Gunsmoke

Gunsmoke was a long-running old-time radio and television Western drama program set in Dodge City, Kansas during the settlement of the American West.

It was created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston

1 Radio
2 Television
3 Regular Cast, Major Characters
4 Regular Cast, Minor Characters
5 Sources
6 External links

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Radio

The radio show first aired on April 26, 1952 and ran until June 18, 1961 on the CBS radio network. The series starred William Conrad as Marshal Matt Dillon, Howard McNear as Doc Charles Adams, Georgia Ellis as Kitty Russell, and Parley Baer as Deputy Chester Proudfoot. Doc's first name and Chester's last name were changed for the television program.

Gunsmoke was notable for its critically acclaimed cast and writing, and is commonly regarded as one of the finest old time radio shows.

Some listeners (such as old time radio expert John Dunning) have argued that the radio version of Gunsmoke was far more realistic than the television program. Episodes were aimed at adults, and featured some of the most explicit content of the day: there were violent crimes and scalpings, massacres and opium addicts. Miss Kitty's occupation as a prostitute was made far more obvious on the radio version than on television. Many episodes ended on a down-note, and villains often got away with their crimes.

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Television

The television show ran from September 10, 1955 to September 1, 1975 on CBS for 635 episodes. To this day it is the longest run of any single entertainment series with continuing characters in prime-time TV in the United States.

Conrad was the first choice to play Dillon on television, having established the role, but his increasing obesity led to more photogenic actors being considered; losing the role he'd created embittered Conrad for many years to come. Raymond Burr was considered, but he too was seen as too heavyset for the part. Rumors that the part was offered to John Wayne have been largely debunked.

The primary roles were recast, and Macdonnell had nothing to do with the television version of Gunsmoke, but Meston stayed on as head writer.

James Arness played Marshal Matt Dillon throughout its 20-year run, the longest uninterrupted period any actor has played the same role in the same show in prime time. (Kelsey Grammer has since tied the role-playing record as Frasier Crane, but that role spanned two different shows, Cheers and Frasier). Actors possibly asked to play Matt Dillon on TV before Arness included Denver Pyle. It was John Wayne who recommended Arness for the part, and "The Duke" also introduced the first episode of the series.

Dillon's assistant/deputy was at first Chester Goode, played by Dennis Weaver, then Festus Haggen, played by Ken Curtis. Other important ongoing characters were the town doctor, Doc Adams (Milburn Stone) and the saloon girl, later saloon owner, Miss Kitty (Amanda Blake). While Matt Dillon and Miss Kitty clearly had a close personal relationship, viewers were seldom offered a deep look into that side of Dodge City life.

There were character differences between the radio and TV characters. The radio series Doc was acerbic, somewhat mercenary, and at times, came close to being alcoholic. The television Doc, though crusty, was in many ways softer and warmer. Another difference in characters was Miss Kitty, who in the radio series was just a saloon girl, not the owner, and it was often hinted that she did more than serve customers. Producer Norman MacDonnell put it bluntly in an interview with Time magazine: "We never say it, but Kitty is a prostitute, plain and simple." On television, if the Long Branch did house prostitutes, the show put a good spin on Miss Kitty and viewers were never made privy to what exactly she did besides run the Long Branch saloon.

From 1955 to 1961, Gunsmoke was a half-hour show. It then went to an hour-long format for the rest of its long run. From 1955 to 1966, it was in black and white, then in color from 1966 to 1975. In the early 1960s, older episodes of the series were rebroadcast under the title Marshal Dillon.

In 1967, the show's twelfth season, CBS planned to cancel the series, but widespread viewer response — it was even mentioned in Congress — along with domestic pressure on the CBS head of programming by his wife, convinced them to continue it in the early evening on Mondays instead of Saturday nights. This seemingly minor change led to a spike in ratings that saw the series once again reach the top 20 in the Nielsen ratings before fading again before its cancellation in 1975. Gunsmoke was the show that ushered in the age of the adult western, which brought about Bonanza, Wagon Train and literally a hundred others. Ironically, it also was the last western still airing when it was cancelled. James Arness and Milburn Stone were the only 2 original series regulars to remain with the series for the entire duration of its 20-season run.

In 1987, many of the original cast reunited for the made-for-television film, Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge, which was filmed in Alberta, Canada. This was a huge ratings success and led to four more reunion films being filmed in the U.S.: Gunsmoke: The Last Apache (1990), Gunsmoke: To the Last Man (1992), Gunsmoke: The Long Ride (1993), and Gunsmoke: One Man's Justice (1994). The series also inspired a Gunsmoke video game produced for the NES by Capcom.

As of the start of 2005, two American series are aiming at matching or beating Gunsmoke's 20-year record. The sitcom The Simpsons, now in its 17th season, has been renewed through its 20th season, whilst the police procedural/courtroom drama Law & Order, now in its 16th year, is also expected to be a possible 20-year survivor. WWE RAW claims to have aired more shows than Gunsmoke as of a July 25th airing; this claim has yet to be conclusively validated and RAW is considered a sports, rather than dramatic or comedic, series.

In syndication, the entire 20-year run of Gunsmoke is separated into three packages by Paramount Television:

1955-1961 half-hour episodes: These episodes are sometimes aired in their original aired format, and sometimes in the Marshal Dillon format. These ceased general syndication in the 1980s, but do air from time to time on cable TV.
1961-1966 one-hour Black and White episodes: These episodes have not been widely seen in regular syndication since the 1980s. Currently the one hour episodes are aired on the Encore Westerns channel.
1966-1975 one-hour Color episodes: These are the most widely syndicated episodes of the entire series' run, and are still aired on many television stations in addition to its run on the TV Land cable channel.

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