7.6/10187 votes#1 - Target
Season 5 Episode 1 - Aired 9/5/1959
Ironic tragedy results when Danny Kader stubbornly disregards his father's predispositions (and Matt's pragmatic advice) in order to attempt an elopement with a young gypsy woman.
Director: Andrew V. McLaglen
Writer: N/A
7.8/10189 votes#2 - Kitty's Injury
Season 5 Episode 2 - Aired 9/19/1959
When Kitty is hurt in a fall from a horse, she and Matt must seek help from shiftless dirt farmers who are oddly uninterested in aiding them.
Director: Buzz Kulik
Writer: John Meston
8.0/10179 votes#3 - Horse Deal
Season 5 Episode 3 - Aired 9/26/1959
Horses with Bar S brand are being sold to unsuspecting buyers. Deesha moves in to claim the horses, leaving the buyer with nothing.
Director: Andrew V. McLaglen
Writer: N/A
8.1/10196 votes#4 - Johnny Red
Season 5 Episode 4 - Aired 10/3/1959
A man suddenly turns up in Dodge City claiming to be Billy Crale, the long-lost son of a well-to-do local widow. Matt knows that Billy Crale was reported dead during the Civil War, and he becomes highly concerned for Mrs. Crale's safety when he confirms that the man is actually a onetime outlaw known as Johnny Red.
Director: Buzz Kulik
Writer: N/A
8.6/10232 votes#5 - Tail to the Wind
Season 5 Episode 5 - Aired 10/10/1959
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
7.6/10187 votes#6 - Annie Oakley
Season 5 Episode 6 - Aired 10/17/1959
Is the homely, sharp-tongued, middle-aged wife of a homesteader really inspiring men to fight to the death for her affections?
Director: Jesse Hibbs
Writer: N/A
7.6/10203 votes#7 - Kangaroo
Season 5 Episode 7 - Aired 10/24/1959
Chester saves a man from a zealot's violent "justice" then faces a dose of the same himself.
Director: Jesse Hibbs
Writer: John Meston
8.2/10194 votes#8 - Saludos
Season 5 Episode 8 - Aired 10/31/1959
Matt, escorting 3 men back to Dodge, claims a beautiful wounded Indian woman will be able to identify the one who shot her and killed her husband.
Director: Andrew V. McLaglen
Writer: John Meston
7.8/10187 votes#9 - Brother Whelp
Season 5 Episode 9 - Aired 11/7/1959
A man wants to gunfight when he returns home, after years away, and finding his brother married to his girl.
Director: R.G. Springsteen
Writer: N/A
7.6/10173 votes#10 - The Boots
Season 5 Episode 10 - Aired 11/14/1959
Onetime gunman Zeno Smith faces an unenviable choice. If he does not help would-be gambler Hank Fergus rob Mr. Jonas's general store, Fergus will tell 12-year old orphan Tommy the full story of how Zeno's descent into deprivation and alcoholism dates to the day he backed down from facing Fergus in a gunfight.
Director: Jesse Hibbs
Writer: N/A
8.3/10186 votes#11 - Odd Man Out
Season 5 Episode 11 - Aired 11/21/1959
Matt is uncertain what to make of Cyrus Tucker's confused claim that his wife of 32 years "just ran off", especially when a homesteader claims that he saw the old man digging a large hole just behind his house.
Director: Andrew V. McLaglen
Writer: N/A
6.8/10172 votes#12 - Miguel's Daughter
Season 5 Episode 12 - Aired 11/28/1959
A father threatens to kill the two drifters who have been plaguing his daughter.
Director: Andrew V. McLaglen
Writer: N/A
7.5/10182 votes#13 - Box o' Rocks
Season 5 Episode 13 - Aired 12/5/1959
A man enlists the aid of a parson to fake his own death.
Director: R.G. Springsteen
Writer: N/A
8.2/10193 votes#14 - False Witness
Season 5 Episode 14 - Aired 12/12/1959
A man is convicted of murder on doubtful testimony.
Director: Ted Post
Writer: N/A
7.8/10169 votes#15 - Tag, You're It
Season 5 Episode 15 - Aired 12/19/1959
When hired gunman Killion comes to Dodge, many of the men get scared thinking he is after them.
Director: Jesse Hibbs
Writer: N/A
8.0/10184 votes#16 - Thick 'n' Thin
Season 5 Episode 16 - Aired 12/26/1959
A quarrel between two partners in homesteading escalates to the point of gunfire. Matt tries to make peace between them by locking them up together.
Director: Stuart Heisler
Writer: John Meston
7.3/10172 votes#17 - Groat's Grudge
Season 5 Episode 17 - Aired 1/2/1960
An ex-Confederate waits to settle the score with the Union man whose unit cost him a loved one and property in the late war.
Director: Andrew V. McLaglen
Writer: N/A
8.1/10192 votes#18 - Big Tom
Season 5 Episode 18 - Aired 1/9/1960
Despite a serious heart condition, onetime prizefighter Tom Burr is determined to go through with his plans to fight vicious Hob Creel. The only way Matt can stop the mismatch and save Burr's life is to fight Creel himself.
Director: Andrew V. McLaglen
Writer: N/A
7.9/10176 votes#19 - Till Death Do Us
Season 5 Episode 19 - Aired 1/16/1960
Someone takes a shot at a hard man who is brutal to his wife, and someone is overheard claiming he was offered money to kill the man.
Director: Jean Yarbrough
Writer: N/A
7.7/10175 votes#20 - The Tragedian
Season 5 Episode 20 - Aired 1/23/1960
Matt and his friends try to come to the aid of a has-been actor caught cheating at cards.
Director: Arthur Hiller
Writer: N/A
7.3/10175 votes#21 - Hinka Do
Season 5 Episode 21 - Aired 1/30/1960
Matt has reason to believe that the new overweight, gun toting, straight shooting, female owner of the Lady Gay saloon may have killed the previous owner, or did she?
Director: Andrew V. McLaglen
Writer: John Meston
8.5/10206 votes#22 - Doc Judge
Season 5 Episode 22 - Aired 2/6/1960
While Matt is away on business, Doc gets threatened by an ex convict (Brice Harp) who claims that Doc Adams sentenced him to a long term in Prison.
Director: Arthur Hiller
Writer: John Meston
7.8/10179 votes#23 - Moo Moo Raid
Season 5 Episode 23 - Aired 2/13/1960
Old man Onie has a great swimming cow that can lead herds across rivers, and when they both come up missing, one trail boss accuses another of killing them.
Director: Andrew V. McLaglen
Writer: N/A
7.7/10189 votes#24 - Kitty's Killing
Season 5 Episode 24 - Aired 2/20/1960
Kitty gets caught in the middle when a crazy-eyed man goes hunting for his former son-in-law, whom he blames for the death of his daughter in childbirth.
Director: Arthur Hiller
Writer: John Meston
7.3/10194 votes#25 - Jailbait Janet
Season 5 Episode 25 - Aired 2/27/1960
After a train sparks a fire that destroys a family's crops, the man, his son, and his daughter rob another train of fifty thousand dollars. A baggage clerk is killed and the crusty representative of the railroad pressures Matt to solve it.
Director: Jesse Hibbs
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Gunsmoke Season 5
Every episode of Gunsmoke Season 5 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Gunsmoke Season 5!
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...
Genres:WesternAction & AdventureDrama
Network:CBS
Season 5 Ratings Summary
"Target" is the best rated episode of "Gunsmoke" season 5. It scored 7.6/10 based on 187 votes. Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and written by N/A, it aired on 9/5/1959. This episode is rated 0.2 points higher than the second-best, "Kitty's Injury".