The Trial: Gunsmoke (March 12, 1955)

“The Trial” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast March 12, 1955. 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

A new circuit court judge arrives in Dodge City, and Matt Dillon must deal with a petty theft complaint from the storekeeper Walcott over some stolen potatoes. When a brutal robbery and murder occur at the stage office that same morning, Walcott is convinced that Homer Tisdale, the hungry man Matt had sent to work at the Long Branch, is the culprit.

Dodge City and the surrounding Kansas territory

Characters: Matt Dillon, Doc, Chester, Homer Tisdale, Van Walcott, Jay Buford, Charlie Reynolds, Judge Stokes

Listen for: The marshal's pragmatic approach to justice and his skepticism about Walcott's accusations despite the circumstantial evidence.

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.