The second half of the second season of Gunsmoke finally hits the DVD format. Hailed for half a century as the definitive television western, and having run for two decades (a record that remains unbeaten), it's tough to argue with the sheer excellence of this series. ***

This set leaves off where Part 1 left off. Episodes included here, making up the remainder of the second season, are as follows: Bloody Hands, Skid Row, Sweet And Sour, Cain, Bureaucrat, Last Fling, Chester's Murder, The Photographer, Wrong Man, Big Girl Lost, What The Whiskey Drummer Heard, Cheap Labor, Moon, Who Lives By The Sword, Uncle Oliver, Daddy-O, The Man Who Would Be Marshal, Liar From Blackhawk, and Jealousy. At this time the show ran in a half-hour format. It remained this way until 1961. ***

Gunsmoke was, hands down, one of the finest shows of its kind. The central cast was nothing short of excellent, with James Arness masterfully portraying the town marshal, willing to maintain peace and order by any means necessary. Guest stars and characters were frequently featured as well, helping the show to remain fresh and interesting for the duration of its 20 year run. ***

Disappointingly, Paramount has opted to release Gunsmoke in half-season sets, which is becoming an all-the-more-common move for a number of companies releasing television series on DVD. Hopefully, future seasons will be released as complete seasons, rather than in the broken-down half-season format the second got. ---

Image And Sound:

Paramount has given Gunsmoke an excellent DVD transfer. Despite the source material being half a century old, they have polished up the image nicely, and cleaned up the audio. The show looks and sounds as good as it possibly could for its age. There are some minor issues here and there, but nothing worth noting.

Sadly, the only extra included here is a set of sponsor spots from when the show originally aired. It's a nice little vintage extra, but why couldn't we get cast/crew interviews/commentaries, or better still, the made-for-TV movies that aired after the show was cancelled? There were plenty of features in the 50th Anniversary sets, I don't see why Paramount can't port them over to the season sets (after all, who wants to buy episodes they're going to get in season sets anyway, just for the sake of some bonus features?)

Final Words: