Gunsmoke
The River (2)
TV Flash files “The River (2)” as hour 565 of 635 in the TV Flash guide — Gunsmoke (1955–1975) on CBS, season 18, episode 2, aired 1972-09-18, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S18E02: listed hour 565 of 635 in the Gunsmoke guide, hour 2 of 24 in season 18. It aired 1972-09-18 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “The River (1)” (S18E01). Next is “Bohannan” (S18E03). Broadcast log — titles and dates, not a plot bible.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
The outlaws catch up with Matt Dillon and the two orphans, Tuttle and Hannah, at the rough mining town. Matt and the children make their escape on the raft, along with the pair of thieves, Pierre and Paulette. As the outlaws ride hell-for-leather along the Rogue River bank, the escapees continue their whitewater rafting journey.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The River (2) sit in the Gunsmoke guide?
S18E02 is listed hour 565 of 635 — hour 2 of 24 in season 18, season 18 episode 2.
When did Gunsmoke S18E02 air?
The River (2) aired 1972-09-18 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Where should I start?
Start with the 1955 opener, where the marshal is not invincible. Then sample a later guest-star hour rather than marching through hundreds of titles in order.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Twenty seasons of Dodge as a civic appointment: a marshal who can lose, a chorus instead of gadgets, and adult-western hours that treat a gunfight as a verdict. Longevity here was weather, not catalog padding — weekly public work with dust still on the boots.
September 1955, CBS: a marshal takes a bullet in the first hour and the adult western stops being a kid’s hat commercial. Gunsmoke had already lived on radio, with a different voice in the badge. Television wanted a face the lens could trust. The lore still pours like bar whiskey — John Wayne pointing at James Arness, William Conrad left on the airwaves, a casting fight that was really a medium fight. Radio-to-TV is never a reprint. It is a negotiation about whose body gets to mean the law.
Filed against
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- Ken Curtis as Festus Haggen
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