View Full Version : TBT, Did you watch Gun Smoke?
TBT: Pre-COVID-19 Days
The TV Western 'Gunsmoke' ran for 20 years from 1955 till 1975 with some 635 episodes. It remains to this day the longest-running, prime time, live-action series of the 20th century. Below is a picture of the set during filming and again as it appears today.
link: A list of famous guest stars. (https://www.metv.com/stories/these-60-famous-actors-all-appeared-on-gunsmoke)
This was my go-to TV show as a kid, started watching when I was 8YO. :lifter
Warning: Images may contain mountains, outdoor scenes, text, and nature.
I happen to be watching Have Gun Will Travel right now, Rawhide is next Gunsmoke won't be on till 11:00. It is fun to watch those old westerns and pick out all the stars.
Badger52
04-09-2020, 06:12
Hah, used to take our dirt bikes out to that country near Thousand Oaks.
All shows are still on some of the cable channels and run every day, along with some other series of the period. The first sidekick, Dennis Weaver's 'Chester', while charming didn't bring a whole bunch of dimension. They did better with Festus; Ken Curtis could damn near upstage Arness just with an eyebrow.
I watched it with my grandparents when I was a kid. I grew up on westerns - then forgot all about them for about 30 years.
In my Dads last few years, when ever I would visit we, would either watch The Walking Dead or old westerns - including Gun Smoke. Re-watching those old westerns is one of the things that pointed me towards Cowboy Action Shooting.
One of the commenters on my FB post spotted the radio tower in the old B/W photo. I'm thinking it's an early HAM tower that supported the American Radio Relay League (ARRL); and the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) :lifter
Ret10Echo
04-09-2020, 06:29
I happen to be watching Have Gun Will Travel right now, Rawhide is next Gunsmoke won't be on till 11:00. It is fun to watch those old westerns and pick out all the stars.
GRIT TV? :D Love the Digital broadcast channel options - Grit, MeTV,
I watched a bit of it growing up. I have vague recollection of transition from B/W to Color...
GRIT TV? :D Love the Digital broadcast channel options - Grit, MeTV, ........
Both are on the way high channels in Fayetteville. Grit is 1246.
mark46th
04-09-2020, 08:26
I still watch the old Westerns. An SF brother was an actor before joining the army. He appeared on Gunsmoke and a few others... My favorite tidbit from him about Gunsmoke was that Kitty had freckles that they used makeup to cover.
Gunsmoke was required watching at my Grandparent's home...right along with Hee Haw....
Lucas McCain was also one of my favorites in that genre.
I still watch Gunsmoke…. much of the content was adult/mature thinking stuff...actually appreciate it more now.
WarriorDiplomat
04-09-2020, 09:49
Not only did I grow up watching it I moved there at around 10 yrs of age and consider Dodge City my home town
Golf1echo
04-09-2020, 09:51
As old Fess would say” Yes sir, here in Colorade it used to come on the few channels we had”... TV signed off at midnight too.
Badger52
04-09-2020, 15:15
As old Fess would say” Yes sir, here in Colorade it used to come on the few channels we had”... TV signed off at midnight too.Oh, the days. Came on with the Star Spangled Banner and signed off with film of the Thunderbirds or Blue Angels and a reading of John McGee's 'High Flight'.
And then we watch the "pattern" until the daily schedule started the next morning.
:D:D
Badger52
04-09-2020, 20:23
And then we watch the "pattern" until the daily schedule started the next morning.
:D:DThat's a COOL chart! Would've love to have that. Frankly, my Dad used to just make a guess and we'd hie ourselves down to the supermarket and their RCA tube tester and its cabinet below full of spares to buy. 'Course, that kind of guess & by golly never accounted for something just being out of tolerance or a little out of whack but we usually made do.
Like cars of yesteryear it didn't require a tech team to dismantle just to change a headlight. Remove the fiberboard back panel and the world was laid out in front of you. I did get a valuable lesson at a very young age though of just what kinds of voltage could be present on the pins of a tube. :eek:
I remember watching Gunsmoke as a kid.
Admittedly, I was more of a McHale’s Navy, Hogan’s Heroes, and Rat Patrol fan.
I had no idea it ran for 30 years.
One of the commenters on my FB post spotted the radio tower in the old B/W photo. I'm thinking it's an early HAM tower that supported the American Radio Relay League (ARRL); and the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) :lifter
What show? I remember seeing that in Bat Masterson.
And then we watch the "pattern" until the daily schedule started the next morning.
:D:D
I actually still have one of those camera registration cards, from my TV days, in a memory box somewhere.
I watched it with my grandparents when I was a kid. I grew up on westerns - then forgot all about them for about 30 years.
In my Dads last few years, when ever I would visit we, would either watch The Walking Dead or old westerns - including Gun Smoke. Re-watching those old westerns is one of the things that pointed me towards Cowboy Action Shooting.
Geez, you just made me feel very old.
MATTHEW! By Festus
MR DILLON! BY Chester.
I watched Gunsmoke very little as a kid but was stuck on other westerns at the time, if I recall correctly.
Until I got more channels about 15 years ago I could not watch Bonanza, but then I was able to watch Bonanza every day until they started repeating. Over time, I watched all except the last 3 years worth or so.
Last fall I started watching Gunsmoke and was dedicated. I made a listing and am now 95% through the whole series. It is a very good show and can find myself watching 6-8 new shows a night. I find myself watching these over Showtime stuff. I always DVR them and skip the commercials.
Now that I am almost caught up in Gunsmoke I can resume my Lost Bonanza episodes, but I don't care for them as much as Gunsmoke.
I had a Matt Dillon T-shirt when I was a little kid in the early ‘60s. I wore it out. I never missed a show if I couldn’t help it.
Badger52
04-13-2020, 18:34
The Mrs. watches a bunch of this, hunkered down.
She's been musing that they should run some of the old ABC evening westerns that ran for only a bit (compared to Gunsmoke).
Bronco Lane, Cheyenne, maybe The Guns of Will Sonnett; there's a bunch out there somewhere (if the film survived).
Not only did I watch it, I listened to it on radio. And to, Have Gun Will Travel, The Cisco Kid, The Lone Ranger, and The Six Shooter. My dad was a construction engineer on pipelines between Canada and South Texas. We lived in a 41' mobile home he pulled with an Olds 98. On the road we would listen to radio dramas at night and music during the day. We only stayed in one campground one week while on the road. If you've seen The Long, Long Trailer you know why. He'd find farms and ranches where we could stay while he was working. Once we got a TV we could watch several of them on the snowy Zenith. Which the threw his shoes at every night because the reception sucked. So back to the radio. Best years of my childhood life!
WarriorDiplomat
04-15-2020, 20:44
Its funny watching the show and seeing all the mountains and canyons in the show when Dodge City looks nothing like it being high plains and as a kid I wasn't sure and imagine learning it was filmed in Utah
These days I stil like a good western and Gunsmoke is still a top notch show with relevant and edgy storylines others I like are The High Chaparral , The rifleman, Laramie, tales of Wells Fargo, Cheyenne, Wagon Train, Rawhide, Death Valley Days
I enjoyed Bonanza as a kid but as an adult its not my flavor same goes for the Virginian and to be honest I just didn't watch it very often
Golf1echo
04-15-2020, 23:28
WD, there was a time I lived out beyond “Old Tucson” so many Westerns were filmed there regardless of story line... the mountains in the back ground are the give away. Even seen a few movies shot no where near the desert but they cleverly filmed the train and hid most of the OT props.
Like Box mentioned some like the ”High Chaparel” were aired only at the grand parents house, I rewatched a few episodes and was taken by their use of “overwatch” as a method of travel in Apache country...
I though this write-up was interesting about James Arness.
American Old Time Radio
October 5, 2018
Although James Arness wanted to be a naval fighter pilot, he was concerned his poor eyesight would bar him. However, it was his 6 feet 7 inches frame that ended his chances because the limit for aviators was set at 6 feet 2 inches. He was drafted into the US Army and reported to Fort Snelling, Minnesota in March 1943. 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. Arness was severely wounded in his right leg during the Battle of Anzio.
Arness was sent to the U.S. Army 91st General Hospital in Clinton, Iowa, to be treated for his wounds. After undergoing several surgeries, he was honorably discharged on January 29, 1945. However, his wounds continued to bother him throughout the rest of his life; in later years he had to cope with chronic leg pain that often became acute, such as when he mounted horses during his performance on Gunsmoke. His military decorations include 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.
I though this write-up was interesting about James Arness.
American Old Time Radio
October 5, 2018
Although James Arness wanted to be a naval fighter pilot, he was concerned his poor eyesight would bar him. However, it was his 6 feet 7 inches frame that ended his chances because the limit for aviators was set at 6 feet 2 inches. He was drafted into the US Army and reported to Fort Snelling, Minnesota in March 1943. 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. Arness was severely wounded in his right leg during the Battle of Anzio.
Arness was sent to the U.S. Army 91st General Hospital in Clinton, Iowa, to be treated for his wounds. After undergoing several surgeries, he was honorably discharged on January 29, 1945. However, his wounds continued to bother him throughout the rest of his life; in later years he had to cope with chronic leg pain that often became acute, such as when he mounted horses during his performance on Gunsmoke. His military decorations include 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.
Great story, seems to me Paul Harvey may have used this on one of his The Rest of the Story segments a long time ago.
... They did better with Festus; Ken Curtis could damn near upstage Arness just with an eyebrow.
I loved Gunsmoke as a kid. Still do. About Festus (Ken Curtis), does anyone remember that he had a damn good singing voice?
A tenor he was, and very good. It was in the John Wayne western, Rio Grande, that he sang. (He might have been in other John Wayne cavalry westerns as well.) The song was "Down by the Glenside. You'd never know he was Festus Hagen from that voice.
https://www.youknow.com/watch?v=5jwPVe_sWa8
(Change "youknow" in the link to the link I can't link.)
Ret10Echo
04-17-2020, 05:52
I loved Gunsmoke as a kid. Still do. About Festus (Ken Curtis), does anyone remember that he had a damn good singing voice?
A tenor he was, and very good. It was in the John Wayne western, Rio Grande, that he sang. (He might have been in other John Wayne cavalry westerns as well.) The song was "Down by the Glenside. You'd never know he was Festus Hagen from that voice.
https://www.youknow.com/watch?v=5jwPVe_sWa8
(Change "youknow" in the link to the link I can't link.)
Lead Singer from the "Son's of the Pioneers". :D
Lead Singer from the "Son's of the Pioneers". :D
He temporarily replaced Frank Sinatra in Tommy Dorsey's band in 1941.
mojaveman
04-17-2020, 08:38
Liked the High Chaparral the best and the theme song rocked. :D
Golf1echo
04-17-2020, 09:25
Liked the High Chaparral the best and the theme song rocked. :D
11 individuals in that one photo... not dissimilar than a lot of team photos...
Badger52
04-17-2020, 09:39
Lead Singer from the "Son's of the Pioneers". :DYup. My favorite is still his last film, as the crusty ranch owner Seaborn Tay, in "Conagher." I always got the impression that he & Sam Elliott enjoyed their time together on that one.