hydroseeding. He then reads a viewer's letter and shows us never before seen footage from a previous episode. Finally Mike gets dirty cleaning up a 100 year old steam yacht.
#9 - Exotic Nanny
Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/19/2010
Mike visits a Texas ranch that breeds exotic animals like sloths, lemurs, camels, and bearcats.
#10 - Abandoned Mine Plugger
Season 4 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/13/2009
Mike travels to Ohio to check on the Common Tern population and then he finds himself in Northern California plugging an abandoned mineshaft.
#11 - Crew Unemployment
Season 5 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/23/2010
With a hiatus looming, Mike tries to secure employment for the "Dirty Jobs" crew and reflects on their contributions.
#12 - Mardi Gras Bladder Banger
Season 7 - Episode 6 - Aired 1/17/2012
Working with the Knights of Revelry, a 137-year-old secret society, Mike Rowe assembles evil-spirit-warding cow bladders for the Knights Mardi Gras parade float.
#13 - Tight Spaces
Season 3 - Episode 23 - Aired 2/19/2008
Mike Rowe looks back at jobs involving tight spaces: stripping and painting inside of Mackinac Bridge tower ("Bridge Painter"), replacing pipe underneath house ("Plumber"), KC-135R Stratotanker fuel tank cleaner and boom operator ("Fuel Tank Cleaner"), Stamford hurricane barrier zinc anode changer ("Bell Maker"), storm drain cleaner ("Mushroom Farmer"), cleaning the inside of the boilers of the steam yacht Medea ("Steam Ship Cleaner")
#14 - Cranberry Farmer
Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/5/2008
Mike Rowe gets dirty making handmade bricks in South Carolina. He then masters the art of cranberry farming in Oregon.
#15 - Dirty Little Bits
Season 7 - Episode 8 - Aired 1/31/2012
Mike takes another look back at some of the unusual and quirky conversations he's had with his dirty co-workers. Using 99.9% never-before-seen footage, this special is an entertaining look at the art of communication.
#16 - Mannequin Factory
Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/11/2008
Mike helps break down some homes at the Windsorland Mobile Home Park to make room for a new shopping center. Next, he heads to Patina-V where he learns the art involved in creating a mannequin.
#17 - Animal Relocator
Season 6 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/9/2010
Mike visits an old-fashioned corn mill in De Kalb, Miss. Also, Mike helps relocate a pair of exotic deer in Wills Point, Texas.
#18 - Tight Spaces 2
Season 5 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/16/2010
Mike reminisces about jobs where he had to work in tight spaces, including the time he cleaned the inside of a buoy, his adventure in an abandoned mine, and an insulation application assignment beneath a home.
#19 - Water Softener Technician
Season 7 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/3/2012
Mike becomes a water softener technician in Minnesota, and works as a coin washer at a San Francisco hotel.
#20 - Mattress Recycler
Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/6/2009
Mike finds out what happens to old mattresses after people throw them out.
#21 - Fish Squeezer
Season 7 - Episode 1 - Aired 12/13/2011
Mike travels to New Mexico to work as a Fish Squeezer with the Department of Game and Fish. Then he heads to Virginia to practice the ancient art of pet acupuncture on a goat named Lilly.
#22 - Tower Top Hand
Season 7 - Episode 9 - Aired 2/7/2012
A radio-communications tower rises in North Dakota; Mike visits a Hollywood soundstage to commemorate his experiences in all 50 states.
#24 - Dirty Infrastructure
Season 6 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/25/2011
Mike takes a look at America's report card on its infrastructure and also salutes the workers who help preserve it.
#25 - The Dirty Truth
Season 5 - Episode 22 - Aired 6/14/2010
A special episode which looks back at previous episodes as Mike offers employment tips he’s learned over the years.