The Gunslinger

Episode aired May 25, 1966
TV-GTV-G
30m

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

191

YOUR RATING

S5.E31

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Morey Amsterdam and Rose Marie in The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961)

Comedy

Family

While anesthetized in Jerry's dentist's chair for a tooth extraction, Rob dreams he's a sheriff in the Old West and has a showdown with Big Bad Brady.While anesthetized in Jerry's dentist's chair for a tooth extraction, Rob dreams he's a sheriff in the Old West and has a showdown with Big Bad Brady.While anesthetized in Jerry's dentist's chair for a tooth extraction, Rob dreams he's a sheriff in the Old West and has a showdown with Big Bad Brady.

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

191

YOUR RATING

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2User reviews

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Photos

Dick Van Dyke and Carl Reiner in The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961)

Sam Denoff and Bill Persky in The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961)

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Storyline

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To extract Rob's impacted wisdom tooth, Jerry places him under a general anesthetic, a procedure which concerns Rob only because he needs to get back to work to write a western sketch for the show, due that day. While under the effects of the anesthetic, Rob not only dreams about the sketch but also subconsciously places himself, his family and his friends in that western dream setting: Gunless Sheriff Rob wants to rid the west of all bad guys, with Big Bad Brady, a former associate of his when Rob was a gunslinger, at the top of that list. Rob hears from Killer Cooley that Big Bad is coming to town to watch a show, vowing to kill anyone associated with it if he doesn't like it, but if the show doesn't go on, he'll just kill Rob instead. If Rob can't convince the reluctant cowboys of the town to perform, he must decide whether to face Big Bad Brady or go on the run. As Sheriff Rob resolves to make a stand, wife Laura thinks she has the answer to save him. —Huggo

crying man

man wears a dress

dentist office

oral surgery

wisdom tooth pulled

45 more

Genres
- Comedy
- Family
Certificate
- TV-G
Parents guide
- Add content advisory

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Trivia
The scene where Rob gets off his horse and then discovers he's left his boot in the stirrup was the only time that a sequence of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (which normally was shot in front of a live in-studio audience) was filmed in an exterior location. The scene was filmed on the same lot used by the series "Gunsmoke".

Goofs
Although it had been established just a few episodes earlier (in "Love thy Other Neighbor") that Jerry Helper ran his dentistry practice out of his house, in this episode he has a dentist's office in a high-rise downtown.

Quotes
Sally Rogers: [referring to wanted posters on the sheriff's wall] This one-- that's the only one I want no part of-- Big Bad Brady.
[Rob drops his chicken tray]
Buddy Sorrell: How come every time somebody mentions Big Bad Brady, you drop a tray?
Rob Petrie: I once rode with Brady.
Sally Rogers: When?
Rob Petrie: When I was a gunslinger.
Sally Rogers: You were a gunslinger?
Rob Petrie: Yep.
Sally Rogers: You were a gunslinger turned sheriff?
Rob Petrie: No, my last job was a parson.
Sally Rogers: You were a gunslinger turned parson?
Rob Petrie: No, when I quit being a gunslinger, I became a singer.
Sally Rogers: A slinger turned singer.
Rob Petrie: I hated all that violence, so I became a singer in a saloon.
Buddy Sorrell: A singin' parson!
Rob Petrie: No, parson came later. Folks didn't like my singin', so I became a dancer. Then a rancher.
Sally Rogers: A slinger-singer turned rancher-dancer.
Buddy Sorrell: Then you became a sheriff.
Sally Rogers: Don't forget the parson.
Buddy Sorrell: Yeah.
Rob Petrie: No, it's easy. Look, I was a slinger turned singer, turned dancer, turned rancher, turned parson, turned sheriff.
Sally Rogers: Oh. When you became sheriff, you swore you'd get Brady, right?
Rob Petrie: No, I swore to get Brady when I was a dancer. But, then, what can a dancer do to anybody?
Sally Rogers: Yeah. So, why'd you swear to get 'im?
Rob Petrie: 'Cause I wanted to rid the west of everything that's mean and corrupt and ugly.
Buddy Sorrell: Then you better save one of them bullets for my wife.

Connections
Spoofs High Noon (1952)

Soundtracks
I Don't Care
(uncredited)
Music by Harry O. Sutton with lyrics by Jean Lenox
Performed by Mary Tyler Moore

User reviews2

Review

Top review

10/10

One of the great episodes...

...especially if you're a fan of TV Westerns from the fifties and sixties.

In this episode, Rob, under the influence of dental anesthesia, dreams he's the sheriff of an old west town.

The plot recycles the stock "high noon showdown" scenario, and each member of the cast plays a wild west archetype in a way that mirrors their character personality in the regular series.

Gunfighters, saloon floozies, heroes, cowards, code-of-the-west ethics, and the quintessential "bullet ballet" are given a good going-over thanks to sharp, clever writing, and some brilliant comic performances from the show regulars (and a fun bit from Allan Melvin, as a gun merchant).

There's no shortage of movie length Western spoofs, but few manage as many laughs in two hours as "The Gunslinger" achieves in twenty five minutes.

Now reach for your remote control, partner...and give this episode a good look-see.

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