DVD Review: Gunsmoke (The Sixth Season, Volume 2)

DVD Reviews, Reviews

Gunsmoke was a long running series, but it went through several transformations from 1952 to 1975. Listeners embraced the radio series with William Conrad (Cannon) as the booming voice of Marshal Matt Dillon. A few years later viewers found the show on the TV dial with James Arness as Dodge City’s top cop. The legendary 20 season run on TV was always the colorful hour long version that gets rerun on ME-TV and TVLand. For the first six seasons, the show was thirty minutes of black and white cowboy action. This length allowed the radio scripts to be adapted in the early seasons. As the popularity of the show grew, CBS expanded the running time to a full hour. Gunsmoke: The Sixth Season, Volume 2 gives the last 19 episodes when Matt, Kitty and Doc kept their adventures concise enough to fit the 30 minute time slot.

“Love Thy Neighbor” isn’t about a bad romance. A kid gets chased for alleged potato theft. During his escape, he gets tangled in barbed wire. This leads to him dying of blood poisoning. This turns into a full out feud between two families that include Harry Dean Stanton (Big Love, Warren Oates (The Wild Bunch) and Ken Lynch (Green Acres). Can Matt restore the peace or will he be stuck with Hatfields and McCoys 2.0? “Kitty Shot” gets everyone’s favorite bar (and maybe brothel) owner (Amanda Blake) in the crossfire. Did George Kennedy (Cool Hand Luke) really pull the trigger on her? Matt’s gonna make him eat a lead egg. “Harriet” presents a unique form of revenge when a girl wants her father’s killers dead. “Big Man” brings back George Kennedy as a guy causing trouble for Miss Kitty. This time he’s the victim and a drunk fingers Matt as the murderer. “Little Girl” makes Matt the perfect father for an orphan girl. But doesn’t he have his hands full raising Chester (McCloud‘s Dennis Weaver)?

“Stolen Horses” tracks down the lowest form of live on the frontier: Horse thieves! “Minnie” makes Doc (Milburn Stone) the object of Minnie’s affection. There’s only one major problem with this unwanted romance. Minne’s husband (Gilligan’s Island)’s Alan Hale Jr.) objects to this as much as Doc. “Long Hours, Short Pay” busts a cowboy running guns to the Pawnee Indians. The tribe doesn’t like their supply being stopped so they go after Matt. “The Imposter” has an out of town sheriff needing help nabbing a fugitive. Matt’s not sure if the man with a badge is for real. “Chester’s Dilemma” brings love into town, but the woman might have a serious dark past. Can he handle such a complication? “The Love of Money” shoots another sheriff in the back. The big suspect is the new salon girl (Cloris Leachman of The Mary Tyler Moore Show). “Colorado Sheriff” has another case of maybe mistaken lawman. Matt finds a man injured on the road claiming to be out to nab a Dodge City resident. The guy can’t produce the proper paperwork. Can Matt trust him?

The day after “Colorado Sheriff” aired, the radio series came to an end. The days of 30 minute long episodes of Gunsmoke had truly come to an end. For the next 14 years, it would take an hour for fans to get their fresh Dodge City action. The change became a boon to the producers since it allowed them to strike syndication gold without waiting for CBS to cancel the series. The 233 half hour episodes were repackaged as Marshal Dillon. This title is still used when the early seasons run on cable. Gunsmoke: The Sixth Season, Volume 2 does wrap up a time when things moved a little fast in the wild west.

Episodes
“Love Thy Neighbor,” “Bad Seed,” “Kitty Shot,” “About Chester,” “Harriet,” “Potshot,” “Old Faces,” “Big Man,” “Little Girl,” “Stolen Horses,” “Minnie,” “Bless Me Till I Die,” “Long Hours, Short Pay,” “Hard Virtue,” “The Imposter,” “Chester’s Dilemma,” “The Love of Money,” “Melinda Miles” and “Colorado Sheriff.”

The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The black and white transfers bring out the details of Miss Kitty’s joint and Matt’s sparse jail. The audio is Dolby Digital mono. The levels are fine enough to hear the click of trigger. The episodes are subtitled.

Sponsor Spots (1:25) has Doc pushing an electric razor while Matt suggests you smoke L&M Cigarettes for the big flavor. Remember that smoking is an expensive hobby that will bite into your DVD budget.

Gunsmoke: The Sixth Season, Volume 2 wraps up the shorter time when Matt Dillon kept the peace in Dodge City. The stories moved a little faster during this time. The big thing to remember this season is that George Kennedy was bad news for Miss Kitty. Next up are the hour long seasons that were still in black and white.

CBS DVD presents Gunsmoke: The Sixth Season, Volume 2. Starring: James Arness, Milburn Stone, Dennis Weaver and Amanda Blake. Boxset Contents: 19 episodes on 3 DVDs. Released: October 16, 2012. Available at Amazon.com.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.