Vintage 1960's Tevision

 

Gunsmoke

Gunsmoke was a American radio and television program which first aired September 10, 1955. The stories take place in Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshall Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television.

          The radio series ran from 1952 to 1961was written by John Dunning. The television series ran for 20 seasons on CBS with 635 total episodes, from 1955 to 1975.

         During its second season in 1956, the program was on the list of the top ten television programs broadcast in The United States. It quickly moved to number one and stayed there until 1961. James Arness and Millburn Stone portrayed their Gunsmoke characters for 20 consecutive years. George Walsh, the announcer for the show, began in 1952 on radio's Gunsmoke and continued until television's Gunsmoke was canceled in 1975. The first seven seasons were jointly sponsored by L&M cigarettes and Remington shaving products.

 

Added note

James Arness has a brother, Peter Graves who starred in the TV series Mission Impossible.