The Gunsmoke Primer II

A HISTORY OF GUNSMOKE

"Oh, East is East, and West is West,
and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently
at God's great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West,
Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face,
though they come from the ends of the earth!"
-Rudyard Kipling

Matt and Matt side by side?
Yes! And Kitty and Kitty,
Doc and Doc,
and Chester and Chester too!

Track & trail the evolution
of Gunsmoke as it went
through its several eras!

The first regular episode of Gunsmoke,
Billy the Kid,
aired on April 26, 1952.
Gunsmoke's first semi-regular character,
Mr. Hightower,
made his first appearance.

TEST YOUR GUNSMOKE IQ

Why did William Conrad
not play Matt Dillon on TV?
1) His voice was not
solid and resonant enough.
2) Radio salaries were higher
than television salaries.
3) He opted to do the tv version
of The Fat Man instead.
4) He lost too much weight
to play Matt Dillon
after a bout of dengue fever
caught in downtown Los Angeles.

Did Miss Kitty practice
numerology & astrology?
John Wayne was born
on May 26, 1907;
Sam Edwards on May 26, 1915;
and James Arness
on May 26, 1923.
Gunsmoke itself was born
on radio
on a 26th--April 26, 1952.

   HITES & HIGHTOWERS

   Besides convincing James Arness to be
   on Gunsmoke,
   and introducing the show
   on its premiere night,
   John Wayne
   had a million other uncanny connections
   to Gunsmoke and its star.

   Bryan "Slim" Hightower
   was John Ford's favorite stuntman.
   He worked in many Ford movies,
   including The Searchers.

   Robert Marmaduke Hightower,
   John Wayne's character
   in Ford's 3 Godfathers (1948),
   was named after Slim Hightower.


    ☜

   Three decades and three years
   before 4' 2" Billy Curtis stood
   next to 6' 7" James Arness
   as a gag in Arizona Midnight,
   Curtis had already done
   the same thing
   with 6' 4" John Wayne
   in Three Texas Steers.

   Gunsmoke was shown
   as Gun Law on British TV.
   In France, it was called
   Police des plaines.
   No, the setting was not
   changed to Illinois;
   Dillon remained in Kansas.

   Gunsmoke's first-produced tv episode,
   Hack Prine, wasn't shown first
   and lost that honor
   to Matt Gets It;
   instead, Hack Prine became...
   Episode No. 26.
   Amanda Blake herself was 26
   when tv Gunsmoke
   first hit the air.