Cooter: Gunsmoke (April 16, 1961)

“Cooter” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast April 16, 1961. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

When a cowboy is killed at the Long Branch Saloon, Marshal Dillon investigates and learns that the victim drew first on a man named Ben Sizzle. Dillon discovers that Sizzle is actually a hired gunman working for crooked gambler Cecil, protecting him during rigged card games. Determined to stop the corruption, Dillon confronts Cecil and forces his gunman to leave town.

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

Characters: Matt Dillon, Chester, Kitty, Ben Sizzle, Cecil, Pete, the cowboy

Listen for: A tense confrontation between the Marshal and a crooked gambler using hired protection; questions about whether a killing was truly self-defense

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.