Why was Gunsmoke so popular?

I love the old westerns. The Big Valley is by far the best but they're all pretty good. Miss Kitty was a true feminist. Probably the first one on TV. She didn't scream and dye her hair purple. She pulled out a shotgun from behind the bar. In fact, the best episodes were Kitty centric. The two that really stand out are when one of Kitty's girls dies in childbirth. Kitty takes on the baby temporarily. Hating it at the start. Then falls deeply in love with the baby. She then gives it up knowing a young, childless couple, who desperately want the baby, will give it a better home.

The next one is probably the best episode of any western. When Bette Davis holds Kitty hostage. Amanda more than holds her own with Bette.

a compilation of bad ass kitty.

There were a lot fewer entertainment options, and people in general were less demanding of television.

This show was before my time. I remember being a tiny tike and seeing Alpo commercials with a guy from a Western show. Is this the one?

Didn’t they try to back off from Kitty’s “profession” as the show went on? She just became a regular saloon proprietor.

Amanda Blake ("Miss Kitty") died from AIDS. Makes you wonder how much Brokebacking was going on backstage.

R4 Yes. That was James Arness, who played Matt Dillon.

I've never liked westerns, either. But I started watching Gunsmoke on Paramount+, and it's a really good show. The acting and writing are all above par, and it's as good as Perry Mason for catching stars before they were famous.

I despise westerns, so I can't give you a personal perspective. But I do know that among the plethora of them that dominated movies and TV during the 1950s and 60s, Gunsmoke had the reputation of the western for thinking people. The writing was high quality and they used the genre to camouflage more sophisticated stories and issues, the way Star Trek addressed contemporary issues through the sci-fi filter.

[quote]R4: This show was before my time. I remember being a tiny tike and seeing Alpo commercials with a guy from a Western show. Is this the one?

[quote]R7: Yes. That was James Arness, who played Matt Dillon.

No. TMK, James Arness didn't do dog food commercials.

The Alpo commercials were done with Lorne Greene, star of Bonanza. He continued shilling for Alpo even past the demise of Bonanza, on up into the late 70s.

[quote]R8: The writing was high quality and they used the genre to camouflage more sophisticated stories and issues, the way Star Trek addressed contemporary issues through the sci-fi filter.

Although you're describing 'Gunsmoke,' the basis upon which Gene Roddenberry sold 'Star Trek' to NBC was that it was to be a 'Wagon Train' to the Stars.' 'Wagon Train's shtick was having a different guest star each week, whose personal drama was illustrated, anthology-style, against the template of a Wagon Train consisting of a small core of regular cast members. And 'Star Trek' more or less does that, as sold.

Three or four years ago, when I discovered the pleasures of MeTV, I began watching a lot of the western series that I'd mostly ignored as a kid growing up. I gave 'Wagon Train' a fair try, but found I just couldn't stick with it. I took in pretty much all of 'The Rifleman' with Chuck Connors, 'Bonanza,' and 'Gunsmoke.' There were a few episodes here and there that I missed due to periodic interruptions in my shitty cable service. I'd already seen most of 'The Big Valley' in my teens (Lee Majors had been compelling eye-candy).

What I enjoy most about taking in these old series on MeTV is noting the various guest roles, stocked with familiar character actors. It's fun to note the convergences between different series episodes, with actors from other series with which I'm 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 familiar: a given episode of, say, Perry Mason, might have in a single episode someone from 'Twilight Zone,' someone from 'Outer Limits,' from 'Star Trek,' and from 'Batman,' all at the same time. Over the past couple of weeks, for instance, there's been a 𝑙𝑜𝑡 of Susan Oliver in episodes of different series.

I enjoyed my stint watching 'Gunsmoke.' I highly recommend it.

R1 that’s Bruce Dern

R10 Gunsmoke will always be my favorite, but if you want to revisit some classic westerns, consider giving The High Chaparral, Laramie, Raw Hide, Wanted Dead or Alive, Have Gun, Will Travel and The Virginian a try.

None will disappoint

Old cunts post-war needed to watch something relatable as they entered their dotage

Miss Kitty was the main attraction for me. She made the show.

It just kills me that they spared the long in the tooth "Gunsmoke" at the expense of "Gilligan's Island"! Methinks history has made its judgment as to which is the most beloved show.

It's right up there with the best: Lucy, Andy Griffith, and Perry Mason.

R6 Aweful thing . Amanda Blake married a bi man.

It was on so long. I remember it airing Monday nights back-to-back with Here’s Lucy on CBS in the early 1970s still.

My dads favorite show mainly because he could doze off for 20min wake up and still know the plot.

My Dad loved this one too r19.

And I have to say this show was head and antlers over the cop crap that replaced the old westerns in the late 1970s'.

My Dad liked to work Kojak dialogue into our daily life, horrifying my mother and embarrassing everyone within earshot.

I was in a hospital waiting room not too long ago and they must have had a Gunsmoke marathon going, because I watched it for a couple of hours. I was amazed how well it held up after 60+ years

All I know is my Grandma loved it (and all westerns, pretty much).

Weird to think that the show bridged the gap from "I Love Lucy" to "All in the Family" -- that's a lot of social change occurring during it's run, and possibly why people stuck with the show: a sense of constancy.

Its, not it's. I'll oh dear myself, thanks.

I am watching episodes of The Virginian presently if they have a guest star I like. Just saw one with Colleen Dewhurst. She always seemed to be cast as the fug spinster. It's hilarious that her love interest is Hugh O'Brian who plays it full gay. Next up is one with George C. Scott.

^ Was the episode written by Tennessee Williams?

Glad I wasn't a kid or adult back in the day when westerns dominated film and tv.

So boring.

I did like The Rifleman, however...for obvious reasons.

Is that a rifle in your pocket, or are you just very well hung?

Wagon Train, The Rifleman, The Virginian, and Laramie are my jams.

Yesterday my sister and I watched 3 or 4 episodes of The Virginian, and they were pretty riveting. There was Bette Davis perpetuating a fraud; a young-ish George C. Scott as a pussified school teacher who is such a limp dick, the bad guy repeatedly calls him "Schoolmarm"); sweet Brandon de Wild as a sensitive child who runs away to join a mega-cattle drive; and the divine Colleen Dewhurst (George C. Scott's wife at the time) as a spinster school teacher who went buckwild for some primo Hugh O'Brian dick.

Laramie is a gay man's one-stop shop for John Smith's and Robert Fuller's tight pants-wearing, VPL-having, tasty tight asscakes-showing, beefcake. In fact, in the first 2 seasons the palpable chemistry of Smith and Fuller was so strong and obvious, in Season 3 producers introduced an orphan boy and widowed older woman (a LESBIAN Spring Byington, imagine that) to the main cast.

I have always loved character actors, and have a ball spotting my faves in random show episodes. James Gregory! Royal Dano! Lee J. Cobb! Dabbs Greer! Julie Adam's! Slimy Dan Duryea! Edgar Buchanan! Jocelyn Brando!! Kathleen Freeman! Vivi Janiss! Lee Van Cleef! Sexy Daddy Robert Webber! Lee Marvin! Mmmmmmm...L.Q. Jones! DILF-y Jim Davis!

So much fun.

We went from Westerns to Star Trek, but it was always about exploring new frontiers

Robert Fuller was BEYOND scorching.

He aged into a hot daddy too. I love his eyebrows. How do you get those?

Julie looks concerned—or is she contemplating Randolph Mantooth’s dick?

Nah, R33, she's just regretting her decision to break up with Dr. Brackett early in Season 1.

I know I would.

Before he-man James Arness as Matt Dillion there was he-man William Conrad

I just watched the Bette Davis episode of The Virginian. My God her makeup and hair made her look like a clown.

Her yellow teeth didn't help either.

Bette looked really good in the Gunsmoke episode. Really toned down and severe.