List of Gunsmoke television episodes


Gunsmoke is an American western television series developed by Charles Marquis Warren and based on the radio program of the same name. The series ran for 20 seasons, making it the longest-running western in television history. The first episode aired in the United States on September 10, 1955, and the final episode aired on March 31, 1975. All episodes were broadcast in the U.S. by CBS. In the United Kingdom Gunsmoke was originally broadcast under the title Gun Law.
Gunsmoke was originally a half-hour program filmed in black-and-white. The series expanded to an hour in length with season seven and began filming in color in season twelve. During its run 635 episodes were broadcast, of which 233 were 30 minutes in length and 402 were 60 minutes in length. Of the hour-long episodes 176 were in black-and-white and 226 in color. During season two, Gunsmoke became one of the ten most popular programs on American television and moved to number one in the third season. It remained at number one until 1961 and stayed in the top twenty until 1964. The series returned to prominence in 1967 following a shift in its programming time from Saturday to Monday night. From there Gunsmoke remained in the top twenty for the next seven years, dropping out only in its final season. In May 1975 CBS canceled the series. Alan Wagner, the network's vice president at the time, said, "It's better to get rid of a program one year too soon than one year too late." Between 1987 and 1994 five television movies based on the series were aired by CBS.
Gunsmoke is set in and around Dodge City, Kansas, in the post-Civil War era and centers on United States Marshal Matt Dillon as he enforces law and order in the city. In its original format the series also focuses on Dillon's friendship with three other citizens of Dodge City: Doctor Galen "Doc" Adams, the town's physician; Kitty Russell, saloon girl and later owner of the Long Branch Saloon; and Chester Goode, Dillon's assistant. In season eight a fifth regular character was added to the cast: blacksmith Quint Asper, who remained until the end of season ten. Dennis Weaver left the series during season nine and was replaced by Ken Curtis as Festus Haggen, who became deputy to Marshall Dillon. Both Chester and Festus appear together in the season nine episode "The Prairie Wolfer," and Festus had initially appeared the previous season, playing the same character as a quasi-outlaw helping Dillon track a killer in "Us Haggens". In season eleven, another deputy, Clayton Thaddeus Greenwood, was added to the cast. Ewing's character was replaced in season thirteen by Newly O'Brien. Amanda Blake left the series at the end of season nineteen and was replaced in the final season by a new character, Miss Hannah, portrayed by Fran Ryan.
As of May 5, 2020, all episodes of Gunsmoke have been released on DVD, while two other collections contain selected episodes from all twenty seasons. All five television movies have been released on DVD as well.

Series overview

Episodes

Seasons 1 - 6
1955/56 through 1960/61
233 half-hour episodes
39 episodes for each of the first five seasons, with 38 episodes for the 6th season

Season 1 (1955–56)

Thirty-nine half-hour episodes, black-and-white
Producer: Charles Marquis Warren; associate producer: Norman Macdonnell
Regular cast: James Arness, Dennis Weaver, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake
Note: The premiere episode was introduced by John Wayne.

Season 2 (1956–57)

Thirty-nine half-hour episodes, black-and-white
Producer: Charles Marquis Warren, Norman Macdonnell
Regular cast: James Arness, Dennis Weaver, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake

Season 3 (1957–58)

Thirty-nine half-hour episodes, black-and-white
Producer: Norman Macdonnell
Regular cast: James Arness, Dennis Weaver, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake

Season 4 (1958–59)

Thirty-nine half-hour episodes, black-and-white
Producer: Norman Macdonnell
Regular cast: James Arness, Dennis Weaver, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake

Season 5 (1959–60)

Thirty-nine half-hour episodes, black-and-white
Producer: Norman Macdonnell
Regular cast: James Arness, Dennis Weaver, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake

Season 6 (1960–61)

Thirty-eight half-hour episodes, black-and-white
Producer: Norman Macdonnell; associate producer: James Arness
Regular cast: James Arness, Dennis Weaver, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake

One-hour black-and-white era

Seasons 7 - 11
1961/62 through 1965/66
176 black-and-white full-hour episodes

Season 7 (1961–62)

Thirty-four one-hour episodes, black-and-white
Producer: Norman Macdonnell; associate producer: Frank Paris
Regular cast: James Arness, Dennis Weaver, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake

Season 8 (1962–63)

Thirty-eight one-hour episodes, black-and-white
Producer: Norman Macdonnell; associate producer: Frank Paris
Regular cast: James Arness, Dennis Weaver, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Burt Reynolds

Season 9 (1963–64)

Thirty-six one-hour episodes, black-and-white
Producer: Norman Macdonnell; associate producer: Frank Paris
Regular cast: James Arness, Dennis Weaver, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Ken Curtis, Burt Reynolds

Season 10 (1964–65)

Thirty-six one-hour episodes, black-and-white
Producer: Norman Macdonnell, Philip Leacock ; associate producer: Frank Paris
Regular cast: James Arness, Milburn Stone, Ken Curtis, Amanda Blake, Burt Reynolds

Season 11 (1965–66)

Thirty-two one-hour episodes, black-and-white
Producer: Philip Leacock; associate producer: John Mantley
Regular cast: James Arness, Ken Curtis, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Roger Ewing

One-hour color era

Seasons 12 - 20
1966/67 through 1974/75
226 color episodes

Season 12 (1966–67)

Twenty-nine one-hour episodes, color
Executive producer: Philip Leacock; producer: John Mantley
Regular cast: James Arness, Ken Curtis, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Roger Ewing
CBS cancelled the series due to low ratings. However, letters of protest and pressure from his wife persuaded William S. Paley, the network's chief executive, to re-instate Gunsmoke for a thirteenth season.
Note: In 1997 TV Guide ranked "The Jailer" as episode No. 28 on its "100 Greatest Episodes of All Time" list.

Season 13 (1967–68)

Twenty-five one-hour episodes, color
Producer: John Mantley; associate producer: Joseph Dackow
Regular cast: James Arness, Ken Curtis, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Buck Taylor
Gunsmoke began its thirteenth season in a new time-slot. With this the series returned to being among the top ten highest rated programs, where it remained for the next six seasons.

Season 14 (1968–69)

Twenty-six one-hour episodes, color
Producer / executive producer: John Mantley; associate producer: Joseph Dackow
Regular cast: James Arness, Ken Curtis, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Buck Taylor

Season 15 (1969–70)

Twenty-six one-hour episodes, color
Executive producer: John Mantley; producer: Joseph Dackow
Regular cast: James Arness, Ken Curtis, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Buck Taylor

Season 16 (1970–71)

Twenty-four one-hour episodes, color
Executive producer: John Mantley; producer: Joseph Dackow, Leonard Katzman
Regular cast: James Arness, Ken Curtis, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Buck Taylor
Note: "Pike", the two-part episode that ended the season, was later developed into a spin-off series entitled Dirty Sally.

Season 17 (1971–72)

Twenty-four one-hour episodes, color
Executive producer: John Mantley; producer: Leonard Katzman; associate producer: Ron Honthaner
Regular cast: James Arness, Ken Curtis, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Buck Taylor

Season 18 (1972–73)

Twenty-four one-hour episodes, color
Executive producer: John Mantley; producer: Leonard Katzman; associate producer: Ron Honthaner.
Regular cast: James Arness, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Ken Curtis, Buck Taylor

Season 19 (1973–74)

Twenty-four one-hour episodes, color
Executive producer: John Mantley; producer: Leonard Katzman; associate producer: Ron Honthaner
Regular cast: James Arness, Ken Curtis, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Buck Taylor

Season 20 (1974–75)

Twenty-four one-hour episodes, color
Executive producer: John Mantley; producer: Leonard Katzman, John G. Stephens ; associate producer: Ron Honthaner
Regular cast: James Arness, Ken Curtis, Milburn Stone, Buck Taylor, Fran Ryan

Television movies (1987–94)

Home media releases

All twenty seasons of Gunsmoke and all five reunion films are available on DVD in Region 1. Two box sets—The 50th Anniversary Collection and The Director's Collection—have been released on DVD in Region 1.

Footnotes