Now That He's Older, Was There More Going On In The Series "Gunsmoke" than He Thought?

The year was 1955, when a seven year old cowboy “wannabe” settled in front of the family black and white TV to watch the premier of a new series titled Gunsmoke. (This month ME TV is celebrating the 70th anniversary of that first episode with a full month of highlight episodes and guest stars.)

It was a Saturday night, as I can remember. Our babysitter made us “black cows” and popcorn, as our parents were enjoying a rare night out. After that first episode, we were hooked and looked forward to every Saturday night in front of the “Bube tube.”

The series was being promoted by none other than John Wayne, who introduced us to a new cowboy named James Arness, a towering 6 foot 7 inch actor, who would play Marshall Matt Dillon in Dodge City, Kansas. The cast included Deputy Chester Good (Dennis Weaver), Doc Adams (Milburn Stone) and Miss Kitty (Amanda Blake).

After 635 episodes and 20 years on primetime TV, the last episode of Gunsmoke aired on March 31, 1975, thus becoming the longest running series of its time. Many actors started (or ended) their careers guest starring on Gunsmoke episodes. The list includes Bette Davis, William Shatner, Burt Reynolds, Angie Dickenson, Charles Bronson, Harrison Ford, Ron Howard, Miss Michael Learned and Leonard Nimoy, just to name a few.

As a kid, I never questioned the story lines of the series. I just sat back and let my imagination take me through the story. Now, being a discerning adult, I have a lot of questions concerning this 20 year Western soap opera. So, I decided to do a modern-day Columbo and investigate.

My first question concerns the opening scene in each episode when Marshall Dillon draws on an outlaw on the streets of Dodge City. It took me 70 years to notice that the outlaw’s gun fires FIRST before Matt guns him down.

You would think that out of 635 outlaws that drew on Matt in the intro, one would have had better aim to hit Marshall Dillon. He was a 6 foot 7 inch target. What are the odds? So, instead of the first outlaw hitting Matt directly and ending the series at the start of the first episode (new series Chester Good, U.S.Marshall), we have 635 outlaw graves buried on Boot Hill, the town cemetery.

I can just picture the Hollywood casting call: Wanted, good actor with great ability to draw a gun, but bad aim. Willing to be shot in the first ten seconds of filming, no speaking lines, no credits.

Miss Kitty was the owner of the Long Branch Saloon and the romantic interest of Marshall Dillon. Isn’t it amazing that during the 20 year romance (a lot of flirting and innuendos) between Matt and Miss Kitty, they never kissed once? While I am not inclined to question Marshall Dillon’s manhood (and ending up grave number 636 on Boot Hill), he must have had an awful lot of will power!

Well, Matt DID have an on screen kiss on Gunsmoke, with none other than Miss Michael Learned (who played Olivia Walton of The Waltons) in the 1973 episode “Matt’s Love Story.” In this episode Matt suffers from amnesia due to a blow to the head, meets a widow played by Michael, and they fall in love and kiss. When he regains his memory, he immediately goes back to Miss Kitty.

The plot thickens. Seventeen years later, in a made for TV Gunsmoke movie, Miss Michael Learned reappears to inform Matt that they had a love child daughter from that 1973 “kiss” episode. That must have been some kiss! Their daughter had been kidnapped by an Apache tribe, and they embarked to find her. Since Matt had claimed amnesia for his affair with Mike seventeen years ago, Miss Kitty was okay with it.

Can you imagine if John Walton heard about his wife Olivia’s affair with Matt Dillon on another sound stage? The Waltons had been on the air only one year before “Matt’s Love Story.”

It’s a good thing that they did not have ME TV reruns on Walton’s Mountain in 1941, only radio broadcasts. The second season first episode of the Walton’s might have been “The Walton’s Divorce.” John’s lawyer would be Perry Mason, and Olivia’s lawyer would be Matlock.

Finally, my Columbo investigation revealed that Miss Kitty might have been operating an illegal brothel behind the Long Branch Saloon. She could have been arrested, put in jail and lost her Dodge City liquor license. Matt would then hold the keys to the jail, and he just might have gotten his “first kiss” if you catch my drift.

Ok, I am done overthinking my 20 years of Gunsmoke. Better to leave it up to the Hollywood screenwriters to create a wonderful wild west tale of adventure full of action, drama, great actors, beautiful scenery and little common sense.  

It does, however, make me enjoy  Toby Keith's "Should Have Been a Cowboy" on Youtube....

One last Gunsmoke trivia fact: Did you know that James Arness’s horse in Gunsmoke was the same horse used by Lorne Greene in Bonanza? Good thing they did not arrest Ben Cartright for horse stealing, which was punishable in those days of death by hanging. Then, Adam, Hoss and Little Joe would have been left to run the Ponderosa. Just saying.

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