The Show Was On The Top For Four Years
Gunsmoke had been the highest-rated show on the small screen from 1957 to 1961. The producers then had to make a huge change. They changed the runtime of the show from a half-hour to an entire hour. This led to a decline in the ratings of the show. It started to get more popular in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, but this format change had a significant impact.
The Show Was On The Top For Four Years
‘Gunsmoke’ Had Five TV Films
A few years after the end of the show, the cast members reunited for five TV films. They are as follows: Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987), Gunsmoke: The Last Apache (1990), Gunsmoke: To the Last Man (1992), Gunsmoke: The Long Ride (1993), and Gunsmoke: One Man’s Justice (1994). James Arness starred in all of them, but they were not particularly critically-acclaimed films.
‘Gunsmoke’ Had Five TV Films