The television landscape is always evolving with the times, which is why westerns don't exactly make it to primetime television anymore — if at all. But there was a period where venerated networks like CBS would invest in programs such as "The Wild Wild West," "Have Gun, Will Travel," and the Clint Eastwood-starring vehicle "Rawhide." Having grown up in the presence of my father, of whom westerns were as vital as water, I became intimately familiar with most of them.
The titan among these titles, however, was "Gunsmoke," which stayed on the air for an unprecedented 20 seasons as the longest-running western series of all time on any network.
If there's any image that sums up the series' iconography, it's the showdown intro that remained a "Gunsmoke" staple for its first 12 seasons. It set the tone for the kind of peril James Arness' Marshal Matt Dillon would get himself into every week,...
The titan among these titles, however, was "Gunsmoke," which stayed on the air for an unprecedented 20 seasons as the longest-running western series of all time on any network.
If there's any image that sums up the series' iconography, it's the showdown intro that remained a "Gunsmoke" staple for its first 12 seasons. It set the tone for the kind of peril James Arness' Marshal Matt Dillon would get himself into every week,...
- 3/30/2025
- by Quinn Bilodeau
- Slash Film
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