swog85

It is a story that while watching, you think, "They don't make 'em like this anymore!". -and they don't!

Little boys wearing suits with white gloves! Beaver and pal, Larry are forced to attend this ritualistic place from a bygone era. The scenes at dance class are both cute and funny!! The teacher is an older woman who (naturally) ends up getting paired w/ The Beaver.

While eating stale cookies at refreshment time, the boys decide they will never suffer the indignation of attending another class EVER!

The story is well written and directed. The camera pans from one unhappy faced boy to the next, and so on, until finally Larry and then Beaver are shown. Without revealing what happens, it truly is funny in the way that keeps us watching Beaver year after year.

Finally, the boys live up to their handshake and ditch dance class. They run into a tomboy played by Karen Sue Trent. She was a child actress who would eventually have the recurring role as, "Penny", an annoying classmate of Beaver's at Grant Avenue School.

Trent replaced Jeri Weil's "Judy Hensler" character as the annoying female know-it-all classmate.

As is typical in the series, Beaver's parents, particularly Ward, shows love and understanding. He cannot simply let his son get away with ditching the class. Still, Ward sees things from the little boy's perspective and so, tempers justice with mercy, so to speak.

This Gunsmoke story, "Long, Long Trail" is among my very most beloved episodes of my most beloved series, period. James Arness, Barbara Lord and Mabel Albertson outdid themselves with their performances. The other cast members were all excellent as well. The story is about a headstrong Bostonian who needs to get to Fort Wallace, Kansas to meet with her officer fiance so they can be wed. Sarah Drew must find somebody to escort her through the harsh prairie land, with hostile Indian tribes, wilderness and all kinds of dangers that are completely foreign to a lady from Boston. The story will NOT disappoint. I want to avoid spoilers. It is a guarantee that, "Long, Long Trail" is bound to become one of YOUR favorite Gunsmoke stories, too. The ONLY sticking point for me is that her fiance is beyond a jerk for leaving such a lady to her own devices to get out to Ft. Wallace on her own. What sort of a creep man would do that?! She is a lady on her own, unfamiliar with the dangers of the area. Yet, "Mr. Wonderful" officer in the cavalry does not even arrange to have her escorted out to the fort?? Better still, escort her himself?? Granted, the story had to be this way in order for it to play itself out. Still, it would have put her intended in a better light if he HAD arranged an escort, but somehow the plan had fallen through. To simply leave her to fend for herself is a most unlikely scenario for that era, or even by today's standards. Great, great story, nonetheless.

Marty Blair was SO slick, presumably being oily and slimy just as Lucas described him. Only a child, as a kid of Mark's age should be taken in by his foolery. Yet, the savvy Lou Mallory, Micah the U. S. Marshal, and the town doctor all bought into his fantastical story when he was attempting to commit robbery. So viewer, suspend your sense of realism, sit back and enjoy this terrific episode. Mark Goddard is perfect as Marty Blair, who provides the catalyst for the rift between Lucas and Mark.... a situation which is known to every parent of a teenager. Lucas and Mark resolve their dispute in a way which provides a very satisfying conclusion. Whether or not Mark gets or even keeps said rifle of his own is an excellent vehicle for the story's moral. It shows the audience whether the youth has learned any lesson or is still not yet mature enough to handle the responsibility that comes with owning a rifle. "Mark's Rifle" is one of my favorite episodes.