Gunsmoke backdrop
Western•Action & Adventure•Drama

The Best Episodes of Gunsmoke Season 3

Every episode of Gunsmoke Season 3 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Gunsmoke Season 3!

Binge this in 10h 50m•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

Airs on
CBS
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons20

All1234567891011121314151617181920

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 24 - The Cabin
    8.8/10(389 votes)

    S3:E24

    Matt get caught in a blizzard then finds shelter in a cabin but finds more than he bargained for.

    Director:John Rich
    Writer:John Meston

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  2. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 14 - Doc's Reward
    8.5/10(290 votes)

    S3:E14

    Doc kills a man who shoots his horse. The man's brother comes looking for Doc because he thinks Doc killed his brother for reward money.

    Director:Richard Whorf
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  3. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 38 - Overland Express
    8.5/10(271 votes)

    S3:E38

    Matt and Chester track Nation for a killing in Dodge. Nation kills their horses then gives himself up. They wind up having to take a stage back to Dodge. Nation recognizes a man on the stage and helps Matt prevent a robbery.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  4. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 10 - Never Pester Chester
    8.4/10(322 votes)

    S3:E10

    When Matt sends Chester out to handle a rowdy couple of cow pokers, Chester ends up nearly dead. Matt is so guilt ridden he vows to find the men who did it and make them pay.

    Director:Richard Whorf
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  5. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 1 - Crack-Up
    8.2/10(281 votes)

    S3:E1

    Matt learns there is a hired killer in Dodge City, the hired killer gives Matt a challenge to find out who paid Nate Springer to kill Matt.

    Director:Ted Post
    Writer:John Meston

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  6. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 12 - How to Kill a Woman
    8.1/10(262 votes)

    S3:E12

    Pernell Roberts appears in this episode, as Matt tries to find a killer who robbed the stagecoach.

    Directors:Sam Peckinpah, John Rich
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 BEST Episodes of Gunsmoke

    READ
  7. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 2 - Gun for Chester
    8.0/10(274 votes)

    S3:E2

    Chester believes Asa Ledbetter is out to kill him. After Chester is shot, he tells Matt Asa Ledbetter shot him. Matt worries that Chester may be working too hard on finding Asa Ledbetter. Asa Ledbetter claims Chester killed his brother.

    Director:Louis King
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  8. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 18 - Buffalo Man
    8.0/10(274 votes)

    S3:E18

    Matt & Chester are taken prisoner by two buffalo hunters who are hunting buffalo in Indian territory. The hunters leave them tied to a wagon in hopes that the Indians will kill them.

    Director:Ted Post
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  9. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 27 - Joke's on Us
    8.0/10(240 votes)

    S3:E27

    Jake Kaiser and some other ranchers hung Frank Tillman thinking he was a horse thief but they were wrong. Tillman's wife and son won't tell the Marshall who did it.

    Director:Ted Post
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  10. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 28 - Bottleman
    8.0/10(256 votes)

    S3:E28

    Tom Cassidy (a drunk) tries to kill Dan Clell (a new gambler) in town.

    Director:John Rich
    Writer:John Meston

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  11. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 36 - Chester's Hanging
    8.0/10(228 votes)

    S3:E36

    Matt arrests James Cando. Cando tells Lee Binders to break him out. In the attempt to get him out Cando tries to hang Chester.

    Director:Ted Post
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  12. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 5 - Potato Road
    7.9/10(280 votes)

    S3:E5

    Budge wants the Marshall to arrest his Pa for murder but when they get to Budge's house they get captured by Bud & his Ma so they can rob the bank.

    Director:Ted Post
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  13. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 13 - Cows and Cribs
    7.9/10(240 votes)

    S3:E13

    The whole town is caught up in a mystery: where does Joe Nadler get all his money---and where does he go to spend it?

    Director:Richard Whorf
    Writers:John Meston, Kathleen Hite

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  14. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 17 - Joe Phy
    7.9/10(269 votes)

    S3:E17

    Matt goes to Elkader after the man who shot him and runs into Joe Phy "US Marshall".

    Director:Ted Post
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  15. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 30 - Texas Cowboys
    7.9/10(244 votes)

    S3:E30

    The friends of a murdered Texan decide to take the law into their own hands.

    Director:John Rich
    Writer:John Meston

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  16. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 3 - Blood Money
    7.8/10(257 votes)

    S3:E3

    After Harry Spencer's life is saved Matt receives a wanted poster for Joe Sharpe who robbed a bank. Matt learns that Joe and Shape left Dodge so Sharpe could try and get the reward money.

    Director:Louis King
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  17. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 7 - Mavis McCloud
    7.8/10(257 votes)

    S3:E7

    Mavis McCloud comes to Dodge to get married. She marries Barny but Lou Staley comes looking for Mavis and wants to kill Barney and the Marshall.

    Director:Buzz Kulik
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  18. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 23 - Wild West
    7.8/10(249 votes)

    S3:E23

    Hattie throws in with two men to kill her husband and then sell his ranch for the money. Yorky Kelley sees the men ride off with his father and trails them till his horse breaks a leg. On the prarie Yorky finds Marshall Dillon and asks for his help finding his Pa.

    Director:Richard Whorf
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  19. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 34 - The Big Con
    7.8/10(244 votes)

    S3:E34

    Mr. Shaneway wants Mr. Pap at the bank to loan him $20,000 for a poker bet. When the con begins to unfold, Doc gets kidnapped.

    Director:John Rich
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  20. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 4 - Kitty's Outlaw
    7.7/10(246 votes)

    S3:E4

    Doc, Chester, and Matt suspect Kitty of helping a bank robber when she invites Matt to an out of the way spot for dinner. What they didn't know was that the bank robber was the first 'man' Kitty had ever known.

    Director:Andrew V. McLaglen
    Writer:John Meston

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  21. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 20 - Claustrophobia
    7.7/10(235 votes)

    S3:E20

    Ollie Ridgers is a free spirited man who hates towns and lives free on the prairie. His friend Jim Branch convinces Ollie to go into Dodge for a good time at Miss Kitty's saloon. While Ollie is in town, two men kill Ollie's hogs and mule. Ollie goes after the two men thus killing one of the men. Matt is forced to arrest his good friend Ollie for killing one of the men. After Ollie has been found guilty of murder and sentenced to a long prison term, Ollie's friend, (Jim Branch) kills Ollie to spare Ollie from the cruelty of being being incarcerated for the rest of his life.

    Director:Ted Post
    Writer:John Meston

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  22. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 21 - Ma Tennis
    7.7/10(269 votes)

    S3:E21

    Andy Tennis kills a gambler. Matt arrests him but Andy's mother breaks him out of jail.

    Director:Buzz Kulik
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  23. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 26 - Dooley Surrenders
    7.7/10(250 votes)

    S3:E26

    Hide skinner Emmett Dooley thinks he killed a man while drunk and turns himself in.

    Director:John Rich
    Writer:John Meston

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  24. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 31 - Amy's Good Deed
    7.7/10(237 votes)

    S3:E31

    Amy Slatter comes to Dodge to try and get Matt to kill her because in the Dakota territory Matt had to kill her brother.

    Director:John Rich
    Writer:Kathleen Hite

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  25. Gunsmoke Season 3 Episode 33 - Innocent Broad
    7.7/10(242 votes)

    S3:E33

    A woman's boyfriend causes trouble for Matt with his constant fits of jealousy.

    Director:John Rich
    Writer:Kathleen Hite

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

Season 3 Ratings Summary

"The Cabin" is the best rated episode of "Gunsmoke" season 3. It scored 8.8/10 based on 389 votes. Directed by John Rich and written by John Meston, it aired on 2/22/1958. This episode is rated 0.3 points higher than the second-best, "Doc's Reward".