On December 26th, 2013 , I set out to watch all 635 episodes of Gunsmoke on DVD. Checking out each season , one at a time, from my local library. Then, watch all 5 TV movies.
Pretty easy to get through each season at the start, episodes were only 30 minutes, so I got up to the one hour episodes in pretty good time. Now of course it took longer but that was okay, it was worth the time invested and by January of 2015 , I had gotten through the first 11 seasons.
Then, annoyingly, CBS home video took a long time to get to the next season ,but it finally came out. ...and "then" it was like watching grass grow for all the color seasons next. But, by the start of 2020 , I was up to season 16.
The virus scare and lockdown of 2020 detained my getting the next seasons. Once lockdown was lifted, my local library straightened things out but I had to stay in the car while they brought them out to me.
When I finally got to Seasons 19 and 20 it was Autumn. I finished Season 20 on October 15th, 2020. I had completed the series. Then I took the next few weeks to get the 5 T. V. movies. On Saturday, December 26th, 2020 , I watched the final movie, 7 years to the day of starting the series.
I didn't want to write up a review until I had finished everything.
Now I can honestly say, every bit of Gunsmoke (The TV Series) is worth it. ( I know...'why not stream' ? - I didn't have the service then.)
Maybe in the early shows, it sounds and is acted like a radio show (which it was at the time) and the 30 minute stories are resolved fairly quick but, in a way that's plausible and makes good sense , while still having good well acted drama.
As the shows seasons pass, the characters get better fleshed out and each actor has found what makes their character who they are and what their purpose is. When the show went to an hour, then , the resolution at the end is even more satisfyng and realistic.
James Arness as Matt Dillon is a powerhouse performance by then and it's become clear that while he can be shot, it seems he lives a charmed or very blessed life, to where he has to live to serve justice.
In one show, a man tries to shoot him from a slow moving stagecoach and is stunned by the fact he missed him from just a few feet away. The Marshal's more physical (using his fists) ways pf justice wouldn't fly today, in our 21st century, but his sense of right and wrong is surely welcome.
A lot of those 'amazing escapes' wouldn't be possible without Chester Goode (Dennis Weaver) , then Festus Hagen (Ken Curtis) , Miss Kitty (Amanda Blake) , Doc aka 'Galen' Adams (Milburn Stone) , Newly (Walter "Buck" Taylor) or citizens in Dodge showing their support in a posse or in other manners .
Matt doesn't want revenge shootings or lynchings to be sure.
The other lead actors , just as strongly as Arness can play it all in an even level heavy, good humor , light hearted and going toe to toe mean with the lawless.
The show was very much the adult outing that John Wayne introduced it to be and it didn't whitewash (much) when it came to the shootings and violence. (As far as censors would let everything get anyway.)
The mid-1960s , the show started focusing equally on our main characters and situations revolving around the many residents of Dodge or people passing through . Some needing saving, assistamce, some geting on the wrong side of the law.
By 1967, some felt that the paint was wearing off on Gunsmoke, even in color. CBS almost cancelled it, but CBS's President William Paley was convinced by his wife not too (it was her favorite show).
Aside from that, what also saved the show ,was getting even grittier than ever in it's approach. The TV landscape was beginning to change, with all the serious things going on in America, it had too. We actually heard 'damn' and 'h*** on the show (no other swears allowed).
This new attitude led to the most shocking episode ever at the time. In 1968, the episode titled, "Mannon". A cold, heartless, ruthless almost clinically mean and insane character comes to Dodge.
He shoots Festus for no reason, he alienates the townspeople (who "will" get shot if they don't comply) and the toughest part to watch , although we don't see this action, he rapes Miss Kitty behind bar in the Long Branch saloon. I wont give away how it ends but , never had such a storyline been so frightening for this show
After this season, the show started filming outdoors more and using the fake Dodge set less, giving it a more realistic feel , like you were actually out in the old west. They were able to make darker shows but still have some thoughtful or very poignant episodes.
Some episode have the cinematography one would think you'd only find in movies seen in a theater. Which makes outdoor scenes very colorful and alive.
They did one more very dark show. "Hostage" This time Kitty is kidnapped by a gang , led by a man who almost equals Mannon is violence and craziness. When Matt wont show up for a gunfight, they ride back in with her but not before they've beaten her (offscreen) and maybe more .
The leader Bonner (played by now late actor & stuntman William Smith) throws her into the Dodge street and shoots her point blank. Talk about the chills running through a person, they sure did with me.
Gunsmoke stayed on until 1975. The last show was, "The Sharecroppers" but to make the end more satisfying to me and have more of a true finale , I saved, "The Guns of Cibola Blanca" for last.
Take my word, it's non stop drama and action and feels like a conclusion and is a 2 parter, so it's like a full feature movie.
As for the later 5 T. V. films, they're good all around. Best one in my view is "The Last Apache"
In order they are :
Return To Dodge 1987 -
The Last Apache 1990 -
To The Last Man 1992 -
The Long Ride 1993 -
One Man's Justice 1994 .
Gunsmoke is TEN STAR entertainment all the way through, all 40 years if it. (1954 *When production started* to the final 1994 film.)
Hold it! If you choose to binge watch it too.... don't skip a thing. (END)
Pretty easy to get through each season at the start, episodes were only 30 minutes, so I got up to the one hour episodes in pretty good time. Now of course it took longer but that was okay, it was worth the time invested and by January of 2015 , I had gotten through the first 11 seasons.
Then, annoyingly, CBS home video took a long time to get to the next season ,but it finally came out. ...and "then" it was like watching grass grow for all the color seasons next. But, by the start of 2020 , I was up to season 16.
The virus scare and lockdown of 2020 detained my getting the next seasons. Once lockdown was lifted, my local library straightened things out but I had to stay in the car while they brought them out to me.
When I finally got to Seasons 19 and 20 it was Autumn. I finished Season 20 on October 15th, 2020. I had completed the series. Then I took the next few weeks to get the 5 T. V. movies. On Saturday, December 26th, 2020 , I watched the final movie, 7 years to the day of starting the series.
I didn't want to write up a review until I had finished everything.
Now I can honestly say, every bit of Gunsmoke (The TV Series) is worth it. ( I know...'why not stream' ? - I didn't have the service then.)
Maybe in the early shows, it sounds and is acted like a radio show (which it was at the time) and the 30 minute stories are resolved fairly quick but, in a way that's plausible and makes good sense , while still having good well acted drama.
As the shows seasons pass, the characters get better fleshed out and each actor has found what makes their character who they are and what their purpose is. When the show went to an hour, then , the resolution at the end is even more satisfyng and realistic.
James Arness as Matt Dillon is a powerhouse performance by then and it's become clear that while he can be shot, it seems he lives a charmed or very blessed life, to where he has to live to serve justice.
In one show, a man tries to shoot him from a slow moving stagecoach and is stunned by the fact he missed him from just a few feet away. The Marshal's more physical (using his fists) ways pf justice wouldn't fly today, in our 21st century, but his sense of right and wrong is surely welcome.
A lot of those 'amazing escapes' wouldn't be possible without Chester Goode (Dennis Weaver) , then Festus Hagen (Ken Curtis) , Miss Kitty (Amanda Blake) , Doc aka 'Galen' Adams (Milburn Stone) , Newly (Walter "Buck" Taylor) or citizens in Dodge showing their support in a posse or in other manners .
Matt doesn't want revenge shootings or lynchings to be sure.
The other lead actors , just as strongly as Arness can play it all in an even level heavy, good humor , light hearted and going toe to toe mean with the lawless.
The show was very much the adult outing that John Wayne introduced it to be and it didn't whitewash (much) when it came to the shootings and violence. (As far as censors would let everything get anyway.)
The mid-1960s , the show started focusing equally on our main characters and situations revolving around the many residents of Dodge or people passing through . Some needing saving, assistamce, some geting on the wrong side of the law.
By 1967, some felt that the paint was wearing off on Gunsmoke, even in color. CBS almost cancelled it, but CBS's President William Paley was convinced by his wife not too (it was her favorite show).
Aside from that, what also saved the show ,was getting even grittier than ever in it's approach. The TV landscape was beginning to change, with all the serious things going on in America, it had too. We actually heard 'damn' and 'h*** on the show (no other swears allowed).
This new attitude led to the most shocking episode ever at the time. In 1968, the episode titled, "Mannon". A cold, heartless, ruthless almost clinically mean and insane character comes to Dodge.
He shoots Festus for no reason, he alienates the townspeople (who "will" get shot if they don't comply) and the toughest part to watch , although we don't see this action, he rapes Miss Kitty behind bar in the Long Branch saloon. I wont give away how it ends but , never had such a storyline been so frightening for this show
After this season, the show started filming outdoors more and using the fake Dodge set less, giving it a more realistic feel , like you were actually out in the old west. They were able to make darker shows but still have some thoughtful or very poignant episodes.
Some episode have the cinematography one would think you'd only find in movies seen in a theater. Which makes outdoor scenes very colorful and alive.
They did one more very dark show. "Hostage" This time Kitty is kidnapped by a gang , led by a man who almost equals Mannon is violence and craziness. When Matt wont show up for a gunfight, they ride back in with her but not before they've beaten her (offscreen) and maybe more .
The leader Bonner (played by now late actor & stuntman William Smith) throws her into the Dodge street and shoots her point blank. Talk about the chills running through a person, they sure did with me.
Gunsmoke stayed on until 1975. The last show was, "The Sharecroppers" but to make the end more satisfying to me and have more of a true finale , I saved, "The Guns of Cibola Blanca" for last.
Take my word, it's non stop drama and action and feels like a conclusion and is a 2 parter, so it's like a full feature movie.
As for the later 5 T. V. films, they're good all around. Best one in my view is "The Last Apache"
In order they are :
Return To Dodge 1987 -
The Last Apache 1990 -
To The Last Man 1992 -
The Long Ride 1993 -
One Man's Justice 1994 .
Gunsmoke is TEN STAR entertainment all the way through, all 40 years if it. (1954 *When production started* to the final 1994 film.)
Hold it! If you choose to binge watch it too.... don't skip a thing. (END)