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The Best Episodes of Gunsmoke Season 17

Every episode of Gunsmoke Season 17 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Gunsmoke Season 17!

Binge this in 18h 0m•Peaking at 8.8/10

Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 1 - The Lost
    8.0/10(229 votes)

    #1 - The Lost

    S17:E1

    Kitty is in a stage wreck and dazed and confused she sets out in the wild. Meeting up with a wild girl who does not speak, she winds up at a shack where a family takes her and the wild girl hostage. Intent on turning the child into a sideshow, they tie Kitty up but are stopped before they can get too far.

    Director:Robert Totten
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 2 - Phoenix
    7.9/10(179 votes)

    #2 - Phoenix

    S17:E2

    After convict wants to kill a man he has never seen before after he gets out of prison.

    Director:Paul Stanley
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 3 - Waste (1)
    7.9/10(180 votes)

    #3 - Waste (1)

    S17:E3

    Matt helps a young boy find his mom while finding an outlaw.

    Director:Vincent McEveety
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 4 - Waste (2)
    8.0/10(173 votes)

    #4 - Waste (2)

    S17:E4

    Matt helps a young boy find his mom while finding an outlaw.

    Director:Vincent McEveety
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 5 - New Doctor in Town
    7.7/10(197 votes)

    #5 - New Doctor in Town

    S17:E5

    Dr. Chapman is arrested by Festus when he tries to sleep in Doc's office even though he has explained that Doc went to Baltimore to hone his medical skills. A letter explains that Doc felt so badly about a little girl's death that he could have prevented if he had been more in tune with modern medicine, that he had to leave. Not many in town are very cordial to Dr. Chapman and when Newly's shop blows up with Newly and Festus in it, they dislike him even more. Festus is all right, but Newly has a bone splinter in his brain and needs an operation. Chapman wins the town by performing the operation and saving Newly's life.

    Director:Philip Leacock
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 6 - The Legend
    7.2/10(171 votes)

    #6 - The Legend

    S17:E6

    Ma Colter tries to dissuade her youngest son from following his older brothers into a life of crime.

    Director:Philip Leacock
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 7 - Trafton
    8.2/10(216 votes)

    #7 - Trafton

    S17:E7

    Matt is out to find a gunfigther who killed two people.

    Director:Bernard McEveety
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 8 - Lynott
    7.4/10(177 votes)

    #8 - Lynott

    S17:E8

    A former Marshall helps Matt by filling in for Matt, after he is wounded and sent to bed so he can rest.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 9 - Lijah
    8.5/10(202 votes)

    #9 - Lijah

    S17:E9

    A jury has the fate of a mountain man in it's hands.

    Director:Irving J. Moore
    Writer:William Blinn

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  10. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 10 - My Brother's Keeper
    7.8/10(188 votes)

    #10 - My Brother's Keeper

    S17:E10

    While trying to hide from a storm Festus finds old Indian is about to die. Festus keeps trying to stop the indian from dying.

    Director:Paul Stanley
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 11 - Drago
    8.8/10(222 votes)

    #11 - Drago

    S17:E11

    Drago wants to find the person who killed a woman who helped him.

    Director:Paul Stanley
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 12 - Gold Train: The Bullet (1)
    8.4/10(238 votes)

    #12 - Gold Train: The Bullet (1)

    S17:E12

    A hidecutter starts trouble in the Long Branch and Matt comes to the rescue throwing him out of town. When Festus goes up to fetch Dr. Chapman, he finds the old scudder there himself. Offering to buy Doc a drink, he can't resist and they surprise everyone down at the Long Branch. While they are all excited to see Doc, Matt is out checking the town and ends up shot in the back by the hidecutter he just threw out. Doc's homecoming is ruined when he realizes that if he tries to remove the bullet he could paralyze Matt and he doesn't want to be the one to do it. So, he contacts a surgeon in Denver, and loading Matt in the baggage car of the train, Kitty, Doc, Festus, and Newly all head for Denver along with a Federal gold shipment.

    Director:Bernard McEveety
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 13 - Gold Train: The Bullet (2)
    8.4/10(204 votes)

    #13 - Gold Train: The Bullet (2)

    S17:E13

    As the train moves along to Denver we meet several passengers. One is a Pinkerton man handcuffed to Beth Tilton, a woman who doesn't want to go back to Colorado to her husband. The other, Allie Dawson, is a young girl that Newly befriends who does not believe in violence. The train is taken over by Jack Sinclair, an old enemy of Matt's. Matt had shot his hand off before sending him to prison. Making it look like Matt is a dead body in the baggage car, he is safe for now with Doc standing guard, but it can't last long. Kitty senses trouble when Beth starts cozying up to Jack Sinclair and worries she'll tell him what she knows. Warning her that she'll do anything for her man, Kitty watches Beth like a hawk. Festus and Newly are forced to help load the gold shipment on the wagon and when they get it loaded they end up driving off with it luring the gang out on foot to chase them. Beth tells one of the guards about Dillon in the back, and he goes to kill him.

    Director:Bernard McEveety
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 14 - Gold Train: The Bullet (3)
    8.6/10(219 votes)

    #14 - Gold Train: The Bullet (3)

    S17:E14

    The conclusion to this three parter. Dillon kills the guard that was gunning for him and the passengers take the train back over. The only problem, all the fuel has been destroyed so they have to get more fast. Festus and Newly are still out with the gold leading the men from the train on foot. Dillon's legs are numb and Doc has no choice but to operate whether he cripples him or not. Leaving the gold shipment and taking the mules, Newly and Festus head back to the train to try to get it going. Sinclair has the men push the wagon back to the train and gets there in time to keep it from taking off. Beth tells Sinclair about Matt Dillon, but Dillon's faster than a gun even lying down and ends up killing him. The train takes off leaving the bad guys and all their gold sitting at the tracks with no way to get anywhere.

    Director:Bernard McEveety
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 15 - P.S. Murry Christmas
    8.6/10(305 votes)

    #15 - P.S. Murry Christmas

    S17:E15

    The meanest outlady in the US is coming to Dodge, at least that's what Festus has heard, but it's really Emma Grundy out to retrieve her seven orphans from Titus Spangler and take them back to the orphanage where they belong. The town finds it ludicrous that these children have never had a Christmas and plan on putting one on in the Long Branch. The problem arises when Mrs. Grundy arrives, and she has her own personal reasons for not giving the children Christmas. Kitty steps in to solve the problem single handedly and ends up messing things up worse than they were.

    Director:Herb Wallerstein
    Writer:William Kelley

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  16. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 16 - No Tomorrow
    8.0/10(167 votes)

    #16 - No Tomorrow

    S17:E16

    Ben Justin must try and clear his name of false charges.

    Director:Irving J. Moore
    Writer:Richard Fielder

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  17. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 17 - Hidalgo
    7.7/10(164 votes)

    #17 - Hidalgo

    S17:E17

    After Matt is hurt, He makes friends who must help him stay alive.

    Director:Paul Stanley
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 18 - Tara
    7.5/10(175 votes)

    #18 - Tara

    S17:E18

    Newly falls in love with a woman who could put him in danger, once her past is known.

    Director:Bernard McEveety
    Writer:William Kelley

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  19. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 19 - One for the Road
    7.6/10(178 votes)

    #19 - One for the Road

    S17:E19

    Lucius's daughter wants her dad locked up so she and Tom can have the estate. Judge Broker thinks Mr. Prince is sane and Mr. Prince proves he can be a dad.

    Director:Bernard McEveety
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 20 - The Predators
    7.9/10(173 votes)

    #20 - The Predators

    S17:E20

    A former gunfighter returns to Dodge which worries Matt because Howard Cane was the one to survive the rage war. Can Matt stop him before more trouble comes to Dodge?

    Director:Bernard McEveety
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 21 - Yankton
    8.0/10(202 votes)

    #21 - Yankton

    S17:E21

    A drifter wants to marry the rich family's daughter

    Director:Vincent McEveety
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 22 - Blind Man's Buff
    7.6/10(151 votes)

    #22 - Blind Man's Buff

    S17:E22

    A man gets shot, loses his memory, and gets taken in by a lonely woman

    Director:Herb Wallerstein
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 23 - Alias Festus Haggin
    8.4/10(207 votes)

    #23 - Alias Festus Haggin

    S17:E23

    Festus is mistaken for a killer.

    Director:Vincent McEveety
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Gunsmoke Season 17 Episode 24 - The Wedding
    7.8/10(198 votes)

    #24 - The Wedding

    S17:E24

    A father disapproves of the man her daughter marries.

    Director:Bernard McEveety
    Writer:Unknown

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Season 17 Ratings Summary

"The Lost" is the best rated episode of "Gunsmoke" season 17. It scored 8/10 based on 229 votes. Directed by Robert Totten and written by Unknown, it aired on 9/13/1971. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "Phoenix".