One of the most famous Nickelodeon sitcoms of the 21st century was Drake & Josh, and the best Drake and Josh episodes usually contain a dash of familial love, a harebrained scheme, and tons of laughter. This hilarious comedy, which aired from 2004 to 2007, followed two mismatched stepbrothers portrayed by Drake Bell and Josh Peck. Throughout the series, they go through hilarious adventures as they get tormented by Drake's biological evil little sister, Megan (Miranda Cosgrove). Drake & Josh ran for four seasons and had its fair share of iconic episodes.
Teen comedians Drake Bell and Josh Peck got their start with Nickelodeon on The Amanda Show, where they both got the idea to create Drake and Josh. The show also got two TV movies in Drake & Josh Go to Hollywood and Merry Christmas Drake & Josh. The series was so popular that it also spawned two video games, seven books, and a short web series. In 2019, Bell announced that he and Peck were working on a revival. However, in 2022, Peck revealed that it was scrapped. Even if there's no revival to look forward to, audiences can still enjoy their antics with the best Drake and Josh episodes.
20 Who's Got Game — Season 4, Episode 5
One of the best episodes of Drake and Josh sees the brothers pitted against each other in competition. Similar to season 2's "The Bet," "Who's Got Game" has Drake and Josh betting against each other to see who can get more dates in a week after the two fight over a girl. Drake soon finds a girl named Carly, who he wants to focus all his attention on, but when she finds out about their bet, she breaks up with him.
Meanwhile, Josh gets dating advice from his mom and ends up with a montage of dates. Drake wins back Carly by being honest with many of the people he lied to, and Josh wins the bet. One of the more refreshing realities of Drake and Josh is that Drake often gets called out for his bad behavior, especially when he's seen as more of a ladies' man than Josh. This episode just solidifies that, and also sees the two ramp up the comedy in their competition.
19 Megan's First Kiss — Season 4, Episode 15
Drake and Josh may have been the titular stars, but their younger sister Megan (played by iCarly's Miranda Cosgrove) often stole the show. One of the best Drake and Josh episodes is one of the first to explore the brothers' relationship with Megan beyond her evil pranks. After the curious Drake and Josh notice her suspicious behavior, they discover she is meeting someone at the Premiere. This leads to a gut-busting scene where they dress up as Irish Jews to spy on her.
Upon realizing that Megan has a boyfriend named Corey, Drake and Josh sabotage his attempts to kiss her. They get them back together, but upon discovering Corey is cheating on her, Drake and Josh get Megan to break up with him before promptly getting beaten up by Corey. Megan kisses them both and says she loves them in an emotional ending to a hilarious episode that had fans going, "Pip pip da doodly doo!"
18 Believe Me, Brother — Season 1, Episode 3
The best episodes of Drake and Josh is usually a comedy of errors mixed with a classic misunderstanding, and the season 1 episode "Believe Me, Brother" is a shining example. It's not often that an installment from a show's first season stands out as the perfect example of what audiences are in for, but Drake and Josh hit the ground running.
The installment sees Drake's new girlfriend Susan take a shine to Josh, and start flirting with him whenever Drake isn't around. Josh at first hilariously doesn't pick up on her game, until she starts kissing him. The catch is, however, that Susan is such a good liar she constantly makes Drake believe that Josh is hitting on her, and not the other way round. Josh does everything in his power to prove his innocence and to hilarious results.
17 Megan's Revenge — Season 4, Episode 13
One of the best Drake and Josh episodes wouldn't be complete without a subplot involving Megan. In this installment, Drake and Josh decide they want to take a picture of Megan's cute fuzzy hamster — and the animal subsequently drops dead. Considering that the two older boys are terrified of their younger sister, the entire episode is spent in fear and paranoia of what Megan will do when she inevitably finds out the truth, resulting in some hilarious Drake & Josh quotes.
"Megan's Revenge" is a Drake and Josh episode that's essential for fans of Megan. The installment sees the step-brothers over-analyzing her every move and scared of their own shadows, at one point even turning on each other. "Megan's Revenge" is a prime example of how Drake and Josh's back-and-forth is the biggest highlight of the series, and how Megan as a character adds to the overall plot and dynamic between the family.
16 Theater Thug — Season 3, Episode 14
"Theater Thug" sees a big break for Josh mixed with a classic case of mistaken identity, and it's one of the best episodes of Drake and Josh. In the season 3 episode, Josh gets a part on a TV crime show where he plays the infamous "theater thug." However, this causes nothing but a world of problems for Josh, as the general public consistently begins mistaking him for the real-life criminal.
Meanwhile, Drake is using Josh's fame to get in good with the ladies. In the end, the boys manage to capture the real theater thug, but Josh still gets arrested instead. Drake and Josh does mistaken identity well, and the installment showcases Drake's more unsavory side as he constantly tries to capitalize off his step-brother's success and does little to help him clear his name.
15 Girl Power — Season 3, Episode 10
Drake and Josh struggle with relating to girls throughout the series, but this is never more apparent than in one of the best Drake and Josh episodes "Girl Power." The installment sees Josh trying to make a good impression on his girlfriend Mindy's (one of the best non-titular Drake & Josh characters) parents — and failing miserably. Therefore, he tries to host dinner for Mindy's family at his home as another chance of making a good impression. This effort, unfortunately, is equally disastrous.
In the meantime, Drake finds himself struggling with his masculinity. His girlfriend, Lucy, gets into an arm-wrestling match with him to determine who is tougher. Drake loses epically, proving Lucy's statement that girls are tougher than boys, and he spends much of the episode contemplating this fact. The installment sees growth from both Drake and Josh, and the episode definitively teaches them a thing or two about women.
14 Guitar — Season 2, Episode 2
"Guitar" is one of the few episodes where Megan isn't terrible to her brother, and it's one of the best episodes of Drake and Josh. Megan wins a radio contest, and the prize is tickets to a Zero Gravity concert with a signed guitar from Devan Malone. Surprisingly, Megan lets Drake have her prize and he's over the moon with excitement. However, things get hairy when Josh accidentally sets his signed guitar on fire.
Josh spends the rest of the episode scrambling to find Drake the same guitar, and to astoundingly funny results. There's also a b-plot involving Josh's father and Drake's step-father Walter, a character who is often disrespected and doesn't get a lot of screen time. Walter tries to grow closer with Drake, but Drake manages to be busy every time they're supposed to get together. The installment gives Walter some due importance, and sees a couple of surprising character moments.
13 The Battle Of Panthatar — Season 4, Episode 16
"The Battle of Panthatar" sees a lot of separate plots coming together, making it one of the best-written and overall best Drake and Josh episodes. The episode starts with Drake getting an autographed album of "Abbey Road" from his neighbor, Mr. Pompette. Then, the brothers' mutual classmate Thorton invites the pair to his 16th birthday, which will be televised on an MTV show — until Thorton catches Drake making out with his girlfriend. He subsequently bans the brothers from attending the party.
Desperate to the festivities and be on TV, Josh convinces Drake to give Thorton the signed album. He does, but Thorton still won't let them into the party. This leads to one of the wildest Drake and Josh schemes as the two plan to both get into the party and get the signed Beatles album back. Everything luckily works out in the end and Drake gets his album back.
12 Dance Contest — Season 4, Episode 19
The final half-hour episode of Drake & Josh is "Dance Contest," and it turned out to be one of the best Drake and Josh episodes. In this installment, Josh signs up for a dance contest to have enough school credit to become #1 in his class over Mindy Crenshaw. Meanwhile, Drake has skipped gym class for months and steals Josh's dance partner, so he can compete in the contest and have enough credits to graduate.
After an altercation between Drake and Josh's dance partners, the two decide to dance together in an iconic dance performance where the two win the contest and share the school credit. It was the perfect way to end the prolific Nickelodeon series, seeing the brothers finally band together and play to their strengths, culminating with the show's ultimate family-friendly message.
11 Steered Straight — Season 4, Episode 14
In one of the best episodes of Drake and Josh, Drake and Josh get in trouble with the law after using fake IDS to try to gain entry into a club. Their parents decide to put them in the Steered Straight program, so they know what it is like to go to jail. However, this takes a turn for the worse when their cop car gets hijacked by a real criminal.
Drake and Josh assume the names on their fake IDS (Jefferson Steelflex and Alvin Yakitori) and inadvertently lead a group of criminals to their house in a plot to kidnap the governor. The brothers are able to drive them out of the house by putting on a hilarious act where Drake beats Josh with a banana and rips out his hand in one of the funniest episodes of the show.
