The WORST episodes of Ironside
Every episode of Ironside ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Ironside!
When an assassin's bullet confines him to a wheelchair for life ending his career as Chief of Detectives, Robert T. Ironside becomes a consultant to the police department. Detective Sergeant Ed Brown and policewoman Eve Whitfield join with him to crack varied and fascinating cases. Ex-con Mark Sanger is employed by the chief as home help but eventually becomes a fully fledged member of the team also. Officer Whitfield leaves after 4 years service, and is replaced by Officer Fran Belding.
#2 - What's New with Mark?
Season 8 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/26/1974
Mark and his girlfriend come across a murder whilst on a date, but decide to defend the killer when it transpires that he acted in self defence. During the case the pair get married, and Ed decides to move in with the Chief in Mark's place.
#3 - Up, Down, and Even
Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/9/1969
Eve's niece is arrested for possession and use of marijuana, and the Chief investigates her school and friends in a bid to clear her. It soon becomes obvious that she is guilty as charged, but how many others are involved, and just whose fault is it?
#4 - And Be My Love
Season 2 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/20/1969
Following a series of robberies amongst San Francisco's richest inhabitants, Eve Whitfield falls in love with one of the victims, only to discover that he is the Chief's prime suspect. Whilst the rest of the team worry about how to catch the thief, however, Eve is wondering if it may be time to quit the force to get married.
#5 - The Tormentor
Season 2 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/27/1969
A famous baseball player who is an old friend of Ed's begins to receive nuisance mail, which soon turns into something far more sinister. Fearing for his family, he refuses Ed's offers of assistance, and tries to handle the situation alone. Ed has to persuade him to change his mind, before events get out of hand.
#6 - A Matter of Love and Death
Season 2 - Episode 25 - Aired 4/3/1969
A young woman is found dead in a park, and it soon transpires that she died as a result of an illegal abortion. Greatly affected, Eve disguises herself as a pregnant woman, and tries to discover who the back-street abortionist is.
#7 - Buddy, Can You Spare a Life? (2)
Season 6 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/16/1972
The Chief continues his to try to reopen the case, struggling to convince a young mother to come forward and admit to her part in events that she would rather try to forget. Meanwhile he comes ever closer to the truth, as somebody tries to ensure that he never finishes his investigations.
#8 - A Special Person
Season 6 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/11/1973
Whilst the Chief and Ed are at a party, the host is shot at by an unseen assailant, and Ironside wastes no time in settling himself down with the rest of the guests to try to work out who the would-be killer might be. The truth, he is sure, is in the garden somewhere; and all that he and Ed have to do is to find it before their opponent strikes again.
#9 - Love Me in December
Season 6 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/1/1973
When her fiancé is accused of murder, a young woman comes to Ironside for help; but when it transpires that the fiancé in question is an old Naval acquaintance of the Chief's, a man with whom he did not get along, the assistance is both offered and accepted somewhat grudgingly. It soon becomes clear, however, that the prejudice which exists in the couple's home town is in serious danger of destroying an innocent man's life.
#10 - Another Shell Game
Season 6 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/1/1973
A major art display comes to San Francisco, just as an old adversary of the Chief's is released from jail. Anthony Justin is determined to get his revenge on Ironside by beating him in a test of skill, but it soon transpires that his target is not the vast collection of paintings, but the owner - Elizabeth Van Deering, a fun-loving young woman with whom Ed has fallen head over heels in love.
#11 - The Best Laid Plans
Season 6 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/15/1973
The Chief is in the bank when it is robbed by a gang of three men, planning to await the arrival of a payroll delivery truck. The threesome are at odds with each other from the start, and Ironside plans to work on the antagonism between them, but they are wise to his plans and will stop at nothing to get what they want.
#12 - A Game Of Showdown
Season 6 - Episode 25 - Aired 3/22/1973
Ed and the Chief are on their way out of the city for a fishing trip, when they get mixed up in a fatal shooting at a motel-cum-poker hall run by a sleazy professional gambler. Interested at first only in solving the murder, Ironside soon becomes involved in a young couple's struggle to win back their money and escape before it is too late.
#13 - Two Hundred Large
Season 7 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/10/1974
A robbery goes wrong and one of the thieves is killed, whilst another, an unlikely sort to be taking part in a robbery, is arrested. The third thief manages to escape with the money, but when the young daughter of the arrested gang member is kidnapped, the ransom being the unrecovered money from the heist, the team faces a race against time to capture the missing man.
#14 - Once More for Joey
Season 7 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/17/1974
The work of a quartet of musicians is being pirated, and whilst Ed and Fran are investigating, a member of the group is murdered in front of them. Their investigations lead them into the backgrounds of all those involved at the recording studios where the three survivors work, but all of the possible suspects appear to be friends with the group, and therefore unlikely candidates.
#15 - Terror on Grant Avenue
Season 7 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/31/1974
An elder in the Chinese community is murdered, and a young man is held to be responsible. The Chief calls in his friends in the community to help him find the young man in question, whom he believes has been framed in order to cause a rift between young and old in China Town.
#16 - Class of '40
Season 7 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/7/1974
The Chief attends his high school reunion, only to find two of his old classmates recently murdered, and somebody apparently after his own neck. With Ed and Fran to help him, he searches for some clues, which soon prove to be leading him back to the accidental death of another old friend in 1940.
#17 - Riddle at 24,000
Season 7 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/14/1974
A man dies of a heart attack whilst flying his plane, but the town medical examiner, a charmingly eccentric Cuban doctor, is convinced that there was foul play. By chance Ironside and Ed are on their way to visit and soon become involved in his investigations; but between pregnant ducks and volatile banana cocktails they have their work cut out as never before.
#18 - Amy Prentiss: AKA The Chief (1)
Season 7 - Episode 24 - Aired 5/23/1974
The promotion of a new Chief of Police leaves an opening for a new Chief of Detectives, and the front runner for the job is Lieutenant Amy Prentiss. Much of the force is opposed to her appointment, but she is determined to prove them wrong. With Ironside and his team alone in supporting her, she has to make her mark in a difficult case beset with problems, whilst at the same time convincing her male dominated staff to accept her as their new leader.
#20 - Run Scared
Season 8 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/7/1974
The Chief's god-daughter witnesses a murder whilst performing in a street-side harlequin show. On the run from the murderer, she and her boyfriend remain one jump ahead of Ironside's team; but there is an added dimension to the case which the Chief cannot at first hope to guess at, and a further reason for his god-daughter's desperate flight.
#21 - Far Side of the Fence
Season 8 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/21/1974
After the killing of one of his men, gangland boss Lew Parker puts out a contract on Ironside, which the undercover Ed is forced to pick up. Unable to contact the rest of the team Ed has to go along with the preparations for a heist, but when his cover is blown and he winds up a prisoner, the Chief and co must find the missing links before it is too late.
#22 - Speak No Evil
Season 8 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/12/1974
A friend of Ed's becomes the target of an assassin, but cannot shed any light on the reasons for the attempt on his life. When Ed discovers that his friend is a priest, prevented from speaking by the bounds of confession, he and the Chief attempt to discover the truth; which soon leads them to three unexplained murders amongst the city's drug dealers.
#23 - The Visiting Fireman
Season 8 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/26/1974
A British police inspector visits San Francisco for a conference, and whilst there assists his old friend Chief Ironside with an awkward investigation. It soon appears, however, that he knows more about the case than he should do, and that his involvement may have something to do with his deteriorating state of health.
#24 - The Return of Eleanor Rogers
Season 8 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/2/1975
Ed befriends the daughter of the judge presiding over his latest case, only for the girl to come to him in fear for her father's life. It seems she is overreacting to a series of accidents, but events soon suggest her suspicions may be correct; especially after it turns out that her father's new wife has old Underworld connections she thought she had left behind.
