Fascinating Facts About 'Gunsmoke'

Gunsmoke was on television from 1955-75. There were a lot of Westerns on in the ’50s, fewer in the ’60s, and even fewer in the ’70s. Throughout its entire run, Gunsmoke was constantly considered the best and most popular of them all.

First, Gunsmoke was a radio show. Then it was a half-hour-long black-and-white show. Then it was an hour-long black-and-white show. Then it was an hour-long color show. It changed with the times, and its ability to adapt is one of the reasons it could stick around.

Doc, or Dr. Adams, was the second lead on Gunsmoke. But he didn’t have a first name. Finally, after 16 seasons, “Galen” was revealed to be the good doctor’s name. Milburn Stone got to pick the name himself, as the writers agreed that nobody knew the character better than Stone. “Galen” was the surname of an ancient Greek physician and medical researcher.

Originally, John Wayne was supposed to play the part of Matt Dillon. But TV schedules are much more taxing than film schedules, and Wayne simply didn’t feel like doing that much work. He did, however, offer an endorsement of the show before its first episode aired.

James Arness was drafted into World War II in 1943. He trained at Camp Wheeler, Georgia, and was then shipped to North Africa and assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division for the invasion of Anzio. Arness was severely wounded 10 days after the invasion by machine gun fire that forced amputation of part of his foot. He was medically discharged from the Army and received a Bronze Star, Purple Heart, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three bronze stars, a World War II victory medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

Due to James Arness having suffered debilitating injuries during his service in World War II, filming for Gunsmoke had to be altered for certain scenes. When the script called for extensive scenes of walking and moving around.

Due to the show’s prolonged run, the effects of Arness’ war injuries began to become more serious. He developed severe arthritis and it became so bad that all of his scenes were scheduled to be shot in a single day. This allowed Arness to get plenty of rest on off days to help him recuperate.

The lead character of Gunsmoke, Matt Dillon, was originally played by William Conrad on the radio. However, the producers made a change when the show moved to television. James Arness got the part of Dillon over Conrad for one simple reason: He was better looking.

From the start of the series until the early ’70s, the same gunfight between Matt Dillon and another gunman opened the show. The show’s intro only changed once the anti-violence politics of the 1970s were so strong that showing a gunfight on TV every week became unsustainable.

In 1967, CBS decided to cancel one of its big shows. Originally, it chose Gunsmoke. When the audience heard about this, they had a fit, as did a few of the network executives who liked the Western. So CBS canceled Gilligan’s Island instead.

Gunsmoke held the primetime record for most episodes ever with 635 episodes. The Simpsons took the crown in 2018, though. The Simpsons is on season 30 (in contrast to Gunsmoke’s 20) and has aired almost 650 episodes to date.

All shows eventually come to an end, but the way it ended for Gunsmoke was really awful. The actors of the show were never told about the cancelation. Years later, James Arness confirmed that the producers told him about it because it was already reported in the trade publications.

Before James Arness took on the iconic role, the producers weren’t sold on him, or anyone, for the job. Such actors as Raymond Burr and Denver Pyle auditioned for the part. They were all considered to potentially get the role. Eventually, Arness came through and nabbed the role.

Throughout Gunsmoke‘s run, villains were told to “get the hell out of Dodge.” This was in reference to the show being set in Dodge City, Kansas. Gunsmoke made this phrase famous.

Dillon's horse was only ever mentioned by name one time. Buck.

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That's enough for one day Lolol.

Who doesn't like a good western gunfight ?

I'm partial to a good western.

I love Westerns.

I watch Gunsmoke fairly regularly. Yep, it's a good 'un. Thanks for the trivia, Red.

(Wasn't there a different doc in the early b&w's? And there is a different opening in the earlier series. Starts out w/Matt Dillon walking through "_____ Hill." It's a graveyard.)

2cent wrote:I watch Gunsmoke fairly regularly.  Yep, it's a good 'un.  Thanks for the trivia, Red.

(Wasn't there a different doc in the early b&w's?  And there is a different opening in the earlier series.  Starts out w/Matt Dillon walking through "_____ Hill."  It's a graveyard.)

MeTV. 6 days a week.

Did you know James Arness and Peter Graves(Mission Impossible) were brothers?

Amanda Blake was Hawt!
Even in black and white.

I still rather watch Bonanza though. It had a very long run too.
Bonanza dealt with many of the social issues of its time(60s) set in the pioneer days of the Nevada territory.

Star Trek: Original Series, also dealt with many social issues of the 60s set in the realm of futuristic, space.

The Final Frontier

Like Ellen DeGeneres, boldly going where no man has gone before.

HawkTheSlayer wrote:Amanda Blake was Hawt!
Even in black and white.

I still rather watch Bonanza though. It had a very long run too.
Bonanza dealt with many of the social issues of its time(60s) set in the pioneer days of the Nevada territory.

Star Trek: Original Series, also dealt with many social issues of the 60s set in the realm of futuristic, space.

The Final Frontier

Like Ellen DeGeneres, boldly going where no man has gone before.

All four senior officers to appear on the original 1966 Star Trek TV series appeared in separate episodes of Gunsmoke throughout its run. William Shatner (Captain Kirk) was in a season 12 episode; DeForest Kelley (Dr. Mccoy) in a season one episode; James Doohan (Scotty) in a season eight episode; and Leonard Nimoy (Spock) appeared in four episodes

Spock was an injun.