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The show Gunsmoke revolves around Marshall "Matt Dillon" and his ongoing quest to keep the peace in the small town of Dodge City. Click on to find out some cool facts about this TV Western classic!
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Our first fact of the day is actually kind of a sad one. Gunsmoke was in danger of being canceled back in 1967 after slipping out of the Top 30. In a desperate attempt to save the show, William Paley, the president of CBS, decided to move the show to 7:30 PM on Mondays, which in turn saved the show, but got the show Gilligan's Island canceled. Sometimes old shows need to end in order for newer ones to live on...
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Did you know that the show had a comic strip in the UK? That's right! Instead of Gunsmoke, the comic was called Gun Law and ran in the Daily Express newspaper from 1957 until 1978.
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Before the actual TV show existed, Gunsmoke was a popular radio show. When the TV series finally hit the masses back in 1955, the radio show wasn't canceled immediately, running for over 400 episodes before coming to an end in 1961.
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Here's one for all the Star Trek fans out there! Surprisingly enough, all four senior officers on Star Trek— that means "Kirk," "Spock," "Bones," and "Scotty" — all made guest appearances in this Western classic. Gunsmoke welcomed countless guest stars over the years.
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Fun Fact: Dennis Weaver was actually the first character to be cast on the show. You have to understand that the producers already knew who would be filling "Chester Goode's" shoes before they even considered thinking about the main character of the show. Weaver went onto win an Emmy for his role on the show in 1964.
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With a show like Gunsmoke with over 600 episodes, you can imagine that endless amounts of characters were killed on the show. But the one and only Gary Busey was, in fact, the last man killed over the course of the series in a 1975 episode. What an honour!
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Funnily enough, Raymond Burr and William Conrad were almost cast for the lead role in Gunsmoke. In the end, producers considered the two actors too heavy for the role. Even John Wayne was a prime candidate, but he didn't feel like returning to TV, which led him to recommend his friend James Arness for the part.
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What most people don't know is that almost all of the Brady Bunch kids appeared at some point during Gunsmoke's 20 seasons. What a coincidence! Young actors Christopher Knight, Eve Plumb, and Susan Olsen all appeared on the Western.
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James Arness is the only actor to appear in all 600 episodes of the show, while Milburn Stone, who played "Doc," is one of the only characters to appear in all 20 seasons of the show!
The show Gunsmoke revolves around Marshal "Matt Dillon" and his ongoing quest to keep the peace in the small town of Dodge City.
The legendary TV Western aired 20 seasons from 1955 to 1975 and has a ton of fascinating history and trivia involving the cast, guest stars, and more.
Enjoy the gallery!