Gunsmoke

Gunsmoke  -  Listen to Episodes, Below

The chairman of CBS in the 1950's, William S. Paley, loved detective novels, particularly those of Raymond Chandler's famous shamus, Philip Marlowe. He was also a huge fan of Louis L’amour's western novels, which were written with adult readers in mind. As a result, Paley dreamed of a radio program that featured realistic, hard-boiled characters set in a wide-open western town in the 1870s.

Gunsmoke was that program -- an adult western carefully sculpted by script writer John Meston (an Old-West historian) and Norman MacDonnell, who produced and directed.

Gunsmoke was a major hit from the beginning. Variety declared it "an amazing presentation" and The New York Times said Gunsmoke was "Something new and entirely exciting in radio."

Episodes took place in the 1870s in and around Dodge City, a town located at the end of the long Texas to Kansas cattle trail. The stories accurately depicted life in that time and place. Scripts were often morality plays depicting the violent danger that permeated the American west after the Civil War.

Some stories were about the hard life of prairie farmers. Some were about the difficulties faced by women living in a wild western town or on an isolated prairie farm. Some were about the racial prejudice suffered by noble Indians or poor immigrants who had somehow found their way to Kansas.

There were stories about alcoholism, mental problems, post-traumatic-stress-disorder, disease, plague, disasters. There were stories of greed, avarice, jealousy, contentiousness, and rebellion. There were also stories about goodness, kindness, forgiveness and grace.

William Conrad played Matt Dillon, the U.S. Marshall assigned to Dodge City. Parley Baer portrayed Chester Proudfoot, Dillon's assistant. Doctor Charles Adams was played by Howard McNear and Georgia Ellis played Kitty Russell, saloon girl and later saloon owner.

The rest of the ensemble cast included Hollywood's finest radio talent portraying many memorable characters that will be etched into your mind and heart for a long, long time. In fact, it was said that most talk around the water cooler on Monday mornings revolved around the moral dilemma offered up on that week-end's episode of Gunsmoke.

Come along and join us for the radio program many believe was the greatest show ever produced. Meet Matt, Chester, Kitty and Doc and spend many wonderful listening to Gunsmoke!