Get more information on the Long Lost Family TV show and its participants, from TLC: REGRET, LOSS AND REDEMPTION ON TLC’S DOCU-SERIES “LONG LOST FAMILY”. 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. Long Lost Family will be back soon. Recently, TLC announced season two of the TV series will debut in February. Hosted by Chris Jacobs and Lisa Joyner, the unscripted.

Gunsmoke - Wikipedia. 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.

The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, 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. When aired in the UK, the television series was initially titled Gun Law. John Dunning. At the end of its run in 1. Los Angeles Times columnist Cecil Smith wrote: . Our own Iliad and Odyssey, created from standard elements of the dime novel and the pulp western as romanticized by .

It was ever the stuff of legend. Paley, a fan of the Philip Marlowe radio serial, asked his programming chief, Hubell Robinson, to develop a hardboiled Western series, a show about a . Robinson instructed his West Coast CBS Vice President, Harry Ackerman, who had developed the Philip Marlowe series, to take on the task. Two auditions were created in 1. The first was very much like a hardboiled detective series and starred Michael Rye (credited as Rye Billsbury) as Dillon; the second starred Straight Arrow actor Howard Culver in a more Western, lighter version of the same script.

CBS liked the Culver version better, and Ackerman was told to proceed. A complication arose, though; Culver's contract as the star of Straight Arrow would not allow him to do another Western series. The project was shelved for three years, when producer Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston discovered it while creating an adult Western series of their own. The show stars William Conrad as Marshal Matt Dillon, Howard Mc. Near as Doc Charles Adams, Georgia Ellis as Kitty Russell, and Parley Baer as Dillon's assistant, Chester Wesley Proudfoot. Dillon was played on radio by William Conrad and on TV by James Arness. Two versions of the same pilot episode titled .

Conrad was one of the last actors to audition for the role of Marshal Dillon. With a resonantly powerful and distinctive voice, Conrad was already one of radio's busiest actors. Though Meston championed him, Macdonnell thought Conrad might be overexposed. During his audition, however, Conrad won over Macdonnell after reading only a few lines. Dillon as portrayed by Conrad was a lonely, isolated man, toughened by a hard life.

Macdonnell later claimed, . Many episodes were based on man's cruelty to man and woman, inasmuch as the prairie woman's life and the painful treatment of women as chattels were touched on well ahead of their time in most media. As originally pitched to CBS executives, this was to be an adult Western, not a grown- up Hopalong Cassidy.

Dunning writes that Meston was especially disgusted by the archetypal Western hero and set out . In Meston's view, . Chester's character had no surname until Baer ad libbed . Initial Gunsmoke scripts gave him no name at all; his lines were simply slugged to be spoken by .

Again, Conrad's sense of what the program would be supervened, and Chester was born. Chester's middle initial was given as . The amiable Waco expatriate was usually described as Dillon's . Contradicting this description, in the July 5, 1. Whatever his title, Chester was Dillon's foil, friend, partner, and in an episode in which Chester nearly dies (.

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The TV series changed the newly limping Chester's last name from Proudfoot to Goode. Chester was played by Dennis Weaver who went on to star in the TV Police drama Mc.

Cloud. Weaver, himself an impressive 6'2. Charles Adams in the radio series, with Milburn Stone portraying Dr. Galen Adams in the television version. In the radio series, . However, Mc. Near's performances steadily became more warm- hearted and sympathetic.

Most notably, this transformation began during (and progressed steadily following) the July 1. Doc Adams' backstory evokes a varied and experienced life: In some episodes, he had educational ties to Philadelphia; in others, he spent time as ship's doctor aboard the gambling boats that plied the Mississippi River, which provided a background for his knowledge of New Orleans (and acquaintance with Mark Twain). In the January 3. Beauregard forced Doc into fighting a duel with him, resulting in Beauregard's being shot and killed. Watch The Dog Lover Dailymotion. Though it was a fair duel, because Doc was a Yankee and an outsider, he was forced to flee.

The young woman fled after him and they were married in St. Louis, but two months later, she died of typhus. Doc wandered throughout the territories until he settled in Dodge City 1. The Adams moniker was another Conrad invention, borrowing the surname from cartoonist Charles Addams as a testament to Doc's initially ghoulish comportment. Miss Kitty. Georgia Ellis first appeared in the radio episode .

Kitty's profession was hinted at, but never explicit; in a 1. Time, Macdonnell declared, . Sometime in 1. 95. Ellis was billed as Georgia Hawkins instead of Georgia Ellis. Distinction from other radio westerns. Dunning writes that Dillon . He arrived too late to prevent a lynching.

He amputated a dying man's leg and lost the patient anyway. He saved a girl from brutal rapists then found himself unable to offer her what she needed to stop her from moving into .. Episodes were aimed at adults and featured some of the most explicit content of their time, including violent crimes, scalpings, massacres, and opium addicts. Many episodes ended on a somber note, and villains often got away with their crimes. Nonetheless, due to the subtle scripts and outstanding ensemble cast, over the years, the program evolved into a warm, often humorous celebration of human nature. Apart from the doleful tone, Gunsmoke was distinct from other radio Westerns, as the dialogue was often slow and halting, and due to the outstanding sound effects, listeners had a nearly palpable sense of the prairie where the show was set.

The effects were subtle but multilayered, giving the show a spacious feel. John Dunning wrote, . He heard noises from the next block, too, where the inevitable dog was barking.

The program got its support from CBS for the first two years. Series producers felt that if the show were sponsored, they would have to .

Privately, Macdonnell had a guarded interest in taking the show to television, but publicly, he declared, . However, Meston was kept as the main writer. In the early years, a majority of the TV episodes were adapted from the radio scripts, often using identical scenes and dialogue. Dunning wrote, . That the TV show was not a sham is due in no small part to the continued strength of Meston's scripts. It was the second Westerntelevision series written for adults. During its second season in 1. United States. It quickly moved to number one and stayed there until 1.

It remained among the top 2. Some TV fans question its position as having the longest run. Some foreign- made programs, i.

Conrad's weight was rumored to be a deciding factor. Denver Pyle was also considered for the leading role, as was Raymond Burr, who was ultimately also seen as too heavy for the part. Charles Warren, television Gunsmoke's first director, said . When he stood up, his chair stood with him.

The belief that Wayne was asked to star is disputed by Warren. Although he agrees Wayne encouraged Arness to take the role, Warren says, . I never thought for a moment of offering it to Wayne. Wayne came in. Warren asked Wayne if he knew James Arness, and Mr. Wayne said yes. Warren told Mr. Wayne about the transition of the show from radio to TV, and Mr.

Wayne readily agreed that James Arness would be a terrific choice for the part of Matt Dillon. I have no reason to doubt the story, because Jimmy absolutely knew everybody. Macdonnell became the associate producer of the TV show and later the producer.

Meston was named head writer. Good evening. My name's Wayne. Some of you may have seen me before; I hope so. I've been kicking around Hollywood a long time.