Gunsmoke (TV Western)

Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West.

The radio version ran from 1952 to 1961 and is commonly regarded as one of the finest radio dramas of all time. The television version ran from 1955 to 1975 and is the longest running prime time drama and the second-longest running prime time fictional program in U.S. television history, its record surpassed only by the Disney anthology television series (which, though essentially the same in every incarnation, has appeared on TV under several titles since 1954) and Hallmark Hall of Fame (which, though it has fewer episodes than both Gunsmoke and Disney's Anthology, started in 1951).

• Created by: John Meston and Norman MacDonnell
• Starring: James Arness, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Dennis Weaver, Ken Curtis, Burt Reynolds, Buck Taylor, and Glenn Strange
• No. of seasons: 20 (total seasons)
• No. of episodes: 223 ('Marshal Dillon', syndication re-titling of half-hour episodes), 402 ('Gunsmoke'), 625 (total episodes)
• Running time: 30 minutes (1955-1961), 60 minutes (1961-1975)
• Original channel: CBS
• Original run: September 10, 1955 – March 31, 1975

The television series ran from September 10, 1955 to March 31, 1975 on CBS for 625 episodes. Until 2005, it was the longest run of any scripted series with continuing characters in American primetime television.

Conrad was the first choice to play Marshal Dillon on TV, having established the role, but his increasing obesity led to more photogenic actors being considered. Losing the role embittered Conrad for years, though he later starred in another CBS television series, Cannon (1971-1975). Denver Pyle was also considered for the role, as was Raymond Burr who was ultimately seen as too heavyset for the part. According to a James Arness interview, John Wayne was offered the role, but couldn't do it.

In the end, the primary roles were all recast, with James Arness taking on the lead role of Marshal Matt Dillon upon the recommendation of John Wayne, who also introduced the first episode of the seriesl; Dennis Weaver playing Chester Goode; Milburn Stone being cast as Dr. Galen "Doc" Adams; and Amanda Blake taking on the role of Miss Kitty Russell, owner of the Long Branch Saloon. MacDonnell became the associate producer of the TV show and later the producer. 

Meston was named head writer. Arness, in his role on Gunsmoke, achieved what no other actor at the time had ever matched: he played the same character on the same scripted series for 20 years - at the time the longest uninterrupted period a primetime actor had played the same role in the same show.

In 1963, singer/character actor Ken Curtis did a guest role as a shady ladies' man. After Weaver left the series to venture out as the lead in his own TV series, Kentucky Jones, Curtis was added to the show's lineup. He played the stubbornly illiterate Festus Haggen, a character who came to town (in an episode titled "Us Haggens") to avenge the death of his twin brother, Fergus Haggen, and another brother, Jeff Haggen, and who decided to stay in Dodge when the deed was done. Initially existing on the fringes of Dodge society, Festus Haggen was slowly phased in as a reliable sidekick to Matt Dillon and was eventually made a deputy. Interestingly, his twin was never again mentioned on the show. 

In the episode "Alias Festus Haggen," he is mistaken for a robber and killer whom he has to expose to free himself (both parts played by Curtis). In a comic relief episode ("Mad Dog"), another case of mistaken identity forces Festus to fight three sons of a man killed by his cousin. Other actors who played Dillon's deputies for two and a half to three-year stints included Roger Ewing (1966-1968) as Thad Greenwood and Burt Reynolds (1962-1965) as Indian/white Quint Asper. Buck Taylor, who played gunsmith Newly O'Brien from 1967-1975, also served as one of Dillon's deputies.

While Matt Dillon and Miss Kitty clearly had a close personal relationship, the two never married. In a July 2, 2002 Associated Press interview with Bob Thomas, Arness explained, "If they were man and wife, it would make a lot of difference. The people upstairs decided it was better to leave the show as it was, which I totally agreed with." The nearest that Matt and Kitty had to a romantic encounter was in a comic episode ("Quiet Day in Dodge"), where Matt, tired from a long day of settling disputes, was about to have dinner with Miss Kitty. 

However, she was distracted and found poor Matt sound asleep. Kitty ended up storming out of the room, furious. In another episode ("Hostage!", Season 18, Episode 13, December 11, 1972) Kitty was gravely injured. Matt spent hours at Kitty's side in Doc's office, holding her hand before she stirred and he knew he would not lose her. The Marshal took off his badge to pursue the bad guy as a personal vendetta. When Kitty awoke and Doc told her of Matt's mission she feared for his safety. As Doc reassured her, "The sun hasn't come up on the day that Matt can't take care of himself," Kitty answered, "I couldn't live without him."

In an episode featuring Johnny Whitaker as a boy with a prostitute mother, her madam questions Dillon as to why the law overlooks Miss Kitty's enterprise. It appears that bordellos could exist "at the law's discretion" (meaning the Marshal's).

Popularity

Gunsmoke was TV's No. 1 ranked show from 1957 to 1961 before slipping into a decline after expanding to an hour. In 1967, the show's 12th season, CBS planned to cancel the series, but widespread viewer reaction (including a mention in Congress and pressure from the wife of the head of programming at CBS) prevented its demise. The show continued on in a different time slot: early evening on Mondays instead of Saturday nights, canceling the popular Gilligan's Island in the process. 

This seemingly minor change led to a spike in ratings that saw the series once again reach the top 10 in the Nielsen ratings until the 1973-1974 television season. In 1975, the show was finally cancelled after a long twenty-year run. Gunsmoke was the show that ushered in the age of the adult Western, and although over 30 Westerns came and went during its 20-year tenure, Gunsmoke outlasted all of its imitators and was the only Western still airing when it was cancelled.

Arness and Stone had remained with the show for its entire run (although Stone missed seven episodes in 1971 due to illness and was temporarily replaced by Pat Hingle, who played "Doctor Chapman" while Doc Adams ostensibly left Dodge to further his medical studies on the East Coast).

The entire cast was stunned by the cancellation, as they were unaware CBS had been considering it. According to Arness, "We didn't do a final, wrap-up show. We finished the 20th year, we all expected to go on for another season, or two or three. The (network) never told anybody they were thinking of cancelling." The cast and crew heard the news in typical Hollywood fashion: they read it in the trade papers. (Associated Press, July 2, 2002, Bob Thomas)

Revivals

In 1987, many of the original cast reunited for the TV movie, Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge, filmed in Alberta, Canada. Ken Curtis declined returning, citing a contract dispute, saying, "As Dillon's right hand man, I felt the offer should approximate Miss Blake's." Instead, Buck Taylor became Dodge's new marshal, though the retired Matt Dillon was the hero. A huge ratings success, it led to four more TV films being made in the U.S. After Amanda Blake's death, the writers built on the 1973 two-part episodic romance of "Matt's Love Story", (which was noted for the marshal's first overnight visit to a female's lodgings). 

In the episode, Matt loses his memory and his heart during a brief liaison with "Mike" Michael Learned of The Waltons. In preserving the ethics of the era and the heretofore flawless hero's character, the healed Dillon returns to Dodge City. Movie number two, Gunsmoke: The Last Apache (1990), had Learned reprising the role of "Mike Yardley" to divulge that Matt and "Mike" conceived a daughter who is now a young woman named Beth. 

Other films (which all featured daughter Beth) included Gunsmoke: To the Last Man (1992), Gunsmoke: The Long Ride (1993), and Gunsmoke: One Man's Justice (1994).

Regular cast; major characters

• Matt Dillon (1955-1975): James Arness
• Doc Adams (1955-1975): Milburn Stone
• Kitty Russell (1955-1974): Amanda Blake
• Chester B. Goode (1955-1964): Dennis Weaver
• Festus Haggen (1964-1975): Ken Curtis

Cast

• Clem (bartender; 1959-61): Clem Fuller
• Sam (bartender; 1961-73): Glenn Strange
• Rudy (bartender; 1965-67): Rudy Sooter
• Floyd (bartender; 1974-75): Robert Brubaker
• Quint Asper (blacksmith; 1962-1965): Burt Reynolds
• "Thad" - Deputy Clayton Thaddeus Greenwood (1965-1967): Roger Ewing
• Newly O'Brien (gunsmith; 1967-1975): Buck Taylor
• Wilbur Jonas (storekeeper, 1955-63): Dabbs Greer
• Howie Uzzell (hotel clerk, 1955-75): Howard Culver
• Moss Grimmick (stableman; 1955-63): George Selk
• Jim Buck (stagecoach driver; 1957-62): Robert Brubaker
• Louie Pheeters (town drunk; 1961-70): James Nusser
• Ma Smalley (boardinghouse owner; 1961-72): Sarah Selby
• Hank Miller (stableman; 1963-75): Hank Patterson
• Mr. Bodkin (banker; 1963-70): Roy Roberts
• Barney Danches (telegraph agent; 1965-74): Charles Seel
• Roy (townsperson; 1965-69): Roy Barcroft
• Halligan (rancher; 1966-75): Charles Wagenheim
• Mr. Lathrop (storekeeper; 1966-75): Woody Chambliss
• Nathan Burke (freight agent; 1966-75): Ted Jordan
• Percy Crump (undertaker; 1968-72): Kelton Garwood
• Ed O'Connor (rancher; 1968-72): Tom Brown
• Judge Brooker (1970-75): Herb Vigran
• Dr. John Chapman (1971): Pat Hingle
• Miss Hannah (saloon owner; 1974-75): Fran Ryan
• Angus McTabbott (1966): Chips Rafferty Australian actor