Ours could be closed up with matching hinged wood doors when not in use. When it became obsolete, and no longer worth calling for the TV repairman (Yeah, that used to be an occupation), my mom hired someone to remove the TV and turn it into a storage cabinet. I guess that was the middle or late 1970s.
Watched him on Gunsmoke last night. One of my favorite episodes where Cousin Ely(?) was trying to shoot Festus' ear off. Not all of it, just the hangy downy part. lol.
A true sportsman counts his achievements in proportion to the effort involved and fairness of the sport. - S. Pope
Gentlemen, thank you for "congratulations." I'm glad you enjoyed Gunsmoke.
TRH, no, I did not write that episode.
Wabigoon, those were not fillers with Doc and Festus. They were written into the scripts.
I wrote mainly for cops-'n-robbers shows, from the old West, private eye shows, modern cops, and future "cops" (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century). I never wrote for any comedy shows ... unless you call The Dukes of Hazzard comedy. I wrote for Little House On The Prairie, but I'm not sure what genre that would fit in, other than "human Interest" where Mike Landon got to cry a lot. Mike was a good crier.
As an aside, each year at Christmas time the production company of Gunsmoke would throw a big Christmas party on the Dodge City sound stage at CBS Studio City. They'd invite G.S. writers, directors, some production people, etc. Kinda fun to saunter up to the bar of the Long Branch and swill down some good Scotch free gratis for nuthin'. None of that "bust head" whiskey (tea) served to the "cowboys" on the various shows. Food was good, too. No beans, sowbelly, nor biscuits. All catered. That Dodge City set was a standing set at CBS where all the Dodge City scenes were filmed over the years.
As the old adage goes, "Long ago and far away."
L.W.
Wow! You work was an influence in my young life. I NEVER missed an episode of The Dukes of Hazzard.
My favorite Gunsmoke episode involved Festus getting bitten by a dog that had, unbeknownst to him, just ate a toad. Festus thought he'd caught the hydrophoby, and had to take three guys into custody in the nearby town. George Lindsay was one of the miscreants, and they went to beat up Festus, and he bit every one of them. It was funny as hell.
You can roll a turd in peanuts, dip it in chocolate, and it still ain't no damn Baby Ruth.
A lot of them were. Most of the reruns I could watch as a kid were the newer ones that were in color. Many years later I got a cable package that ran the early Gunsmokes, and noticed right off that they were quite a bit darker. Matt and the gang were all business at first.....no kidding around. At some point, the people in charge decided to inject some levity into the characters and I guess you could say it was a good decision.
Season one is on or used to be on Youtube.
"Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants". --- William Penn
He also had a great part in The Quiet Man...About the 3 min mark
Last edited by jorgeI; 07/23/20.
A good principle to guide me through life: “This is all I have come to expect, standard lackluster performance. Trust nothing, believe no one and realize it will only get worse…”
