Gunsmoke

[Vince53]

After hearing about it for half a century, and listening to Bill Cosby joke about it being his favorite TV program, I finally watched "Gunsmoke." Running on TV from 1955 to 1975, the show is fantastic, and is considered by many to be the best TV western ever made.

You can watch entire episodes FREE, with no commercials and no registering, at

tvland.com

 

[WannaWitness]

They must have been doing something right to have that long a run. I was told that it was a radio show for years before it was on TV.

 

[Vince53]

Right you are, WannaWitness. It began as a 1952 radio show, and was the first adult western. In 1955, it began as a half-hour black and white TV show, often using scripts from the radio series. But when the producers finally realized that TV is more than radio with pictures, it became a hit.

James Arness played Marshal Dillon for the entire twenty years. You can find the old black and white shows on YouTube, also for free.

 

[BobW188]

We Kansans used to wonder about the footage with mountains in it. That's a ways from Dodge.

Milburn Stone - Doc Adams - was a native Kansan.

 

[Vince53]

Man, you ought to see today's episode, "The Tarnished Badge." See, there was this sheriff...

 

[silence_dogood]

They must have been doing something right to have that long a run. I was told that it was a radio show for years before it was on TV.

Yep. It's available on about a dozen different podcasts on itunes if you ever want to hear the original radio shows.

We don't have TV, so I listen to the radio version all the time. You might be interested to know that the character of "Doc" Adams on the radio version was played by Howard McNear, who left that show only to joing the cast of the Andy Griffith Show on TV as Floyd Lawson.

 

[Vince53]

Good to hear from you, Silence. I just registered on the forums at tvland.com so I could join others in intelligent discussion of this intellectually elite show: GUNSMOKE!

 

[silence_dogood]

Good to hear from you, Silence. I just registered on the forums at tvland.com so I could join others in intelligent discussion of this intellectually elite show: GUNSMOKE!

Thanks. If you have itunes, go and check out some of the great radio shows available there.

 

[Vince53]

Well, it finally happened: Marshal Dillon got shot. See, normally, every time somebody ambushes Marshal Dillon, they miss. But today, someone got him.

After being hit, Marshal Dillon was knocked off his horse and fell off the edge of a cliff. He rolled to the bottom, brushed himself off, and walked away muttering to himself.

That guy is tough.

 

[actionsub]

Well, it finally happened: Marshal Dillon got shot. See, normally, every time somebody ambushes Marshal Dillon, they miss. But today, someone got him.

After being hit, Marshal Dillon was knocked off his horse and fell off the edge of a cliff. He rolled to the bottom, brushed himself off, and walked away muttering to himself.

That guy is tough.

That would make the second time he got shot on the show. In the very first episode, he stepped out on the main street for a showdown. The other guy was faster. All over America, people were going, "And John Wayne thinks this guy is great? He can't even win a gunfight!" (John Wayne had done an introduction for the pilot episode.)
The rest of the half hour was about Matt getting better and tracking the guy down to bring him to justice.

 

[Vince53]

On another forum, somebody claims to have counted 57 times that Matt Dillon got shot.

I'm telling, you, that guy is tough.

 

[WannaWitness]

I watch "Gunsmoke" occasionally. It not among my top 5 favorites, but I still greatly appreciate it. No doubt that it's much better than the garbage they have around today.

 

[Vince53]

Man, no wonder the bad guys lost the West! They not only can't shoot Matt Dillon, they can't even shoot his deputies! Two shots, right between Festus and Early!

Who taught the bad guys how to shoot, Elmer Fudd?

 

[silence_dogood]

Man, no wonder the bad guys lost the West! They not only can't shoot Matt Dillon, they can't even shoot his deputies! Two shots, right between Festus and Early!

Who taught the bad guys how to shoot, Elmer Fudd?

I just heard an episode where Festus got shot. He tried to break up a fight between two men in the saloon and one of their guns went off.

 

[Vince53]

I just saw the very first Gunsmoke, entitled "Matt Gets It." Marshal Dillon got shot twice in the chest, and it took him a whole week to recover completely.

I'm telling you, that guy is tough.





Granted, he did have 1870 medical technology to help him.

 

[daydreamerangel]

[FONT=&quot]Glad to know that I’m not the only one who still supports this show! Gunsmoke has endured undeniably the best show in 20 years of its airtime in the American television. The setting place of this show is so unruffled; you’ll see the best landscape of Kansas during that period. Each episodes tackle different issues and it’s pretty realistic that’s why this show has lot of followers. I remember I spend quality time watching this show with my Dad coz we're both a big fan of westerns especially this one!
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[FONT=&quot]I’m also still watching this show until now from the DVD Collection I bought from yourdvdconer. com. I’m such a happy camper when I owned these complete episodes from 20 seasons because they gave me chance to relive the great action-drama in the history of television. This is the kind of program at its best and kudos for the creators of this show. There will never be another show that can even spit the dust like this one![/FONT]

 

[CounselorForChrist]

My parents raised me in the 80s so instead of most tv shows of the day I watched Gunsmoke, Beverly Hillbillies and so on. Gunsmoke is one of my favs!

 

[MDCSWildcats86]

I've been watching the show on DVD myself.

The first 9 seasons are out there for sale, but except for the first season, they are halved due to a high number of episodes per season.