Gunsmoke - The Round-Up (Aired February 14, 1953)

Gunsmoke - The Round-Up (Aired February 14, 1953)

Two auditions were created in 1949. The first was very much like a hardboiled detective series and starred Rye Billsbury as Dillon; the second stared Straight Arrow actor Howard Culver in a more Western, lighter version of the same script. CBS liked the Culver version better, and Ackerman was told to proceed. But there was a complication. Culver's contract as the star of Straight Arrow would not allow him to do another Western series. The project was shelved for three years, when MacDonnell and Meston discovered it creating an adult Western series of their own. MacDonnell and Meston wanted to create a radio Western for adults, in contrast to the prevailing juvenile fare such as The Lone Ranger and The Cisco Kid. Gunsmoke was set in Dodge City, Kansas during the thriving cattle days of the 1870s. Dunning notes, "The show drew critical acclaim for unprecedented realism."

THIS EPISODE:

February 14, 1953. CBS network. "The Round-Up". Sustaining. During the annual round-up in Dodge, Matt's old pal Zell Matlock offers to help out...and is shot by Dillon! The script was used on the Gunsmoke television series September 29, 1956. William Conrad, Parley Baer, Howard McNear, Georgia Ellis, John Dehner, Lou Krugman, James Nusser, Lawrence Dobkin, Harry Bartell, Roy Rowan (announcer), John Meston (writer). 29:58. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.