Gunsmoke: Second Season, Vol. 2 (2008)

In Dodge City, Kansas, where smoking guns and shootouts are the order of the day, U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness, superb) is up to his arms in the chaos brimming along the new frontier.

This second season of the show, which appeared during the 1956 television season, isn’t as dark as what came before it, but within it, you nevertheless can see its influence reflected in other television shows, from “The Big Valley” straight up through “Deadwood.”

The series is an appealing throwback, with Dennis Weaver as Dillon’s sidekick Chester and Amanda Blake as the formidable Miss Kitty, owner of the lively Longbranch Saloon.

Blake is very good here--she’s tough and she's pretty--but once you’ve seen Joan Crawford’s saloonkeeper in the camp classic “Johnny Guitar” (add it to your Netflix queue), all others come second.

Grade: B+