Gunsmoke: Broadcast History

To within a year, when was the first episode of Gunsmoke aired on television?

Answer: 1955 on September 10th

The Long Branch Saloon: Bob Stabler (near saloon doors) with CBS reps, Harry Ackerman and Hal Hudson.

Another western premiered in the same season as Gunsmoke. It also was centered around a peace officer in Dodge City. What was the name of that western?

Wyatt Earp. Later in the series, Wyatt moved to Tombstone.

TV Guide compared Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to Gunsmoke and the original Star Trek to what other popular western?

Wagon Train

Who produced Gunsmoke both on television and radio?

Norman Macdonnel

Norman Macdonnell and John Meston, the creators of Gunsmoke.

John Meston with James Arness

When it premired, TV Guide described Gunsmoke as `a western ...

I Love Lucy'
Alfred Hitchcock Presents'
Dragnet'
Casablanca'

Answer: Dragnet

What famous movie actor introduced the first television episode of Gunsmoke?

John Wayne. His introduction was short. `Good evening. My name's Wayne. Some of you may have seen me before. I hope so. I've been kicking around Hollywood a long time. I've made a lot of pictures out here. All kinds. Some of them have been westerns and that's what I'm here to tell you about tonight. A western. A new television show called Gunsmoke. When I first heard about the show Gunsmoke, I knew there was only one man to play in it. James Arness. He's a young fellow, and maybe new to some of you. But I've worked with him and I predict he'll be a big star. And now I'm proud to present Gunsmoke.' Click HERE for more information.

After the second season of Gunsmoke, James Arness characterized Matt Dillon as

pathetic
tragic
tilted
a sadist
all of the above
none of the above

All of the above. Click HERE for the whole quote. ( As watchers of the later color episodes will attest, Dillon's character evolved in twenty years to one of high moral and stable character. The early Dillon, formed largely by writer John Meston, was as Arness describes.)

What famous actor was initially approached to play the part of Matt Dillon but declined because he didn't want to get tied down to the rigors of a weekly schedule?

Legend has it that John Wayne was approached. This, though, is disputed. Click here for details.

The following tested for the role of Matt Dillon on television. Which one's voice was `too big'? Who messed up the love scene with Miss Kitty?

Raymond Burr
John Pickard
William Conrad
James Arness

Raymond Burr, later Perry Mason and Ironside, had a voice that was `too big'. Pickard messed up the love scene.

Who were two Gunsmoke regulars to appear in both the first and the last seasons of Gunsmoke?

Milburn Stone as Doc and, of course, James Arness as Matt. Also, Howie, the clerk at the Dodge House.

To within one, how many years was Gunsmoke on network television?

Twenty

The set for the first 156 episodes of Gunsmoke from 1955 to 1959.

To within one, what year was Gunsmoke expanded from a half to a full hour?

Answer: 1961

Gunsmoke was cancelled in the late 60's but was reinstated by CBS's Board Chairman. This man, who regained executive power again at CBS in the 1980's, is named

William. S. Paley.
Gene Autry.
Grant Tinker.
Nevel S. Urick.
Steven Boncho.

Answer: a ... Paley. His decision was based on an open Monday night slot and a like for the program.

What Gunsmoke regular became part owner of the series?

James Arness

Of the main Gunsmoke characters, whom, in real life, died first?

Milburn Stone

T/F Ronald Reagon played a cattle baron on a 1956 Gunsmoke episode.

False

T/F Milburn Stone wrote the theme to Gunsmoke.

False. It was Rex Koury. Klick here for more information about Gunsmoke music. Also, see the section of this web page about music on radio's Gunsmoke. (Click here.)

T/F The Rifleman was a spin-off of Gunsmoke.

False

In what year was the highest rated Gunsmoke episode aired?

Answer: 1960 on February 13th

The highest rated Gunsmoke ever aired concerned

Chester's shifty Uncle Pheeters.
two cattle drives competing to get first to Dodge and a murdered swimming cow.
the blackmail of a Dodge City banker by a fat lazy cowboy.
Dillon's evil twin brother, Mort.

Answer: ... the swimming cow

(T/F) In terms of yearly ranking, Gunsmoke is by far the most successful weekly prime time drama in the history of television.

True

Gunsmoke is the longest running and most successful of all westerns in the history of television. What western series was number two?

Bonanza

Gunsmoke was one of the first of an avalanche of television westerns. At the peak, how many prime time westerns were on the air.

10.
20.
30.

Thirty

(T/F) The year that Gunsmoke was expanded to an hour was also the first year that no new westerns were introduced on television.

True. In 1961.

(T/F) Gunsmoke is mentioned in the United States Congessional Record.

True

(T/F) Everyone is familiar with baseball cards. A few years after the premier of television's Gunsmoke, there were Gunsmoke cards.

True ... in 1958. There were a total of 15 Gunsmoke cards. In 1993, Pacific Trading Cards released 110 Gunsmoke trading cards. Click here to look at some.

(T/F) There are Gunsmoke comics.

True. A series was launched by Dell in the 1950's. The stories were original, although not representative of the grittiness of television and radio's Gunsmoke. The comics were made for kids. The television and radio episodes were written for adults. Click here to look at some.

(T/F) Gunsmoke trivia questions have appeared as prizes in boxes of Cracker Jacks.

True

(T/F) There are Matt Dillon dolls.

True.

(T/F) Gunsmoke trivia questions have appeared in TV Guide.

True

(T/F) Questions about Gunsmoke are in the original (genus) version of the game Trivial Pursuit.

True. Quite a few in fact.

(T/F) Tapes of Gunsmoke radio plays have been offered in the sales catalog Things You Never Know Existed and Can't Possibly Live Without.

True

(T/F) Video tapes of Gunsmoke television shows have been advertised in People and Life.

True .. the CBS Video Library advertised in the print media and on television Gunsmoke: the Collector's Edition. Subscribers received tapes of Gunsmoke television shows primarily co-starring actors and actresses who were or later became famous.

(T/F) Stricter television censorship practices resulted in less violence on later Gunsmokes.

True

The show that drove Gunsmoke out of the top ten on Saturday nights and eventually resulted in its move to Monday nights was

Saturday Night at the Movies.
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
The Monkees.
Dirty Sally.

Answer: ... Saturday Night at the Movies.

(T/F) Before the decision to move Gunsmoke to Monday nights, the show had been officially cancelled. Indeed, the cast had already held their farewell party.

True ... the night after the party, CBS decided to continue the show.

(T/F) Gunsmoke is the only prime time network television program to be resurrected after it was cancelled.

False ... Star Trek and Cagney and Lacey are examples of two others.

(T/F) Mike Dann, former vice president of marketing at CBS, says Gunsmoke had probably the best demographics in the history of television.

False ... Dann said Gunsmoke had probably the worst demographics in television. Most viewers were older and outside the age limit normally targeted by advertisers. Gunsmoke's audience, however, was so large that ``who cared if they all wore dentures?"

What was the cost of each hour long episode of Gunsmoke in 1975?

Answer: $230,000. The estimated cost in 1974 was the same. For 1970-73, the estimated cost was $215,000 per show.

After Gunsmoke was taken off the air in 1975, Jack Gould, who wrote for the New York Times, described Gunsmoke as follows:

``It's very professional, workmanlike and a routine junk.''
``Etched in the fabric of American entertainment''.
``Every boy's dream''.
``entertaining''.

Answer: ... routine junk

In his book CBS, Reflections in a Bloodshot Eye, author Robert Metz says that, after two decades on television, Gunsmoke ``inspires

disgust''.
awe''.
young cowboys''.
CBS executives''.

Answer: ... awe

In an early episode of Gunsmoke, Doc shot a man in cold blood who refused to let Doc's buggy through to see a sick person. In another episode, Festus murders a man who raped his cousin. In yet another episode, a kindly ranch woman stabs the sickly man who killed her husband. What plot twist was used in each case so that the murderer didn't even have to stand trial let alone hang?

The man who was murdered turned out to have a dead-or-alive price on his head.

(T/F) In the last season of Gunsmoke, the streets of Dodge City were paved.

False

Which of the following is not the name of a street in Gunsmoke's Dodge City:

Front.
Bridge.
River.
Kansa.
South.

Answer: ... Kansa. The Dodge Road was the main road out of town.

To within twenty, how many television episodes of Gunsmoke are there?

Answer: 640

To within one hundred, how many half hour episodes of Gunsmoke were aired? Black and white hour episodes? Color hour episodes?

Answer: 236 half hour episodes, 177 (episodes 237 to 413) black and white hour episodes and 227 (episodes 414 to 640) color hour episodes. That's 640 episodes in all.

Gunsmoke's broadcast history can be divided into four eras: radio, televisions half hour episodes, televisions hour black and white episodes and the color hour episodes. Name one year in each of these eras.

Answers: 1952-61,1955-61,1961-65,1965-75

(T/F) The black and white hour episodes lay doormat for over twenty years before they were first placed into syndication.

True ... the Christian Broadcast Network (later The Family Channel), picked up some of these episodes and began to broadcast them in 1986.

During the hour black and white episodes of Gunsmoke, which of the following occurred:

Chester left the series
Festus' character was introduced
Festus established as a Gunsmoke regular
Burt Reynolds' character, Quint Asper, is introduced
Quint left the series
Glenn Strange takes on bartender duties as Sam
Louie Pheeters introduced as the town drunk
The first Gunsmoke two hour episode is aired
Thad's character is introduced

Answer: all of the above

Which of the following was not a producer or executive producer of television's Gunsmoke:

Joseph Drackow
Norman Macdonnell
Phillip Leacock
James Arness
William Conrad
Charles Marquis Warren
John Mantley.

Answer: ... William Conrad

(T/F) Gunsmoke was the first television western to be filmed in color.

False ... The Cisco Kid, for example, was filmed in color in the early fifties even though it was broadcast in black and white.

To within two, how many years was Gunsmoke rated as one of television's top ten watched shows?

Answer: thirteen: #8 in 56-57; #1 in 57-58, 58-59, 59-60, 60-61; #3 in 61-62; #10 in 62-63; #4 in 67-68; #6 in 68-69; #2 in 69-70; #5 in 70-71; #4 in 71-72 and #8 in 72-73

Click here for a chart

To within two, how many years was Gunsmoke rated as one of television's top twenty watched shows?

Fifteen: besides the answers above, Gunsmoke was #20 in 63-64 and #15 in 72-73.

Click here for a chart

For a six week period in 1968, TV Guide reported that Gunsmoke ranked number five of all network television shows. For each of the following categories, specify whether Gunsmoke was above or below number five.

Viewers with at least a grade school education.
Viewers with one or more years of college education.
Viewers in the southern United States.
Viewers in the northeastern United States.

Answers:

Above. It ranked number three.
Below. It did not even make the top ten.
Above. It was number one.
Below. It did not even make the top ten.

When Gunsmoke was expanded to an hour, old half hour Gunsmoke shows were rebroadcast by CBS in prime time under what name?

Marshal Dillon

Did the ratings of the rebroadcast half hour shows ever make the top twenty most watched shows?

Yes. Marshal Dillon was rated #18 in the 61-62 season.

In 1985, The Christian Broadcasting Network CBN aired some never-before-syndicated Gunsmoke episodes. Why had these episodes not been seen since their original network airings in 1962-65?

They were black and white hour episodes. Stations prefered the color hour episodes.

(T/F) Ted Turner of Superstation WTBS has given top priority to colorization of old black and white Gunsmoke episodes.

False

(T/F) In the book TV's Greatest Hits, Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh rank Gunsmoke as most popular show in television history ``by a wide margin''.

True

(T/F) In some of the currently syndicated Gunsmoke's, violent scenes are censored.

True

A weekly series that spun off from Gunsmoke was

Bonanza.
Branded.
The Dick Van Dyke Show.
Wanted: Dead or Alive.
Dirty Sally.

Answer: Dirty Sally was initially a two part Gunsmoke episode. The short lived series, Dirty Sally, ran from January 11, 1974 through July 19th of the same year. Jeanette Nolan played Sally and Dack Rambo, of later Dallas and soap opera fame, played her young ex-gunfighter companion.

Although there were shootings at other locations, most of the Gunsmokes were filmed at the CBS Studio Center in

Oklahoma.
Kansas.
California.
New York.

Answer: ... California

(T/F) Some scenes from the televicion series Gilligen's Island were shot on the set of Gunsmoke.

True: Episode #7 on Gilligen's Island, `The Sound of Quacking', was shot on the Gunsmoke set. Gilligen dreams he is Marshall Gilligen, hired to protect a duck from outlaws. Another dream sequence was in #41 episode, `The Sweepstakes'. The dream is Mr. Howell's who sees himself as a grizzled old prospector. This was Jim (Mr. Magoo) Backus's favorite show.

(T/F) The television series Gilligan's Island was cancelled because of Gunsmoke.

True. According to 'the Professor', Russell Johnson, ``CBS decided to cancel its old warhorse Gunsmoke. The network affiliates became outraged, as did many CBS bigwigs, which forced network programmers to quickly reinstate the show. That meant sacrificing a half hour show to make room on the schedule".