Of course the men weren’t the only thing in Dodge City that shady to the extreme. In episodes such as “Carmen”, the women of the old west are shown to be just as capable of committing murder or assisting in one for the purpose of robbing as in this episode’s case. Due to the standards of television, unless I missed something, women never seemed to have a showdown with Dillon at Dodge.
Aside from Dennis Weaver (who would leave the series later on), everyone seems comfortable with their roles. Despite never having much to do beyond being the owner of a bar and being the Marshal's girl, Amanda Blake stayed on the show until the show’s next to last season in 1974. James Arness and Milburn Stone would stay on until the very end when the series ended in 1975 after 20 years on the air.
You don’t get many special features with this disc set. However if you are a serious buff of what old school television openings were like, there’s a feature which includes the opening sequence of this particular era of Gunsmoke with a few words from advertisers. I found these to be a bit off-putting considering the thrilling sequence you see before the actual ad that comes in.
It would have been nice to see an interview, any interview for that matter, with someone connected with the show at some point during its 20-year run. I would have even settled for some old interviews with the cast to get a sense of what it was to work and act in such a long-running series. Still, perhaps in this case it’s good sometimes for a DVD to stand on its own merits without a lot of extras.
Although this set doesn’t include the complete third season and is only half of the episodes, you should have no problem getting into the series if you’ve never watched Gunsmoke in your life. If you want a unique view on the old west, Gunsmoke is your ticket.
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