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The Best Episodes of Gunsmoke

Every episode of Gunsmoke ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Gunsmoke!

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Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Gunsmoke Season 7 Episode 23 - Reprisal
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #1 - Reprisal

    S7:E23

    Oren was a rancher who liked his drink, gambling and women, even though he had a pretty wife at home. Matt is forced to kill him and when he breaks the news to her, all she can see is getting revenge for his death, and Matt is her target.

    Director:Harry Harris
    Writer:John Meston

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  2. Gunsmoke Season 8 Episode 24 - Blind Man's Bluff
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #2 - Blind Man's Bluff

    S8:E24

    Billy Poe is falsely accused of murder by a dying man, and flees to another town while Matt follows him, and encounters dangerous resistance from other men who hate lawmen.

    Director:Ted Post
    Writer:John Meston

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  3. Gunsmoke Season 8 Episode 26 - Anybody Can Kill a Marshal
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #3 - Anybody Can Kill a Marshal

    S8:E26

    Two men want to rob the bank in Dodge, but are unwilling to try it while Matt lives. A man agrees to accept the job of killing the marshal, attaching some rather peculiar conditions to his acceptance.

    Director:Harry Harris
    Writer:Kathleen Hite

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  4. Gunsmoke Season 9 Episode 14 - The Glory and the Mud
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #4 - The Glory and the Mud

    S9:E14

    A retired lawman and showman wants only to settle down with the Dodge seamstress he left behind twenty years ago, but a young whippersnapper hopes to make a name for himself by challenging the aging gun to a duel.

    Director:Jerry Hopper
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Gunsmoke Season 11 Episode 1 - Seven Hours to Dawn
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #5 - Seven Hours to Dawn

    S11:E1

    Mace Gore's gang has taken over Dodge. When Matt is believed killed, Festus and Doc have a plan to lure Gore into a trap, even though his usual plan is to leave by dawn.

    Director:Vincent McEveety
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Gunsmoke Season 11 Episode 23 - Sanctuary
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #6 - Sanctuary

    S11:E23

    An outlaw gang shoots it out fleeing Dodge City. When one of them is injured real bad, he hides out in the church where the reverend is fearful but not for himself.

    Director:Harry Harris
    Writer:Unknown

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Gunsmoke

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  7. Gunsmoke Season 12 Episode 10 - Stage Stop
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #7 - Stage Stop

    S12:E10

    Doc Adams takes up arms to defend a gold shipment from bandits, first during a stagecoach ambush and then at a weigh station. He is aided by a blind man and a wounded man in the battle against the bandits.

    Director:Irving J. Moore
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Gunsmoke Season 14 Episode 4 - Uncle Finney
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #8 - Uncle Finney

    S14:E4

    A comedic episode. Two hillbillies attempt to turn their 102 year-old relative in for the bounty on him.

    Director:Bernard McEveety
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Gunsmoke Season 1 Episode 12 - Magnus
    9.5/10(2 votes)

    #9 - Magnus

    S1:E12

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:John Meston

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  10. Gunsmoke Season 5 Episode 5 - Tail to the Wind
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #10 - Tail to the Wind

    S5:E5

    A father and son bully a farmer and his wife who won't sell their land, but the farmer is oddly reluctant to let Matt arrest the two, even when they resort to gunfire.

    Director:Christian Nyby
    Writer:John Meston

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  11. Gunsmoke Season 7 Episode 28 - The Dealer
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #11 - The Dealer

    S7:E28

    Johnny Cole kills a crooked card dealer in self defense, and then falls in love with the dealer's beautiful daughter, but she resists his advances and wants to seriously hurt him instead.

    Director:Harry Harris
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Gunsmoke Season 8 Episode 32 - Tell Chester
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #12 - Tell Chester

    S8:E32

    Chester is smitten with Polly, but she has eyes only for Wade, a man new in town and newly her father's employee. Knowing little about Wade, Polly agrees quickly to marry him, but Chester discovers that Wade already has a wife.

    Director:Joseph Sargent
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Gunsmoke Season 10 Episode 9 - Jonah Hutchinson
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #13 - Jonah Hutchinson

    S10:E9

    An old rancher returns home after many years in prison, ready to reclaim what is his by any means necessary, including burning out the squatters on his land.

    Director:Harry Harris
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Gunsmoke Season 12 Episode 24 - Noose of Gold
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #14 - Noose of Gold

    S12:E24

    Deputy District Attorney Shephard will do anything to further his career, including having outlaw John Farron killed, instead of being able to give himself up.

    Director:Irving J. Moore
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Gunsmoke Season 20 Episode 14 - The Squaw
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #15 - The Squaw

    S20:E14

    Fleeing from both Matt Dillon and his double-crossed partners, outlaw Gristy Calhoun discovers that his survival in the badlands depends on an Indian woman.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Gunsmoke Season 8 Episode 19 - Cotter's Girl
    8.5/10(2 votes)

    #16 - Cotter's Girl

    S8:E19

    A father's dying request is that Matt go to retrieve his daughter. Expecting to find a little girl, Matt finds a near-grown woman, but one who's wild and desperately in need of civilizing.

    Director:Harry Harris
    Writer:Kathleen Hite

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  17. Gunsmoke Season 8 Episode 35 - Daddy Went Away
    8.5/10(2 votes)

    #17 - Daddy Went Away

    S8:E35

    Chester is sweet on a widow dressmaker. When the widow is not only intent on marriage but eager to make changes in Chester as well, he has second thoughts--especially after a talk with her child suggests that the widow may still be a wife.

    Director:Joseph Sargent
    Writer:Kathleen Hite

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  18. Gunsmoke Season 1 Episode 2 - Hot Spell
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #18 - Hot Spell

    S1:E2

    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.

    Director:Charles Marquis Warren
    Writer:E. Jack Neuman

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  19. Gunsmoke Season 1 Episode 3 - Word of Honor
    8.0/10(2 votes)

    #19 - Word of Honor

    S1:E3

    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.

    Director:Charles Marquis Warren
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Gunsmoke Season 1 Episode 4 - Home Surgery
    8.0/10(2 votes)

    #20 - Home Surgery

    S1:E4

    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.

    Director:Charles Marquis Warren
    Writer:John Meston

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  21. Gunsmoke Season 1 Episode 5 - Obie Tater
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #21 - Obie Tater

    S1:E5

    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.

    Director:Charles Marquis Warren
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Gunsmoke Season 1 Episode 7 - Smoking Out the Nolans
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #22 - Smoking Out the Nolans

    S1:E7

    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.

    Director:Charles Marquis Warren
    Writer:John Meston

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  23. Gunsmoke Season 1 Episode 9 - The Hunter
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #23 - The Hunter

    S1:E9

    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.

    Director:Charles Marquis Warren
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Gunsmoke Season 1 Episode 13 - Reed Survives
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #24 - Reed Survives

    S1:E13

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Gunsmoke Season 2 Episode 2 - Brush at Elkader
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #25 - Brush at Elkader

    S2:E2

    After his friend Ben Williams is shot down by Lou Shippen, Matt travels to Elkader to bring him him. The only problem, he doesn't know what he looks like and the town is protecting Shippen.

    Director:Ted Post
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"Reprisal" is the best rated episode of "Gunsmoke". It scored 10/10 based on 1 votes. Directed by Harry Harris and written by John Meston, it aired on 3/10/1962. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Blind Man's Bluff".