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In the late 1940s, CBS chairman William S. Paley, a fan of the Philip Marlowe radio series, asked his programming chief, Hubell Robinson, to develop a hardcore Western series, about a "Philip Marlowe of the Old West".
Gunsmoke, American television western that aired on CBS for 20 seasons (1955–75), becoming the longest-running TV western in history. Set in Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1890s, it centered on the character of Matt Dillon, a U.S. marshal charged with maintaining law and order in a frontier town.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- James Arness' War Wounds Affected The Shooting Schedule. James was severely wounded while serving as a rifleman in the Army. His life-changing injury happened during Operation Shingle, at Anzio, Italy, in 1944.
- Several Kids From 'The Brady Bunch' Appeared On The Show. Christopher Knight (Peter Brady), Eve Plumb (Jan Brady), and Susan Olsen (Cindy Brady) all made appearances at one point or another during the show's 20-year run on CBS.
- The Cast Had No Idea When They Were Canceled. Many of the cast members had to read about the cancellation in trade publications instead of hearing it directly from the network or producers.
- Dennis Weaver Auditioned Twice. Dennis didn't think his first audition went very well, so he convinced the casting directors and the other folks in charge to let him give it a second go.
- John Wayne helped James Arness get the role of Marshal Matt Dillon. By the early 1950s, Westerns were the biggest movies on the big screen, and the biggest actor in them was the Duke, John Wayne.
- Dillon was the hardest role to cast. Long before Batman became the role every actor in Hollywood wanted to play, it was Matt Dillon that practically every actor in town was fighting over.
- Polly Bond turned down the role of Miss Kitty. John Wayne wasn't the only actor to turn down a leading role in "Gunsmoke." And if fate had turned another way, starring opposite James Arness would have been someone very different than Amanda Blake — who played saloon owner Miss Kitty Russell.
- The series featured a number of actors before they were famous. Debuting in the fall of 1955, and closing out its two decades on the air in 1975, "Gunsmoke" aired more than 600 episodes.
Gunsmoke: Created by Charles Marquis Warren, Clyde Ware. With James Arness, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Ken Curtis. Marshal Matt Dillon keeps the peace in rough-and-tumble Dodge City.
- (9K)
- 1955-09-10
- Western
- 60
When Gunsmoke first came onto our screens in 1955, each episode was originally developed to be 30 minutes long. During this time, the show became extremely popular, and it seemed as though fans couldn't get enough of the Western genre.
Gunsmoke began dealing with race, religion, and other social conflicts, and evolved into a sort of dramatic anthology series with the interaction between the regular characters taking a back seat to conflicts faced by characters (often played by guest stars) who were passing through Dodge.
