"Gunsmoke" (1955) - Review & Commentary

[Mister Obvious]

HOW DID YOU GET TO WATCH THAT EPISODE?#?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!!?!??!/!1

[Mister Obvious]

DO YOU HAVE THE BOX SET?!?!?!?!!??!??!?!?!!?1

[Mister Obvious]

WHAT KIND OF STRANGE MAGIC IS THIS!?!?!?!1?!?!

[Mister Obvious]

J O I N   

U S

[Atma]

Who is "us"? Is there some kind of watch group you've formed? I'd love to join if so.

I wish I had a box set. I may invest if you're really going to do all the seasons. For now I'm just watching the free episodes that are available online, which generally are very poor quality, but watchable nonetheless. It's worth it to be able to get more immersed in your commentary.

[Mister Obvious]

Oh wow, that is awesome dude!!! I'm glad you were able to find some of these episodes!!!

I never tried to look for any available online outside of official sources because I knew that I was gonna be legitimately obsessed with Gunsmoke after I found those original episodes on Pluto TV.

I knew I had to have the box set... for a lot of reasons. I wanted the ENTIRE show. No commercials fucking with my timestamps. And with the DVDs, the timestamps will be 100% accurate. That kinda stuff means a lot to me.

While I'm very serious about my commentary and my love of Gunsmoke, I'm fairly unpredictable... I do intend to watch the entire show and review it, but I can't guarantee the timeframe in which I will do so.

This thread will be around for as long as the site is, so there's no reason for anyone to rush. Anybody's free to join in on the Gunsmoke journey now, a year from now, etc. It's all good.

For me, the box set was warranted, but that's not the case for most people... I've spent like 9 hours watching Gunsmoke today, that's a luxury.

But for any serious Gunsmoke fan (which I consider myself one at this point and I don't see that changing) the box set is something to consider.

I can't imagine any reason I'd stop watching the show... it was made in a safe enough time period ('50s-'70s) that there shouldn't be any propaganda laced into it that ultimately turns me off and makes me decide to stop watching.

[Mister Obvious]

S2 E21 - "Bloody Hands"

0:07 oh man, not all announcers are created equal and this one is definitely the worst yet. Why do they keep changing it up?!

2:42 yeah, mister, he did it all alone. He's got balls of steel! You jelly?? What's it feel like to stand next to a REAL man??!?

2:58 there's something... INTENSE AS FUCK about Marshal Dillon in this episode. Like... for real for real. And I'm aroused. I legit think I just came.

I think I'm gonna have to rewatch this entire scene. No shit. I am gonna go back and watch from like 1:35.

2:20 MUTHAFUCKAS GOT HOUUUSSSSEEEDDDDD.

3:04 oh shut up dude, your friends sucked.

3:16 oh don't second guess yourself, baby, it ain't easy bein' the GOAT.

I would have preferred to see no question flash across his face at all, but I guess then he wouldn't be the Matt we know and love.

4:00 he seems extra hard and brooding in this episode... almost seems like Matt lost something in the hills.

4:30 God I'm so turned on right now. This is the sexiest show ever.

4:50 what I love so much about this show is their incredible ability to convey an atmosphere so masterfully and exactingly with some unspoken, unseen method that I can't even describe. I've absolutely never seen it in any other show or movie.

4:56 it's right here they confirm that, indeed, the viewer is correct and there's something extra pensive about Matt today... https://i.imgur.com/cB1hgoG.png

*popcorn*

He was all worked up BEFORE he killed those guys, and I wanna know what all this is about.

5:18 Chester seems kinda freaked out about him even coming in. I guess there's a strange air about a man who was brave enough to take on a bunch of murderous thieving outlaws by himself and come out unscathed... there must be a serious presence of power, authority, and an underlying chaos about a man who's just claimed lives and served justice with his own hands.

5:38 look at that thousand yard stare, man, he's got that far away look in his eyes... https://i.imgur.com/fEzzOBV.png

5:54 "I don't feel good about him, Doc." BAHAHAHAHAHAHAH CONFIRRRRMMMMEDDDD. Oh my God man... this is now one of my favorite Gunsmoke episodes of all time. So far. Literally season 2. But yeah. It's that good.

God man I hope we get more episodes like this where Matt goes so fucking far that people think he's lost his mind, it's the hottest thing I've ever seen.

I thought I'd seen things that were hot before, but like no. Absolutely not.

I kiiinda want this episode to last forever, not gonna lie.

6:27 uh whoa, what the hell. Who the fuck is this? Just when we thought shit couldn't get any more intense and low key dark, this chick who looks like the devil himself cooked up the most hotass demonbitch he could dream up comes onto the scene to make things even more frankly Scorpionic... https://imgur.com/a/WTzgXF6

Off topic, but how does Kitty deal with these occasional mega hot saloon sluts coming up in her territory and being ANYWHERE NEAR her man?? I'm so for real... I would not be down with this.

7:08 what if the first man who walks through that door is Marshal Dillon?? Just sayin'. No way I'd let that little hellcat anywhere near my man.

7:32 OH PLEASE. ON WHAT PLANET EVERRR WOULD THAT HAPPEN, EVERRR?!!!!!!! I guess whatever planet Gunsmoke is on in their alternate universe, lmao.

8:37 oh God, this guy's definitely fucked then.

8:58 wait a friggen second, that's Russell Johnson, the Professor from Gilligan's Island!!!!!!! According to his Wiki, he had a military background too... Air Force. That's hot.

9:38 uh shit, Marshal Dillon's having a fitful nightmare. That's hot. Too bad Miss Kitty can't be there to comfort him with her backside right now.

9:50 don't FUCKIIIIINNNNNNN' wake him up right now, Chester, he's trying to LEARN SOMETHING!!!!!!!!! I seriously can't fucking stand people.

11:00 dude I think Matt needs a vacation. Can we just be real about that?

11:03 are there two pillows on that bed?? Like as in Chester sleeps there too!? LMAO did I see that right? Okay whatever, I'm not gonna overthink this.

11:08 are there two cots there just close together and it kinda looks like the same bed? Gotta be.

11:33 okay it's two separate cots, it was just the camera angle lmao!!!

Well I guess that sorta answers the question of where they sleep though. I guess sometimes they sleep there, sometimes only one of them sleeps there, and then sometimes they both go off and sleep somewhere else, presumably Matt with Miss Kitty and Chester maybe with some lady too.

12:15 dude, this episode is a lot. It's A LOT. I wasn't prepared for this. At all.

I mean I know this is only season 2 and I haven't seen all that many episodes of this show at this point but... I am gonna just go ahead and call it that this has to be in at least the top 10 greatest Gunsmoke episodes of all time.

It's pretty clear that I am gonna have to start categorizing my favorite episodes. There's gonna have to be a category for funny/lighthearted episodes, and the Mail Order Bride episode is definitely my #1 in that category. But this episode? It's my number 1 in the 'serious episodes' category, that's for damn sure.

12:27 I mean he's STILL got that straight up unsettling look in his eye... https://i.imgur.com/a14A4cB.png

15:00 dude you're fuckin' screwed if you wanna play that game with the marshal this morning. He has noooo idea.

16:00 wow look, he's writing... *heart eyes*

16:26 oh come on now, that's a little bit rash isn't it??

19:40 awwww, this is sweet!

21:38 man look at that bitchin' dress. I don't blame Amanda Blake for having standards for her character. She was right to want to keep Miss Kitty in fresh and exciting fashions. It was a big part of her character. Things must have changed over the years though in later seasons when they decided to stop dressing everybody to the nines presumably. I wonder what those later years are like.

23:46 I mean I get where Chester's coming from, but... I also really don't want Matt to do anything he doesn't wanna do.

24:18 "It's too late, Mr. Dillon, it's way too late." I mean he's kinda right though. Damn... what an absolutely amazing show. I can't even believe it.

I'm gonna say something strange... something really strange. Gunsmoke was ahead of its time.

[Mister Obvious]

Let's be honest...

Literally every other show besides The Twilight Zone is a fucking joke compared to Gunsmoke.

I said what I said.

[Mister Obvious]

S2 E22 - "Skid Row"

0:20 damn yo, this episode starts off hot and heavy with Chester getting beat the shit out of by some guy and Kitty trying to break it up and she's getting pushed around.

0:40 now she's beating the shit out of him with a washing board!!! Where the hell is Matt?!

0:50 here he comes, finally.

1:06 oh damn, she's PIIIIIIIIISSED.

1:34 hell yeah he means it!!! NOBODY fucks with Marshal Dillon's woman!!!

1:52 he messed Kitty's hair up and everything.

2:37 lol drinking as a show of solidarity <3

4:11 she looks almost exactly like Kitty from the side.

5:00 I'm kinda confused, who's this Jack guy?? Is that the dude who just beat them up??

6:02 nah that's not him. Then who is he?? Did I miss something?? Are we supposed to know who he is??

7:10 oh man... if I was that lady, I'd turn the hell around and go right back where I came from. Or turn over a new leaf at the Long Branch.

10:10 why don't they just tell her the truth right out of the gate?? You know, lying isn't exactly a morally upstanding quality or anything.

11:26 "You wanna turn some tricks down at the Long Branch while you wait?"

12:03 oh somebody needs to take this motherfuckin' son of a bitch OUT.

18:04 this guy's a fuckin' loser. If he'd have come and met her to begin with, she never would have been attacked.

20:00 well somebody's gotta take out the trash... maybe this guy can redeem himself yet. Probably best if he hangs and his lady finds somebody else though.

20:45 I meeean... he could just beat him with the shotgun.

21:53 dude he took that guy down so fast you could hardly even tell what happened.

22:54 DIED?! From WHAT!?!

25:03 no trace of a man whatsoever.

[Mister Obvious]

S2 E23 - "Sweet and Sour"

0:29 "There's a sayin' that this is a hard land on women and horses... and by heaven, it's sure true. I've seen many a pretty girl come out here from back east to dance in the dance halls, and in no time she's all dried out like a buffalo bone. It must take a man with carpetbagger blood in him to talk any woman into comin' west. But they still come. And they still cause me trouble when they do. Matt Dillon, US Marshal."

1:20 lol it says "Abilene Stage 2 Days Late" and there's a guy sleeping in the office.

2:45 well I'd appreciate it if the good marshal would shove his eyes back in their sockets and pick his jaw up off the floor... they're acting like she's the prettiest lady they've ever seen or something.

3:08 what the fuck was with that LAUGH, dude, I mean?!?!?!

3:56 roflmao @ the facepalm.

4:20 THE LADY SAID NO, MISTER.

5:30 well this is gonna be an awkward ride.

6:10 lol Marshal Dillon knows somebody over in Dodge who can hook you up with a job real fast.

6:20 BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA oh my God I CANNOT believe he said that. He literally just said what I said. What the actual fuck man. I wasn't being SERIOUS.

6:50 dude I'd be puking so fucking hard on that stagecoach.

8:10 "How do you know? You haven't tried it yet." Bwahahaha, now that was a good one!

9:15 "As long as she knows what to expect... gettin' railed hard by a bunch of horny cowboys every night!" Ooooo la la!

9:20 look at her stroking Matt's arm... I'd be boiling in jealous rage. How the fuck does Kitty deal with this?? I can hardly deal with it!!!

9:28 "I'm just half owner of this place." Ah wow, so this is the first time we hear about what Miss Kitty's real position is here. I knew that other guy said he owned it in that one episode, so I was curious.

9:45 well, I mean, let's keep it real though... Miss Kitty's the hottest broad in town regardless.

12:40 I mean she totally didn't "ask for it" OR start the fight or anything like that, but... I mean, I guess Kitty knows her bitches.

12:50 I don't really understand why Kitty's convinced this lady "likes" to have men fight over her, she's no prettier or better dressed than any of the other chicks who are ever on this show.

I mean then again, I guess I shouldn't be questioning Kitty's judgement here. It's not like she's coming at it from a place of jealousy. And the way that chick was stroking Matt's arm... I guess I can see how this lady just sets herself up for it. I dunno. It's not a clear-cut case of anything that I recognize, but let's see how it plays out.

13:17 oh yeah, somebody's totally gonna die over this chick.

13:30 they look all puzzled as if a fight over a saloon girl is a foreign concept to them or something.

13:40 dang, she really does look like a shit stirrer in this scene though. And listen to that creepy music.

14:00 they've given her the most scandalous fake lashes I've seen on here yet.

14:30 Kitty's so much better than all the other chicks... it's not disputable.

14:50 "I drink only brandy please" OHOHOHOHO. This bitch DIDN'T. She DIDN'T. *I* drink only brandy, so I take offense to having anything in common with this chick!!!

15:10 you CANNOT tell me she's never done THIS before. I think I would have picked a couple of better looking dudes though. Then again, it's not like they made their money JUST by having sex with ALL the dudes, they made a lot of it by encouraging them to drink.

16:26 WOWWWWWW. Now you don't see THAT too often!!! A twofer!!!

18:45 dude I dunno, this lady's kinda creepy. I think she DOES do it on purpose. And she always pulls the "it's just awful being a woman" card as if it's an excuse or a pass. So I guess that's the moral of this story. Some ladies stir the pot and then act like the victim! Matt's onto her though.

22:40 lolol that look of "Yuuuup" that he shoots over to Kitty and Chester.

22:58 TBH she's almost like a predator that takes out the dumbest and most brutish of the prey. It's like some kinda natural ecosystem thingy.

23:15 lol she gets Marshal Dillon's arm right around her neck... that's hot.

23:45 the look on his face when he fired was soooooo sexy.

24:09 lol look at how he shoves her... I swear this chick is getting all the good action outta Matt.

24:18 shit I'd do just about anything he said!!! *nanarub*

24:50 at least that we know of.

25:38 that ending theme has some of the most interesting percussion on it... I wonder what they used to make that sound.

[Mister Obvious]

S2 E24 - "Cain"

1:08 the nerve of this dude, slapping this guy like he's some little bitch. He's lucky he didn't get dealt with right then and there.

2:18 lol look how dusty that floor is!!!

3:25 he must wanna talk to him about something.

4:20 sounds like a great place to die. Hell, I just about died in Arizona once! (Okay maybe twice. Okay maybe three times.)

[Mister Obvious]

"Arness had a lot of Matt Dillon's gutsiness, to begin with," director Ted Post told TV Guide in an interview.

"This guy's long-suit as an actor is the compassion that comes out in a poignant look that I call 'Weltschmerz' -- world pain. Gary Cooper had it. So did Bogart, Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda, Spencer Tracy, they all have it. Arness has it and doesn't even know it."

Weltschmerz means to carry the world's troubles on your shoulders.

https://outsider.com/american-entertainm...dodge-city

That's part of what I meant when I said this...

4:50 what I love so much about this show is their incredible ability to convey an atmosphere so masterfully and exactingly with some unspoken, unseen method that I can't even describe. I've absolutely never seen it in any other show or movie.

[Mister Obvious]

S2 E25 - "Bureaucrat"

2:30 wow, those guys are even more annoying than skateboarders!?!

5:15 I mean you gotta agree with this guy, that's true.

9:00 he's right that Marshal Dillon ISN'T often at his office... I think this guy should send over a deputy marshal in addition to having Chester there.

11:10 well this is where I have to draw the line and totally disagree with this guy, lol.

11:50 is he even gonna be there long enough to learn it though??

12:04 lmfao look at the ridiculous total waste of time checking all these guns is! They'd need to hire 2 more dudes solely to handle that job while Matt and Chester are doing actual IMPORTANT work!

13:50 oh well I guess they better invent metal detectors and put 'em on every entrance, eh?

14:30 so the point proven here is that even if you have guns checked/banned, the bad guys are still gonna have 'em and use 'em anyway.

18:18 "There's only one thing I'm afraid of right now and that's myself." I squealed.

21:40 lmao they're gonna tar and feather him!!!

23:30 well I guess he was around long enough to learn the lesson after all.

24:53 "Why yes sir, Mr. Marshal... ya see, I've never met a real man before."

[Mister Obvious]

S2 E26 - "Last Fling"

1:17 oh Lord.

3:07 this old guy and lady are fucking excellent at portraying these characters, especially her.

8:00 lol it'd be awesome if Kitty really did shoot this guy, but I don't believe it.

10:25 somebody's got it out for Kitty real bad!

20:03 oh my damn, yes please, Mr. Dillon!

21:56 lmao, wow. This show is WILD.

That ending almost had me teary eyed.

[Mister Obvious]

This interview had me crying pretty much the whole way through.

Haven't cried at an episode of Gunsmoke yet, but that did it for me.

[Mister Obvious]

http://henryswesternroundup.blogspot.com...rness.html

He really was a pilot...

[Mister Obvious]

S2 E27 - "Chester's Murder"

Ermergerd... that title though. I'm nervous!

0:33 the fuck is that supposed to mean, Doc?

0:48 "And boy I feel short tempered, too." Oh my damn... I love how this trend of Matt being peeved is persisting throughout several episodes. So sexy.

2:50 I feel sorry for Marshal Dillon sometimes... the trouble never stops and it seems like it's hard for him to catch a lull in it so he can get some real rest.

I gotta hand it to the people who wrote Gunsmoke... they made some amazing plot lines, then these incredible actors brought them to life. Almost every single episode grabs you and doesn't let go until it's had its way with you. I say "almost" because I've been fairly distracted throughout a few of them. My philosophy is technically I watched it even if I wasn't totally paying attention... if I live long enough to start watching "reruns" in my Gunsmoke journey, when I get back to those episodes it'll almost be like I've never seen 'em before! LOL!

3:48 "SHET EP!" lol.

5:30 is it just me or is it kinda dumb that he just let Chester's drunk ass take this guy off at gunpoint when they were just about to be in a fight a minute ago?

6:05 yuuuuuup.

8:00 I mean, I believe Chester.

11:40 man you know what, I think now is an important time to note that simply because of Chester's position as the marshal's assistant, he COULD be the target of a grudge.

11:58 heck at this point I'm getting suspicious of this Dobie guy.

12:06 "Breakfast with Kitty" lol. That has a ring to it.

12:17 oh she's a good girl, huh?? First of all, she's a saloon broad. Secondly, it seems like this Dobie guy is a little too protective over what should be just some random chick to him.

13:26 lmao, imagine if Marshal Dillon had to hang Chester... =\

13:45 oh wow, I forgot all about this horse peddler. I wonder what Ned's horse is worth?? A dead man don't really need a horse, now does he?

17:50 well I guess we know who killed him then!!!

18:48 oh Kitty, that's fucked up. You mean to tell me that she can't see through this whole thing??

24:26 lol.

[Mister Obvious]

S2 E28 - "The Photographer"

0:40 "I heard tell of a man once who made his living by selling holy stones for good luck. He did fine for awhile. But then he made one mistake. Like a fool, he sold 'em all. Now, I wouldn't know for sure if that story's true or not, but I do know I've met men like that. I even had to kill one once. Matt Dillon, US Marshal."

1:20 check out those scandalous fishnet stockings she's wearing... https://i.imgur.com/n3UXspA.png

1:26 "Upside down!?" lol.

2:27 "It's one of them magic picture boxes like we've been hearin' about."

3:02 "Naturally you're one of the subjects I most wish to immortalize."

7:11 "An artist is outside the law, marshal. Didn't you know that?"

11:07 now I'm kinda concerned these Natives are gonna go develop that whole "photographs steal your soul" concept and come back later all mad and freaked out!!!

14:50 um whoa, that photographer guy just went waaaaaaay too far.

15:38 I told you.

24:00 now THAT was badass.

Best episode yet with Native American characters featured.

[Mister Obvious]

S2 E29 - "Wrong Man"

0:38 "I knew a man once who brought his blind old mother to live with him. And inside of a week, he gave her a pair of his cast-off shoes and put her out in the yard makin' soap in a big black kettle. I remember at the time thinking that man was plum mean. But I've met meaner since. Since I took this job, that is. Matt Dillon, US Marshal."

7:50 well nobody's gonna be sad to see this guy hang.

20:22 "No woman needs a husband like that."

[Mister Obvious]

S2 E30 - "Big Girl Lost"

4:09 "Being a saloon girl sucks!"

8:18 man they lie a lot on this show. They're all moral otherwise, but when it comes to saying they haven't seen such and such, or such and such ain't in town anymore, it's like a duty or something. Things never work out when they lie for somebody.

10:40 I've stopping keeping track of how many times a character on this show has announced to a room full of people that they're gonna commit a murder lmfaolol.