Gunsmoke, the Early Years

I’m reading a book on James Arness…or Matt Dillion from Gunsmoke. When you watch these beginning shows you see Arness turn into a fine actor. He was in many movies before Gunsmoke but he looked a little uncomfortable in the first season. By the second season, you could see a huge change. Arness said he wasn’t comfortable and he got an acting teacher to help refine his acting for television.

I liked the show because I grew up watching the hour-long color episodes (seasons 12-20) of Gunsmoke in reruns. The first 6 seasons were black and white and 30 minutes long. Seasons 7-11 were one-hour black and white shows. As I said seasons 12-20 were one-hour color shows. 

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Now I’m watching the first 6 seasons for about the 6th time… There is no Festus or Newly…we have Chester (Dennis Weaver), who is a refreshing character. They never played these episodes on television when I was younger. There still is Doc Adams  (Milburn Stone)and the astonishing Kitty Russell (Amanda Blake).

These episodes dealt with murder, rape, human trafficking, and plenty of Matt Dillon (James Arness) decking bad guys with his fist or the butt of his gun. They are 30 minutes long which is great. They got to the point quickly. Some of the stories were grim but matched the look of the series. It was an adult show at this time.

I was surprised at how rough, violent, and authentic they were and that is not knocking the later episodes but there is a huge difference. The violence was toned down as the series continued. The later color episodes centered more around the guest stars and the old black and white ones centered more on the local residents of Dodge City. That was by design because of the hour format…and some shows had some filler in them in that format.  

Have Gun Will Travel was also on CBS along with Gunsmoke. You will see some of the same character actors and sets. Some Have Gun Will Travel scenes were filmed in a redecorated Long Branch… Too bad there wasn’t a crossover at least once.

Chester…I’ve always liked Dennis Weaver as an actor…in McCloud, Duel, and anything he was in… He brings his character Chester alive as a real person. Chester had a limp on the show and Dennis Weaver said he would take yoga classes so he could do things like putting on a boot to look believable with a bad leg…he also put a pebble in his boot on his right foot so he would not forget which leg was lame. He said it took him months after Gunsmoke not to use the limp on camera because he was so used to it.

Chester could be lazy but he was invaluable and loyal to a fault to Matt Dillon. Dennis Weaver left the show after the 9th season with no explanation on what happened to Chester as was the way back then with TV shows. He was mentioned one time in the 20th season. Burt Reynolds joined the show for two years in seasons 8 and 9. He said it was his best experience in entertainment. The cast was extremely close. 

If you are a fan and have seen only the later episodes…check these out. It puts a new light on the show. Unlike other Westerns, Native Americans were not usually the bad guys in Gunsmoke. Matt Dillion was a good friend to many of them.

Here is a badly recorded clip of Matt Dillion, Chester, and Ken Curtis who would later take Chester’s place in the show and play Festus.

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

61 thoughts on “Gunsmoke, the Early Years”

    1. Oh it was shown a lot here but they never showed these first 6 seasons that were violent and rough. It was a different show after the 6 seasons. Even Arness said it turned into a horse opera lol….but they were good just not like these.

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    1. My dad always told me that he liked Chester. Well I didn’t know who Chester was until I saw these…I love these first 6 seasons…they hold up very well. They had some great writing.
      In Arness’s book he comes out and says that Chester was more popular than he was at first but he didn’t mind at all.

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    2. That line in the highlight line reel where Mister Dillon says to Miz Kitty when she comes in holding that tray at night ‘I thought I told you to stay off the streets!’ NOW it makes a lot more sense.

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      1. lol…. I love those videos of them. Chester was quite the smart ass under his breath…. “Well why dont ya jump?”

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  3. My little brother (56) & I caught the last season of Gunsmoke…did you know that Gilligan’s Island was cancelled going into it’s 4th season because William Paley’s wife found out that it wasn’t on the fall schedule for ’67 & then she let him know & they then cancelled Gilligan’s Island to fit it in…oh well, I was 3 then & wouldn’t of cared…lol.

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    1. Yes! In the book James Arness talks about that. Yea I was born in 67…I see why they did it but I grew up with Gilligans Island as well…and I got to meet Mary Ann….or Dawn Wells.

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      4. YES! At a Jerry Lewis Telethon in Nashville. I got to shake her hand…I was in love. She was an incredibly nice lady and I was awestruck. Mom had to make me wash my hands later.

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      6. No he wasn’t…I would have loved to meet him as well. Dawn Wells lived in Nashville for a decade or so. I never knew but she was living here then.

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      4. Max, are you saying what I think you’re saying? That you *still* have a crush on Mary Ann?? Wouldn’t surprise me, as I still hate Gilligan and I haven’t seen the show since I was a teenager.

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      5. Yes…I never lose that one. Oh I have a post coming up with my teenage crushes on it soon when we start the Kinks thing.

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    1. I watched it last night…those first 6 seasons hold up very well. 30 minutes is great because you get into it and it keeps your attention…it’s much more violent than I would have ever thought. That is the reason they didn’t repeat these as much.

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      2. My step dad used to read Louis L’omour’s (I think that is the name) books.
        This show…. shows how hard the people had it on the prairies back then. A rough damn life.

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      3. I have to take a plunge into Louis.
        I read Sam’s biography and he is qualified to write abut that stuff. I’m totally drawn to that time and place. And how the history played out. Hard, unforgiving country with a mixed bag of people colliding.

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      6. 1883 first (Tim McGraw and Faith Hill as pioneers heading west) lay the groundwork for the next spinoff, 1923, as the Dutton family is settling on land (that they took from Native Americans,) and Yellowstone, which is set in the present.

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  8. Just a couple of odd notes… you might have known these, I dunno…

    William Conrad (Cannon) played Matt Dillon on the radio, and I think they considered him for the part on TV. Fortunately, they decided to cast James Arness, and Conrad went on to narrate the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons.

    It wasn’t until a few years ago that I learned that Arness is Peter Graves’s (Mission: Impossible) brother. The family name was Aurness.

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    1. I knew about Conrad but have you ever listened to the radio show? I thought about trying it…many of the plots they turned into the TV show.
      You know…I don’t know if he said that in the book about their last name. I was wondering why Graves changed his name…he didn’t say.

      I love these episodes….

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      1. Nver heard the radio show. It would be good to hear. Evidently Conrad made Dillon a little more tentative. Interesting that they were still doing drama on radio into the ’60’s…

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    2. John, I saw that about it starting out as a radio show on wiki. I did not, however, realize that Conrad was the narrator on Rocky & Bullwinkle. Maybe he had a voice for radio but not a physical presence for Dodge City? I did know that Arness (Aurness) and Peter Graves were brothers.

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      1. If you see James and Peter next to each other, the resemblanceis obvious.

        Did you ever watch the TV show “Cannon”? The rather portly Bill Conrad played Frank Cannon. I think they wanted to go with someone a little more svelte for TV.

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    1. Arness said that Chester was more popular than he was at the time. Ironic that Chester was to be forgot or not known. I think the reason was is because of the reasons I gave…the violence…they were told to tone it down by the 7th season.

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  10. Max, nice write-up on a show I saw as a kid but only have a vague recollection beyond knowing the names of the main characters and that it was a Western. Before reading it, I was trying to remember if the sidekick’s name was Chester or Festus, and realized while reading there were both. You got the nitty gritty on the series as to format and that’s interesting how it changed in length and from b&w to color. Also had no idea there were that many seasons, wow. It looks like the TV show had been going awhile before I was born. I do remember b&w episodes.

    After watching that clip, I think I know where Chester went. Festus bushwhacked him out back and then buried him alive out on the prairie 😉

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    1. LOL….I wouldn’t doubt it…never did trust Festus! 20 seasons….that is crazy
      This show has held up…the ones that were on when we were young were the color ones are the ones they showed here…
      You will get what I’m saying here…it turned into a “horse opera” that could get boring…but these early ones were not boring but the violence and the content was kicked up 10 notches…the network made them stop… but the stories and writing was clever.

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  11. Pingback: Gunsmoke, the Early Years – MobsterTiger

    1. My dad used to mention Chester all of the time but I never saw him on reruns…now I know why he liked those episodes.
      I’ll check out Trackdown

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