Hooked on Gunsmoke

[jds holler]

I can't help myself. I'm a clear-cut case of Dodgeadiction. Matt, Kitty, Chester, Doc -- I can't get enough. I set my DVR on record, and I've got hundreds of hours of sixty year old TV shows to watch. And Holy Smokes! -- what a way to escape!!

I never get tired of watching Dillon swat a hard case along side the noggin with that 7 1/2" Colt, or give another a back-hand that about knocks his head off. If ya want to get away from 24 hour a day Corona coverage, do yourself a favor and go back in time. Those old shows were quality TV, and the message was always the right one.

I'm still back in the early years when an episode was only 30 minutes, and I'm amazed how they packed so much story and action into a half hour. I've liked other old westerns in my life, but Gunsmoke is by far the best.

I'm not a fast and fancy pistolero, but it seems to me like Arness shows pretty good gun handling moves. And damn, how I'd like to know where all those old Colts disappeared to. jd

 

[ShootDots]

Yes Sir! I love most of the "Old Westerns"! Gunsmoke is among the very best! One of my fav "items" in Gunsmoke is the back-and-forth bantering betwixt Doc and Festus! If you want a REALLY good "belly-bustin" laugh, go to YouTube and watch Doc and Festus get into it about "investing Festus' dollar in a lot"! "don'tcha see?...LOL!!

 

[Bangs OH]

I must be the old guy here: I can remember when Matt's deputy was "Chester" (Dennis Weaver).

 

[tmwinds]

Ever notice how many of the "bit part players" in the old Gunsmoke episodes later became big time actors and actresses?

 

[ShootDots]

Ever notice how many of the "bit part players" in the old Gunsmoke episodes later became big time actors and actresses?

I think you will find that if you watch most of the 50s, 60s, and 70s westerns, many, if not most, of the BIG TIME actors in fact got their start in acting there!

 

[cotntop]

Death Valley Days, especially the episode about Death Valley Scottie.

 

[rebs]

Yep I also love all the old westerns Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Maverick, Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, Wagon Train, those were the greats.

 

[Daddymac]

Always loved a "cowboy show" as a kid, remember watching Gunsmoke with my dad, along with many other westerns. Up until the day he died, if he really liked a western he would call it "a stomp down goodun".

JD, I miss my dad a lot, but thanks for the thread, sitting here with a smile and some great memories.

 

[Titandriver]

Mr Dillon was a killing machine - anybody know the body count per episode, especially in the early years?

 

[jds holler]

Mr Dillon was a killing machine - anybody know the body count per episode, especially in the early years?

If they needed killin, he'd sure do it.

One episode, a guy beat him straight up on the draw, and wounded but didn't kill him. Matt figured out that the guy was lightning fast, but not so accurate at a distance. Next time caught the guy out in the street with poor light and crossed him over to Boot Hill.

Arness perfected that look that makes a guy know that you "mean it". All of us need to perfect that look, and "mean it". jd

 

[Bill K]

I must be the old guy here: I can remember when Matt's deputy was "Chester" (Dennis Weaver).

Me too. From the very beginning to the last, GunSmoke was one of the best western's shown and viewed.

 

[jamesdmock]

I have often wondered how Paladin (Richard Boone) avoided accidental discharges with his custom built Colt that featured a ONE OUNCE TRIGGER. I guess most of the audience does not realize how light a 1 oz. trigger pull actually is,,,,especially on a single action revolver. Just sayin'

 

[pertnear]

Yep I also love all the old westerns Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Maverick, Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, Wagon Train, those were the greats.

...and don't forget "Have Gun Will Travel" - one of my favorites!

Here is John Wayne introducing the first Gunsmoke episode.

 

[Dgd6mm]

jds, I'm with you. I asked my wife, if possible to get me all of Gunsmoke on disc.

 

[Cemetery21]

My dad worked on a ranch near Thousand Oaks, CA in the 50s and 60s. TV and movie companies filmed on the ranch and my dad was the ranch representative on site. When school was out I would go with him. Sometimes, if they had an elaborate site set up, he would have to stay there on weekends and we would camp there.
Anyway, I saw many episodes of Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Rifleman and several other shows/movies being filmed.

I didn't see it but dad said one day "Chester" was late to the set and the crew was getting upset that filming was delayed. Pretty soon, in a cloud of dust, Chester comes flying in with a flat tire on a little red sports car like a bat out of ****.

What I saw of James Arness was that he didn't seem to change character much when the cameras were off. Maybe I just idolized him too much to notice.

 

[Minshooter]

HGWT was the most literate and ambitious half hour Western ever made, with many scenes filmed on location.
Hal Needham (Director of"Smokey & the Bandit", and other Burt Reynolds Movies), was Richard Boone's stunt double.
Ken Curtis started a version of the "Festus" character on that show, with a character named "Monk", also singing in his real voice.
Those at the 2018 NRA Annual Convention in Dallas were able to meet the last surviving "Gunsmoke" main cast member:
Buck Taylor "Newly O'Brian" was there, with his booth (And beautiful wife), selling his paintings, and signing autographs.
He told me he was about to turn 80, and said very nice things of some of his friends; Charleton Heston, etc.
Buck's father, "Dub" taylor -a face everyone would recognize instantly, appeared in just
about every TV western and sitcom ever made in the 50's through 80's.

 

[GWY]

There's good reason Gunsmoke lasted 20 years, 1955-1975.......quality.

Matt Dillon was invincible. I remember one episode where he was shot -3-4 times but by the end of the episode had recovered enough to kill the bad guy

 

[hogpatrol]

A lot of those early western actors were WW2 veterans. James Arness was one. This is from Wikipedia.

Although Arness wanted to be a naval fighter pilot, he was concerned his poor eyesight would bar him. However, his 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m) frame ended his chances because the limit for aviators was set at 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m). He was drafted into the US Army and reported to Fort Snelling, Minnesota, in March 1943.[3] As a rifleman, he landed on Anzio Beachhead on January 22, 1944, with the 2nd Platoon, E Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division. Arness - due to his height - was the first man to be ordered off his landing craft to determine the depth of the water; it came up to his waist.[3] He was severely wounded in his right leg during the Battle of Anzio,[5][6] and medically evacuated from Italy to the U.S., where he was sent to the 91st General Hospital in Clinton, Iowa. His brother, Peter, (later known as actor Peter Graves), came to see him when he was back in the U.S., beginning his long recuperation, assuring him to not worry about his injuries, that there would likely be work for him in the field of radio. After undergoing several surgeries, he was honorably discharged from the Army on January 29, 1945.[7] However, his wounds continued to trouble him throughout the remainder of his life. In his latter years he suffered with chronic leg pain that often became acute, and was sometimes initiated when he was mounted on horses during his performances on Gunsmoke.[8][6] His military decorations included the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three bronze battle stars, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.[8][9]

 

[dolek]

My Dad was a huge western fan, I grew up with Gunsmoke and all the classics . Funny timing for this thread, I just started watching the series from the very first one . When my wife goes to bed at night she automatically puts it on for me . Some nights I watch 2 or 3 episodes before I go to bed . Festus or Otis have not appeared yet . Big fan of Otis, he was from a town 20 miles from here. As a kid watching it I never realized just how great the acting was and how deep some of the stories were .

 

[Knotwild]

I'm not a fast and fancy pistolero, but it seems to me like Arness shows pretty good gun handling moves.

Arvo Ojala taught Dillon how to draw and shoot. He designed and built holsters that were lined with sheet metal and allowed the gun to be cocked in the holster while drawing it. He taught a ton of actors how to handle guns. He is actually the person that Matt squares off with in the opening of the later shows. Ojalla actually gets the first shot off it you watch close.

Guns of the Old West magazine has a long article about Gunsmoke in the latest issue. I didn't like Dennis Weaver/Chester at all. Always unarmed, stupid leg jutting out when he rode, and just plain whiny. Plus he was an Al Gore man. To me Doc was the best character actor that kept the show interesting and he was there for it's entire run.

https://www.wideopencountry.com/gunsmoke-things-you-didnt-know/

I remember the scene of the fastest draw ever on TV, but don't remember the movie. Lee Marvin is the bad guy and they are after a chest of gold in the desert. They decide to just stand and fight. I think Cooper or Randolph Scott was the good guy and he drew and shot so fast you couldn't almost couldn't see it.

It's kind of fun to keep your phone by you at the TV and look these actors up while you watch them. Did you know Jason Robards was in the navy during WWII and was on two ships that got sunk?