Milburn stone gunsmoke biography of michael jackson

Season of television series

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 of season 17 aired in the United States on September 13, 1971, and the final episode aired on March 13, 1972. All episodes were broadcast in the U.S. by CBS.

Season 17 of Gunsmoke was the sixth season of color episodes. Previous seasons were filmed in black-and-white.

Synopsis

Gunsmoke is set in and around Dodge City, Kansas, in the post-Civil War era and centers on United States Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) as he enforces law and order in the city. In its original format, the series also focuses on Dillon's friendship with deputy Festus Haggen (Ken Curtis); Doctor Galen "Doc" Adams (Milburn Stone), the town's physician; Kitty Russell (Amanda Blake), saloon girl and later owner of the Long Branch Saloon; and deputy Newly O'Brien (Buck Taylor).

Cast and characters

Main article: List of Gunsmoke cast members

Main

Production

Season 17 consisted of 24 one-hour color episodes produced by executive producer John Mantley along with producer Leonard Katzman an associate producer Ron Honthaner.

Episode 1, "The Lost", was the last episode directed by Robert Totten.

Episode 19, "One for the Road", was the third of three episodes that led to the spin-off series, Dirty Sally.

Casting

Pat Hingle was cast as the town doctor to replace Milburn Stone's character, Doc Adams. He appeared in six episodes, beginning with episode 5, "New Doctor in Town". Stone returned to the role of Doc Adams in episode 12, "The Bullet".

Episodes

See also: List of Gunsmoke (TV series) episodes

Release

Broadcast

Due to the institution of the Prime Time Access Rule earlier in 1971, Gunsmoke moved back one half hour to 8:00-9:00 pm (EST) Mondays on CBS.

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American radio and television Western drama series (1952–1975)

This article is about the radio and television series. For other uses, see Gun Smoke.

Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television.

The radio series ran from 1952 to 1961. John Dunning wrote that, among radio drama enthusiasts, "Gunsmoke is routinely placed among the best shows of any kind and any time." It ran unsponsored for its first few years, with CBS funding its production.

In 1955, the series was adapted for television and ran for 20 seasons. It ran for half-hour episodes from 1955 to 1961, and one-hour episodes from 1961 to 1975. A total of 635 episodes were aired over its 20 year run. At the end of its run in 1975, Los Angeles Times columnist Cecil Smith wrote: "Gunsmoke was the dramatization of the American epic legend of the west. Our own Iliad and Odyssey, created from standard elements of the dime novel and the pulp Western as romanticized by Buntline, Harte, and Twain. It was ever the stuff of legend."

Five made-for-TV movies were produced after its 20-year run. The show won 15 Primetime Emmy Awards as well as other accolades. It was frequently well received, holding a top-10 spot in the Nielsen ratings for several seasons.

The United Kingdom series was initially titled Gun Law.

Radio series (1952–1961)

Radio show

In the late 1940s, CBS chairman William S. Paley, a fan of the Philip Marlowe radio series, asked his programming chief, Hubell Robinson, to develop a hardcore Western series, about a "Philip Marlowe of the Old West". Robinson delegated this to his West Coast CBS vice president, Harry Ackerman, who had dev