Comanches Is Soft

Festus and Quint play off each other perfectly in this episode. The light hearted theme is a welcome break from the often Debbie-Downer stories/writing.

It's a lovely religious/patriotic song recorded in 1950 by Ken Curtis (during his Sons of the Pioneers days), and...... well, lets just say that if you don't know Ken's legit, lyrical singing, you will be STUNNED; truly one of America's greatest popular singers of all time. (Try it on your friends: "Guess the singer"--- they won't believe it).

I was glad to hear Festus do some singing in this episode, a very charming "framing device", in which he's actually accompanied by Wilbur Hatch's wonderfully witty, bracing score (specially composed for this episode).

This episode is odd....there's TONS of fun dialogue exchanges, comic bits, inventive physical stuff, etc...but they seems to unfold at a SLOW-ish pace that makes the show feel like it's draggy and padded, when in fact it's really not. Scriptwriter Kathleen Hite never really seemed to get back in the groove of a couple of her great scripts from the 7th season, which are classics.

Luckily, there's SO MUCH good stuff between the very charming Ken Curtis and Burt Reynolds, that I'll watch this show again just to see them work together (Reynolds did a later interview in which he reveals just how much he respected and enjoyed Ken as an actor AND a person).

Lots of fun in the saloon, especially the dance/brawl scene; it's good to see big ol' Richard Reeves (and later Don Megowan) display their comic talents; both of them are very good.

There's SO MUCH packed into the plot of this 50-minute show, a real ROAD-TRIP romp for the 2 guys, along with Kathleen Nolan, whose role is cleverly written. When big Don Megowan shows up and our two heroes try to defend her honor, we find ourselves witnessing another wild and crazy episode that ALMOST becomes excessive in its goofiness (and there's also a pillow fight between Festus and Quint, plus the rough encounter with the 2 miscreant brothers, played by Dean Stanton and Rex Holman).

Then there's the final scene in Quint's blacksmith shop; I really didn't expect what happens in these final scenes, and I was left wondering if, in the long run, Hite's script and all of it's silly, 3-Stooges-like horseplay hadn't gone just a little too far. But, what the heck, it's a great change of pace and a wonderful showcase for 2 of TV's all-time greatest characters from TV's all-time greatest western. LR

PS-- If you want to hear Ken Curtis at his "legitimate" best as a singer, try the Have Gun Will Travel season 3 episode "Love's Young Dream", a really over-the-top, crude slapstick job until Ken charms the hell out of us near the end.

Of the last six episodes broadcast in Season 9, four of them have prominently featured Festus Haggen -- the newest regular character on Gunsmoke. This is another Festus story, although this one is a "buddy story" with Quint Asper and Festus.

When the episode opens, Festus is feeling "full of beans," meaning he is in an unusually goofy, rambunctious, mischievous mood. He eventually makes his way to Quint's blacksmith shop where he accidentally breaks Quint's bellows during a playful scuffle with Quint.

This sets up the premise of the story, as Quint has to travel to Wichita to get a new bellows, and Festus tags along, much to Quint's detriment.

Festus and Quint engage in a little drunken revelry in a Wichita saloon where they meet a saloon girl named Liz. Liz wants to get away from Wichita, and Quint and Festus agree to allow her to travel back to Dodge City with them.

Of course, the situation is not as straightforward as it seems on the surface. Liz flirts with both men -- as well as anyone else they encounter on the trail. There is something Quint and Festus don't know about Liz, and the revelation turns out to be a bit painful for the pair.

For better or worse -- depending on one's perspective -- the addition of the Festus Haggen character to Gunsmoke provided more opportunities for episodes that were comedic in nature. Although there were a few episodes that featured lighter fare prior to the introduction of Festus, nothing would approach some of the comedy content that would follow. This is the first of what would be many comedy-oriented stories featuring Festus in the seasons to come.

Kathleen "Kathy" Nolan plays the Liz character in this episode. Prior to her appearance here, she had starred in the comedy series The Real McCoys, although she left that series prior to the final season. Don Megowan appears here as the character Big Hardy. Megowan appeared in many television shows over the years, usually as a tough guy. Harry Dean Stanton and Rex Holman, both veteran actors, appear in this episode briefly.

I think how one feels about this episode is linked directly to how much one appreciates the Festus Haggen character. Fans of Festus generally love this story, while the Festus haters are likely to dislike this one.

This comedy episode came out just after Dennis Weaver (as the long-running, highly successful Chester character) was phased out of the series, and the show gave the character of Festus (Ken Curtis) a fulsome "introduction" with all the trimmings including a silly song he made up about himself and continued through this episode as a narrative. In contrast to Dennis Weaver's multi-shaded interpretation of the recently departed Chester, this is pure slapstick -- and Burt Reynolds is better at it here. Burt, with Kathy Nolan (recently of the highly successful "The Real McCoys" and on the way to "Broadside", the producers' fem answer to "McHale's Navy") and hilarious James Nusser as town-drunk-with-dignity Louie Pheeters, are the highlights of this one. To improve Festus's appeal the producers would soon have to make him a lot more like Chester, dropping the slapstick approach entirely and instead featuring the constant bantering relationship with Doc Adams (Milburn Stone) -- though, again, without the previous subtlety. With everything said, it was still about 300% better than the hopeless slapstick "comedies" the "Bonanza" series was putting out through the Sixties.

Burt Reynolds and Ken Curtis are great in this comedy that played out excellent. Both men made the show entertaining and fun to watch.

The episode begins as Festus states that he is 'full of beans' meaning he is in a goofin mood. He goes over to Quints and gets into a friendly scuffle which only leads to Festus falling and breaking Quint's bellows that he uses to heat the fire. Now Quint is going to have to go to Wichita in order to get new ones.

Festus wants to make the trip but Quint tells him an incorrect time that he will be leaving. But that makes no difference as Festus hides under the wagon and unknown to Quint is on the trail with him. So Quint and Festus are now on a road trip.

They pull into one town to spend the night when Festus challenges Quint to a drinking contest. The only thing that it really does is cause a full saloon brawl with them mainly as spectators. During their drunken spectacle Quint tells a woman named Liz that because she feels at danger in this town she can ride with them.

Liz comes along for the ride and sweet talks both men. But along the way Festus and Quint have to fight two brothers that want to take the sweet talking Liz with them. Soon a man named Big Hardy comes into camp and looking for Liz. Hardy is a big man that takes care of both Festus and Quint and goes toward Liz. The next thing is they are having a big kiss and Hardy tells Quint and Festus that they were the best she has ran off with yet. Hardy and Liz leave arm in arm.

After getting back to Dodge with the new bellow, Festus wants to show Quint a wrestling move he learned. Needless to say another trip to Wichita may be in the future.

This show is load of fun and entertaining from start to finish. Cannot say more about this show and the way the two actors worked together. A funny program for all watchers.