Offscreen, James Arness traded Dodge City’s saloon dust for the comfort of his own king-size bed. Photographed in 1956, the towering Gunsmoke star relaxes with a script for an upcoming episode, ...

The western drama "Gunsmoke" premiered 70 years ago, airing for 20 seasons from 1955 to 1975. MeTV is celebrating the anniversary by airing specially selected episodes, themed weeks, and movies ...

On Sept. 10, 1955, the Western premiered on CBS before kicking off a 20-season, 635-episode run. By Hal Landers On Sept. 10, 1955, the iconic Western series Gunsmoke premiered on CBS from 10 ...

Seventy years ago, on September 10, 1955, a gunfighter named Matt Dillon first strode into Dodge City on CBS, Gunsmoke, helping to change the nature of TV Westerns, eventually running for 20 years, ...

‘Gunsmoke’ Monthlong Marathon Planned for 70th Anniversary originally appeared on Parade. Gunsmoke is taking over the airwaves in honor of the 70th anniversary of its premiere. MeTV is celebrating ...

When the classic western drama “Gunsmoke” finished its 20-year run on CBS in 1975, Los Angeles Times critic Cecil Smith made a bold prediction. “I have the feeling that the first moon colony we ...

‘Gunsmoke’ aired from 1955 to 1974 and set a new standard for TV drama Tereza Shkurtaj is a writer-reporter at PEOPLE. She has been working for PEOPLE since 2025. Her work has previously appeared in ...

In the 1950s and '60s, television Westerns were all the rage. Each of the Big Three networks (ABC, NBC, CBS) had their fair share of horse operas, with one of the biggest being Gunsmoke. The ...

Few shows have run on network television for as long as Gunsmoke ran on CBS. For twenty years, the Western series braved television sets after first jumping from a radio drama to the screen, and later ...

James Arness played Gunsmoke lead Matt Dillon for the entire 20 seasons that the show was on the air. The character was the U.S. Marshal of Dodge City, Kansas, who worked to keep the city safe from ...