Gunsmoke

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Gunsmoke
Created byNorman MacDonnell
John Meston
StarringJames Arness
Milburn Stone
Amanda Blake (Seasons 1-19)
Dennis Weaver (Seasons 1-9)
Ken Curtis (Seasons 9-20)
Burt Reynolds (Seasons 8-10)
Buck Taylor (Seasons 13-20)
Glenn Strange (Seasons 7-18)
Roger Ewing (Seasons 11-12)
Theme music composerRex Koury
Glenn Spencer
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons6 ('Marshal Dillon', syndication re-titling of half-hour episodes)
14 ('Gunsmoke'),
20 (total seasons)
No. of episodes233 ('Marshal Dillon', syndication re-titling of half-hour episodes), 402 ('Gunsmoke')
635 (total episodes) (list of episodes)
Production
Running time26 minutes (1955–1961),
50 minutes (1961–1975)
Production companiesCBS Productions
Filmaster Productions
The Arness Production Company (1961–'64)
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseSeptember 10, 1955 –
March 31, 1975

Gunsmoke was a western drama television series. John Meston created the series. It ran for twenty years from 1955 to 1975. Each episode ran for 1 hour. In 1955, CBS television network tried to hire John Wayne. They finally decided on James Arness to play the role of Matt Dillon in the Gunsmoke series. The main cast was Arness, Dennis Weaver playing Chester Goode, Milburn Stone as Doc Adams, and Amanda Blake as saloon keeper Miss Kitty Russell. Ken Curtis played Festus Haggen and Burt Reynolds played a blacksmith.

Between 1955 - 1961, the episodes were 30 minutes long. After that, they were one hour long. 635 episodes were made between 1955 to 1975. Many well known actors have been on the series. These include John Wayne (presenter of the pilot), Bette Davis, Harrison Ford, Jon Voight, Kurt Russell and Jodie Foster. In 1987, Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge was made. Arness returned in the role of Dillon. Later television movies included Gunsmoke: The Last Apache (1990), Gunsmoke: To the Last Man (1992), Gunsmoke: The Long Ride (1993) and Gunsmoke: One Man's Justice (1994).

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