Could it possibly be 50 years since Marshal Dillon came to Dodge City?
New book commemorates golden anniversary of Gunsmoke, television’s most popular Western On September 10, 1955, John Wayne introduced the first episode of Gunsmoke. There were plenty of Westerns available on network television back then, but most were geared for a much younger audience. The target audience of Gunsmoke also included the adult crowd, those still emerging from the darkness of World War II. They embraced Marshal Matt Dillon, Miss Kitty of the Long Branch Saloon, Doc, and first Chester and then Festus. Every week, goodness and strength were tested, and every week they emerged victorious. Gunsmoke was arguably the most popular television drama in U.S. history. The show was on the air for 20 years, with the final episode being telecast on September 1, 1975. There’s probably not a place on the planet that you can’t catch a Gunsmoke rerun even today. In celebration of this, the show’s golden anniversary year, author Ben Costello has compiled GUNSMOKE: An American Institution-Cel
