Melinda Miles: Gunsmoke (March 5, 1961)

“Melinda Miles” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast March 5, 1961. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

Listen to Gunsmoke free, live around the clock: every episode, in the order it first aired. No sign-up.

What happens

Melinda Miles eagerly awaits her fiancé Paul's return to their struggling ranch, but tension erupts when Tom, a ranch hand Paul fired, arrives to see Melinda. Paul's jealousy and suspicion create conflict as Tom insists he came to see Melinda, not Paul, while a card game at the saloon raises concerns about gambling debts threatening their future together.

A ranch in the West territory, with scenes at the ranch house and a saloon

Characters: Melinda Miles, Paul Miles, Tom Parker, Roy Taylor, Doc

Listen for: The romantic triangle and mounting tension between Paul, Melinda, and Tom; Paul's gambling and financial worries about the struggling ranch; Melinda's defense of Tom and her hopes for marriage and a stable future

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.