GUNSMOKE

Gunsmoke

Gunsmoke, which aired on radio from 1952 to 1961, is arguably the greatest radio drama of all time, not merely the best western drama. It's a superb example of all the aspects of creative broadcast radio coming together week after week to create a mental place and time (Dodge City, mid-1880s or so) populated with living characters you get to know and care about. Chester, Doc, Kitty, and US Marshal Matt Dillon, "the first man they seek and the last man they wish to see," become as real to us as our neighbors.

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Chester was played by Parley Baer, Doc was played by Howard McNear (who later played Floyd the Barber on TV's Andy Griffith Show), and Kitty was played by Georgia Ellis. The weekly supporting casts were consistently well-drawn and convincing. Producer/director Norm Macdonnell, the show's creative mastermind, was meticulous about making sure everything sounded perfect.

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William Conrad, a prominent radio actor known for his work on Escape, was initially overlooked as omnipresent. Nonetheless, they tested him, and he was Matt Dillon from the start. The role became Conrad's crowning achievement, and it is often regarded as the best radio representation of a show character ever heard. Conrad was upset that he wasn't selected for the role of Matt Dillon on TV because he was short and heavy, but he went on to have a successful career in television (best remembered for the series Cannon).

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Gunsmoke at its most imaginative and diversified is the old time radio show. Dodge is as real as any place ever produced on radio, thanks to the brutal dialogue, honest acting, sound effects, and music. For example, during the transcription of Kitty's saloon scenes, a real honky-tonk "pieannah" was played live in a mob of extras. Gunshots were recorded and skillfully combined as authentic weaponry. The workforce was among the best in the industry.

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We have the entire run of the old time radio show, so "the narrative of the violence that moved west with young America, and the story of a man who moved with it" will continue to be told.