Gunsmoke Golden Years.

[Smokey]

As you all know, Gunsmoke ran for total of 20 seasons. Although have not seen every episodes, there seem to be “parabola” curve in quality of episodes.

Recently the Encore's Western channels concluded its contract to air every B&W episodes from 1961 to 1965 season, and IMO these are the golden years of Gunsmoke. As earlier [1/2 hours] seasons before 1961 had a darker tone and fast paced. And seasons after 1965 the stories slowly moved away from central main characters and concentrated more on guess actors/actresses.

But from ‘61 to ‘65, Gumsmoke was smoking literally. There are alot of classic episodes in that era (which were shot on film) with captivating stories mostly involving central characters.

This is the years where Burt Reynolds and Ken Curtis (Festus) became a regular on the show, although Burt left only after couple seasons. And also Dennis Weaver left after 9 years as Marshal’s side kick. Marshall Dillon was tough as a nail with a fast draw, and Miss Kitty’s Long branch Saloon was the place to hang out.