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The producers of "Gunsmoke" were worried about Burt Reynolds for one really good reason. The beloved TV show's team knew that he was destined to be a leading man, and they couldn't keep him in a supporting role forever. Norman MacDonnell was a producer on "Gunsmoke" and told TV Guide (credit to Western Official for archiving the quote) that, "I have the feeling that if he ever got the bit in his teeth, he'd run away with it. He's not afraid of man, beast, or God."

James Arness was the man at the top of the marquee for "Gunsmoke's" run, and Reynolds famously enjoyed his time working alongside the man who played Marshal Dillon. Honestly, Amanda Blake is right up there too, with her memorable turn as Miss Kitty. But, everyone on that set understood the potential Burt Reynolds had as a true star in the industry. It was...

Before Burt Reynolds went on to have a legendary and illustrious career on the silver screen, he first made his reputation doing television. He appeared in a myriad of shows between 1959 and 1972. He had one-episode roles in such classic shows as "The Twilight Zone," Erle Stanley Gardner's "Perry Mason," and Lee Marvin's "M Squad." Yet one of his most memorable recurring roles was arguably in Charles Marquis Warren's western drama, "Gunsmoke" (based on John Meston and Norman Macdonnell's radio series of the same name), which ran on CBS for an outstanding 20 (!) years between 1955 and 1975. Compared to today's TV Westerns, which are lucky if they last more than two seasons, that's an astonishing accomplishment for the unapologetically honest series.

Out of those 20 seasons, Reynolds starred in three, from 1962 to 1965, as Quint Asper, a half-white and half-Comanche blacksmith, introduced as the member of Angela Clarke's Topsanah's tribe...

"John Wayne was supposed to star in 'Gunsmoke' but turned it down" is one of those Old Hollywood myths that refuse to die. Even in 2025, half a century since the show's finale, many still believe the Duke was supposed to be the leading man in television's most iconic Western. However, this simply was never the case.

According to Norman Macdonnell, the co-creator of the original "Gunsmoke" radio series who later helped adapt it for television, the mere idea of offering Wayne the lead role would have been a wild pipe dream. As he explained for a 1975 TV Guide feature: "Wayne was a big movie star and wouldn't have considered TV for a minute. It was just a publicity story." This makes perfect sense considering in those days television was rarely, if ever, given the same respect as film.

Writer and director Charles Marquis Warren, who helped kickstart the...

It's curious how few people talk about "Gunsmoke" in the 2020s, seeing as it was the biggest show of all time for decades. Indeed, until 2019, "Gunsmoke" held a record for being the longest-running scripted primetime American TV series ever. (It's since been beaten by "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.") The "Gunsmoke" TV series debuted in 1955 and ran strong for 635 episodes over the course of 20 full seasons. It finally drew to a close in 1975, but even then, the franchise wasn't done. Five additional "Gunsmoke" TV movies were produced from 1987 to 1994, with James Arness playing the stalwart Marshal Matt Dillon pretty much throughout the property's televised run.

And that's nothing to say of the nine seasons of "Gunsmoke" that ran as a radio serial. The radio show aired from 1952 to 1961 and starred William Conrad as Dillon. The show's creators Norman Macdonnell and John Meston couldn't have possibly predicted the success of their Western,...

Once upon a time, in the days before streaming, the goal of television creators was to craft series that would captivate viewers long enough to reach 100 episodes -- i.e. the industry-accepted threshold where a show could be profitably sold into syndication. This is a major reason why the TV landscape, then and now, is riddled with so many unambitious, formulaic shows. While it might be nice to shake up the medium with an out-of-nowhere broadcast sensation like "Twin Peaks," such shows only tend to burn bright for a very brief time. So, if longevity and syndication dollars are your thing (and that 100-episode threshold has now dropped below 50), the history of the medium bellows loud and clear that you should probably pitch a sitcom or procedural of some sort.

This kind of unadventurous thinking may sound cynical, but there's no reason you can't create a cherished, influential show while coloring inside the lines.

When it comes to Westerns on the small screen, few are as iconic as Norman Macdonnell and John Meston's "Gunsmoke." Based on the radio drama of the same name, the show debuted on CBS in 1955 and went on to become one of the longest-running television scripted series in American television history, producing over 600 episodes. Sadly, though, "Gunsmoke" rode off into the sunset after 20 seasons, but like all good gunslingers who can't stay down, it came back with a bang. "Gunsmoke" produced five television films after the series ended, and thanks to reruns and streaming, new generations continue to discover the classic TV Western.

"Gunsmoke" takes place in Dodge City, Kansas, and follows U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) and his deputies as they protect the town from outlaws, outsiders, troublemakers, and other wrong sorts. The series is also notable for featuring some bona fide Hollywood legends in early career roles,...

There's a long-standing rumor about John Wayne's connection to Western series Gunsmoke that needs to be put to rest. John Wayne fronted around 80 Westerns in his career, and by the 1950s was one of the most famous movie stars in the world. This was also a period when there was a total dividing line between film and television. Some actors like Steve McQueen were able to leap from TV to film stardom - but this was rare. A star going from moves to television was even rarer, but there remains a legend around Gunsmoke that Wayne passed on starring.

Pretty much any article or retrospective on the classic series opens with this factoid. Even star James Arness was under this impression, stating in a 2006 Scv interview that "When the "Gunsmoke" offer came in, [Wayne] said, "I wouldn't be able to do it, but I have a young man here under...

Several seasons of one of the longest-running television shows of all time are coming to Peacock in December. Seasons seven through 15 of the classic Western, Gunsmoke, will debut on the streaming service on Dec. 9.

Starring James Arness as Marshal Dillon and based in Dodge City, Kansas, Gunsmoke ran for a total of 20 seasons from 1955 to 1975. Its considered to be one of the greatest Western television shows of all time and started its life as a radio series. It was adapted into a television show because of its popularity on the radio airwaves. On TV, Gunsmoke first aired in half-hour installments from 1955 to 1961 and then hour-long shows from 1961 to 1975.

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Related This Underrated Western Series Offers A New Perspective on the Genre

Combining crime drama with supernatural thriller, Dark Winds has revolutionized the western genre through the lens of a Native American perspective.

Additionally, the show spawned five made-for-television movies. The...

Theres something to be said about the enduring legacy of Gunsmoke, the Western that became an institution on both radio and television, and a big part of that includes the late actor, Burt Reynolds. Created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston, the radio series ran from 1952 to 1961 and the Gunsmoke show ran for 20 years on CBS, from 1955 to 1975. It was a feat unheard of for live-action prime-time television until the record was finally broken by NBCs Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which premiered in 1999 and is still active 25 years later.

The wildly successful Gunsmoke follows U.S. Marshall Matt Dillon as he fights for justice in 1870s Dodge City, Kansas. Dillon was played by actor James Arness, who was joined by an ensemble of previously established stars rounding out the Gunsmoke cast, including Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Dennis Weaver, Glenn Strange, Buck Taylor, and Ted Jordan. When...

Norman Macdonnell and John Meston's "Gunsmoke" drama series aired on CBS for 20 uninterrupted seasons (!), a feat that feels even more impressive due to the consistent quality maintained throughout its run. Initially a radio series that broadcast between 1952 and 1961, "Gunsmoke" gained steady enough popularity to warrant a television adaptation in 1955, whose half to one-hour episodes culminate to form an epic Western saga for the ages. The nexus of "Gunsmoke" is one lawman Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) tasked to maintain order in Dodge City, Kansas, and his exploits underline the brutality of the Old West, challenging stereotypes attached to similar figures molded as unambiguously heroic. Although the show did employ archetypal characters — such as the loyal sidekick Chester Goode (Dennis Weaver) and the trustworthy town physician Doc Adams (Milburn Stone) — an appropriate amount of nuance grounds "Gunsmoke," which works best when rooted in morally grey vignettes.

However, we're not here...