Route 66 — Season 1
The adventures of two young drifters across America
About this season
After discovering that his late father has gone through most of the family fortune, Tod Stiles hits the title trans-America highway in his Corvette in search of adventure with friend Buz Murdock, a survivor of New York's mean streets. The two work odd jobs as they meet and interact with colorful characters and find themselves plunged into one situation after another, some of them romantic, some of them very dangerous. Later, Linc Case, a Vietnam war hero trying to find himself, takes over as Tod's travel companion.
Episodes (30)
1. Black November
Aired 7 October 1960 • 60 min
Tod's father dies leaving Tod the Corvette. Buz worked for Tod's father and the two decide to start driving. The Corvette breaks down in a small Mississippi town with some very nasty residents. The boys discover that the town hosted a POW camp during WW II and that the town boss had an escaped prisoner lynched when his son was killed in action. The boss plans to lynch Tod and Buz to keep the town's secret. Filming Location: Concord, Kentucky
2. A Lance of Straw
Aired 14 October 1960 • 60 min
Shrimp boat captain Charlotte Duval hires Tod and Buz as a crew for her boat. Suitor Jean Boussard gets very jealous of the male crew members. Buz falls in love with the captain. Filming Location: Grand Isle, Louisiana
3. The Swan Bed
Aired 21 October 1960 • 60 min
Tod and Buz arrive in New Orleans during a parrot-fever epidemic. They meet a girl named Carrie Purcell and ask her out for a date. Carrie doesn't have money to afford nice clothes. Filming Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
4. The Man on the Monkey Board
Aired 28 October 1960 • 60 min
Tod and Buz are working at a Louisana Gulf of Mexico off-shore oil-drilling tower. Lew Ayres plays a Nazi-hunter hunting an escaped Nazi on the drilling rig. Filming Location: Denage and Venice, Louisana
5. The Strengthening Angels
Aired 4 November 1960 • 60 min
Tod and Buz give a lift to Lotti Montana, a migrant worker who is going to help pick the peach crop. As they approach the town of Sparrow Falls she begs them to drive through as quickly as possible. They take her to the Coronet Club and the Silver Dollar cafe. Sheriff Hingle keeps her from leaving town. The boys work with a revivalist. Filming Location: Needles, California
6. Ten Drops of Water
Aired 11 November 1960 • 60 min
Vergil and Helen Page with their young brother Homer are owners of the family ranch. Fighting a desperate battle against drought they're too proud to accept Tod and Buz's offer to help. Filming Location: Kanab, Utah
7. Three Sides
Aired 18 November 1960 • 60 min
The boys work on a ranch and encounter a rancher's son. Joey dances on a table. Filming Location: Grants Pass, Oregon
8. Legacy for Lucia
Aired 25 November 1960 • 60 min
Tod and Buz are working as loggers in Oregon. They meet an Italian girl, Lucia Trapani, who has come from Sicily to buy a new Madonna for her church. She plans to do it by selling her only possessions. Filming Location: Merlin, Oregon
9. Layout at Glen Canyon
Aired 2 December 1960 • 60 min
A group of models are sent to a construction camp at Glen Canyon to do some fashion shots for a magazine. Jeff Grady head of the crew working at the dam appoints Tod and Buz as bodyguards. Filming Location: Glen Canyon Dam and Page, Arizona
10. The Beryllium Eater
Aired 9 December 1960 • 60 min
Jack McConkie makes a find of Beryllium, a rare ore. Mine operator Fred Durant insists that he sell his claim. The old man refuses and is found badly beaten. Filming Location: Eureka, Arizona
11. A Fury Slinging Flame
Aired 30 December 1960 • 60 min
The boys meet scientist Mark Christopher and his friends who intend to remain in Carlsbad Caverns until a predicted nuclear war is over. Filming Location: Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico
12. Sheba
Aired 6 January 1961 • 60 min
Laura Church is paroled from a Texas prison and prepares to take up a new life. Then she discovers that the man assigned as her advisor is none other than Woody Biggs, the rancher who sent her to jail in the first place. The boys work as cowboys. Filming Location: El Paso, Texas
13. The Quick and the Dead
Aired 13 January 1961 • 60 min
Tod and Buz work at the Riverside race track for the Grand Prix stock-car races. They get involved with a family's problems, including whether the father should continue stock-car racing. Tod drives a racecar. Filming Location: Riverside Racetrack and Mission Inn, Riverside, California
14. Play It Glissando
Aired 20 January 1961 • 60 min
Tod and Buz watch a show at a local night club where trumpeter Gabe Johnson and his group are appearing. While driving away, they witness Jana Johnson, Gabe's wife, crash her car. She tells the boys that Gabe is insanely jealous and tried to kill her. The boys watch over her. Gabe shoots Tod but Tod tells the hospital it was an accident. When Jana goes back with Gabe, the boys realize that Jana will keep returning to Gabe no matter what. Filming Location: Malibu, California
15. The Clover Throne
Aired 27 January 1961 • 60 min
The boys work on Adam Darcey's date farm. Adam loves his ward, ""Sweet Thing"", who wants to leave the farm. Adam is also trying to stop a road from being built on his property. Filming Location: Indio, California
16. Fly Away Home (1)
Aired 10 February 1961 • 60 min
Tod goes to work for the Windus Dusting Company as a crop duster. He meets Summers, a pilot. The company is losing money. Filming Location: Phoenix, Arizona
17. Fly Away Home (2)
Aired 17 February 1961 • 60 min
A farmer wants his crops dusted with sulfur, which is very dangerous to the pilots. However, the risk means more money to for the crop-dusting company. Filming Location: Phoenix, Arizona
18. Sleep on Four Pillows
Aired 24 February 1961 • 60 min
Tod and Buz meet a teenage girl who claims to be running from gangsters. The girl's wealthy mother thinks her daughter has been kidnapped and calls the police and a detective. Filming Location: Hollywood and Los Angeles, California
19. An Absence of Tears
Aired 3 March 1961 • 60 min
A blind widow listens for the voices of her dead husband's murderers. She asks Tod and Buz to buy her a pistol for self-protection. Filming Location: Hollywood, California
20. Like a Motherless Child
Aired 17 March 1961 • 60 min
Tod and Buz pick up a small boy who has run away from an orphanage. Tod wants to return the boy but Buz, who has bad memories of an orphanage, refuses. The boys also get involved with showgirls. Filming Location: Reno, Fallon, and Carson City, Nevada
21. Effigy in Snow
Aired 24 March 1961 • 60 min
A psychotic killer is killing women at the Squaw Valley ski resort. He leaves a body in the snow. Filming Location: Squaw Valley, California
22. Eleven, the Hard Way
Aired 7 April 1961 • 60 min
The gown of Broken Knee hand their money over to famous gambler Sam Keep to gamble it in Reno. Filming Location: Reno and Broken Knee, Nevada
23. Most Vanquished, Most Victorious
Aired 14 April 1961 • 60 min
Tod's aunt Kitty asks Tod to find her daughter Carole. The boys find that she was living in a Los Angeles slum and has been killed. Filming Location: Los Angeles, California
24. Dont Count Stars
Aired 28 April 1961 • 60 min
Tod and Buz meet a hotel owner Mike, who drinks and gambles. Mike is the guardian for his niece Linda, a little girl. Linda's executor wants to remove the child from her uncle, and she asks Tod and Buz for help. Filming Location: San Diego, Sands Hotel, California
25. The Newborn
Aired 5 May 1961 • 60 min
Tod and Buz work on a ranch belonging to Frank Ivy. Frank's son dies leaving an Indian girl Kawna pregnant. Frank and Kawna's relatives fight over the baby. The boys arrange an ""adoption"" of the baby after the mother dies. Filming Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico
26. A Skill for Hunting
Aired 12 May 1961 • 60 min
Tod stops a poacher Hump Humphrey from killing a deer. Hump then shoots out the tires of Tod's car and later frames the boys for poaching. Filming Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico
27. Trap at Cordova
Aired 26 May 1961 • 60 min
Tod and Buz are kidnapped by New Mexican mountain townspeople who need a teacher. Tod addresses the New Mexico legislature about the culture of the people of Cordova and the need for teachers. Filming Location: Cordova, New Mexico
28. The Opponent
Aired 2 June 1961 • 60 min
A has-been boxer Johnny Copa is now throwing fights. Johnny trains Buz in boxing. Filming Location: Youngstown, Ohio
29. Welcome to Amity
Aired 9 June 1961 • 60 min
Joan Maslow wants to bury her mother in the cemetery outside of Amity. The entire community is determined to stop her. Filming Location: Amity, Ohio
30. Incident on a Bridge
Aired 16 June 1961 • 60 min
Buz and Tod go to work for Volovich and live at his house. Two other boarders are courting Volovich's mute daughter. Filming Location: Cleveland, Ohio