Gunsmoke (season 7)

Gunsmoke is an American Western television series developed by Charles Marquis Warren and based on the radio program of the same name.[1] The series ran for 20 seasons, making it the longest-running Western in television history.[2][3]

Gunsmoke
Season 7
Starring
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes34
Release
Original networkCBS
Original releaseSeptember 30, 1961 (1961-09-30) 
May 26, 1962 (1962-05-26)
Season chronology

The first episode of season 7 aired in the United States on September 30, 1961, and the final episode aired on May 26, 1962. All episodes were broadcast in the U.S. by CBS.[4]

Season 7 of Gunsmoke was the first season of one hour episodes filmed in black-and-white. Previous seasons were half-hour episodes, and color episodes were not filmed until season 12.

Synopsis

Gunsmoke is set in and around Dodge City, Kansas, in the post-Civil War era and centers on United States Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) as he enforces law and order in the city. In its original format, the series also focuses on Dillon's friendship with three other citizens of Dodge City: Doctor Galen "Doc" Adams (Milburn Stone), the town's physician; Kitty Russell (Amanda Blake), saloon girl and later owner of the Long Branch Saloon; and Chester Goode (Dennis Weaver), Dillon's assistant.[5]

Cast and characters

Main

Production

Season 7 consisted of 34 one hour black-and-white episodes produced by Norman Macdonnell and Frank Paris as associate producer.

Episode 13, "Marry Me", was the last of four episodes directed by Dennis Weaver.

Episodes

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
2341"Perce"Harry HarrisJohn MestonSeptember 30, 1961 (1961-09-30)
A gunslinger saves Matt's life and becomes well-liked in Dodge, but the love of a woman leads him down the wrong trail.
2352"Old Yellow Boots"Ted PostJohn MestonOctober 7, 1961 (1961-10-07)
Matt suspects one man for two different murders, an old prospector and well-to-do rancher, his only clue is an unusual boot imprint.
2363"Miss Kitty"Harry HarrisKathleen HiteOctober 14, 1961 (1961-10-14)
Dodge's rumor mill is running full overdrive when Kitty whisks a young boy off the stagecoach and hustles him out into the country, but much to Kitty's dismay, the gossip finds the wrong ears.
2374"Harpe's Blood"Andrew V. McLaglenJohn MestonOctober 21, 1961 (1961-10-21)
Bad blood runs through a family's veins and a brute of a man promises his dying wife that he will raise their two sons "hard and strict".
2385"All That"Andrew V. McLaglenJohn MestonOctober 28, 1961 (1961-10-28)
A failed rancher loses everything, home, cattle and wife, but comes-up with an ingenious plan to pay back those that wronged him.
2396"Long, Long Trail"Andrew V. McLaglenKathleen HiteNovember 4, 1961 (1961-11-04)
Matt reluctantly agrees to escort a young woman on a treacherous journey across the prairie to Fort Wallace, Kansas, where they encounter numerous perils along the way.
2407"The Squaw"Gerald MayerJohn DunkelNovember 11, 1961 (1961-11-11)
A widowed rancher takes-in an Arapaho squaw which infuriates his son and divides the family.
2418"Chesterland"Ted PostKathleen HiteNovember 18, 1961 (1961-11-18)
Chester becomes engaged, and in his eagerness to please the girl, buys a run-down abandoned homestead where he experiences many hardships and, in the end, betrayal.
2429"Milly"Richard WhorfStory by: Hal Moffett
Screenplay by: John Meston
November 25, 1961 (1961-11-25)
The poverty stricken daughter of a hopeless drunk believes the only way to save her brother and escape their forsaken lives is to get married.
24310"Indian Ford"Andrew V. McLaglenJohn DunkelDecember 2, 1961 (1961-12-02)
A white woman is spotted living among the Arapaho people and Matt accompanies the Cavalry in an attempt to rescue her, but she's reluctant to being saved.
24411"Apprentice Doc"Harry HarrisKathleen HiteDecember 9, 1961 (1961-12-09)
Doc is taken aback when he's approached by a man, who earlier was involved with a gang that kidnapped him, with an unusual request, teach me your profession.
24512"Nina's Revenge"Tay GarnettJohn MestonDecember 16, 1961 (1961-12-16)
A conniving and abusive husband wants nothing more than to get his hands on his father-in-law's money and sets in motion one dark plan after another to acquire it, but his tormented wife will punctuate the ending of his crashing scheme.
24613"Marry Me"Dennis WeaverKathleen HiteDecember 23, 1961 (1961-12-23)
A clan of amusing hill folk kidnap Kitty with the sole purpose of her marrying the eldest son.
24714"A Man a Day"Harry HarrisJohn MestonDecember 30, 1961 (1961-12-30)
An outlaw gang offers Matt a bribe to leave town so they may rob the bank, and when he refuses, they threaten to kill a man a day until he leaves town.
24815"The Do-Badder"Andrew V. McLaglenJohn MestonJanuary 6, 1962 (1962-01-06)
A meddlesome gold prospector strikes it rich and settles down in Dodge, where he offers unfettered advice to improve local townspeople lives, but everything and everyone he touches doesn't turn to gold.
24916"Lacey"Harry HarrisKathleen HiteJanuary 13, 1962 (1962-01-13)
A young farm girl has a heated argument with her disapproving father concerning her boyfriend, and when pa turns-up dead she takes the blame.
25017"Cody's Code"Andrew V. McLaglenJohn MestonJanuary 20, 1962 (1962-01-20)
No good deed goes unpunished when a middle-aged man hides a wounded fugitive in the house that he's building for his young and pretty fiancé.
25118"Old Dan"Andrew V. McLaglenKathleen HiteJanuary 27, 1962 (1962-01-27)
The good folks of Dodge bend over backwards to help a charming and loveable old drunk change his ways.
25219"Catawomper"Harry HarrisStory by: James Favor
Screenplay by: John Meston
February 10, 1962 (1962-02-10)
A spoiled overindulged young woman grows tired of the way her boyfriend treats her and proceeds to make him jealous by entertaining other suitors.
25320"Half Straight"Ted PostJohn MestonFebruary 17, 1962 (1962-02-17)
A hired gunman is stalking Matt but is sidetracked by a beautiful farm girl whom he promises to go straight.
25421"He Learned About Women"Tay GarnettStory by: John Rosser
Screenplay by: John Meston
February 24, 1962 (1962-02-24)
Chester and an attractive Mexican woman escape from a band of Comancheros, but when they're recaptured, he believes that she betrayed him.
25522"The Gallows"Andrew V. McLaglenJohn MestonMarch 3, 1962 (1962-03-03)
Matt is certain that the man he's taking to the gallows, whose been convicted of murder, is innocent.
25623"Reprisal"Harry HarrisJohn MestonMarch 10, 1962 (1962-03-10)
Matt informs a woman that he had to kill her carousing husband, and even though she didn't love him, demands an eye for an eye from the Marshal.
25724"Coventry"Christian NybyJohn MestonMarch 17, 1962 (1962-03-17)
An unsympathetic conman is given the silent treatment by the townspeople when he's found innocent in the murder of a beloved Dodge citizen.
25825"The Widow"Ted PostJohn DunkelMarch 24, 1962 (1962-03-24)
A desperate widow of a military officer killed in battle arrives in Dodge to retrieve his body, but her motives prove controversial.
25926"Durham Bull"Harry HarrisStory by: Jack Shettlesworth
Screenplay by: John Meston
March 31, 1962 (1962-03-31)
A ruthless gang conspire to steal a prized Hereford breeding bull worth its weight in gold from a shrewd old Texas cattleman and his grandson.
26027"Wagon Girls"Andrew V. McLaglenJohn MestonApril 7, 1962 (1962-04-07)
Matt comes upon a wagon train full of young ladies answering an ad for women wanted to marry rich Colorado gold miners, but the underhanded wagon master has formed his own immoral plans.
26128"The Dealer"Harry HarrisStory by: Les Crutchfield
Screenplay by: John Dunkel
April 14, 1962 (1962-04-14)
A lovestruck cowboy pursues a faro dealer but her feelings are not mutual since he was the gunman who shot and killed her card-cheating father.
26229"The Summons"Andrew V. McLaglenStory by: Marian Clark
Screenplay by: Kathleen Hite
April 21, 1962 (1962-04-21)
An outlaw who was refused a bounty blames Matt and lures him to a nearby town in an outlandish plan to hang him.
26330"The Dreamers"Andrew V. McLaglenJohn MestonApril 28, 1962 (1962-04-28)
A wealthy obnoxious miner passing through Dodge becomes infatuated with Kitty, and when she rebukes his advances, he sets aside his dreams and chooses to run her out of business.
26431"Cale"Harry HarrisKathleen HiteMay 5, 1962 (1962-05-05)
A headstrong young drifter is determined to make things right when he's wrongly suspected of being the accomplice to horse thief.
26532"Chester's Indian"Joseph SargentKathleen HiteMay 12, 1962 (1962-05-12)
Chester shoots a runaway Indian hidden away by a young, enamored farm girl, who then pressures Chester into nursing him back to health.
26633"The Prisoner"Andrew V. McLaglenRobert E. ThompsonMay 19, 1962 (1962-05-19)
A Fort Leavenworth prison escapee and murderer makes his way to Dodge and finds himself involved in a family's drama.
26734"The Boys"Harry HarrisJohn MestonMay 26, 1962 (1962-05-26)
A snake-oil salesman, and his three miscreant sons commit multiple crimes and Matt starts a rumor with one of the boys in hopes of exposing all of them.

Release

Broadcast

Season seven aired Saturdays at 10:00-11:00 pm (EST) on CBS.[4]

Home media

The seventh season was released on DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment in two volumes. The first 17 episodes were released on December 11, 2012 and the remaining 17 episodes were released on February 5, 2013.

Reception

After four straight seasons in the number one primetime spot in the Nielsen ratings, Gunsmoke dropped to number three, being unseated by two other Westerns, Wagon Train and Bonanza.[6]

Footnotes

  1. Barbaras 1990, p. 74–75.
  2. Brooks & Marsh 2007, p. 570–571.
  3. McNeil 1996, p. 351–352.
  4. Brooks & Marsh 2007, p. 570.
  5. Barbaras 1990, p. 87–102.

References

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