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Questions About Gunsmoke

B

Braves2005

Since today is the 50th anniversary of Gunsmoke,I had a few questions about Gunsmoke.

1. Why did John Wayne introduce the 1st episode?

2. Why did Dennis Weaver leave the show after the 1963-1964 season?

3. Why did Amanda Blake leave the show after being on the show for 19 seasons?

4. In the color episodes,why did the opening scenes change from Matt and another person in a duel to Matt riding a horse?
 
> Since today is the 50th anniversary of Gunsmoke,I had a few
> questions about Gunsmoke.
>
> 1. Why did John Wayne introduce the 1st episode?
>
> 2. Why did Dennis Weaver leave the show after the 1963-1964
> season?
>
> 3. Why did Amanda Blake leave the show after being on the
> show for 19 seasons?
>
> 4. In the color episodes,why did the opening scenes change
> from Matt and another person in a duel to Matt riding a
> horse?
>
As best as I can determine:

1. Wayne suggested James Arness for the Matt Dillon role (Arness was under contract to Wayne's production company), and did it as a favor.

2. Dennis Weaver had been coming and going for a few years previous. He wanted his own series, would make pilots and come back if they didn't sell. "Kentucky Jones" did sell (it lasted only one year) and Weaver was permanently gone.

3. There are 2 stories about Amanda Blake leaving - one was she provoked the producers into firing her and the other was she was tired of travelling. She was married to a man who retired to Arizona, so she commuted to the set.

4. My guess on that is that it wasn't PC to show anyone pulling a gun without reason (this was after the RFK and MLK assasinations). You could do it in-show because it was part of the storyline.
 
Gunsmoke's history actually is longer than 50 years, that only covers the time it has been on TV. Gunsmoke orginially was on radio, and if I remember correctly, starred William Conrad ( TV's heavy set detective in the 1970's show "Cannon") who played the part of Matt Dillion in the radio version (great voice for radio, but not quite the physique needed for the TV series). I'm not sure when the radio version of Gunsmoke first went on the air, but it was before the 1950's.

> > Since today is the 50th anniversary of Gunsmoke,I had a
> few
> > questions about Gunsmoke.
> >
> > 1. Why did John Wayne introduce the 1st episode?
> >
> > 2. Why did Dennis Weaver leave the show after the
> 1963-1964
> > season?
> >
> > 3. Why did Amanda Blake leave the show after being on the
> > show for 19 seasons?
> >
> > 4. In the color episodes,why did the opening scenes change
>
> > from Matt and another person in a duel to Matt riding a
> > horse?
> >
> As best as I can determine:
>
> 1. Wayne suggested James Arness for the Matt Dillon role
> (Arness was under contract to Wayne's production company),
> and did it as a favor.
>
> 2. Dennis Weaver had been coming and going for a few years
> previous. He wanted his own series, would make pilots and
> come back if they didn't sell. "Kentucky Jones" did sell (it
> lasted only one year) and Weaver was permanently gone.
>
> 3. There are 2 stories about Amanda Blake leaving - one was
> she provoked the producers into firing her and the other was
> she was tired of travelling. She was married to a man who
> retired to Arizona, so she commuted to the set.
>
> 4. My guess on that is that it wasn't PC to show anyone
> pulling a gun without reason (this was after the RFK and MLK
> assasinations). You could do it in-show because it was part
> of the storyline.
>
 
> Gunsmoke's history actually is longer than 50 years, that
> only covers the time it has been on TV. Gunsmoke orginially
> was on radio, and if I remember correctly, starred William
> Conrad ( TV's heavy set detective in the 1970's show
> "Cannon") who played the part of Matt Dillion in the radio
> version (great voice for radio, but not quite the physique
> needed for the TV series). I'm not sure when the radio
> version of Gunsmoke first went on the air, but it was before
> the 1950's.
>
> > > Since today is the 50th anniversary of Gunsmoke,I had a
> > few
> > > questions about Gunsmoke.
> > >
> > > 1. Why did John Wayne introduce the 1st episode?
> > >
> > > 2. Why did Dennis Weaver leave the show after the
> > 1963-1964
> > > season?
> > >
> > > 3. Why did Amanda Blake leave the show after being on
> the
> > > show for 19 seasons?
> > >
> > > 4. In the color episodes,why did the opening scenes
> change
> >
> > > from Matt and another person in a duel to Matt riding a
> > > horse?
> > >
> > As best as I can determine:
> >
> > 1. Wayne suggested James Arness for the Matt Dillon role
> > (Arness was under contract to Wayne's production company),
>
> > and did it as a favor.
> >
> > 2. Dennis Weaver had been coming and going for a few years
>
> > previous. He wanted his own series, would make pilots and
> > come back if they didn't sell. "Kentucky Jones" did sell
> (it
> > lasted only one year) and Weaver was permanently gone.
> >
> > 3. There are 2 stories about Amanda Blake leaving - one
> was
> > she provoked the producers into firing her and the other
> was
> > she was tired of travelling. She was married to a man who
> > retired to Arizona, so she commuted to the set.
> >
> > 4. My guess on that is that it wasn't PC to show anyone
> > pulling a gun without reason (this was after the RFK and
> MLK
> > assasinations). You could do it in-show because it was
> part
> > of the storyline.
> >
>


Here's a link with pictures of the radio cast of Gunsmoke: http://otrsite.com/gunsmoke.html

If you click on the first picture at http://otrsite.com/pictures/gunsmoke/gunsmokecast.html it has the cast listed from left to right:

Howard McNear (Floyd the Barber on The Andy Griffith Show) as Doc Adams
William Conrad as Matt Dillon
Georgia Ellis as Kitty
Parley Baer (The mayor in the early years of the Andy Griffith Show) as Chester

I had seen this picture on a CD set of the radio shows somewhere at one time, although I can't remember exactly where.

There are also some comments about the radio show vs. the TV show toward the bottom of the page.<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by ccmfan on 09/12/05 04:54 AM.</FONT></P>
 
> > Gunsmoke's history actually is longer than 50 years, that
> > only covers the time it has been on TV. Gunsmoke
> orginially
> > was on radio, and if I remember correctly, starred William
>
> > Conrad ( TV's heavy set detective in the 1970's show
> > "Cannon") who played the part of Matt Dillion in the radio
>
> > version (great voice for radio, but not quite the physique
>
> > needed for the TV series). I'm not sure when the radio
> > version of Gunsmoke first went on the air, but it was
> before
> > the 1950's.

I mentioned in my "red-letter day" post on Gunsmoke that the
radio show had been on for three years, so it started in 1952.
William Conrad did play Matt Dillon on radio. The radio show
ran until 1961.
> >
> > >
 
Thanks to both posters. The info about when the show aired, etc, and the photos were great. In those photos, William Conrad did look the part. Apparently his weight hadn't gone up at that point in his life.

CBS also had another western that was on radio while on TV, "Have Gun Will Travel". The TV version also had a different cast than the original radio version which aired also, I believe, to the early 1960's.

> > > Gunsmoke's history actually is longer than 50 years,
> that
> > > only covers the time it has been on TV. Gunsmoke
> > orginially
> > > was on radio, and if I remember correctly, starred
> William
> >
> > > Conrad ( TV's heavy set detective in the 1970's show
> > > "Cannon") who played the part of Matt Dillion in the
> radio
> >
> > > version (great voice for radio, but not quite the
> physique
> >
> > > needed for the TV series). I'm not sure when the radio
> > > version of Gunsmoke first went on the air, but it was
> > before
> > > the 1950's.
>
> I mentioned in my "red-letter day" post on Gunsmoke that the
>
> radio show had been on for three years, so it started in
> 1952.
> William Conrad did play Matt Dillon on radio. The radio
> show
> ran until 1961.
> > >
> > > >
>
 
>
> CBS also had another western that was on radio while on TV,
> "Have Gun Will Travel". The TV version also had a different
> cast than the original radio version which aired also, I
> believe, to the early 1960's.
>
> "Have Gun, Will Travel" is unique in that the TV version
PRECEDED the radio version. The TV show debuted in 1957, the
radio show in 1958. Character actor John Dehner played Paladin
on radio (Richard Boone, of course, was the TV Paladin). The
radio show lasted until 1961; the TV show, until 1963.
 
I had the opportunity to hear one episode of the radio version of Have Gun Will Travel about a year ago. It was well done, but it did seem funny to have a different voice than Richard Boone playing the part of Paladin.

> >
> > CBS also had another western that was on radio while on
> TV,
> > "Have Gun Will Travel". The TV version also had a
> different
> > cast than the original radio version which aired also, I
> > believe, to the early 1960's.
> >
> > "Have Gun, Will Travel" is unique in that the TV version
> PRECEDED the radio version. The TV show debuted in 1957,
> the
> radio show in 1958. Character actor John Dehner played
> Paladin
> on radio (Richard Boone, of course, was the TV Paladin).
> The
> radio show lasted until 1961; the TV show, until 1963.
>
 
Yeah I know this topic is super old...
In regards to Question 3, I recently bought a bio of Amanda Blake. It turns out she was fired by producer John Mantley, who was tired of Blake's complaints about everything from location shoots to outdated wardrobes. Blake played the good soldier and told the media she left voluntarily. Interestingly enough, Mantley quickly regretted his decision and decided to write back in Miss Kitty for a 21st season--which of course never came.
 
Yes, the radio version began in 1952, but there were a couple of audition episodes recorded in 1949, the first with Rye Billsbury (later known as Michael Rye) as Marshal "Mark" Dillon, and the second with Howard Culver.

Chester's surname on radio was "Proudfoot," but this was changed to "Goode" for TV, because it was assumed that people would expect him to be Native American (though Proudfoot is an English surname).
 
There were at least two (probably lost) test films for Gunsmoke on TV. Not sure if they were complete half-hour pilots or shorter. One was made with the radio cast (Conrad, Georgia Ellis as Kitty, Parley Baer as Chester, Howard McNear ["Floyd the Barber"] as Doc) to see if they could "pull it off" on TV. William Conrad reputedly went on a strict diet before appearing in the film. But it was a "no go."

The second test film featured Richard Boone as Matt and "Irish" McCalla (Sheena of the Jungle) as Kitty; not sure who may have played Chester or Doc. "Close, but no cigar." The third pilot featured the familiar cast we all know.

Chester never had a last name until Parley Baer ad libbed "as sure as my name's Chester Wesley Proudfoot" during a broadcast recording session. (Gunsmoke was never done "live" on radio, always recorded. There are some pretty funny raunchy rehearsal tapes out there. Boone and McCalla would later appear together in an episode of his Have Gun - Will Travel series.
 
On Amanda Blake (Miss Kitty) leaving the show after season 19 I think it was on internet movie data base (IMDB.com) tha I read that the person who played her bartender for the the first 19 seasons passed away and they were very close, she could not bear to do the show after that. She did return in the Gunsmoke movie that had Matt return from retirement bur I dont think Ken Curtis (Festus) was in that one.
 
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