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I have just completed my gunsmoke

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summer.

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My summer of binge watching the

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classic series that was

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the number one show on television

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from 1957 to

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1961.

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It also ranked in the top ten

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of all shows for most

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of its 20 year run,

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which ended in 1975 when

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I was a sophomore in high school.

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Its final episode had

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30 million viewers.

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The Sopranos final show had

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only 12 million, but TV

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viewership was diluted by then.

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Lest you think I'm just an old dude

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with a freakish interest in obsolete

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TV shows, I'm not watching

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alone.

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Many millions of people in the US

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and abroad are joining me.

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Gunsmoke has surprised the Nielsen

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ratings folks by breaking into

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the top 10 most streamed

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rerun shows from time to time over

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the last two years.

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Keeping company with Gray's Anatomy

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and the Big Bang Theory.

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And it's not just in the U.S.

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Either.

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Gunsmoke is popular in Germany and

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Austria, Australia,

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Norway, Sweden, Israel.

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Here are some things I observed

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during my Gunsmokes summer.

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Though I watched Gunsmok as a boy,

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I didn't remember any of the

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episodes from the first five years

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of the show.

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These were all black and white

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episodes and what I would call

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morality tv rather

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than reality tv

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the outcomes were

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about how the world should be

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more than how it was in

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dodge city kansas and beyond us

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marshal matt dylan nearly always

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gets his man or

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god does in

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one episode a flashback reveals that

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matt when he was just an 18

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year old cowboy was randomly

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taken hostage during a

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robbery in Redwater,

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Texas.

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To ensure the hold-up gangs escape.

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When there was no pursuit, the

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leader wanted to kill Matt to

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leave no loose ends.

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An older member of the gang, Dan

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York, saved Matt's life,

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and thus Matt survived to become the

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famed US Marshal of Dodge

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City.

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Matt's character is one of

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extraordinary honesty.

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He has a moral compass that

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never loses true north.

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He is empathetic, listens well,

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and will not tolerate bigotry

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or prejudice.

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Nor will Matt's friends, Doc or

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Kitty or Festus or Chester.

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But a lot of bad guys come from

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Texas too.

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And a lot troublesome drunk cowboys

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from the cattle drives are naturally

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from Texas and require

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Marshall Dillon's iron fist and

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quick draw to keep them in line.

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According to gun smoke historian,

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Marshall Trimble, Matt was shot

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56 times over

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the 20 years of the series,

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knocked out 29 times,

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stabbed three times and

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poisoned once.

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Amazing he's still with us.

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The show takes on racism quite

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often, but never uses the word

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racism.

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For instance, Burt Reynolds plays

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Quint, a blacksmith who is half

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white and half Comanche.

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People sometimes refuse to trust

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him because he's a Comanche

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Matt doesn't mention racism.

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He just vouches for him by saying

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things like you won't find a

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better more trustworthy man anywhere

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than Quint Asper.

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An amusing aspect of the series is

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that as depicted in the show,

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Kansas is quite hilly,

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even mountainous with

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deserts.

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Understandable as the show was shot

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in California, Utah, and Arizona.

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Also amusing is that according

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to the show from Dodge city,

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Texas is only a day's ride away

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and it takes only about two

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to get to Mexico by horseback.

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The border guards also speak English

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quite well in the program, as

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do the Cantina waitresses.

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There are a great number of famous

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actors and eventually famous

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actors who guest-starred on

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Gunsmoke, Leonard Nimoy,

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Bette Davis, Harrison Ford,

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William Shatner, Kurt Russell,

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Sam Elliott,

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Charles Bronson, and

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Ed Asner, to name

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some of the major ones.

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In the radio version of Gunsmok,

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the Long Branch was a brothel,

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but on TV it became

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more of a social club, with

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the women of Long Branch Saloon.

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Presented as pretty

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conversationalists who sit for

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drinks with the patrons

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Watching doc and Festus argue

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is one of the highlights of every

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episode Festus has

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his own language with the most

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unique complex grammar

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you ever done heard

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Although Matt and Miss Kitty have a

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clear romantic affiliation.

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They never kissed on the show never

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the producers wanted to keep the

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tension strong You

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can join me on your recliner to

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watch a gun smoke most any time.

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You can see it on Paramount Plus,

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Peacock, BTV and Pluto,

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among others.

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I'm WF Strong.

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These are stories from Texas.

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Some of them are true.