Kitty's Injury: Gunsmoke (December 14, 1958)

“Kitty's Injury” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast December 14, 1958. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Marshal Matt Dillon escorts Kitty back to Dodge City from a nearby town, but their journey is interrupted when their horse bolts and Kitty is thrown from the wagon, injuring her head severely. They take shelter at a remote homestead while Matt sends for Doc Adams, but a lonely young man named Rudy who lives there becomes obsessed with the unconscious Kitty and plans to take her away.

The frontier territory of Dodge City and the surrounding countryside, including a remote homestead far from town.

Characters: Matt Dillon, Kitty, Chester, Doc Adams, Rudy, Ma

Listen for: The tense standoff between Marshal Dillon and the delusional Rudy, who holds them at gunpoint while threatening to take the injured Kitty away. Listen for the emotional confrontation between Rudy and his mother as the situation escalates.

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.