Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the review about one of the shows the WWE brags about having more episodes than! I’m not exactly sure what they mean because the reruns that play on the western channel on DISH Network seem to be on a loop of the same 15. I know I’ve personally seen my dad watch the episode where Festus debuts 3 different times. That’s not god replay value for a show with 635 episodes. Just play them in a row. I know they show one two a day, but they could still show two a day and not have a repeat for 11 months. But no, I’m forced to encounter stupid Chester over and over while we just get a taste of Festus. I mean come on “Gunsmoke”. Chester is basically the human version of Goofy. I can only handle so much.
I think he's my favorite "deputy" anyway
“Gunsmoke” is centered on one great man. It doesn’t matter who the deputy is, whether or not Kitty is leading someone on or which “Andy Griffith Show” extra was playing an evil cowboy that week (that happened a lot actually), it only mattered what one man was willing to do to save lives:
No, not you. You’re a cranky old buzzard. I am of course talking about Marshall Matt Dillon. He actually does remind me a lot of Sheriff Andy Taylor. He has a woman leading him on constantly. His deputy is always kind of an idiot that can rise to the occasion if need be. He seems to have a constant stream of nefarious ne’er-do-wells, with varying degrees of intelligence, bothering him. Unlike Andy though, Marshall Dillon has no issue with lodging shells in the skulls of these criminals. He tried to remain peaceable, but almost every episode ended with him ending the life of a rogue cowboy. I guess it is a little harder to keep the peace when you’ve got bigger problems than the town drunk riding a cow.
This looks rough too though.
I made reference to two different men in my intro earlier. The first sheriff to the Marshall was gimpy Chester. There’s no better man to assist Matt than the one-legged simpleton? Out of all the people in the old west (then just called West) there wasn’t a better option? I’m sure I missed the episode where it happened since they only play maybe 100 out of the 600 on television, but I can’t believe he was choice number one. I guess he didn’t do such a bad job considering. He rode a horse well enough to keep the Marshall company. He rarely had to step up because Dillon was the manliest man that ever manned. I enjoy how simple Chester is, but he just wasn’t the right man for the job. The man that replaced him, while sounding just as stupid, managed to bring a bit of that wild card spirit to the table to shake things up:
You don’t have to ring a bell to make this man fight (thank you for laughing one guy). Festus is from the Hagan clan and they don’t take to kindly to the rest of society. Festus though began to relate to society a little more when his Uncle (another Andy Griffith man, Briscoe Darling) killed his brother. Festus turned on the family and helped Matt track him down. This was the catalyst for the paradigm shifting in the city of Dodge. Was that sentence too dramatic? Yes. But my resolve remains because Festus was funnier than Chester and tougher. He also provided a proper outlet for the old coot that is picture above.
That man was the town doctor, referred to surprisingly as Doc. He was a cranky old man. He was forced to tend to the stupid cowboys that kept shooting each other while at the same time having to berate the duo of idiot deputies. He normally tended to be friendly with Matt, likely as a survival tactic, but at times even called him a fool. He probably is the smartest man in Dodge, but he really upsets me because he tries too hard. An episode I watched recently saw Matt give a gun to two old men who have always hated each other. He told them if they were going to kill each other to just go ahead. The Doc was angry and told him it was crazy. When Matt’s plan to make them realize they didn’t hate each other that much worked, Doc explained it to Chester like he knew all along what was happening. YOU WERE FOOLED TOO YOU OLD MAN! Just because he’s simple doesn’t mean you can talk down to him. Now bandage me up, give me a shot of whiskey and get out of here! I’ve got to go see Miss Kitty and tie a few off.
I’ll get into Miss Kitty in a minute (not meant to sound dirty) but I have to talk about the show “Cheyenne” and other cowboy shows. They’re similar in the fact that a bad actor goes around and tells people how to act while killing them, it’s standard western stuff. But I think they didn’t fare as well as “Gunsmoke” because he was the only character that really mattered. There are a whole host of other shows about raveling justice bringers, that did well, but I think “Gunsmoke” had an edge because there were other people to care. Namely the implied love interest and bad-ass bar keep Kitty.
That fiery red(ish) head is the woman with Matt’s heart and vice versa. Sadly, since she thinks he’s at risk of dying every day, she won’t let her feelings win out and make a move. Since they’re both pining over each other and not dating anyone else anyway, I don’t see how it’d be any different, but whatever. I don’t know if she’s ever seen the show, but Matt barely even gets hurt. Let the wedding bells ring kids. She also seems to house a lot of action at her bar. It’s the hottest spot in town and criminals tend to congregate there so Matt can barge in, destroy them, and make Kitty swoon. She’s been known to shoot a shotgun from time to time as well.
With this cast of players and more cowboy shoot ‘em ups than any other show I’ve seen, “Gunsmoke” is compelling television. Obviously many people agreed because it went on FOREVER! I personally like “Bonanza” more, but that was introduced to me as a kid and it is a little more light hearted. I am a comedy nerd so that kind of thing reels me in more. Marshall Dillon and his beloved Dodge City though hold the distinction of being the most successful western ever, and there has to be good reason for that.
It might be this