Big Tom: Gunsmoke (March 1, 1959)

“Big Tom” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast March 1, 1959. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Big Tom, a former boxer from San Francisco, arrives in Dodge City and starts boasting about his fighting prowess after drinking. A man named Creole, a brutal fighter brought in from St. Louis, accepts Tom's drunken challenge to fight that night. Doc discovers that Tom is seriously ill and warns Marshal Dillon that the fight could kill him, but Tom is determined to prove himself against the man who once defeated him.

Dodge City, Kansas—the Long Branch Saloon and Marshal's office

Characters: Matt Dillon, US Marshal, Big Tom Bird, Creole, Doc, Kitty, Chester, Sam

Listen for: A tense confrontation between the Marshal and a dangerous fighter, plus the underlying story of Big Tom's need for redemption and his desperate willingness to risk his life to reclaim his honor.

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.