Bad Boy: Gunsmoke (February 27, 1954)

“Bad Boy” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast February 27, 1954. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Matt Dillon jails young Tom Vickers after he drunkenly shoots up the Longbranch saloon. When the marshal visits Tom's father Dolph Vickers at his ranch, he learns that a stranger was killed there the day before during a cattle theft, and Dolph plans to hire gunmen for protection. Matt offers to investigate the incident and rides out to examine the ranch and the scattered cattle herd.

Dodge City and the Vickers ranch in Kansas Territory

Characters: Matt Dillon, Chester, Kitty, Tom Vickers, Blade, Sam, Dolph Vickers

Listen for: The mystery of who the dead man was and whether Dolph's plan to hire gunmen will lead to more trouble; Tom's troubling change in behavior under Blade's influence

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.