Cooter: Gunsmoke (November 27, 1954)

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

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What happens

Marshal Dillon discovers that crooked gambler Ben Sissel has hired the simple-minded Cooter Smith to wear a gun, planning to use him in a scheme to kill the Marshal. Dillon confronts Sissel and forces him to leave town, but tragedy strikes when Cooter, feeling betrayed by Sissel's deception, shoots and kills the gambler before he can escape.

Dodge City, Kansas in the 1870s, including the Long Branch saloon, the Marshal's office, a hotel, and the stable

Characters: Matt Dillon, Chester, Kitty, Ben Sissel, Doc, Pete, Cooter Smith

Listen for: The complex moral dilemma facing Marshal Dillon as he tries to reform a criminal through enforcement rather than punishment, and how his actions inadvertently lead to tragedy involving an intellectually disabled man manipulated by others.

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.