Accompanied by Gunsmoke's new title theme, the series finally gives pre-Act I billing to Blake, Stone, and Curtis (with Arness billed last). The season begins with a new version of the iconic standoff between Matt and an unidentified gunslinger, repositioned as a pre-titles prologue, followed by a teaser and then new main titles credits. But this move also turned Gunsmoke into something more along the lines of Wagon Train. The switch to the hour format did make room for richer character development and a greater sense of a larger Dodge City community, a bustling populace of three-dimensional characters. A few shows do, however, focus on our leading characters. Sometimes there would be medical issues requiring Doc Adams's services, other times there would be a legal dispute or criminal act compelling Matt to step in and help resolve, or maybe an old friend or relative of Kitty's or Festus's would turn up. Matt, Kitty, Doc, and Festus were more often on the sidelines, with the guest characters conferring with one or more series stars for advice or asking for their help. More so than in the earlier, half-hour Gunsmokes, one-shot characters played by guest stars assumed larger roles in the teleplays. These latest volumes, The Eleventh Season, Volume 1 and The Eleventh Season, Volume 2 include 16 episodes in each set, spread across four discs.Īs before, most episodes' stories continue to revolve around one of the show's four principal characters: Dodge City's Marshal, Matt Dillon's (James Arness) Matt's friend Miss Kitty (Amanda Blake), owner of the Long Branch Saloon cantankerous Doc Adams (Milburn Stone) and illiterate Festus Haggen (Ken Curtis), Matt's assistant and sometime-deputy. I've sung Gunsmoke's praises nineteen (!) times before, having reviewed the first season, the the second season, volumes 1 and 2, the third season, volumes 1 and 2, the fourth season, volumes 1 and 2, the fifth season, volumes 1 and 2, the sixth season, volumes 1 and 2, the seventh season, volumes 1 and 2, the eighth season, volumes 1 and 2, the ninth season, volumes 1 and 2, and the tenth season, volumes 1 and 2. Though erratic, several eleventh season episodes easily rank among the series' best. In 2015, a series with those kinds of numbers is to die for.Īnd, nevertheless, Gunsmoke still proved more than capable of producing the best Western drama on television. That said, it was still pulling in 11.5 million viewers every week and a 21.3 rating. It had been the number one show in the prime-time ratings race from 1957 through 1960, and was number three in 1961, but by its tenth year had slipped to number 27, and ranked 30th in its eleventh year. Probably for this reason, Gunsmoke's ratings began to slip. Those shows, more than ever, depended on the writing and producing end of things than the guest stars to carry the day. So with the shift to the hour format, Gunsmoke became a quasi-anthology series, with many more episodes built around other characters living or passing through Dodge City. With that kind of grueling production schedule, it was impossible to prominently feature star James Arness in every episode - he would have dropped dead from exhaustion. Compared to today's standard 22-24-episode season run (with cable series having even shorter "seasons" of as few as 10 episodes) with 40-minute running times (minus the commercials), Gunsmoke, during its 1965-66 season, cranked out thirty-two 51-minute episodes airing between mid-September and early-May. The format change presented its share of challenges. Hot on the heels of CBS/Paramount's Gunsmoke's season ten comes Gunsmoke: The Eleventh Season (Volumes 1 & 2), the series' fifth year after transitioning from a 30-minute show to an hour one, and the last season in black-and-white.
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