Emma Grundy runs a small orphanage in Kansas. Ms. Grundy is unflinchingly strict and refuses to allow the children in her care to experience the joys of the Christmas season. She has good reasons, but a cursory glance at the situation obscures the facts.
Titus Spangler works for Ms. Grundy as a handyman of sorts. He loves the kids, and they love him. However, Titus is sometimes given to outrageous behavior, and his decorum when a group of benefactors obligingly make their annual Christmas visit embarrasses his employer. This is the last straw for Ms. Grundy, and she fires Titus. When he tells the kids he is leaving, they talk him into allowing them to go with him. They run away and make it to Dodge City, but Ms. Grundy follows them there.
When Titus breaks into the general store to steal some food for the kids and himself, Festus Haggen catches him and locks him in the jail. Soon, the kids are discovered and Ms. Grundy prepares to return them to the orphanage, sans Titus.
Everyone in Dodge City is aware of the situation with the children, including Matt Dillon, Kitty Russell, and Judge Brooker. Kitty, in particular, has doubts as to the kids being in the optimal situation with Ms. Grundy at the orphanage. When she invites Ms. Grundy and the kids to a Christmas party at the Long Branch Saloon with plans to give the children gifts, Ms. Grundy declines the invitation.
Kitty is livid over this denial. The kids live in poverty conditions, and when someone wants to treat them to something special, Ms. Grundy appears monstrous in her refusal. This leads Miss Russell to take measures to change the situation, but she soon learns her actions will lead to unintended consequences.
The casting for this episode is outstanding. One of the finest character actors of this era of television, Jeanette Nolan, plays Emma Grundy in one of her eight different Gunsmoke appearances. Nolan had last appeared in the two-part Season 16 final "Pike" episodes as "Dirty Sally" Fergus. Her portrayal of Emma Grundy is very much a different character.
Jack Elam returns to Gunsmoke for one of his 15 different appearances. In this story, he is perfect as Titus Spangler. Elam's Gunsmoke roles run the gamut from mean outlaws, to scheming drunks, to serious lawmen, to the type of somewhat goofy, caring character he plays in this story. His performance here is pure joy.
The orphans are played by a bevy of notable child actors. Josh Albee appeared in two different Gunsmoke episodes. His career was limited to child roles.
Brian Morrison's acting career was also limited to his childhood. He returned in another episode of Gunsmoke later in Season 17 in "The Predators." That appearance is notable, because he plays Jonathan, the son of Abelia Johnson, who had appeared in two earlier episodes. The character Morrison plays had been portrayed twice previously by child actor Mike Durkin.
The most recognizable actor among the children is Jodie Foster, who popped up in many television shows during the early 1970s. Foster would appear again with Brian Morrison in the aforementioned "The Predators" episode later in Season 17. Just as Morrison plays a character in that episode that had been previously played by another actor, Foster plays Marieanne Johnson, who had previously been played by Susan "Cindy Brady" Olsen in the earlier episodes.
Erin Moran, who would go on to play Joanie Cunningham in Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi, is another of the orphans. (Why the decision was made to have Moran wear a bad blonde wig is puzzling.)
Willie Aames would go on to star as one of the Bradford kids in the series Eight is Enough and play Buddy Lembeck in the series Charles in Charge. Aames would return to Gunsmoke as a troublemaking kid in Season 18's "A Quiet Day in Dodge."
The final orphan role is played by Todd Lookinland, whose more famous brother Mike played Bobby Brady on The Brady Bunch. Todd returned for two additional Gunsmoke episodes in Seasons 19 and 20.
This is a somewhat rare episode at this point in Gunsmoke history, because it primarily takes place inside Dodge City and features all members of the starring cast in some capacity. As the years wore on, fewer and fewer episodes took place within the town with the major characters all present.
This is one of only two Gunsmoke episodes over twenty seasons that features a Christmas theme. The other appears all the way back in the first season in the episode "Magnus." In that episode, Chester's brother Magnus pays a Christmas visit to Dodge.
"P. S. Murry Christmas" is sentimental without becoming overly sappy. I like the way writer William Kelley introduces Emma Grundy as a sort of Scrooge character, but later reveals a damaged, complex person who has what she thinks are the children's best interests at heart.
It is not easy to produce a Christmas story with any measure of originality. Just when the viewer thinks they know where this story is going, it takes a turn in a different direction. It is particularly interesting and surprising how the Kitty Russell character is used in this story.
Titus Spangler works for Ms. Grundy as a handyman of sorts. He loves the kids, and they love him. However, Titus is sometimes given to outrageous behavior, and his decorum when a group of benefactors obligingly make their annual Christmas visit embarrasses his employer. This is the last straw for Ms. Grundy, and she fires Titus. When he tells the kids he is leaving, they talk him into allowing them to go with him. They run away and make it to Dodge City, but Ms. Grundy follows them there.
When Titus breaks into the general store to steal some food for the kids and himself, Festus Haggen catches him and locks him in the jail. Soon, the kids are discovered and Ms. Grundy prepares to return them to the orphanage, sans Titus.
Everyone in Dodge City is aware of the situation with the children, including Matt Dillon, Kitty Russell, and Judge Brooker. Kitty, in particular, has doubts as to the kids being in the optimal situation with Ms. Grundy at the orphanage. When she invites Ms. Grundy and the kids to a Christmas party at the Long Branch Saloon with plans to give the children gifts, Ms. Grundy declines the invitation.
Kitty is livid over this denial. The kids live in poverty conditions, and when someone wants to treat them to something special, Ms. Grundy appears monstrous in her refusal. This leads Miss Russell to take measures to change the situation, but she soon learns her actions will lead to unintended consequences.
The casting for this episode is outstanding. One of the finest character actors of this era of television, Jeanette Nolan, plays Emma Grundy in one of her eight different Gunsmoke appearances. Nolan had last appeared in the two-part Season 16 final "Pike" episodes as "Dirty Sally" Fergus. Her portrayal of Emma Grundy is very much a different character.
Jack Elam returns to Gunsmoke for one of his 15 different appearances. In this story, he is perfect as Titus Spangler. Elam's Gunsmoke roles run the gamut from mean outlaws, to scheming drunks, to serious lawmen, to the type of somewhat goofy, caring character he plays in this story. His performance here is pure joy.
The orphans are played by a bevy of notable child actors. Josh Albee appeared in two different Gunsmoke episodes. His career was limited to child roles.
Brian Morrison's acting career was also limited to his childhood. He returned in another episode of Gunsmoke later in Season 17 in "The Predators." That appearance is notable, because he plays Jonathan, the son of Abelia Johnson, who had appeared in two earlier episodes. The character Morrison plays had been portrayed twice previously by child actor Mike Durkin.
The most recognizable actor among the children is Jodie Foster, who popped up in many television shows during the early 1970s. Foster would appear again with Brian Morrison in the aforementioned "The Predators" episode later in Season 17. Just as Morrison plays a character in that episode that had been previously played by another actor, Foster plays Marieanne Johnson, who had previously been played by Susan "Cindy Brady" Olsen in the earlier episodes.
Erin Moran, who would go on to play Joanie Cunningham in Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi, is another of the orphans. (Why the decision was made to have Moran wear a bad blonde wig is puzzling.)
Willie Aames would go on to star as one of the Bradford kids in the series Eight is Enough and play Buddy Lembeck in the series Charles in Charge. Aames would return to Gunsmoke as a troublemaking kid in Season 18's "A Quiet Day in Dodge."
The final orphan role is played by Todd Lookinland, whose more famous brother Mike played Bobby Brady on The Brady Bunch. Todd returned for two additional Gunsmoke episodes in Seasons 19 and 20.
This is a somewhat rare episode at this point in Gunsmoke history, because it primarily takes place inside Dodge City and features all members of the starring cast in some capacity. As the years wore on, fewer and fewer episodes took place within the town with the major characters all present.
This is one of only two Gunsmoke episodes over twenty seasons that features a Christmas theme. The other appears all the way back in the first season in the episode "Magnus." In that episode, Chester's brother Magnus pays a Christmas visit to Dodge.
"P. S. Murry Christmas" is sentimental without becoming overly sappy. I like the way writer William Kelley introduces Emma Grundy as a sort of Scrooge character, but later reveals a damaged, complex person who has what she thinks are the children's best interests at heart.
It is not easy to produce a Christmas story with any measure of originality. Just when the viewer thinks they know where this story is going, it takes a turn in a different direction. It is particularly interesting and surprising how the Kitty Russell character is used in this story.