Gunsmoke TV Show

Gunsmoke is one of the best TV westerns ever made!

A winner of multiple TV Emmy Awards and the highly coveted Western Bronze Wrangler Award, "Gunsmoke" is a western lover's TV show.

If you like traditional westerns, "Gunsmoke" is the show for you! This show set the gold standard for westerns on television and became the longest running western TV show ever. "Gunsmoke" aired for a total of 20 years, with each week bringing a new frontier problem or situation to the screen. The show ruled the airwaves because of its interesting storylines and excellent cast.

The original, core "Gunsmoke" cast was four people: Marshal Matt Dillon, Doc Adams, Kitty and Chester. As time progressed, more people came in and out the the program, such as, Festus (Ken Curtis) and Quint (Burt Reynolds).

Set in Dodge City, Kansas around 1873, "Gunsmoke" brought frontier troubles and challenges to life on the screen like no other western show could. A real classic, "Gunsmoke" is a must-see western for all western film and television show fans.

• "Gunsmoke" started as a CBS radio program in 1952. Because of its popularity, the producers decided to make "Gunsmoke" into a television program and offered the Marshall Dillon role to actor John Wayne. Wayne turned it down because he didn't want to commit to a weekly tv program, but he recommended James Arness for the part. It was a perfect fit as James Arness became a star for his role as Marshall Matt Dillon.

• For six years, from 1955 - 1961, "Gunsmoke" was a 30 minute television program. The show was expanded to an hour starting in September, 1961 and it stayed this way for the next fourteen years that it aired.

• James Arness (Marshall Matt Dillon) and Milburn Stone (Doc) are the only two people who played their roles for the entire 20 year time period that "Gunsmoke" aired on television. Had Amanda Blake (Kitty) stayed one more year, she would have been the third person. She left the show in 1974, one year before they stopped making new "Gunsmoke" tv episodes.

• Because "Gunsmoke" had been on television for such a long time, there were occasions when new episodes of "Gunsmoke" were on tv at the same time that old "Gunsmoke" episodes were being shown. To help avoid confusion, the studio renamed the old "Gunsmoke" shows "Marshall Dillon."

• Gunsmoke won the coveted Bronze Wrangeler Award for Best Television Drama in 1957.

• For six consecutive years, from 1971 to 1976, Gunsmoke won the Western Writers of America Best TV Script Award.

• Gunsmoke won the 1958 Emmy for Best Dramatic TV Series.