Old Time Radio Show of the Week

Fort Laramie
starring Raymond Burr
May 13th 1956
CBS 
"The War Correspondent"
A reporter from a New York newspaper comes west to tell the "truth" and also to learn of the "real" west.

Old Time Radio Show of the Week

Gunsmoke 

September 6, 1959
"Matt's Decision"
The first show of the season
Matt Dillon is getting fed up with the Marshal's job, but an Indian problem and gun-runners show him where he's really needed.

The Old Time Radio Show of the Week

GUNSMOKE

"Uncle Oliver"

July 9th 1955

Season 3 episode 44

Oliver and Viney Stang decide to get Chester's job, and the easiest way to do that is to shoot him...which is exactly what they do

Your Old Time Radio Show of the Week

GUNSMOKE

"The Professor"

November 20th 1960

Season 9 episode 7

Gunsmoke on Radio and Television

This week's presentation of Gunsmoke on Radio and Television is the episode that was the television version's season 4 premiere.  The 1958-59 television season would be the 2nd of 4 straight seasons that Gunsmoke was the #1 show on prime time network television.

Matt For Murder

July 26th 1954

season 2 episode 46

Matt For Murder

September 13th 1958

Season 3 episode 1

Gunsmoke on Radio - The Debut

April 26th 1952 CBS radio debuted a new "adult western" for its radio audiences.  Starring radio veteran William Conrad as Marshall Matt Dillon, this Norm MacDonnell and John Meston creation was aimed at a more adult audience instead of a fast action shoot'em up like Gene Autry, The Lone Ranger or Cisco Kid.   This was an almost true to life depiction of the old west with all its grit,grime and death.  Known for not usually a happy ending that had kids cheering, the end was one could have expected to have actually happened in the life of Marshall Dillon in a wild town of Dodge City, Kansas.

The last great drama in the golden age of radio, Gunsmoke would be on the air until 1960, but by then radio was an antiquated form of entertainment and television and Gunsmoke's own version on television had become a huge success.  Still consider by many old time radio enthusiast and experts as the best drama radio produced it to this day remains a popular choice on social media sites old time radio.

 April 26th 1952

Billy the Kid

Season 1 Episode 1

guest star Dick Beals as Billy

Gunsmoke on Radio and Television

"What the Whiskey Drummer Heard"

Radio

Episode 32 Season 2

Originally aired April 17th 1954

Television

Episode 31 Season 2

Originally aired April 27th 1957

Gunsmoke The Radio Classic

Bad Boy

episode 25 season 2

originally aired February 27th 1954

CBS Radio

Gunsmoke on Radio and Television

Tonight we again visit Dodge City 

Today:

(and yes they used this title twice)

How To Kill a Woman

aired 10/31/1953

Season 2  episode 6

CBS Radio

How To Kill a Woman

aired 11/30/1957

Season 3 episode 12

CBS Television

(This was Gunsmoke's first of 4 consecutive seasons as the #1 show on prime time network TV)

Gunsmoke on Radio and Television

Here we go with another double feature of Gunsmoke.

First up the radio broadcast of 

"How To Die For Nothing"

Season 2 Episode 6 (10/10/1953)

This episode was then used on TV 
Season 2
episode 31 
(06/23/1956)

The Golden Age of Radio - Gunsmoke

Gunsmoke was one of the best, if not the best, drama ever on radio.  Its life on radio from 1952-1961 was during the last days of great radio dramas as television finally supplanted radio as the medium of choice for entertainment in US homes.

Thanks to Buck Benny and his wonderful podcast I bring you this episode from the first radio season of Gunsmoke.

A special treat for fans as it also has radio legend Paul Frees as a soldier headed for Fort Dodge.   This was a reunion of sorts due to Frees and William Conrad being together in this episode, they were mainstays of the classic radio program Escape (1947-1954).

Gunsmoke
The Soldier
originally aired April 25th 1953
CBS Radio

The Andy Griffith Show (with Parley Baer)

Barney and The Governor
a classic from The Andy Griffith Show with radio legend Parley Baer as Mayor Stoner.

Season 3 Episode 15
Originally aired January 7th 1963
Barney tickets the Governor's car for a parking violation.  Then the Governor wants to meet the man who ticketed his car to shake his had for showing no favorites.

Golden Age of Radio - Gunsmoke

Here we have another episode from the classic radio western, Gunsmoke  

Obie Tater 

A old prospector lands in hot water when he refuses to tell Matt where he has hidden gold.

Aired on CBS radio August 30th 1954

Last episode of Season 2

Gunsmoke on the Radio

Season 1,

July 5th 1952 and the episode is "Never Pester Chester".

When I first heard this episode a few years ago it really set up the friendship between Marshall Matt Dillon and Chester Proudfoot...this was a serious show but this type of friendship was revisited on television in the Andy Griffith Show.  The friendship of Andy and Barney is done in  comedic style but this episode of Gunsmoke from the radio version really shows us how deep the feeling run for Marshall Dillon towards Chester and Andy feels just the same about his deputy.

A special bonus to this weeks podcast is the mention of this little ol blog.  I can't tell you how thrilled I am to hear about something I put together just for me and my friends and has become such a popular place for the OTR fans and fans of Buck Benny.  I can't thank Buck enough for his emails and his patience to answer my questions  about OTR and Jack Benny especially.  Buck is a great guy and friend and I love to email with him and talk about Jack Benny, Gunsmoke, Phil Harris, Suspense, X Minus One, Great Gildersleeve, etc.,  He puts it all out there in a chronological order (which for me is the only way to listen!) so you have and idea of how these shows all sounded in context with each other and the year of broadcast.

The Story of Gunsmoke

Thanks to Buck Benny and in celebration of its 60th anniversary, here in 6 parts is a retrospective of Gunsmoke the radio version. This was done in the early 70s and contains interviews with William Conrad (Matt Dillon), Parley Baer (Chester), John Meston and Norman McDonnell (the creators,writers and producers) and Georgia Ellis (Miss Kitty).

This is a great show with a lot of behind the scenes stories and even discusses the beginning of the television version.

Gunsmoke on Radio - Amy's Good Deed

"Amy's Good Deed"

 aired on CBS radio November 27th

1955 Season 4 episode 14,  

written by John Meston.

Aired on CBS television April 12th 1958 
Episode 109 season 3 
written for tv by Kathleen Hite

Guest star Jeanette Nolan as Amy

Gunsmoke on Radio - The Old Lady

This edition of Gunsmoke on Radio is from January 24th 1953, Episode 39 written by Kathleen Hite.

The Old Lady

Gunsmoke on Radio - The First Episode

Thanks the wonderful work of Buck Benny and his OTR Podcast here is the first episode in the regularly scheduled Gunsmoke series.  The debut was April 26th 1952,  the title "Billy the Kid", written by Walter B Newman.