The Tender Gun

I read the other reviews before viewing this episode again.

Actually, I thought this was a charming episode, thanks to the chemistry between the star and chief guest star. Sure, it wasn't a gritty, challenging plot....but i didn't care. Jeanette Nolan was superb!

Not the best episode I've seen for reasons already mentioned in other reviews. Not even Jeanette Nolan's finest. She was playing Dirty Sally before Dirty Sally came along. But I watched it because Jeanette is one of my favorite actresses. She was versatile as proven by her role as the "warden" of the orphanage in Gunsmoke's "Murry Christmas" episode. Her first role was as Lady Macbeth. How's that for versatility?

An entry like this is, I suppose, a matter of taste. It's done tongue-in-cheek with Nolan playing her crotchety sheriff lady in pretty broad fashion. She manages some comedic charm; at the same time, the normally masterful Paladin appears somewhat flummoxed by her aggressive manner. Still, there's not much plot while the gunplay appears thrown-in for action's sake. Then too, the opening scene with the persistent salesman appears to be educating reviewers on what a shotgun is, as though viewers don't already know.

The entry's mainly a showcase for the versatile Nolan. To me at least, it's episodes like this, elevating character over plot, that suggest the writers are running out of ideas and that the series' best years are behind it.

I just bought the 4th season and I hope the rest of the DVDs are not like this one. First off, Hey Boy is gone, replaced by Hey Girl. I'm sure they had a good explanation for giving her the same name, but it had a feeling of being a little racist.

The story and dialog were not at the usual interest as those of the earlier seasons. I didn't even get this sense that this was a "Have Gun Will Travel" adventure. Paladin looked old and tired and didn't have his usual edge. The story line takes us to a town where Paladin dodged bullet fire. Even after watching the show, I didn't get a good motivation of why this happened. Supposedly, a woman sheriff was harassed by some bad guys who didn't want her in charge of the town and Paladin was there to help. Much of the time was spent in a barn,exchanging boring script. I won't tell how the story ended, but let me just say that Paladin seemed to play a minor role in the whole affair. I missed his quick wit and charm, which was such a signature in the earlier episodes.