Gunsmoke

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. In later episodes Ken Curtis played Festus Haggen and Burt Reynolds played blacksmith Quint Asper.

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 appeared as guest stars.  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 with Arness as 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).

 References 
 Information on Gunsmoke 
Gunsmoke episodes at the Internet Movie Database

Category:American drama television series
Category:American western (genre) television series
Category:CBS network shows
Category:1950s American drama television series
Category:1950s American western (genre) television series
Category:1955 American television series debuts
Category:1960s American drama television series
Category:1960s American western (genre) television series
Category:1970s American drama television series
Category:1975 American television series endings
Category:American English-language television shows