Seventy years ago, on September 10, 1955, a gunfighter named Matt Dillon first strode into Dodge City on CBS, Gunsmoke, helping to change the nature of TV Westerns, eventually running for 20 years, ...
In the 1950s and '60s, television Westerns were all the rage. Each of the Big Three networks (ABC, NBC, CBS) had their fair share of horse operas, with one of the biggest being Gunsmoke. The ...
Offscreen, James Arness traded Dodge City’s saloon dust for the comfort of his own king-size bed. Photographed in 1956, the towering Gunsmoke star relaxes with a script for an upcoming episode, ...
According to John Peel’s book, The Gunsmoke Years, the show encountered viewership issues ahead of the decision to cancel it. However, that’s why the decision was made to fire producer Norman ...