
James Arness (1923 - 3 June 2011) - Gunsmoke (10 Sept 1955) - Matt Gets It (First Episode) 2 of 2 James Arness, the star of the epic television western drama "Gunsmoke" died today, 3 June 2011, at the age of 88. He was a television legend, pioneer, and icon. Gunsmoke ran for 20 seasons on American television, from 1955 to 1975, with 635 30-minute episodes. This is the very first episode of Gunsmoke and aired on 10 Sept 1955. It is split up into two separate videos. This first episode was introduced by another screen legend, the "Duke" himself, John Wayne. Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West. The radio version ran from 1952 to 1961, and John Dunning writes that among radio drama enthusiasts "Gunsmoke is routinely placed among the best shows of any kind and any time." The television version ran for 20 seasons from 1955 to 1975, and was the United States' longest-running prime time, live-action drama with 635 episodes. In 2010 Law & Order tied this record of 20 seasons (but only 456 episodes). 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 <b>...</b>
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