Gunsmoke - The First Season

Actors: James Arness, Amanda Blake, Milburn Stone, Dennis Weaver
Studio: Paramount
Category: DVD

List Price: $38.99
Buy New: $29.35
You Save: $9.64 (25%)

New (28) Used (7) Collectible (2) from $29.21

Rating: 58 reviews
Sales Rank: 6199

Format: Box Set, Closed-captioned, Black & White, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 6
Running Time: 1051 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.6

MPN: PARD852134D
UPC: 097368521346
EAN: 0097368521346
ASIN: B000PHX5KU

Theatrical Release Date: September 10, 1955
Release Date: July 17, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW, Factory Sealed items direct from the Studios. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Quick International Airmail!

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Customer Reviews

   Read 53 more reviews...

thank you    December 28, 2008
my 2 girls (usa)
I ordered this product as a gift for my dad. We received it in a timely manner and the gift was exactly what we wanted. Thank you I will order from TvBoxset again.


hello    December 28, 2008
Gregory L. Fetz (victor, wv)
great. but the 1/2 seasons are a ripoff. i had to go elseware to buy the 20 season complete series for a reasonable price. wish i had found that first. bet this dosen't show up on your feedback.


THE KING OF ALL TV WESTERNS    October 2, 2008
Noel Serrano (Tampa, Florida United States)
The television series ran from September 10, 1955 to March 31, 1975 on CBS for 635 episodes. Until 2005, it was the longest run of any scripted primetime series with continuing characters in American primetime television.

Conrad was the first choice to play Marshal Dillon on TV, having established the role, but his increasing obesity led to more photogenic actors being considered. Losing the role embittered Conrad for years, though he later starred in another CBS television series, Cannon (1971-1975). Denver Pyle was also considered for the role, as was Raymond Burr who was ultimately seen as too heavyset for the part. According to a James Arness interview, John Wayne was offered the role, but wouldn't do it; Wayne was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, and at that time, working in television was seen as a huge step down in prestige for a star actor.

In the end, the primary roles were all recast, with James Arness taking on the lead role of Marshal Matt Dillon upon the recommendation of John Wayne, who also introduced the first episode of the series; Dennis Weaver playing Chester Goode; Milburn Stone being cast as Dr. Galen "Doc" Adams; and Amanda Blake taking on the role of Miss Kitty Russell, owner of the Long Branch Saloon. MacDonnell became the associate producer of the TV show and later the producer. Meston was named head writer. Arness, in his role on Gunsmoke, achieved what no other actor at the time had ever matched: he played the same character on the same scripted series for 20 years - at the time the longest uninterrupted period a primetime actor had played the same role in the same show.

In 1963, singer/character actor Ken Curtis did a guest role as a shady ladies' man. After Weaver left the series to venture out as the lead in his own TV series, Kentucky Jones, Curtis was added to the show's lineup. He played the stubbornly illiterate Festus Haggen, a character who came to town (in an episode titled "Us Haggens") to avenge the death of his twin brother, Fergus Haggen, and another brother, Jeff Haggen, and who decided to stay in Dodge when the deed was done. Initially existing on the fringes of Dodge society, Festus Haggen was slowly phased in as a reliable sidekick to Matt Dillon and was eventually made a deputy. Interestingly, his twin was never again mentioned on the show. In the episode "Alias Festus Haggen," he is mistaken for a robber and killer whom he has to expose to free himself (both parts played by Curtis). In a comic relief episode ("Mad Dog"), another case of mistaken identity forces Festus to fight three sons of a man killed by his cousin. Other actors who played Dillon's deputies for two and a half to three-year stints included Roger Ewing (1966-1968) as Thad Greenwood and Burt Reynolds (1962-1965) as Indian/white Quint Asper. Buck Taylor, who played gunsmith Newly O'Brien from 1967-1975, also served as one of Dillon's deputies.

While Matt Dillon and Miss Kitty clearly had a close personal relationship, the two never married. In a July 2, 2002 Associated Press interview with Bob Thomas, Arness explained, "If they were man and wife, it would make a lot of difference. The people upstairs decided it was better to leave the show as it was, which I totally agreed with." The nearest that Matt and Kitty had to a romantic encounter was in a comic episode ("Quiet Day in Dodge"), where Matt, tired from a long day of settling disputes, was about to have dinner with Miss Kitty. However, she was distracted and found poor Matt sound asleep. Kitty ended up storming out of the room, furious. In another episode ("Hostage!", Season 18, Episode 13, December 11, 1972) Kitty was gravely injured. Matt spent hours at Kitty's side in Doc's office, holding her hand before she stirred and he knew he would not lose her. The Marshal took off his badge to pursue the bad guy as a personal vendetta. When Kitty awoke and Doc told her of Matt's mission she feared for his safety. As Doc reassured her, "The sun hasn't come up on the day that Matt can't take care of himself," Kitty answered, "I couldn't live without him."

In an episode ("Waste") featuring Johnny Whitaker as a boy with a prostitute mother, her madam questions Dillon as to why the law overlooks Miss Kitty's enterprise. It appears that bordellos could exist "at the law's discretion" (meaning the Marshal's).

The character Miss Kitty was written out in 1974, when Blake decided not to return for the the show's 20th (and final) season.




Best TV western Ever    August 3, 2008
D. Keene (tampa,fl)
This is it. The real Gunsmoke. This is the half hour broadcasts heavy on drama and character acting and in glorious black and white. The series picked up right from the radio program that was so popular in the early fifties. John Wayne even introduced the series with a brief introduction.

These are beautiful short morality tales of the kind that have gone with the wind. Tough stuff with a heart.


better than expected    July 6, 2008
jojogirl777 (fresno, ca usa)
My father grew up watching gunsmoke and I thought it would be another hokey cowboy show. I was pleasently surpised to find out that it was very well written and full of life lessons applicable to anytime and place.