# Gunsmoke season 18

Gunsmoke is an American Western television series developed by Charles Marquis Warren and based on the radio program of the same name. The series ran for 20 seasons, making it the longest-running Western in television history.
The first episode of season 18 aired in the United States on September 11, 1972, and the final episode aired on March 5, 1973. All episodes were broadcast in the U.S. by CBS.
Season 18 of Gunsmoke was the seventh season of color episodes. Previous seasons were filmed in black-and-white.

## Synopsis

Gunsmoke is set in and around Dodge City, Kansas, in the post-Civil War era and centers on United States Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) as he enforces law and order in the city. In its original format, the series also focuses on Dillon's friendship with deputy Festus Haggen (Ken Curtis); Doctor Galen "Doc" Adams (Milburn Stone), the town's physician; Kitty Russell (Amanda Blake), saloon girl and later owner of the Long Branch Saloon; and deputy Newly O'Brien (Buck Taylor).

## Cast and characters
### Main

* James Arness as Matt Dillon
* Ken Curtis as Festus
* Milburn Stone as Doc
* Amanda Blake as Kitty
* Buck Taylor as Newly

## Production

Season 18 consisted of 24 one-hour color episodes produced by executive producer John Mantley along with producer Leonard Katzman an associate producer Ron Honthaner.
Occasionally, titles were reused from previous seasons. This season included three such episodes: episode 12, "The Brothers (formerly 'Incident at Sayville Junction')", which was also a title used in season 11; episode 16, "Homecoming", which was also a title used in season 9, episode 34; and episode 22, "Jesse", which was a title used in season 3, episode 6.

## Episodes

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 564 | 1 | "The River (Part 1)" | Herb Wallerstein | Jack Miller | September 11, 1972 (1972-09-11) |
| Bank robbers led by Charlie Utter (Slim Pickens) chase Matt down Oregon's Rogue River to retrieve $24,000 that they robbed. Matt jumps into the river and is dragged on to a raft by orphans Hannah Kincaid (Patti Cahoon) and Tuttle Kincaid (Clay O'Brien) who are runaways from a workhouse. Together they head downstream. ||||||
| 565 | 2 | "The River (Part 2)" | Herb Wallerstein | Jack Miller | September 18, 1972 (1972-09-18) |
| Matt and the runaways acquire two more passengers, Pierre Audubon and Paulette Duvalier, and must make it passed the rapids, and foil an ambush set up at "The Narrows" by Charlie Utter's gang, further on down Oregon's Rogue River, in order to reach the town of Piety. ||||||
| 566 | 3 | "Bohannan" | Alf Kjellin | William Kelley | September 25, 1972 (1972-09-25) |
| Faith healer Bohannan (Richard Kiley) is asked by Lydia Walden (Linda Marsh) to cure her terminally ill son, Heck Walden (Vincent Van Patten). ||||||
| 567 | 4 | "The Judgement" | Philip Leacock | Shimon Wincelberg | October 2, 1972 (1972-10-02) |
| Gunman Musgrove (Ramon Bieri) plots revenge against Ira Spratt (William Windom) who turned him in as an Army deserter. When Ira escapes, Musgrove takes Gideon (Tim O'Connor) hostage and gives the town and Gideon's friends an ultimatum, threatening to kill Gideon if they do not hunt down and deliver Ira by eight o'clock. ||||||
| 568 | 5 | "The Drummer" | Bernard McEveety | Richard Fielder | October 9, 1972 (1972-10-09) |
| Salesman Daniel Shay (Victor French) is forced to face his past and his victims, Sara Morgan (Fionnuala Flanagan) and Jimmy Morgan (Brandon Cruz), when Enoch Brandt (Bruce Glover) exposes him as the "Butcher of Rockcreek" ||||||
| 569 | 6 | "Sarah (formerly 'The Liar')" | Gunnar Hellström | Calvin Clements, Sr. | October 16, 1972 (1972-10-16) |
| Sara (Anne Francis), an old flame of Matt's gets him involved with stage robbers led by outlaw Pappy Quinn (Anthony Caruso). ||||||
| 570 | 7 | "The Fugitives" | Irving J. Moore | Charles Joseph Stone | October 23, 1972 (1972-10-23) |
| Doc is kidnapped by fugitives from justice, led by outlaw Bede Stalcup (James Olson), and forced to save the life of Bede's brother, Danny Stalcup (Darrell Larson). ||||||
| 571 | 8 | "Eleven Dollars" | Irving J. Moore | Paul Savage | October 30, 1972 (1972-10-30) |
| Festus sets out to settle an $11 estate for Charity Spencer (Diane Shalet), but it becomes more of a chore after he meets Sarah Elkins (Susan Oliver) and her two boys, Chad (Josh Albee) and Clay (Ike Eisenmann). ||||||
| 572 | 9 | "Milligan" | Bernard McEveety | Ron Bishop | November 6, 1972 (1972-11-06) |
| Farmer John Milligan (Harry Morgan) joins a posse to track down bank robbers led by Jack Norcross (Joseph Campanella). When Norcross is shot in the back, the Milligan family are made pariahs, and John and his daughter Wendy Milligan (Patti Cohoon) are terrorized. ||||||
| 573 | 10 | "Tatum" | Gunnar Hellström | Jim Byrnes | November 13, 1972 (1972-11-13) |
| Dying gunman Bodie Tatum (Gene Evans) endures a long, sad journey with his Cheyanne wife Kata (Ana Korita), and his estranged daughters, Maddy (Sandra Smith), Marion (Sheila Larken) and Gwenn (Jay MacIntosh), to be buried next to his wife in a town that doesn't want him there. ||||||
| 574 | 11 | "The Sodbusters" | Robert Butler | Ron Bishop | November 20, 1972 (1972-11-20) |
| Sodbuster Clarabelle (Katherine Justice) fights cattle baron Lamoor Underwood (Morgan Woodward) for her water supply, with the help of gunfighter Pete Brown (Alex Cord). ||||||
| 575 | 12 | "The Brothers (formerly 'Incident at Sayville Junction')" | Gunnar Hellström | Calvin Clements, Sr. | November 27, 1972 (1972-11-27) |
| Ruthless outlaw Cord Wrecken (Steve Forrest) seeks revenge on Kitty for shooting his brother, Jay Wrecken (Angus Duncan). ||||||
| 576 | 13 | "Hostage! (formerly 'The Execution')" | Gunnar Hellström | Paul F. Edwards | December 11, 1972 (1972-12-11) |
| After Matt captures Vigil Connor (Marco St. John), one of the Dog Soldiers led by Jude Connor (William Smith), the rest of the gang shoot Festus and take Kitty hostage hoping to trade before Virgil is hanged. After a stay of execution is denied by the governor, Jude shoots Kitty for revenge. ||||||
| 577 | 14 | "Jubilee" | Herb Wallerstein | Story by : Jack Freeman Screenplay by : Paul Savage | December 18, 1972 (1972-12-18) |
| Against the wishes of his wife, Bess Frye (Collin Wilcox-Horne), a poor farmer, Tuck Frye (Tom Skerritt) risks his farm and all his money to race his prized quarter horse, Jubilee. ||||||
| 578 | 15 | "Arizona Midnight" | Irving J. Moore | Dudley Bromley | January 1, 1973 (1973-01-01) |
| A midget, Arizona (Billy Curtis), rides into Dodge on a giant horse claiming he is a were-elephant who will turn into an elephant at midnight. ||||||
| 579 | 16 | "Homecoming" | Gunnar Hellström | Calvin Clements, Sr. | January 8, 1973 (1973-01-08) |
| Cattle Rustler Rick Wilson (Richard Kelton) and younger brother Raymond (Robert Pratt) return to Dodge and, finding that their mother Anna (Lurene Tuttle) is dying, want to stay until the end. But their partner, gunman John Mophet (Stuart Margolin), facing the hangman's noose if he is found, is anxious to leave for Laredo. He takes Doc and Anna's neighbor Mrs. Bronson (Claudia Bryar) as hostages. ||||||
| 580 | 17 | "Shadler" | Arnold Laven | Jim Byrnes | January 15, 1973 (1973-01-15) |
| Former choir boy turned outlaw, Boone Shadler (Earl Holliman), condemned to hang, escapes prison and poses as a priest to retrieve $7,000 from a town that is now stricken with a plague, forcing him to keep up his disguise by helping those who are dying. ||||||
| 581 | 18 | "Patricia" | Alf Kjellin | Calvin Clements, Sr. | January 22, 1973 (1973-01-22) |
| Newly meets Patricia Colby (Jess Walton), governess to Johnny (Ike Eisenmann) on the stage to Dodge, just as a Kansas twister approaches a stage relay station. Johnny is injured, and when they get to Dodge, Doc Adams asks Newly to assist all of the injured coming in from surrounding areas; Patricia also volunteers her nursing skills. After the crisis, the two court and get engaged, but Patricia is diagnosed with terminal leukemia. ||||||
| 582 | 19 | "A Quiet Day in Dodge (formerly 'The Marshal')" | Alf Kjellin | Jack Miller | January 29, 1973 (1973-01-29) |
| Matt has a trying day. After 36 hours without sleep hunting down vicious prisoner Job Snelling (Leo Gordon), he must go a few hours more without rest while dealing with a brawl at the Long Branch between Dobie Crimps (Shug Fisher) and Buck Doolin (Douglas V. Fowley) who are feuding over a mail-order bride, and with nine-year-old juvenile delinquent, arsonist, horse thief and pie thrower Andy (Willie Ames), and with Kitty giving him the silent treatment after Matt fails to keep his promise for a picnic date. ||||||
| 583 | 20 | "Whelan's Men" | Paul F. Edwards | Ron Bishop | February 5, 1973 (1973-02-05) |
| A gang of outlaws led by former lawman Dan Whelan (Robert Burr), who is out for revenge against Matt, take over Dodge while Matt is away, but a poker game with Kitty proves to be their undoing. ||||||
| 584 | 21 | "Kimbro" | Gunnar Hellström | Jim Byrnes | February 12, 1973 (1973-02-12) |
| Adam Kimbro (John Anderson), Matt's mentor in law enforcement, is now on the skids. Matt asks Kimbro to put the badge back on to help guard a gold shipment, but Peak Stratton (Michael Strong) and his boys mean to take it from them. ||||||
| 585 | 22 | "Jesse" | Bernard McEveety | Jim Byrnes | February 19, 1973 (1973-02-19) |
| Festus runs into his friend Jesse Dillard (Brock Peters) who has escaped from prison and is being tracked by Marshal Halstead (Regis J. Cordic). Now Festus and Newly must decide whether they'll allow trail boss Dave Carpenter (Jim Davis) to take Jesse back as their cook or take him back to jail to finish his 10-year sentence. ||||||
| 586 | 23 | "Talbot" | Vincent McEveety | Jim Byrnes | February 26, 1973 (1973-02-26) |
| The outlaw Talbot (Anthony Zerbe) plans to rob the bank in Dodge, but is sidetracked by his attraction to Katherine (Salome Jens) after he is forced to kill her husband Eli (Robert Totten). ||||||
| 587 | 24 | "This Golden Land" | Gunnar Hellström | Hal Sitowitz | March 5, 1973 (1973-03-05) |
| A Jewish family's faith is tested by the senseless death of Semel (Scott Selles). Their patriarch Moshe Gorofsky (Paul Stevens) must decide whether to tell Matt what Ruxton (Victor French) did, even while Moshe's son Gearshon (Richard Dreyfuss) is pressuring for justice. ||||||

## Release
### Broadcast

Season eighteen aired Mondays at 8:00-9:00 pm (EST) on CBS.

### Home media

The eighteenth season was released on DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment on February 4, 2020.

## Reception

Gunsmoke season 18 reached #8 in the Nielsen ratings.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Barbaras 1990, p. 74–75.
* ↑ Brooks & Marsh 2007, p. 570–571.
* ↑ McNeil 1996, p. 351–352.
* 1 2 Brooks & Marsh 2007, p. 570.
* ↑ Barbaras 1990, p. 116–118.
* ↑ Barbaras 1990, p. 87–102.
* ↑ Barbaras 1990, p. 147–148.
* ↑ Costello 2006, p. 496–508.
* ↑ "1972-1973 TV Ratings". classictvguide.com.