Cow Doctor: Gunsmoke (July 28, 1957)

“Cow Doctor” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast July 28, 1957. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

A boy urgently seeks Doc in Dodge City because his father Ben Pitcher demands a doctor's visit. When Doc and Marshal Dillon arrive at the Pitcher ranch, they discover Ben's true patient is not himself but his cow, which he values more than human life. Meanwhile, tragedy strikes in town when a woman collapses and dies while Doc is away tending the animal.

Dodge City and the Pitcher ranch on the outskirts of town

Characters: Matt Dillon, Doc, Jerry Pitcher, Ben Pitcher, Mrs. Pitcher, Mrs. Hill

Listen for: The clash between Ben Pitcher's misguided priorities and Doc's moral outrage at being called away from town where a human life could have been saved.

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.