Any Gunsmoke watchers out there?? TV Land has several episodes every day and with nothing better to do I started watching it again after over 30 years.

I love it even bought a couple DVD sets that have only about 30 episodes out of the 635 that were made. . .True some are kinda cheesy but others are great. . . I can't seem to get enough of Gunsmake lately. . .

Chester started and was in them until 65 with Festus comming around the time that Quint (Bert Reynolds) came and stayed until 75. . .The first 6 years were 1/2 hour B&W , the next 5 or 6 years were 1 hour B&W wile the last 6 or 8 years were color.

Some of the black and white 1 hour shows are as good as anything on TV or better. . .

Come on guys don't hold back unless you can't say something civil . . If you can't play nice don't play at all. . .

Yeah boy!! I'm hooked on Gunsmoke. Ole Festus is hard to beat.
I love it when Festus and doc try talking to each other lol.

Festus

My grandfather loved Gunsmoke. I have lot of memories of the show and watching it with him and my grandmother. Festus was a real character. To me, it seems like the kind of show that was meant to be seen in B&W.

I really like the little 30 minute episodes. . .They move quick and fast forward through the commercials you get a good story in only a few minutes. . .

I like old Festus too. . .He does a great job. . .

I really like the little 30 minute episodes. . .They move quick and fast forward through the commercials you get a good story in only a few minutes. . .

:thmbsp: ... me too ... especially the ones that start out with Matt on Boot Hill ... I am old enough to have seen them in prime time ... I have quite a few on Columbia House DVDs (6 episodes per DVD) which I bought for $5 each when CH discountinued them ... wish I could get some more ... but the ones I don't have from the first 3 seasons go for more than I wanna pay on eBay ...

Chester ... I like Festus ... but he "ain't no Chester" ...

Another vote for Festus. My dad and I used to watch that show all the time. Rifleman was great too and the tv series of lonesome dove. Westerns had good values and characters something that most of todays shows lack.

Festus!:thmbsp:

Who was the one they had between Chester and Festus, I think it was Dusty, but I am not sure. Does anyone remember?

Who was the one they had between Chester and Festus, I think it was Dusty, but I am not sure. Does anyone remember?

Thad and Quint. . .Quint was Bert Reynolds. Thad was a big tall kid.

There is also Newley too a gunsmith who also is one of Matt's deputys. . .

I do like Quint much better than Bert Reynolds if that makes sense. . .

I'd like to have more DVDs. . .I found all 635 or some such episodes for 400 bucks. . .123 DVDs. . .Don't care to buy 400 bucks worth unless I knew I could either sell them or went in with someone else.

TV Land has started adding episodes that I haven't seen though so maybe there will be plenty to choose from for awhile.

I remember the first episodes too. . . My Grandaddy and I would watch them sometimes. . .

I also started watching a few Riflemans and a few of the ones Gene Barry is in. . .can't think right now. . .

I also watch all the old John Wayne and Joel McCrea movies on the Westerns channel. . .

Watched Howard Hughes's "Outlaw" the other night. . .puugh. . .it stank. . .but an old western. . .

One more. . .

Wish I could find "Wagon Train" again. . . I love old Wagon Train movies. . .I think there is a place today for a well done Wagon Train movie. One that dealt realisticly with their journey. . .One with thousands of wagons like some wagon trains really were. . . These movies with 6 or 8 wagons fighting Indians just don't cut it for me. . .

Wagon Train was my favorite western

Wagon Train was my favorite western


It's been years since I've seen Wagon Train. . . I used to like the older Ward Bond episides as I remember. . .

Like I said I like'em. . . Think I'll hunt up some WT DVDs. . .Seems like I've seen a few here and there. . .

festus, never could stand Dennis Weaver

Gene Barry? Bat Masterson.

Sugarfoot - Will Hutchins
Bronco - Ty Hardin
Cheyenne - Clint Walker
Maverick - Jack Kelly, James Garner, Roger Moore (cousin Bo from England)
The Lawman - John Russell (Jane's bro), Peter Brown
The Restless Gun - John Payne
Colt .45 - Sam Somethingorother
The Deputy - ?
Tombstone Epitaph - ?
Rawhide - Clint of course
Yancy Derringer - Jock Mahoney
Wyatt Earp - Hugh O'Brien
The Rebel - Nick Adams
Wanted: Dead or Alive - McQueen
Have Gun, Will Travel - Richard Boone (at the time, the ugliest man in America)

A great score is Pops Round-Up. Contains a great medley of all the great western themes from the 50's and 60's. The original was Art Fiedler and Boston, with a great re-make on Telarc's "Happy Trails" cd by Kunzel and Cincinnati. I have both, and they're mandatory if you're hardcore. The Happy Trails even has Roy singing "Happy Trails" at the end, backed by The Pops. Man, I just love the shit out of those two cd's. "Happy Trails" was the follow-up to Telarc's "Round-Up" cd. Got that baby too, and it's got really great stuff. Frankie Laine doing Rawhide backed by The Pops, The William Tell Overture (The Lone Ranger), The Magnificent Seven Theme, How The West Was Won, and many, many more important pieces. Oops, almost forgot, Happy Trails has a GREAT version of Ghost Riders in the Sky. You need these discs if you love these songs, shows, and the better times they represent, in my opinion.

Chester for me.

Chester for me.


I like them both but for 2 different reasons. . . Watched some home movies on the Gunsmoke set taken by Dennis Weaver in around 1959-60 or so. . .Interesting. . .I guess DW was and still is a vegetarian.. .

Was one of the bonus features on the DVD set I bought. . . They treated their outdoor sets (Utah) like a big cook out. . .Looked like great fun. . .Everyone of them (Except Chester) had a cigarette hanging out of their mouth. . .too funny. . .looks funny today. . .normal then. . .

Put me down in the Festus camp, that was the Gunsmoke I grew up with.

Looks like I should of had a poll. . .So far I think its about even. . .

One episode that was pretty cool was when
Ken Curtis played both Festus and his “look alike” bad guy.

I own the Festus Album, jealous?

RC

Me and one other guy voted Chester. 10 guys said Festus. You have a broad sense of even.

I envy you guys; you at least got to actually watch Gunsmoke. When I was a kid, my local CBS affiliate never carried the show. They always pre-empted it with their own "After Dinner Movie". :gigglemad
Tom

Looks like 7-2 Festus. . . or there about. . .

I guess I was trying to be politically correct. . .LOL. . .when I had them about even. . .

Do you remember when Chester was going to get married??? He was fixing up that old shack when the whole damn thing fell down and he went under ground and struck water. . . I kinda liked that episode.

My wife loves old TV westerns,and Gunsmoke in Particular-she records Gunsmoke every morning.Festus drives me nuts.Chews more scenery than a goat.
What I like about Gunsmoke,and Have Gun Will Travel,is that they both are like the old Playhouse 90 with cowboy hats and horses:Good stories,fine actors(often from the broadway stage)interesting themes.I even saw a Bonanza the other day with Ossie Davis.For its time,it was a pretty complex portrayl of race relations.
Jimmy

I have memories of watching Gunsmoke episodes as a kid, but I also have another kind of fond memories associated with that show...

When I was a kid in Arizona, my family belonged to a Country Club that organized special evenings in connection with ASU football games. Members who signed up could meet at the clubhouse before the game for refreshments, and then all board a bus together to go to the games. After the game, the bus would bring us all back, and there would be more refreshments (I loved the "creamed chip beef on toast"!) and a jazz quartet that would play dance music so people could dance into the wee hours. We had season tickets to the games, so this was a weekly ritual, at least for my parents and me. I really enjoyed those evenings.

As it happened, Amanda Blake --Miss Kitty on Gunsmoke-- was a member of the same club, and would sometimes join in. Sometimes I'd get to sit quite near her on the bus, and I talked to her a few times, although mostly I just listened (Hey, I was a teenager and she was a "movie star"!). I remember she would always be a little more dressed-up than most of the people, but was nice to everyone. This was in the 1970s, towards the end of the series and just after it ended. On one or two occasions, one or two of her co-stars showed up with her --I don't think they lived there like she did, but were visiting (or maybe they were filiming in Arizona then? - I don't remember details so well any more), so I got to see and/or meet a few of them.

Festus was my favorite, hands down. What a character!

I don't remember details so well any more), so I got to see and/or meet a few of them.

Festus was my favorite, hands down. What a character!


Great story. . .

Seems to me that Gunsmoke was the longest running show on TV. . .Not sure if it still holds that record but I think it did at the end. . .

The Deputy - ?
Tombstone Epitaph - ?



The Deputy - Allen Case ... (the Marshall was Henry Fonda)

Tombstone Territory - Richard Eastham (Editor of The Epitaph)

Chester..if nothing else for the way he said "Mr. Dillon" and the limp..I may be wrong,but I believe the original show was on Sat. night.In fact,Saturdays were filled with quite a few westerns,including some of the all time kid favorites like the Lone Ranger,Cisco Kid,Roy Rodgers,Rin Tin Tin to name a few.I always thought that Gunsmoke was geared more towards the adults,but enjoyed it also.Westerns really ruled during the 50's and early 60's.

.. I may be wrong,but I believe the original show was on Sat. night.In fact,Saturdays were filled with quite a few westerns,including some of the all time kid favorites like the Lone Ranger,Cisco Kid,Roy Rodgers,Rin Tin Tin to name a few.I always thought that Gunsmoke was geared more towards the adults,but enjoyed it also.Westerns really ruled during the 50's and early 60's.

Your memory is good ... Gunsmoke aired on CBS on Sat. nights from 10:00 to 10:30 PM from Sept. '55 to Sept. '61 ...

The Lone Ranger was a Thur. night staple on ABC from 7:30 to 8:00 PM from '49 to '57 ...

The Roy Rogers Show was on Sun. nights on NBC ...

I think when they went color or to 1 hour shows they moved to Monday night. . .I remember the cast talking about it during one of the bonus features. . .

They were real concerned about the 1 hour show then when they went color all their good writers had nothing more to write so they got new writers. . .

Don't know if you noticed but it was during the time when Matt came riding hard instead of a shoot out for the opening. . . Finally they went back to the shootout. . .

I think when they went color or to 1 hour shows they moved to Monday night . . . I remember the cast talking about it during one of the bonus features . . .

Gunsmoke went to 1 hr on Sat. nights in Sept. '61 ... under the name ...Marshall Dillion ... CBS showed reruns of the half hr show on Tue. nights from Oct. '61 to June '64 ... in an attempt to reverse declining ratings, it switched to Mon. nights in Sep. '67 ... where it stayed until the show went off the air on Sep. 1st '75 ...

Yep, pardner. They just don't make westerns like they used tuh. Don't forget Lash LaRue, Cisco Kid (my wife has an autographed picture...her dad went to a party with Duncan Renaldo ;) ), The Virginian, Big Valley, etc. etc.

I'm going to vote for Chester, just because he seemingly made a pact with the devil and has not aged in the last 40 years.

gyusher...I'm sure this has been said before...I dunno cuz I'm new...but your avatar really....bugs me. :yes:

gyusher...I'm sure this has been said before...I dunno cuz I'm new...but your avatar really....bugs me. :yes:

yep. . .I start scratching every time I see it. . . .

Talking about old westerns. . .One actor that I never paid much attention to was Joel McCrea. . .not much on his regular stuff but he played a good cowboy. . .

Don't care much for the 30s singing westerns. . . Some set the pace for that style today but somehow I could never get with it watching them. . .Although on a cold and rainy Saturday or Sunday morning I'm liable to watch most anything. . .Gene Autry too. . .

Now I did like The Lone Ranger. . . Some Roy Rogers too. . .

Zorro . . . OK. . .

The singing cowboy shows are so corny. My dad still watches one (can't remember name) has a guy with a white hat and a fat sidekick. Another old western I liked was hondo(think thats right) I haven't seen it in years but me,my bro and dad watched it together.

Gunsmoke ... in an attempt to reverse declining ratings, it switched to Mon. nights in Sep. '67 ... where it stayed until the show went off the air on Sep. 1st '75 ...
Bingo. No wonder they put on a movie.
Tom

Bingo. No wonder they put on a movie.
Tom


I guess it did start getting stale or 'old' after 20 years. . Amanda Blake (Kitty) left after year 19. . .The only 2 original actors left were 'Doc' and 'Matt'. . .that made it the entire 20 year run. . .

My Dad got out of the Navy in 1946 and decided to build an underground home (true). He was ahead of his time, pictures of the old place show just what looked like an out house on an empty lot.

By the end of the 40's he had 2 daughters and a son on the way, so he built a normal house on top of the underground house.

Dad liked to build things and was good at it.

The Dad discovered "Gunsmoke" and had a wild (for other people, not Dad) idea. The underground house, which was now an overkill basement became the Long Branch Saloon, knotty pine walls, big bar, swingin' doors. It became a great place to play Cowboy's as a kid.

I always thought Ken Curtis was great on the show until I saw The Attack of the Killer Shrews (also starring James Best). I vote Chester Goode!

... I always thought Ken Curtis was great on the show until I saw The Attack of the Killer Shrews (also starring James Best). I vote Chester Goode!

The Killer Shrews (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052969/) ... a very low budget movie ... was shot at Gordon McLendon's property on Lake Dallas (just north of Big "D") ... McLendon (who appears in the movie) was one of the "fathers" of Top 40 radio ... he owned numerous radio stations across the nation including KLIF ... the mighty 1190 ... here in Dallas ...

TV Land must have gotten some new episodes because I hardly find one now that I have seen. . .A couple weeks ago it was tough finding one I had not seen. . .

Good on them. . .

What I like about Gunsmoke,and Have Gun Will Travel,is that they both are like the old Playhouse 90 with cowboy hats and horses:Good stories,fine actors(often from the broadway stage)interesting themes.I even saw a Bonanza the other day with Ossie Davis.For its time,it was a pretty complex portrayl of race relations.
Jimmy

I'm with you there, Jimmy. I would add to that list Bat Masterson. I find his character the most developed in terms of depth, and capacity for physical humour as he defeats his foes. What he can do with that cane is amazing.

A bit later came Steve McQueen, playing a bounty hunter in "Wanted: Dead or Alive". Unlike Gunsmoke, with it's full cast of characters, and where the hero (Matt Dillon) might not even be in a particular episode, Steve McQueen was firmly at the centre of his show, and weekly guest stars rounded out the cast. Good guest stars, usually easily recognizable as people who later had their own series.

Great stuff, those old shows!

Ah, you kids! Anyone else here remember 'Gunsmoke' on radio?

Ah, you kids! Anyone else here remember 'Gunsmoke' on radio?

William Conrad.. .Now that would be funny on a horse. . .

Singing cowboys??? and nobody has mentioned Gene Autry?? The local cable co has resurrected his old shows and plays them weekdays in the afternoon after work. Like coming home from school and turning on the old Philco.


Oh....another vote for Festus.

Singing cowboys??? and nobody has mentioned Gene Autry?? The local cable co has resurrected his old shows and plays them weekdays in the afternoon after work. Like coming home from school and turning on the old Philco.


Gene was fun because he couldn't ride a horse to save his life, anything faster than a walk he'd be bouncing up and down and sliding sideways.

Roy and Gene being the only ones otherwise by only a slim margin I could never get into the singing cowboy shows from that period. . .

William Conrad.. .Now that would be funny on a horse. . .

You laugh... but I once watched a PBS special on elephants, flipped the channel and there was William Conrad (in "Cannon," I think) climbing butt first out of the back of a van, wearing grey trousers. Baggy gray trousers. Beer all over the screen, of course. :p:

You laugh... but I once watched a PBS special on elephants, flipped the channel and there was William Conrad (in "Cannon," I think) climbing butt first out of the back of a van, wearing grey trousers. Baggy gray trousers. Beer all over the screen, of course. :p:


I wonder what ever happened to him?? He had one hell of a voice. . .

I wonder what ever happened to him?? He had one hell of a voice. . .

Pining for the fjords as of 2/11/94.

ever so often I still hear that voice. . .

Kinda like a mouthful of mashed potatoes but understandable. . .kinda normal sounding, a little garbled but powerful and easy to understand. . . Kinda like home. . .

Ah, you kids! Anyone else here remember 'Gunsmoke' on radio?

Yes ! I currently am listening to Gunsmoke radio shows on my MP3 Player,
twice daily. I have all the episodes that are known.
I have been hooked on these shows since I was a kid.
I have listened to all of the Have Gun Will Travel radio shows.

I vote for Festus on the television show, over Chester.
The radio show is far better quality than the television show.
l watch the television show every night and twice on Sunday ! (and Saturday)

Why ? You say ? Try comparing the crap you see on television these days to
the class and quality of the acting and story lines you see on Gunsmoke and
Have Gun Will Travel !! I have listened to all the HGWT radio shows, and have
seen recently, most of the Have Gun Will Travel TV shows.

The Gunsmoke radio show is better than the TV show.
The Have Gun Will Travel TV show is better than the radio show, but not
by much !!
There never have been any better quality media entertainment in all of
the history of American Broadcast Media, than these two programs.
The current level of morality and talent portrayed on contemporary television
programming is not worth wasting the time on, compared to re-runs of
classic quality entertainment and the many other hobbies I have.

dandds4

I just listened to an episode of Gunsmoke on sirius. Catch it whenever I can. Still watch the tv series on weekends on tv land. Dennis Weaver died of cancer in 2006. Ken Curtis was a big band singer and one very talented star. I liked both as they had individual points that added to the show. But I love how Doc and Festus used to carry on. Watched them new and still love that series.
Dan

Ken Curtis was a member for a short time of The Sons of the Pioneers cowboy singing group, about 1950-53.

It looks like to me that TV Land is showing new shows that are old shows but they are new shows because they showed them shows long ago whenst we were youngins and them old shows were new shows donch ya see. . .

. . .

Anyways you can git yur fillupins and satisfry questional nature wether Miss Kitty and old Doc actually had Mathew's best innerst at heart donch ya see. . .

Old shows is new shows but new shows can't be old shows and old shows can't be new shows cuz old is old and new is new. If new was old and old was new we would no more know how to button our britches or change old Ruth's watchfullness nature.

The fact is that different shows are starting to air again. The ones they had been a playing were getting old. . .

"Gunsmoke" was suffering low ratings in the mid 60s and was cancelled after the 1966 season. "Gilligan's Island" was a highly rated show and was slated to take over part of Gunsmoke's airtime. "Gunsmoke" was officially cancelled and the cast/crew were all given their notices.

Seems that William S. Paley, president of CBS, hated "Gilligan's Island", despite its good ratings. He also had a wife whose favorite program was "Gunsmoke." Mr. Paley cancelled the cancellation and "Gilligan's Island", which now had no place on the schedule, got cancelled instead. This was after the series had already been renewed AND new episodes were beginning to be produced.

"Gunsmoke" lasted another 8 seasons. I think the main reason it finally went away was because James Arness finally decided he'd had enough. That, and the death of Milburn Stone and the defection of Amanda Blake. Well, that PLUS the general death of the western in the mid-70s. Remember that "Bonanza" (NBC) had already gone away and it had usually had better ratings than "Gunsmoke."

Festus or Chester...hmm...I can't decide... How about Uncle Fester instead? :D

http://www.addamsfamily.com/addams/f_playrm.jpg

Westerns were often some of the best television available during those days. Most comedies (there were exceptions) were pretty silly and most dramas were formula-bound (again, there were exceptions). Writers and producers found it easier to get a good adult script into a western, which despite its genre restrictions, was open to more experimentation. Hence shows like "Gunsmoke" and "Wagon Train" with their (usually) good scripts and continuing characters.

IMHO, "Have Gun, Will Travel" and "Maverick" were two of the finest shows ever on television. Richard Boone was a great actor and Paladin, although incredibly facile with his guns, often solved problems without the use of violence. "Maverick" was usually a comic western and its main strengths were the cleverness of the scripts and the utter charm of its three principles, especially the great James Garner.

"Gunsmoke", "Bonanza", and "Wagon Train" are somewhat lower on the quality scale but they did sometimes rise above the norm with an exceptional storyline or episode. They all had very strong casts.

Not mentioned but occasionally outstanding was the long-running "The Virginian." This show was 90 minutes every week and was, according to the cast and writers, like doing a feature film in a week.

I find shows like "The Rebel" and "The Rifleman" rather uneven. The scripts were often juvenile but the casts were hearty and the shows always highly entertaining.

Singing cowboys? Loved 'em when I was a kid - especially Gene Autry.

Ken Curtis was in some good pictures including The Searchers and Rio Grande. I was also in some bad pictures---The Waynamo.

He was John Ford's son-in-law.

I saw The Searchers when it came out, I was seven years old, remember it like it was yesterday. Never watched Gene Autry or Roy Rogers again.

Gene Autry claimed kinship to Micajah Autry, a Tennessean and friend of Crockett who was killed at the Alamo.

I've been looking for Wagon Train. . . I would love to see a good modern done (ala-Deadwood) WT movie or series. One that showed the reality of thousands of settlers moving across country not a WT movie with only 4 or 5 wagons. . . How about 4 or 5 thousand wagons or one 20 miles long.

I think it would run crazy. . .

And a couple days ago I found the Lorne Greene album with Ringo on it. Not in bad shape.

And a couple days ago I found the Lorne Greene album with Ringo on it. Not in bad shape.


My family is from Kansas (Usher). They settled there and I am fascinated by their history. I can and do spend hours just searching around early Kansas history especially Dodge City. My people are Topeka and Lincoln (Salinas). My avatar is an 1875-80 cowboy taken during those years.

The only thing I remember was my Grandaddy Guy's 2 white horses and bringing them in from a severe cold when crossing a large stream one had a heart attack and the other one just stood there and froze to death. I guess they were some kind of matched pair that he was famous for and he lost both of them that same day. . . All I know was that it was cold cold cold. I was about 6 years old 1950 or there abouts.

My Father was in the Air Force stationed at Roswell where we lived from 1944 until around 1950-52 when I moved to Georgia. Yes we were in Roswell in 47. . . I tried to get my Dad to talk all his life even resorted to getting him drunk in his wheel chair in his later years and all he would do was tell me to get his medals out and look at them. . . He never said a word. I do remember walking into a room where he and his buddy Curtis Le-May(pardon the spelling) were talking about Roswell and they shut up quickly. You could cut the air with a butter knife. I was about 16 or 17 then. They used to go duck hunting on the Spokane river in those days.

Shoot. . .ENOUGH of this memory lane stuff. . .

Put me down in the Festus camp, that was the Gunsmoke I grew up with.

I'm with Eric H! Festus:thmbsp:
I noticed in other shows mentioned one was forgotten. How about Sky King. That was a big part of my Saturday mornings! :yes:

I'm with Eric H! Festus:thmbsp:
I noticed in other shows mentioned one was forgotten. How about Sky King. That was a big part of my Saturday mornings! :yes:


And his Cesna 310 Songbird. . .