Gunsmoke Prime of Life (1955–1975) Online

For the last black and white episode of the series we get a story that involves a family that has one of the best reputations and the father wants the name to mean something to his sons.

The story centers around the Stoner family that consist of the father, John, and his two sons, Kyle and Woody. John is an ex-lawman and friend of Marshal Dillon and his two sons are now becoming men and deciding their own fate. It seems that Kyle and Woody teamed up with two undesirable gents named Jack Brown and Joe Smith. They did a few robberies and are now in Dodge. With Woody with his father, Kyle decides to go to the Long Branch with the other two. When he sees a girl he likes with another man, he forces the man to draw on him and Kyle kills him. Marshal Dillon places Kyle in jail.

When John Stoner gets to town he is none to happy with Matt about his son being locked up. People said it was a fair fight and he believes that his son was just protecting himself.

Later, with help from Jack and Joe, Kyle gets Matt into a gunfight and Matt kills Kyle. Again John and Woody come back to town to collect Kyle's body and even more hatred is present.

When Matt gets word that Kyle, Woody and the two others are suspects in the robberies, Matt has to make a trip to the Stoner farm. Matt advises John that Woody is a suspect and leaves Woody with him as long as John will give his word.

It is not long before Woody will be riding off with the other men to escape the robbery charges. But the reason Woody rides off may have something to do with his oath he gave to his father rather than flee prosecution.

For the last show of the eleventh season, we have another good quality program. A well written script and preformed to perfection by the cast. This is a solid episode that was interesting and enjoyable.

I have written reviews on various Gunsmoke episodes in the past. You know the ones where you can't get the story out of your mind, even an hour after it has been finished. A perfect example is "The Gallows" from Season Seven. Gunsmoke was divided into three parts during its twenty year run. They are The Half Hour Episodes Year 1 - 6, The One Hour Black and White Episodes Year 7 - 11 and The Color Episodes Year 12 - 20. There has never been more consistently good writing that those five years of hour long black and white episodes in the early to mid 1960's with primarily John Meston and Kathleen Hite at the writing helm.

I am writing this review here at the last episode of these 176 presentations spanning the five years. My only wish was that the great James Arness could have been in more of them as the show suffered with his absence. I know he was in all 176 just as he was in every Gunsmoke episode for the 20 years; but lets be honest, some were merely cameos as even Mr. Arness could not handle the grind of cranking out on average 35 episodes per season and keep up the quality of his acting at the same time. His presence on the screen was as every bit as commanding as any other actor. In fact, the actors of today pale in comparison. I am 65, so my Gunsmoke baptism came with the color episodes starting in the Fall of 1976. I never saw any of the black and whites episodes until last year on morning television when I saw the pure treasure of the 176 episodes that, at two per day, took 17 weeks plus to view. I was stunned at the acting, the stories and the beautiful outdoor scenery in high def T.V. that was simple beautiful. I cannot tell you the number of times I could not get a story out of my mind the whole day. The stories did not always ended well, but they ended leaving a message. Today's T.V. pales in comparison. If the Smithsonian was ever to house a collection for posterity, it should be these 176 episodes. Were there clunkers? Sure, but that is to be expected. My favorites are the aforementioned "The Gallows" "The Way It Is" "False Front" "With A Smile" "The Glory and The Mud" "No Hands" "Caleb" "Owney Tupper Had A Daughter" "Old Man" "Chicken" "Seven Hours to Dawn" and "Ten Little Indians."

There are other great episodes and stories, but these were my favorites. The five years allowed me to see what a great ensemble of a cast Gunsmoke had with Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake and a never seen before Dennis Weaver who I previously only knew form his later series McCloud. I saw Burt Reynolds and saw what a fine actor he was in a serious role. Yes, "Prime of Life" completed the five year, 176 episode run of fine television. And to think CBS was to cancel the series after the 1965 season. Only CBS President William Paley knew that was a mistake and interceded. My last thought. I will never forget the character played by Jeremy Slate in Dover Pruitt. When Marshall Dillon walked down the street at that episode's conclusion......I cried. And I never did that at any movie or T.V. show in my life. Bravo Gunsmoke and R.I.P. Mr Arness. You were good.