The F.U: Gunsmoke (September 20, 1954)

“The F.U” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast September 20, 1954. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

When a small sodbuster named Only Becker is shot in the back in an alley in Dodge City, Marshal Matt Dillon investigates. Becker had been gambling that morning at the Texas Trail saloon with a man named Al Clovis who arrived in town only a week earlier. When Dillon learns that Clovis is heading to the depot to catch a train to St. Louis, he rushes to stop him before he escapes.

Dodge City and the surrounding territory, including the Texas Trail saloon and the train depot

Characters: Matt Dillon, Chester, Doc, Only Becker, Al Clovis, Kitty

Listen for: The investigation into who shot Only Becker and Matt Dillon's pursuit of the suspect to the train before he can escape the territory

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.