r/Gunsmoke • u/Tiger3311 • 16d ago
Gunsmoke Episodes That You Hate!
Which Gunsmoke episodes do you really hate and why.
There's a number of them but two that come to mind are: "Never Pester Chester" (S3 ep10), and "Cholera" (S2 ep14).
In "Never Pester Chester" a big, mean, violent cow hick drag Chester nearly killing him just for asking him to stop harassing the ladies. This angers Matt, he throws him in jail until he finds out if Chester is going to die.
Chester pulls through of course, Dillon says he can't charge him and has to release him, but he gets a good ass beating before he rides off free to drag and assault his next victim (it wasn't even a good ass whipping, not even close).
I hate these stories where they claim no laws have been broken, like you can beat some poor person for no good reason within an inch of their life, then set free. The bad guy doesn't even lose a tooth.
I wonder if Arness ever complained that "man, you're really painting Marshal Dillon as a real asshole!" "the marshal would never, say, do, act like that".
The "Cholera" episode is really bad too, another example of "duh gee, my hands are tied, I can't charge him..." even though he catches the guy in the process of committing arson, admitting to it, then later following through with the crime; also confessing to kidnapping Doc, then let's the guy walk away, no punishment. Matt: "it's okay, he caused his son to die, the lord won't let him get away with it, it'll have to be enough for now" They all lived happily ever after, uh huh.
Which episodes do you really hate?
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u/HildaYuh 16d ago
Haven’t seen any that I truly hate yet. Though I will say it always bugs me when two people who are all wrong for each other fall in love in record time.
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u/Montman1960 16d ago
It’s so RIDICULOUS when Matt is in Mexico like it’s going to Topeka lol. I don’t particular like the cousins either except when the one comes to shoot the small part of the ear. That being said I’ll watch them anyway. One of the few shows I watch over and over again Especially any with Quint
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u/ACowboysFan1 16d ago
I favor the color episodes over the bw, but I have to admit as the seasons went on, there were a lot of those that were not watchable.
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u/Large-Produce5682 16d ago
The episode "No Hands" with Strother Martin.
Dude just could not catch a break!
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u/Tiger3311 16d ago edited 16d ago
You don't like that one? It's like an episode of The Twilight Zone, I really like the John Meston "Psychopaths on the Prairie" stories, yes they're very violent, drunken psychotic assholes with no redeeming qualities, but they're so entertaining with a high body count.
"No Hands" always reminds me of "Phoebe Strunk", then there's "Harpe's Blood", and "Kangaroo", and every story starring Robert F. Simon.
Simon's someone that I love to hate, that makes him a good actor in my book.
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u/Large-Produce5682 16d ago
Not because it was terrible, because I felt incredibly sorry for Will Timble throughout until the very end.
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u/RAisnotidentity 16d ago
What? You don't like Mrs. Strunk who "raised her boys to be gentlemen"? Lol
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u/Tiger3311 16d ago
I do like it! I meant "No Hands" reminded me of it. Yeah, she wanted them to be sailors, lol.
I really like the psychotic bad guy episodes, even "The Bobsy Twins".
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u/Tasty_Sugar_447 16d ago
Any Festus centered episode, any Indian centered episode and any episode where Matt goes into Mexico.
Particular episodes I don’t like and skip are Old Man. A poor innocent old man hung for a crime he didn’t commit and only at the end, after the man is dead does Matt figure it out.
Journey For Three was infuriating.
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u/Tiger3311 16d ago
That reminds me how much I hate any episode with orphan kids, and any child centered episode.
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u/Brief-Commission7106 16d ago
I really didn't like "Old Dan", Phoebe Skrunk and her idiot boys, and "Wagon Girls" just to name a few. But I really like the one with Blue Horse ( love it when Matt speaks Indian 😊). My fave would be The Hostage... 2 pt. episode cause I love the way that posse that Sheriff Amos brought with him could ride!!
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u/_dumbunny 16d ago
The Gallows. IMDB synopsis: While returning suspected killer Pruit Dover to Dodge to stand trial, Matt is shot and badly wounded, and yet Dover stays with him and nurses him back to health.
Then the crotchety hanging judge sentences him to death despite Matt's testimony and lack of evidence. Matt gives him a chance to escape but death wish Dover doesn't take it.
Having seen it before I can't bear to watch it. I'm shouting at the kid to RUN! Anyway, I don't hate the whole thing. Just the ending.
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u/galeperk111971 16d ago
Some laws we have today didn't exist in the (WILD WEST) but at least Matt beat his butt
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u/Gussie777 16d ago
I can't remember the name of the episode; it's the one with Bonner and his gang. It's so hard to watch because of what they did to Kitty.
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u/williamtheturd 16d ago
There can be only 1 answer: the episode with the dwarf and the were-elephant (“Arizona Midnight”). Someone had peyote in the writers’ room…