"The man in the saddle is angular and long-legged. His skin is sun-dyed brown. The gun in his holster is gray steel and rainbow mother-of-pearl, its handle unmarked. People call them both 'the Six Shooter'."
Opening Monologue by Hal Gibney (later John Wald).
The Six Shooter was a weekly American Western radio series created by screenwriter Frank Burt, who also wrote the majority of the episodes. The series premiered on NBC Radio on September 20, 1953, and lasted for one season of 39 episodes.
Jimmy Stewart starred as Britt Ponset, a drifting Cowboy during the Twilight of the Old West. Britt would wander from town to town, following the work or visiting old friends and running into a range of adventures: ranging from straight Western adventures to whimsical comedies. Stewart's vocal talent and folksy, down-to-earth delivery allowed him to play a wide range of stories, and his whispered narration added tension to dramatic scenes.
In 1957, the series received a Sound-to-Screen Adaptation; being adapted into the TV series The Restless Gun, starring John Payne as the renamed Vint Bonner. The Relestless Gun ran for one season.
"People call them both The Tropes":
- Adventure Towns: Britt travels from town to town, running into a new adventure every week.
- All of the Other Reindeer: In "Jenny", the conversation between The Sheriff and his Posse indicates that the whole town of Lead Creek has mocked and ridiculed Jenny her entire life for being unnattractive, tall and clumsy. And the sheriff and his men don't see anything wrong with this; laughing as they remember some of the jokes played on her. Hearing this, Britt suddenly understands why Jenny has chosen to live in a remote cabin far out of town.
- Animal Stampede: Britt is caught in the middle of a herd of stampeding cattle when a Cattle Drive goes sour in "The Stampede".
- Avenging the Villain: In "Rink Larkin", 11-year old runaway Rink swears vengeance on Sheriff Jay after learning that his bank robber father had been gunned down by the sheriff.
- Bait-and-Switch Gunshot: In "Rink Larkin", the outlaw Traeger has Britt and the local sheriff held at gunpoint. His finger is tightening on the trigger and Britt is not sure which of them he is planning to shoot first. There is a shot and Britt doesn't know what has happened until Traeger falls over. He then sees that Rink was hiding behind a rock and shot Traeger.
- Broken-Window Warning: In "Red Lawson's Revenge", Red fires a bullet through the window of Dan and Mary's house; narrowly missing Mary and the baby.
- Cattle Baron: In "The Coward", local big shot Noah Temple is looking to regain all of the land once owned by his grandfather (and subsequently lost by his father). The clerk in the hotel tells Britt that he has actually acquired more land than his grandfather's original spread, but Rancher Will Fetter and his wife Sarah remain stubbourn holdouts: owning a small ranch that is now completely surrounded by Temple's spread but refusing to sell.
- Cattle Drive: Britt joins a small cattle drive driving a herd to Abilene in "The Stampede".
- Chatty Hairdresser: The chatterbox style of barber appears in an episode delivering an Infodump on the goings-on in the town as the hero Britt Ponsett struggles to get a word in edgeways.
- Cowboy: Britt Ponset is a working cowboy travelling in search of work in the Twilight of the Old West.
- Fastest Gun in the West: Although Britt Ponset always tries to play down his skill as a gunman, he is known throughout the west. In "The Stampede", one character refers to him as "the fastest gun west of Kansas City".
- From Dress to Dressing: Multiple episodes feature a character tearing up their clothing—usually either a shirttail (if male) or a petticoat (if female)—to bandage either themselves or someone else.
- The Gunslinger: Britt Ponset is a drifting Cowboy whose skill with a pistol earns him the nickname 'the Six Shooter'.
- Human Shield: In "Red Lawson's Revenge", Red kidnaps Dan and Mary's infant son and keeps them and Britt at bay but holding a gun to the baby's head.
- I Own This Town: In "The Coward", local Cattle Baron Noah Temple is seeking to regain all of the land originally owned by his grandfather, and then lost by his father. Rancher Will Fetter and his wife Sarah remain the only holdouts.
- Lonely Funeral: Britt's narration at the end of "Jenny" mentions that Ned was buried the next day, and that the only flowers on the grave was a bunch of wild prairie daisies. He, of course, knows who left them there, but does not say anything.
- Mistaken for Badass: "The Capture of Stacy Gault" (one of the comic episodes) has the paranoid townsfolk convinced that the stranger heading into town is the murderous outlaw Stacy Gault, come to rob the bank. He is actually a travelling toy salesman and the man who actually captured Gault, entirely by accident.
- Mistaken for Murderer: In "Ben Scofield", a series of unfortunate coincidences, combined with the sheriff's guilt about his treatment of his son, lead Sheriff Ed Scofield to belive that the robber and murderer he and Britt are tracking is his son Ben. This leads to him and Britt almost getting killed when he calls out a warning to the wounded outlaw as Britt is sneaking up on him.
- Opening Monologue: Ending in a Title Drop.
- Railroad Plot: In "Silver Annie", a dying town which is counting on the railroad coming through ropes in Britt to try and persuade a cantankerous old woman who is the sole holdout: refusing to sell the town the right of way to her land.
- The So-Called Coward: In "The Coward", Will Fetter has been branded a coward by the citizens of Temple City because he never carries a gun and refuses to get involved in any actions which might result in violence, such as joining a Posse. The local big shot Noah Temple thinks it will be a simple to intimidate Will into selling him his land at a discount price. He is wrong. Will is actually a Retired Outlaw who has promised his wife he will never use a gun again, and is not the pushover Noah is expecting, especially when backed up by his friend Britt Ponset.
- The Runaway: In "Rink Larkin", Britt meets and helps 11-year old Rink Stevens who has run away from his aunt's home to search for his father whom he believes to be in trouble.
- Sound-to-Screen Adaptation: In 1957, The Six Shooter was adapted into a TV series titled The Restless Gun and starring John Payne in the Jimmy Stewart role, renamed from 'Britt Ponset' to 'Vint Bonner'.
- They Call Him "Sword":The man in the saddle is angular and long-legged. His skin is sun-dyed brown. The gun in his holster is gray steel and rainbow mother-of-pearl, its handle unmarked. People call them both 'the Six Shooter'.
- Title Drop: The Opening Monologue ends with a title drop:"The man in the saddle is angular and long-legged. His skin is sun-dyed brown. The gun in his holster is gray steel and rainbow mother-of-pearl, its handle unmarked. People call them both 'the Six Shooter'."
- Trail of Blood: In "Ben Scofield", Britt and Sheriff Scofield follow a blood trail by the outlaw who robbed the
- Twilight of the Old West: Britt Ponset is a drifting cowboy in the final years of the wild west.
- Weapon Title:The man in the saddle is angular and long-legged. His skin is sun-dyed brown. The gun in his holster is gray steel and rainbow mother-of-pearl, its handle unmarked. People call them both 'the Six Shooter'.
