# Gunsmoke season 16

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 16 aired in the United States on September 14, 1970, and the final episode aired on March 8, 1971. All episodes were broadcast in the U.S. by CBS.
Season 16 of Gunsmoke was the fifth 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 16 consisted of 24 one-hour color episodes produced by executive producer John Mantley along with producers Joseph Dackow (episodes 516–528) and Leonard Katzman (episodes 529–539).
"Pike", the two-part episode that ended the season, was later developed into a spin-off series entitled Dirty Sally.

## Episodes

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 516 | 1 | "Chato" | Vincent McEveety | Paul F. Edwards | September 14, 1970 (1970-09-14) |
| Matt heads to New Mexico to track down the wily killer Chato (Ricardo Montalbán) who has a knack for murdering lawmen. ||||||
| 517 | 2 | "The Noose" | Vincent McEveety | Arthur Browne, Jr. | September 21, 1970 (1970-09-21) |
| A stranger, Fred Garth (Tom Skerritt), bent on avenging his father's hanging captures Kitty, Festus, Doc, and Matt, and threatens to hang one of them. ||||||
| 518 | 3 | "Stark" | Robert Totten | Donald Sanford | September 28, 1970 (1970-09-28) |
| Bounty hunter Lewis Stark (Richard Kiley) blackmails his prisoner, Adam Bramley (Shelly Novack), whose father, John Bramley (Henry Wilcoxon), is a wealthy rancher. ||||||
| 519 | 4 | "Sam McTavish, M.D." | Bernard McEveety | Bethel Leslie & Gerry Day | October 5, 1970 (1970-10-05) |
| "Dr. Sam" (portrayed by Special Guest Vera Miles) answers Dr. Galen Adam's ad for a temporary replacement so that Doc can leave Dodge to attend a special honorary event for his benefactor from medical school. However, Doc is surprised and outraged when Dr. Samuel McTavish (so-named because her father wanted a boy) turns out to be a woman. ||||||
| 520 | 5 | "Gentry's Law" | Vincent McEveety | Jack Miller | October 12, 1970 (1970-10-12) |
| Land baron Amos Gentry (John Payne) considers his family above the law when his two sons Colt (Peter Jason) and Ben (Robert Pine) accidentally hang a squatter, Orly Grimes (Shug Fisher) who was caught butchering their stock. ||||||
| 521 | 6 | "Snow Train (Part 1)" | Gunnar Hellström | Preston Wood | October 19, 1970 (1970-10-19) |
| High in the snow-capped mountains, the Sioux take a trainload of passengers hostage, demanding two white men who sold them poisonous whisky. Matt must find the culprits before the passengers freeze to death. ||||||
| 522 | 7 | "Snow Train (Part 2)" | Gunnar Hellström | Preston Wood | October 26, 1970 (1970-10-26) |
| High in the snow-capped mountains, the Sioux take a trainload of passengers hostage, demanding two white men who sold them poisonous whisky. Matt must find the culprits before the passengers freeze to death. ||||||
| 523 | 8 | "Luke" | Bernard McEveety | Jack Miller | November 2, 1970 (1970-11-02) |
| Outlaw Luke Dangerfield's (Morgan Woodward) dying wish is to see his daughter. ||||||
| 524 | 9 | "The Gun" | Bernard McEveety | Donald Sanford | November 9, 1970 (1970-11-09) |
| St. Louis newspaperman Summer Pendleton (L. Q. Jones) exploits teenage bank clerk Randy Gogan (Kevin Coughlin) who killed a notorious gunfighter. ||||||
| 525 | 10 | "The Scavengers" | Robert Totten | Jim Byrnes | November 16, 1970 (1970-11-16) |
| A bounty is placed on Indians for allegedly massacring a group of pioneers, based on the story of a man, Piney Briggs (Yaphet Kotto), who stumbled upon their camp site. ||||||
| 526 | 11 | "The Witness" | Philip Leacock | Shimon Wincelberg | November 23, 1970 (1970-11-23) |
| Osgood Picket (Harry Morgan) kills one witness and threatens the family of another witness, Arnie Sprague (Tim O'Connor), to get his murderous son Ira Picket (Dack Rambo) released from custody. ||||||
| 527 | 12 | "McCabe" | Bernard McEveety | Jim Byrnes | November 30, 1970 (1970-11-30) |
| Matt's prisoner, gunfighter McCabe (Dan Kemp), is targeted by a lynch mob led by cattleman Clay White (David Brian) and his own teenage son Dobie (Mitch Vogel). ||||||
| 528 | 13 | "The Noon Day Devil" | Philip Leacock | William Kelley | December 7, 1970 (1970-12-07) |
| A priest, Father Hernando Cantrell, tries to save his murderous twin brother Heraclio's soul. Both roles were portrayed by special guest, Anthony Zerbe. ||||||
| 529 | 14 | "Sergeant Holly" | Bernard McEveety | William Kelley | December 14, 1970 (1970-12-14) |
| Sgt. Holly (Forrest Tucker) sets out to find Willis Jeeter (Albert Salmi) who framed him for stealing an Army payroll. ||||||
| 530 | 15 | "Jenny" | Robert Totten | Jack Miller | December 28, 1970 (1970-12-28) |
| Jenny (Lisa Gerritsen) arrives at Dodge to be with her father whom she has not yet met, not realizing he is the outlaw, Lucas Pritchard (Steve Ihnat), worth a bounty of $2,000 for robbery and assault. ||||||
| 531 | 16 | "Captain Sligo" | William Conrad | William Kelley | January 4, 1971 (1971-01-04) |
| Retired whaler, Captain Aron Sligo (Richard Basehart) moves to Kansas and begins courting the widow Josephine Burney (Salome Jens), all the while dealing with some unscrupulous cattlemen. ||||||
| 532 | 17 | "Mirage" | Vincent McEveety | Jack Miller | January 11, 1971 (1971-01-11) |
| Festus comes back from a desert shootout with no memory of what exactly took place. Fearing that his son Adam (Kevin Burchett) was the one who was killed, Lemuel (John Anderson) and his remaining children, Tom (Gary Wood) and Elsie (Mary Rings) take Festus hostage until they can find Adam's remains. ||||||
| 533 | 18 | "The Tycoon" | Bernard McEveety | Robert Vincent Wright | January 25, 1971 (1971-01-25) |
| After coming into money, Festus falls prey, first to his unscrupulous partner Titus (Shug Fisher), and then to Ma Fowler (Nora Marlowe) who is husband-hunting for her daughter Dora Lou (Gwynne Gilford). ||||||
| 534 | 19 | "Jaekel" | Bernard McEveety | Story by : True Boardman & Thelma Boardman Screenplay by : Calvin Clements, Sr. | February 1, 1971 (1971-02-01) |
| Pardoned convict Carl Jaekel (Eric Braeden) returns after eight years in prison to the woman, Beth Wilson (Julie Gregg), for whom he killed a romantic rival, despite that she is now married to another man, Norman Wilson (John Crawford), and has a daughter, Penny Wilson (Mia Bendixsen). ||||||
| 535 | 20 | "Murdoch" | Robert Totten | Jack Miller | February 8, 1971 (1971-02-08) |
| Aging lawman Lucas Murdoch (Jack Elam) sets out to get an outlaw gang led by Amos Carver (Jim Davis), unaware that his son Scott (Bob Random) is with them. ||||||
| 536 | 21 | "Cleavus" | Vincent McEveety | Richard Scott | February 15, 1971 (1971-02-15) |
| An unlucky fellow, Cleavus Lukens (Robert Totten), accidentally kills prospector Uriah Spessard (Arthur Hunnicutt), and then jumps his claim so that he will have enough money and prestige to court Kitty. ||||||
| 537 | 22 | "Lavery" | Vincent McEveety | Donald Sanford | February 22, 1971 (1971-02-22) |
| Troublemaker Keith Lavery (Anthony Costello), out on probation, reunites with his old gang, Clint (David Carradine) and Harry (Ken Swofford), but is torn between going with them or staying with his wife, April Lavery (Judi West). ||||||
| 538 | 23 | "Pike, Part I (AKA 'Dirty Sally')" | Bernard McEveety | Jack Miller | March 1, 1971 (1971-03-01) |
| Crusty old Sally Fergus (Jeanette Nolan) tries to nurse a wounded young outlaw named Cyrus Pike (Dack Rambo) back to health. ||||||
| 539 | 24 | "Pike, Part II (AKA 'Dirty Sally')" | Bernard McEveety | Jack Miller | March 8, 1971 (1971-03-08) |
| Having taken a shine to Cyrus while tending to his wounds, Sally tries to persuade him not to steal anymore. ||||||

## Release
### Broadcast

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

### Home media

The sixteenth season was released on DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment on December 10, 2019.

## Reception

Gunsmoke season 16 reached #5 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.
* 1 2 Barbaras 1990, p. 669.
* 1 2 Costello 2006, p. 470–484.
* ↑ "1970-1971 TV Ratings". classictvguide.com.