Gunsmoke es una serie de drama de televisión y radio estadounidense ambientada en el Oeste. Creada por el director Norman MacDonnell y el guionista John Meston, la historia tiene lugar en Dodge City, Kansas y sus alrededores, durante la colonización del oeste americano. El personaje principal es el sheriff Marshal Matt Dillon, interpretado por James Arness.
La serie cuenta con 20 temporadas entre 1955 y 1975 y fue la serie estadounidense de drama más larga con 635 episodios. In 2010, Ley y Orden batió este récord de 20 temporadas. Al final de su transmisión en 1975, el columnista de Los Angeles Times, Cecil Smith, escribió: "Gunsmoke ha sido la dramatización de la legenda épica del oeste americano. Nuestra propia Odisea e Ilíada, creada con los elementos básicos de una novela de bajo presupuesto del oeste".
Matt Gets It (Episodio 1) 5.2
Fecha de emisión: 1955-09-10
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Dan Grat, a gunman hunted by Texas authorities, seeks refuge in Dodge City. Marshal Dillon goes into action against this outlaw who shoots before he talks.
Hot Spell (Episodio 2) 8.0
Guionista: E. Jack Neuman
Fecha de emisión: 1955-09-17
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Matt intercedes on behalf of ex-con Cope Borden, when Rance Bradley accuses Cope of horse theft and attempts to lynch him. Cope is proven innocent of the charge, but later kills Bradley's nephew in a fair fight during a gambling dispute. Matt is caught in an awkward situation when he must defend the unsavory Cope against the decent people of Dodge.
Word of Honor (Episodio 3) 8.0
Fecha de emisión: 1955-10-01
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Hank Worth, son of wealthy rancher Jake Worth, is kidnapped by three men and held for $20,000 ransom. They shoot him in the back for trying to escape. They call on Doc but Hank dies. The killers decide to let Doc go because he is the only doctor within 400 miles and they fear they might need his services someday. Before sparing his life and freeing him, they force the reluctant Doc to give his word of honor that he will never reveal their identities.
Home Surgery (Episodio 4) 8.0
Guionista: John Meston
Fecha de emisión: 1955-10-08
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: When returning to Dodge, Chester and Matt are confronted by Holly Hawtree, whose father is desperately ill with gangrene. His only hope for survival is amputation of the affected leg. Matt performs the surgery, but the gangrene has spread too far and the old man dies. Matt later discovers that the presumed accident leading to Mr. Hawtree's condition was actually caused by Ben Walling, who has his sights on Holly.
Obie Tater (Episodio 5) 8.0
Fecha de emisión: 1955-10-15
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Two outlaws seek the rumored hidden fortune of old prospector Obie. They drag him to get him to tell. Obie forgets his cares and disappears on honeymoon with newcomer Ella May. Matt suspiciously questions the simple Obie about Ella May's motives and finds Obie is deeper than he seems.
Night Incident (Episodio 6) 7.0
Fecha de emisión: 1955-10-29
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Little Timmy Wyatt witnesses a series of bizarre murders. He has a habit of telling tall tales, so no one will believe him.
Smoking Out the Nolans (Episodio 7) 8.0
Guionista: John Meston
Fecha de emisión: 1955-11-05
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Clay Young is trying to evict Josh Nolan, who says he paid for the property. Matt and Chester are tied up in reluctantly enforcing eviction law unless they can find another way.
Kite's Reward (Episodio 8)
Fecha de emisión: 1955-11-12
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Matt warns skilled gunman Andy Travis, of his choice between quitting the gun or else being constantly hunted and forced to prove himself. Matt finds a way to foil the $1000 bounty on Andy's head.
The Hunter (Episodio 9) 8.0
Fecha de emisión: 1955-11-26
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Buffalo hunter Jase Murdock is warned by storekeeper Ross to stay out of Indian territory. Matt talks with Murdock's skinner, Golden Calf, who determines that Murdock's medicine is no longer good.
The Queue (Episodio 10) 7.0
Fecha de emisión: 1955-12-03
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Two bullies cut off Chen's pig-tail, gravely dishonoring him in Chinese culture. Chen vows vengeance.
General Parsley Smith (Episodio 11) 7.0
Guionista: John Meston
Fecha de emisión: 1955-12-10
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Old-timer Smith is a former Army officer considered a butcher. He arrives in Dodge City speading rumors about the new Banker, Drew Holt.
Magnus (Episodio 12) 9.5
Guionista: John Meston
Fecha de emisión: 1955-12-24
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Chester is embarrassed at a visit by his estranged mountain man brother Magnus. To prove that Magnus is too uncivilized for town, Chester tours him through the highlights of Dodge: card gambling, drinking, and talking with Kitty. Meanwhile, the Long Branch women plan a Christmas Eve dance which is busted by the spiteful Lucifer Jones.
Reed Survives (Episodio 13) 8.0
Fecha de emisión: 1955-12-31
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Lucy professes her love for handsome Booth Rider, and concocts a scheme against Ephram. Booth becomes the unwitting pawn in a homicide that culminates in an ironic twist of fate.
Professor Lute Bone (Episodio 14)
Fecha de emisión: 1956-01-07
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Doc is enraged by traveling medicine man Professor Lute Bone and his opium elixir, and digs up a gun to shoot him with. A lad also hunts him because his father died drinking his elixir, so Bone reconsiders the patent medicine business.
No Handcuffs (Episodio 15)
Guionista: John Meston
Fecha de emisión: 1956-01-21
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: A dishonest deputy sheriff steals a prisoner from Matt's jail, so Matt and Chester hunt them.
Reward for Matt (Episodio 16)
Fecha de emisión: 1956-01-28
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Matt kills a man and his widow posts a $1,000 bounty in vengeance. Everyone from sodbusters to gunslingers are out for that reward.
Robin Hood (Episodio 17)
Fecha de emisión: 1956-02-04
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Witnesses refuse to testify against a notorious outlaw.
Yorky (Episodio 18)
Guionista: Sam Peckinpah
Fecha de emisión: 1956-02-18
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Yorky, a white boy who was brought up by Arapahoes, is victimized by horse thieves. Accused of their crime, he is shot by the vengeful Abe Brandt and his son. Matt is also targeted by the horse thieves.
20-20 (Episodio 19)
Fecha de emisión: 1956-02-25
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: A former lawman tries to keep his failing eyesight a secret from his enemies.
Reunion '78 (Episodio 20)
Fecha de emisión: 1956-03-03
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: A well-liked hardware drummer is actually a man wanted for multiple murders.
Helping Hand (Episodio 21)
Fecha de emisión: 1956-03-17
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: A would-be tough guy picks on the wrong man in an attempt to make a name for himself when he tries to involve Marshal Matt Dillon by staging a street fight.
Tap Day for Kitty (Episodio 22)
Fecha de emisión: 1956-03-24
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: An old sodbuster comes to town and decides he wants to marry Kitty. When he won't leave her alone she declares she'll shoot him if he pesters her anymore.
Indian Scout (Episodio 23)
Fecha de emisión: 1956-03-31
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: When an old Indian scout (Eduard Franz) murders a man (DeForest Kelley), Matt pursues him into Comanche territory.
The Pest Hole (Episodio 24)
Fecha de emisión: 1956-04-14
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Doc must find a way to thwart a typhoid epidemic in Dodge (Howard McNear appears).
The Big Broad (Episodio 25)
Fecha de emisión: 1956-04-28
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Matt has to figure a way around a six-foot-tall, 200-pound woman with a six-gun.
Hack Prine (Episodio 26) 6.0
Guionista: John Meston
Fecha de emisión: 1956-05-12
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Hack Prine, a friend of Matt's rides into Dodge. However he is there as a gunman, for Matt Dillon.
Cooter (Episodio 27)
Fecha de emisión: 1956-05-19
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: A dishonest gambler (Vinton Hayworth) uses a mentally challenged man (Strother Martin) in a plot against Matt (Robert Vaughn appears).
The Killer (Episodio 28)
Fecha de emisión: 1956-05-26
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Charles Bronson guest stars as a cowardly gunslinger who only goes after old men or young kids who aren't very experienced with guns. But, when Matt Dillon gives him an ultimatum, he shows his true colors.
Doc's Revenge (Episodio 29)
Fecha de emisión: 1956-06-09
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: A stranger comes to Dodge, and Doc bewilders and dismays Chester and Matt by arming himself and vowing to kill the man.
The Preacher (Episodio 30)
Fecha de emisión: 1956-06-16
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Seth, a newcomer to Dodge is bullied by Keeler, a boxer.
How to Die for Nothing (Episodio 31)
Guionista: Sam Peckinpah
Fecha de emisión: 1956-06-23
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: The brother of a man Matt was forced to kill vows to kill Matt by any means necessary (Mort Mills appears).
Dutch George (Episodio 32)
Fecha de emisión: 1956-06-30
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Matt's Childhood hero, Dutch George is now the leader of a notorious gang of horse thieves he must now stop.
Prairie Happy (Episodio 33)
Fecha de emisión: 1956-07-07
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: A bitter old man spreads rumors of an impending Indian raid on Dodge.
Chester's Mail Order Bride (Episodio 34)
Fecha de emisión: 1956-07-14
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: When Chester's mail-order bride arrives, neither she nor Chester are what the other are expecting (first credited appearance of Bert Rumsey as 'Sam').
The Guitar (Episodio 35)
Guionista: Sam Peckinpah
Fecha de emisión: 1956-07-21
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: An ex-Union soldier is forced to use violence against a pair of diehard Rebels (Jacques Aubuchon appears). First episode without the "Boot Hill" intro.
Cara (Episodio 36)
Fecha de emisión: 1956-07-28
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: Matt encounters an ex-girl friend---who's now working on the wrong side of the law.
Mr. and Mrs. Amber (Episodio 37)
Guionista: John Meston
Fecha de emisión: 1956-08-04
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: A self-styled religious prophet (Ainslie Pryor) is making life miserable for his daughter and new son-in-law..
Unmarked Grave (Episodio 38)
Fecha de emisión: 1956-08-18
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: A young outlaw uses an old woman as a pawn in his bid for freedom.
Alarm at Pleasant Valley (Episodio 39)
Fecha de emisión: 1956-08-25
Duración: 26 min
Sinopsis: While on the way back to Dodge, Matt and Chester discover a homsteading family fleeing Pleasant Valley, which is besieged by Indians.
