Season 16's final episode is the second segment of a two-part episode. This marks the second time a Gunsmoke season ended with a two-part episode. Season 12 also ended with the two-part "Nitro!" episode. Coincidentally, that episode has an alternate title of "Tiger by the Tail," and this episode has an alternate title of "Dirty Sally."
As Jeanette Nolan's Sally Fergus character nurses Dack Rambo's Cyrus Pike character back to health after tending to his gunshot wounds, a strong friendship begins to develop between the pair.
After several days pass and Pike has healed, he plans to leave, but he wants to give Sally half the money first. Sally wants no part of the stolen money, and Pike angrily rides off with intentions of making his way to California to try his luck at mining gold.
Matt Dillon and Festus Haggen are searching for the gang that robbed the freight office in Dodge City. At the same time, the three gang members that were originally with Pike are trying to find Pike because he has the money they stole in the robbery. Both searches lead to Sally's shack.
Sally protects Pike by telling the Marshal she hasn't seen any of the outlaws. When she tries to tell gang leader Tom Macomb she has no idea where Pike is going, the outlaw is convinced she knows more than she is willing to reveal. Macomb and his partners subsequently destroy Sally's treasured collection of bottles and threaten to shoot Worthless, her mule. Sally lies and tells them Pike is going to Dodge, and the Marshal is on his way to Hays City. Just for kicks, Macomb and his men shoot Worthless. The sadistic monsters find their cruelty amusing and laugh at Sally's anguish.
Pike is still close enough to hear the shots when his former compatriots begin firing their guns. He is faced with a dilemma. He must either abandon his new friend, keep the money, and continue west, or he can return to help Sally and face the consequences of what he has done.
Of course, he chooses the latter. He returns to Sally and finds her weeping and Worthless injured. He instructs Sally to feed the mule some of the leftover Laudanum. They put Worthless on Sally's wagon and take the mule to Dodge. Therefore, all principal parties in the story converge in Dodge City. Outlaws Macomb, Hicks, and Loomis are there looking for Pike. The Marshal and Festus have returned without capturing the robbers. Pike and Sally arrive with Worthless to seek medical assistance from Doc Adams.
Season 16 had its share of poor episodes. Some of the worst episodes in the entire series can be found in this season. Every season had its duds, but Season 16 seemed to have more than usual. However, this episode is one of the highlights of the season. Nolan's performance as Sally Fergus is Emmy-worthy. (She would win an Emmy for her portrayal of Sally Fergus in the spinoff series.) Dack Rambo is excellent in the Cyrus Pike role, too.
The unlikely nature of the relationship between Sally and Pike adds a quirky, unexpected element to this story. The two parts of this episode are also distinctive in that they feature several slower-paced scenes as the developing friendship between Sally and Pike is allowed to take its time. This is a rare two-part episode that does not include much in the way of scenes that were obviously included to fill time.
The television series Dirty Sally has the distinction of being the only spinoff from the Gunsmoke series. The original airing of this two-part Gunsmoke episode generated so much fan mail, the producers decided a spinoff made sense. It was a mid-season replacement for CBS in January 1974. The series was quite different from Gunsmoke in several ways. The theme of the show involved Jeanette Nolan as "Dirty Sally" Fergus and Dack Rambo reprising his role as Cyrus Pike making their way to California in the hopes of striking it rich in the gold fields. (An aspiration Pike mentions in the Gunsmoke episode.) As the pair travels west, they become involved with people they met. The show occupied a thirty-minute time slot and was primarily humorous.
It is surprising the Dirty Sally series ever made it into production. Westerns were declining in popularity with television audiences at the time. It only lasted fourteen episodes.
Side note: This episode originally aired on March 8, 1971. Two days earlier on March 6, Milburn Stone checked into UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama where he underwent successful heart bypass surgery. Stone would subsequently miss filming for several episodes in the following season.
As Jeanette Nolan's Sally Fergus character nurses Dack Rambo's Cyrus Pike character back to health after tending to his gunshot wounds, a strong friendship begins to develop between the pair.
After several days pass and Pike has healed, he plans to leave, but he wants to give Sally half the money first. Sally wants no part of the stolen money, and Pike angrily rides off with intentions of making his way to California to try his luck at mining gold.
Matt Dillon and Festus Haggen are searching for the gang that robbed the freight office in Dodge City. At the same time, the three gang members that were originally with Pike are trying to find Pike because he has the money they stole in the robbery. Both searches lead to Sally's shack.
Sally protects Pike by telling the Marshal she hasn't seen any of the outlaws. When she tries to tell gang leader Tom Macomb she has no idea where Pike is going, the outlaw is convinced she knows more than she is willing to reveal. Macomb and his partners subsequently destroy Sally's treasured collection of bottles and threaten to shoot Worthless, her mule. Sally lies and tells them Pike is going to Dodge, and the Marshal is on his way to Hays City. Just for kicks, Macomb and his men shoot Worthless. The sadistic monsters find their cruelty amusing and laugh at Sally's anguish.
Pike is still close enough to hear the shots when his former compatriots begin firing their guns. He is faced with a dilemma. He must either abandon his new friend, keep the money, and continue west, or he can return to help Sally and face the consequences of what he has done.
Of course, he chooses the latter. He returns to Sally and finds her weeping and Worthless injured. He instructs Sally to feed the mule some of the leftover Laudanum. They put Worthless on Sally's wagon and take the mule to Dodge. Therefore, all principal parties in the story converge in Dodge City. Outlaws Macomb, Hicks, and Loomis are there looking for Pike. The Marshal and Festus have returned without capturing the robbers. Pike and Sally arrive with Worthless to seek medical assistance from Doc Adams.
Season 16 had its share of poor episodes. Some of the worst episodes in the entire series can be found in this season. Every season had its duds, but Season 16 seemed to have more than usual. However, this episode is one of the highlights of the season. Nolan's performance as Sally Fergus is Emmy-worthy. (She would win an Emmy for her portrayal of Sally Fergus in the spinoff series.) Dack Rambo is excellent in the Cyrus Pike role, too.
The unlikely nature of the relationship between Sally and Pike adds a quirky, unexpected element to this story. The two parts of this episode are also distinctive in that they feature several slower-paced scenes as the developing friendship between Sally and Pike is allowed to take its time. This is a rare two-part episode that does not include much in the way of scenes that were obviously included to fill time.
The television series Dirty Sally has the distinction of being the only spinoff from the Gunsmoke series. The original airing of this two-part Gunsmoke episode generated so much fan mail, the producers decided a spinoff made sense. It was a mid-season replacement for CBS in January 1974. The series was quite different from Gunsmoke in several ways. The theme of the show involved Jeanette Nolan as "Dirty Sally" Fergus and Dack Rambo reprising his role as Cyrus Pike making their way to California in the hopes of striking it rich in the gold fields. (An aspiration Pike mentions in the Gunsmoke episode.) As the pair travels west, they become involved with people they met. The show occupied a thirty-minute time slot and was primarily humorous.
It is surprising the Dirty Sally series ever made it into production. Westerns were declining in popularity with television audiences at the time. It only lasted fourteen episodes.
Side note: This episode originally aired on March 8, 1971. Two days earlier on March 6, Milburn Stone checked into UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama where he underwent successful heart bypass surgery. Stone would subsequently miss filming for several episodes in the following season.
