# Gunsmoke season 14

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 14 aired in the United States on September 23, 1968, and the final episode aired on March 24, 1969. All episodes were broadcast in the U.S. by CBS.
Season 14 of Gunsmoke was the third 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 14 consisted of 26 one-hour color episodes produced by John Mantley and associate producer Joseph Dackow.

### Casting

Episode 19, "The Mark of Cain", cast Robert Totten as a guest character. Totten directed several episodes as well as writing at least one.

### Writing

Occasionally, titles were re-used. This season had two titles that were used in previous seasons. The first was episode 20, "Reprisal", which was also a title in season 7, episode 23. The second was episode 25, "The Prisoner", which was also a title in season 7, episode 33.

## Episodes

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 464 | 1 | "Lyle's Kid" | Bernard McEveety | Calvin Clements, Sr. | September 23, 1968 (1968-09-23) |
| A crippled ex-lawman has trained his hesitant son into an incredibly fast gunfighter, so he may face-off with the culprit that maimed him ten years ago. ||||||
| 465 | 2 | "The Hidecutters" | Bernard McEveety | Jack Turley | September 30, 1968 (1968-09-30) |
| Loathsome hide-cutters shadow a cattle drive and Matt tries to prevent hostilities between the trail boss and the band of rogue thieves. ||||||
| 466 | 3 | "Zavala" | Vincent McEveety | Paul Savage | October 7, 1968 (1968-10-07) |
| Matt travels to Mexico in search of a fugitive and befriends a young boy, who believes the Marshal can save his village. ||||||
| 467 | 4 | "Uncle Finney" | Bernard McEveety | Calvin Clements, Sr. | October 14, 1968 (1968-10-14) |
| Two mangy hillbilly half-brothers turn in their horse-thieving 103-year-old uncle for $50 reward to use in an elaborate scheme to rob the freight office. ||||||
| 468 | 5 | "Slocum" | Leo Penn | Ron Bishop | October 21, 1968 (1968-10-21) |
| Matt's mountain-man friend comes to town and promptly stirs-up trouble, forcing the Marshal to fend-off a vengeful bible-toting, liquor-swilling family. ||||||
| 469 | 6 | "O'Quillian" | John Rich | Ron Bishop | October 28, 1968 (1968-10-28) |
| Nuisance comes to Dodge in the form of a drunken Irish blowhard, who was found innocent in a Spearville murder and now an agitated Matt must protect him from the dead man's vindictive brother. ||||||
| 470 | 7 | "9:12 to Dodge" | Marvin J. Chomsky | Preston Wood | November 11, 1968 (1968-11-11) |
| Matt and Doc escort a prisoner back to Dodge on a private railcar, but their safety is jeopardized when passengers and a crusading meddlesome female are allowed to board. ||||||
| 471 | 8 | "Abelia" | Vincent McEveety | Calvin Clements, Sr. | November 18, 1968 (1968-11-18) |
| Outlaws persuade a young widow to steal medicine for their wounded partner and Festus becomes caught-up in the chaos when he investigates the crime. ||||||
| 472 | 9 | "Railroad!" | Marvin J. Chomsky | Arthur Rowe | November 25, 1968 (1968-11-25) |
| Matt dukes-it-out with an arrogant railroad boss who's determined to lay track across a furious homesteader's land. ||||||
| 473 | 10 | "The Miracle Man" | Bernard McEveety | Calvin Clements, Sr. | December 2, 1968 (1968-12-02) |
| An Irish clothing drummer and part-time con-man has heartfelt second thoughts on swindling an attractive farm widow. ||||||
| 474 | 11 | "Waco" | Robert Totten | Ron Bishop | December 9, 1968 (1968-12-09) |
| Matt escorts a prisoner back to Dodge and is pursued by the outlaw's gang but fate interrupts the journey when they encounter a pregnant Indian girl. ||||||
| 475 | 12 | "Lobo" | Bernard McEveety | Jim Byrnes | December 16, 1968 (1968-12-16) |
| Matt must hunt down an old friend, a far-ranging wandering mountain man, after he kills two men in a dispute in the handling and respect given to a dead wolf. ||||||
| 476 | 13 | "Johnny Cross" | Herschel Daugherty | Calvin Clements, Sr. | December 23, 1968 (1968-12-23) |
| In a case of mistaken identity, two scheming bounty hunters pay-off the lone witness of a stagecoach robbery and an innocent young man fights for his freedom. ||||||
| 477 | 14 | "The Money Store" | Vincent McEveety | William Blinn | December 30, 1968 (1968-12-30) |
| After an impoverished widower is denied a loan, his two children seize upon an opportune moment to steal money from the bank. ||||||
| 478 | 15 | "The Twisted Heritage" | Bernard McEveety | Story by : Robert Heverly and Jack Turley Screenplay by : Paul Savage and Arthur Rowe | January 6, 1969 (1969-01-06) |
| Kitty saves the live of a well-to-do stagecoach passenger and becomes emotionally involved with his hurtful mother and neglected daughter. ||||||
| 479 | 16 | "Time of the Jackals" | Vincent McEveety | Story by : Paul Savage Screenplay by : Paul Savage and Richard Fielder | January 13, 1969 (1969-01-13) |
| The leader of a notorious outlaw gang breaks out of prison and wants Matt dead which is complicated by a woman from the Marshal's past who's personally involved with three of the offenders. ||||||
| 480 | 17 | "Mannon" | Robert Butler | Ron Bishop | January 20, 1969 (1969-01-20) |
| Gunfighter Mannon (Steve Forrest), a former Quantrill Raider, comes to Dodge to terrorize the townsfolk before facing Matt in a gunfight. ||||||
| 481 | 18 | "Gold Town" | Gunnar Hellström | Calvin Clements, Sr. | January 27, 1969 (1969-01-27) |
| Merry Florene (Lane Bradbury) is back, along with her half-brother Elbert Moses (Anthony James) and cousin Smiley (Lou Antonio). Merry pesters Newly while the boys scam Dodge City with a salted gold mine. ||||||
| 482 | 19 | "The Mark of Cain" | Vincent McEveety | Ron Bishop | February 3, 1969 (1969-02-03) |
| Ex-Union soldier and buffalo hunter Corley (Robert Totten), reveals the true identity of Timothy Driscoll (Nehemiah Persoff), who is Karl Martin Krag, the "Devil of Donneville", a former Confederate Commandant of a Civil War prison camp where hundreds died. Krag is haunted by his past, and now he, his family, his victims, the townsfolk, Matt, and the U.S. Attorney General must decide his ultimate fate. ||||||
| 483 | 20 | "Reprisal" | Bernard McEveety | Story by : Jack Hawn Screenplay by : Jack Hawn and Paul Savage | February 10, 1969 (1969-02-10) |
| Doc must choose between delivering the baby of Sara (Eunice Christopher) and Tom Butler (Joe Don Baker), or saving the life of a murderer, Garth (Jack Lambert). ||||||
| 484 | 21 | "The Long Night" | John Rich | Story by : Richard Carr Screenplay by : Paul Savage | February 17, 1969 (1969-02-17) |
| A group of bounty hunters led by Guerin (Bruce Dern) hold Kitty, Doc & Louie hostage, intent on getting even with Matt for a 10-year jail term, and denying them a $10,000 bounty on Ben Miller (Robert Totten) who killed the son of Henry Wade (Robert Brubaker) in a fair gunfight. ||||||
| 485 | 22 | "The Night Riders" | Irving J. Moore | Calvin Clements, Sr. | February 24, 1969 (1969-02-24) |
| Festus faces a group of renegades led by Judge Proctor (Jeff Corey) bent on regaining land they lost during the Civil War. ||||||
| 486 | 23 | "The Intruder" | Vincent McEveety | Jim Byrnes | March 3, 1969 (1969-03-03) |
| Festus seeks help for his prisoner Riley Sharp (Charles Aidman) at the home of Ellie (Gail Kobe) and Henry Decker (John Kellogg). ||||||
| 487 | 24 | "The Good Samaritans" | Bernard McEveety | Paul Savage | March 10, 1969 (1969-03-10) |
| A family of former slaves gives Matt shelter when he is injured. ||||||
| 488 | 25 | "The Prisoner" | Leo Penn | Calvin Clements, Sr. | March 17, 1969 (1969-03-17) |
| Kitty is left in charge of Steven Downing (Jon Voight) who is about to be hanged for the murder of Bob Mathison's (Kenneth Tobey) wife, but Kitty believes that he is innocent and refuses to let another sheriff (Paul Bryar) take him away. ||||||
| 489 | 26 | "Exodus 21:22" | Herschel Daugherty | Arthur Rowe | March 24, 1969 (1969-03-24) |
| Former lawman Frank Reardon (Steve Ihnat) goes after the men who murdered his wife, leading him into conflict with his friend Matt. ||||||

## Release
### Broadcast

Season fourteen aired Mondays at 7:30-8:30 pm (EST) on CBS.

### Home media

The fourteenth season was released on DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment in a two volume set on February 5, 2019.

## Reception

After a move to a new timeslot the previous season, Gunsmoke season 14 was able to stay in the top 10, securing #6 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. 76; 442–457.
* ↑ "1968-1969 TV Ratings". classictvguide.com.