keithdemonde

Whoever wrote the opening summary for this episode forgot to mention aside from picking up a blind hitchiker, getting a flat tire, and having a bunch of thugs stealing her car Julie was also bitten by a snake.

I vividly remember this episode for two reasons.This is one of my favorite episodes and the day this particular episode premiered on March 31st 1978 was my 12th birthday and I had a small birthday party with my family and friends and I remember watching this episode with my cousins eating cake and ice cream And being a born and raised New Yorker watching the old Times Square 42nd street was so nostalgic I was too young for the peep shows and porn movies but a few years later by the time I was 16 my friends and I were always hopping the train to check out the 3 for $3 Kung Fu movies and be able to sneak into a few peep shows and porno theaters as well Ha Ha! Those were the days growing up in New York City. A great performance by Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno and a good storyline.

Watching this episode just kept forcing me to focus on the character of gunfighter Reeves (Pernell Roberts) Although this was a decent episode worth watching being that Gunsmoke was famous for blending western drama with domestic issues which isn't a bad thing because i loved 90% of all Gunsmoke episodes from season 1 to season 20. I'm also a fan of Bonanza and my favorite Cartwright was the eldest boy Adam Cartwright played by Pernell Roberts. I like the character of Adam for his leadership, knowledge, independence and courage. And although i not alive when Pernell left Bonanza i did some research as to why he left the show from his self- dignity as an actor and a man having to call his father "Pa" being a man over 30 years old to being forced to wear his hair piece under his cowboy hat Blah Blah Blah! In my opinion they were stupid reasons to want to drop out of one of the most successful TV shows on the air at that time to doing guest spots on other westerns . And watching this episode was no upgrade for an actor who hated a show about a father and his three sons. It took Pernell 14 years to bring his name back to prominence with "Trapper John M.D" I didn't watch it because i never watched Bonanza at that time so i didn't know who Pernell Roberts was and i just didn't like the show for my age. I read that a lot of people in Hollywood at the time thought Pernell was crazy to leave such a successful TV western and to think he left for a higher or equal level of success elsewhere he was just regulated to being a guest star on other westerns TV shows so in my opinion he did nothing to throw in the face of Bonanza producer David Dortort that he's too good of an actor to play a grown man living with his father Ben Cartwright on The Ponderosa. He was just still a television actor becoming a television character actor popping up every now and then on other popular shows not having his own show for 14 years and not being quite successful in the theater (which he wanted to return to so he said) After leaving Bonanza although he didn't have to succumb to calling anyone "Pa" again and he didn't take off his hair piece till the mid 70's when he started to get gray haired. I will still admire Pernell Roberts as a wonderful actor on Bonanza and a good human being but i will always remain disappointed on how he turned his back on automatic success with Bonanza and having too much pride and personal dignity to just go to work, say your lines, and get your check and you never know, the producers may have eventually allow Adam Cartwright to address Ben Cartwright as "Father" and allow him to take off the hair piece at least by the tenth season. Instead there was no upgrade for Adam Cartwright leaving The Ponderosa. RIP Pernell...

A wonderful and unique episode in my opinion. Buddy Ebsen and Hope Summers make a great couple portraying a very realistic older married couple of over 30 years. Well established financially topped off with a Hog wallow farm. Here comes the middle aged viper widow in search of financial security and decides to land her scheming ways on gullible Ebsen. The Mrs. instincts are on go ahead as she automatically figures out what's going on. I just assumed this episode would probably end with Buddy discovering the viper's plans to use him in order to live the good life and run the Mrs' off or Ebsen finds the woman in an intimate position with another man. But i didn't see this one coming when Hope Summers literally torches the entire house just to prove her point at the expense of what her and her husband had worked hard for 5 years to achieve. My mouth dropped when she casually walked over to what appeared to be the only piece of furniture she salvaged, a few kitchen table chairs and some pots and pans and offering Matt and Chester some "hole beans". This is an episode you can show a 35-45 year old married couple that are having marital issues and are in need of some enlightening inspiration. Great non shoot em up episode.

I normally start writing a review and expound in detail my opinions, known facts, and final analysis so to speak. But after watching this episode i don't think i can write as much as i'm normally used to. This episode by far goes down as one of the BEST Gunsmoke episodes i have had the opportunity to watch. It appeared slightly predictable in the beginning but surprisingly saddening at the end. Barbar Lord was passionately moving from beginning to the end. This episode was scripted to express the reality of the old west and all that life can bring. I'm man enough to say that it brought a tear to my eye in viewing the tragic finale to this episode and all i wished for was some raw emotion from Matt upon losing his trail companion, but i quickly realized that the character of Marshall Matt Dillon is prone to be numb to love and loss. This episode in my opinion follows in a long line of well scripted, well acted, perfectly realistic & well toned to make this 60's television show well worthy of 10 stars and 100% certified Classic TV..I wrote more than i thought i would..again

I was 7 years old when i first saw "The Moon and the Desert" and i gotta tell you, i was marveling at all those fictional physical capabilities Col. Steve Austin were able to perform. I watch the series to the very last season and very last episode. I'm a fan of pilot episodes and "Made for Television" movies which of course is mainly produced as a test run for the possibilities of a series. My friends and i would play Steve Austin running slowly sown the block and we would add on "Barney" The Seven Million Dollar Man just in case we wanted to have fight scenes. But my greatest joy was on Christmas Day 1976 and what i saw under the Christmas tree was my very own Six Million Dollar man "action figure" with the red jumpsuit and the small magnifying hole in the back of the head Ha Ha I'm watching "The Moon and the Desert" right now on CoziTV 4/30/2014 and i'm somewhat focusing on actress Barbara Anderson solely because i'm noticing how beautiful she is, beautiful lips,eyes and hair Wow! Too bad she walked away from permanent work in Hollywood after 1975 because she may have been an excellent candidate for the role of Jaime Sommers of Bionic Woman fame. Seasons 1,2, & 3 are the best for me wasn;t crazy about Lee Majors growing a moustache. A very Iconic character with a very Iconic actor.