The WORST episodes of McHale's Navy
Every episode of McHale's Navy ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of McHale's Navy!
A lively, light-hearted romp through the Pacific Theater of operations An experienced South Pacific Sea Dog by the name of Quinton McHale, was commissioned as a Lieutenant Commander into the U.S. Navy Reserve at the start of World War II, and made the Skipper of the Torpedo Patrol (PT) Boat #73 stationed at the U.S. Naval Installation on the island of Taratupa in the Southwest Pacific. Assigned to his command were 6 free-spirited, good-hearted swabbies who loved to have fun, but who, though they usually ignored Navy regulations, did their jobs and did them well when duty called. The 73 'Family' included, among others, a con man and amateur Magician, a womanizing hunk, a dedicated Family man, a guitar-playing, moonshine-making Tennessee good ol' boy, and even a deserter from the Japanese Navy, who was an excellent cook. Second in command was Ensign Charles Parker, a young spit-and-polish, by-the-book Officer from Chagrin Falls Ohio, who was somewhat of a klutz.
#1 - The Return of Maggie
Season 3 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/2/1965
McHale's gambling, conniving, saloon-keeping old friend Maggie Monohan, is back in business in New Caledonia, and Binghamton has been ordered to shut her down. Seeing an opportunity to 'kill two birds with one stone', Binghamton schemes to nail McHale and the crew along with her, but McHale and Maggie join forces in a plan to keep him from doing so.
#2 - The Stool Parrot
Season 3 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/5/1965
Binghamton’s “No-Fraternization” policy forces McHale and the boys to find a secret location for a big party they’ve planned with the Nurses. But Gruber’s pet parrot spills the beans to Binghamton.
#3 - The PT 73 Follies
Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/12/1965
Marooned on a supposedly deserted island for their mandatory survival test, Parker and Binghamton are captured by a Japanese patrol. McHale and the crew on their way to New Caledonia to try out for the Navy talent show, are captured as well when they drop in to check on the Captain and Parker. They must all then utilize their various talents in a plan to get out of the situation.
#4 - The Truth Hurts
Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 1/19/1965
In an effort to get the goods on the 73 crew, Binghamton lures the boys into the hospital under false pretenses, and has them injected with sodium pentothal, or 'truth serum', which causes them to tell him everything he wants to know. McHale and Parker must then work up a plan to get them off the hook, by literally giving Binghamton a dose of his own medicine.
#5 - The Late Captain Binghamton
Season 3 - Episode 19 - Aired 1/26/1965
After the Captain has his annual physical exam, the guys see an opportunity to get him out of the way for a while and 'doctor' his X-rays to make it look like he's dying. But the plan backfires when, in an effort to go out a hero, Binghamton volunteers to lead the 73 crew on a dangerous mission to destroy an enemy fuel dump.
#6 - McHale's Floating Laundromat
Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/2/1965
In an effort to gather evidence of any shady activities, Binghamton appoints Carpenter as the 73's new Executive Officer, and makes Parker the base's Laundry Officer. After Parker fouls up, McHale and the guys try to help him out, but Carpenter catches them in the act, forcing McHale to come up with a plan to get out of the situation, and get Parker his job back.
#7 - All Chiefs and No Indians
Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/9/1965
When Binghamton learns that all Chief Petty Officers are to be shipped out, he talks all the guys into taking the exam for CPO, then fixes the results to see that all of them pass. Now without a Crew, the 73 is to be scrapped, and McHale and Parker are to be reassigned. But a very determined Ensign Parker takes it upon himself to keep the 73 in business.
#8 - Pumpkin Takes Over
Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 2/16/1965
After Admiral Rogers mistakes a pretty young Nurse for Binghamton's wife, McHale and Parker must hustle to keep the situation a secret from Binghamton's real wife, who has come to visit the base as part of the Women's Navy League tour.
#9 - The Seven Faces of Ensign Parker
Season 3 - Episode 23 - Aired 2/23/1965
After the guys swipe Binghamton's dictation machine, Parker is nailed for the crime while in the process of returning it and the Captain throws him into the brig, pending Court Martial. Parker must then work with McHale and the boys in a complicated plan to try to make Binghamton drop the charges by making him think he's losing his mind.
#10 - Fuji's Big Romance
Season 3 - Episode 15 - Aired 12/29/1964
McHale and the boys take Fuji along to a big luau on a nearby island, where he falls for a lovely native girl who has a boyfriend with a bad attitude.
#11 - Send This Ensign to Camp
Season 3 - Episode 25 - Aired 3/9/1965
Struck on the head during a Japanese raid, Parker develops regressive amnesia and thinks he's returned to his childhood days at summer camp. McHale and the guys must then try to keep the Ensign out of sight long enough to think of a way to cure him, before the Fleet Medical Officer arrives to examine him.
#12 - By the Numbers, Paint
Season 3 - Episode 26 - Aired 3/16/1965
Major complications develop when Gruber and the guys, desperate to raise $300 for a tonsillectomy for Christy's little girl, try to pass off a 'paint-by-numbers' portrait as a genuine 'Claude Gauguin', supposedly painted by the brother of the legendary French Artiste.
#13 - Chuckie Cottontail
Season 3 - Episode 27 - Aired 3/23/1965
While searching McHale's island for some stolen eggs, Binghamton, Carpenter, and Admiral Hardesty are captured by Japanese soldiers drunk on the egg nog made from the stolen eggs. But they're soon rescued by the Easter Bunny on his way to an Easter egg hunt, supervised by McHale and the guys for some native school children.
#14 - The Great Necklace Caper
Season 3 - Episode 28 - Aired 3/30/1965
Binghamton panics when he learns that Naval Intelligence is on it's way to investigate the disappearance of a $1000 jade necklace, which he bought with funds 'borrowed' from the Officer's Club. Then, after the necklace turns up, Binghamton tries to frame McHale and his men with the crime in order to cover his tracks.
#15 - Will the Real Admiral Please Stand Up?
Season 3 - Episode 29 - Aired 4/6/1965
Parker takes full advantage of his situation when he's temporarily promoted to Admiral, so that he can fill in for Admiral Rogers in negotiations for the drilling rights in an oil-rich island nation.
#16 - Hello, McHale? Colonna!
Season 3 - Episode 30 - Aired 4/13/1965
After running into Jerry Colonna in New Caledonia, McHale and the guys talk the bug-eyed, mustachioed comic into making an unscheduled stop for a show on Taratupa. But when they learn that the base doesn't qualify for a Special Services show, they must make some special arrangements for an 'epidemic' at the base hospital.
#17 - Rumble on Taratupa
Season 3 - Episode 31 - Aired 4/20/1965
Binghamton tries to frame the 73 crew for the manufacture and sale of illegal liquor and has them all thrown into the brig pending an investigation. But with a little outside help, McHale and the guys manage to escape from jail and execute a complicated scheme to make the Captain look like a lunatic in the eyes of the Fleet Legal Officer.
#18 - All Ahead, Empty
Season 3 - Episode 32 - Aired 4/27/1965
When an MIT-trained electronics wizard comes to the base to convert the 73 into a fully automated, remote-controlled vessel, McHale and the crew fear that they may soon become obsolete. But they're reprieved at the last minute with help from a very unlikely source.
#19 - Will the Alligator Take the Stand?
Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/27/1964
After Binghamton devises a scheme to frame McHale and the crew for the theft of his wallet, Parker is arrested and charged with the crime. But the Ensign is cleared at the last minute when McHale and the boys produce Parker's star witness, an alligator that has taken a special liking to Parker.
#20 - The Dart Gun Wedding
Season 2 - Episode 35 - Aired 5/12/1964
Binghamton bows to pressure from the snobbish, swinging-bachelor son of his former employer, in the hope of returning to his stateside job after the war. But when the pressure becomes too great, the Captain conspires with McHale and the 73 crew in a plan to get rid of him.
#21 - A Da-Da for Christy
Season 2 - Episode 36 - Aired 5/19/1964
Christy's little daughter is about to say her first words and his wife has arranged to have it broadcast to him via ham radio. Trouble begins when the crew tries to pick up the channel on an enemy radio, confiscated during a raid.
#22 - The Ghosts of 73
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/15/1964
When Binghamton discovers how superstitious McHale and the crew are, he devises a plan to scare them into transferring out. But when McHale and the boys find that they've been duped, they cook up their own plan to scare Binghamton into cancelling their transfers.
#23 - Lester, the Skipper
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/18/1964
With his letters home, Gruber has led his girlfriend to believe that he's a Lieutenant Commander, and when the girl pays a surprise visit to Taratupa, McHale reluctantly agrees to help him save face, by allowing him to act out the part. The charade almost gets them into big trouble, but winds up working out for the good when it helps foil Binghamton's plan to have McHale assigned to a British Liaison's position.
#24 - It's a Mad, Mad, Mad War
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/29/1964
Left alone on the 73 in New Caledonia while McHale attends a staff meeting and the Crew are on an unauthorized liberty, Parker receives the order from Binghamton to pick up the base payroll. After he's robbed of the $62,000, McHale and the guys frantically try to locate the cash before Binghamton can accuse them of the theft.
#25 - McHale, the Desk Commando
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/6/1964
Binghamton fakes an illness and checks into the base hospital, appointing McHale as temporary Base Commander, to face an unscheduled inspection by a tough Admiral. But Binghamton's plan backfires when McHale and the crew manage to make it through the inspection and turn the tables on the Captain.