Saddle up!

Well, I missed a good story, I guess. Pull up a chair and I'll tell you about it.

Sorry it's been a few days since I've ducked in here. I've felt sluggish since Thanksgiving, first with a migraine, then with a bad cold. Such is life. Could be worse.

Doing as little as possible, however, gave me a chance to climb back in the saddle with my childhood heroes.

I told you last month about watching "Gunsmoke." That show stands the test of time. I'm alternating between the early 30-minute monochrome episodes (all of which I own on DVD) and the later color episodes, which air three times a day on TV Land.

I like Festus better than Chester, but I prefer the lean, mean writing and grit of the early shows. (My buddy Charles Williams says he likes them because, as he puts it, "Kitty was sluttier.")

I like 'em all, mainly because the good guys usually win. And, even when they don't, karma usually bites the bad guy in the butt.

When I can't sleep (which is often), I watch old episodes of "Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre," a surprising number of which can be found on YouTube.

Saturdays, of course, mean "Riders of the Silver Screen" with Marshal Andy Smalls and Deadwood Don Calhoun on East Tennessee PBS, which leads me to the tale about the story I missed. Rex Allen Jr. was in town a few weeks ago and I found out about it too late to talk to him.

Don told me that Rex Allen's son was making an appearance on the show to promote his new CD. I've been a fan of his since he had a country hit a few years ago with "I'm Getting Good At Missing You (Solitaire)."

After I posted something about it online, turns out Rex Jr. is friends with a friend from Halls, Paula Proffitt. Small world, ain't it? Well, maybe one of these days I'll run into Rex and be able to tell him how much I like his singing and how much I enjoyed both his daddy's motion pictures and Rex Sr.'s song about that Arizona sky.

Tonight after deadline, I think I'm going to saddle up with Dale Robertson and watch "Tales of Wells Fargo." I haven't seen the series in years, but found the first two seasons' worth of DVDs for next to nothing. Always felt like that show was underrated.

Well, here's to ya, partner. I'm going to mosey down to Delmonico's and grab me a bite to eat before hitting the trail with some small screen cowboys.

Saddle up!

'Gunsmoke' trumps glitter, rock and roll...

While several of my friends are headed over to Thompson-Boling Arena to see The Eagles, I'm eased back on the couch watching "Gunsmoke."

Guess I never was meant for glitter, rock and roll...

"Gunsmoke" is something of an institution. It ran in primetime for 20 years and 635 episodes, the latter of which is still a record for a scripted American television series. It is television's best western -- without a close second.

My two favorite periods are the early 30-minute episodes (1955-61) and the hour-long color episodes (1966-75). The half hour shows were lean and mean, the writing cogent and crisp. The color episodes -- the best of 'em anyway -- are like mini movies.

Part of my fondness for the show is connected to family. My late grandfather Wayne Wyatt loved this show. Back when I lived with my grandparents, he'd often poke his head in my room about 7 and say, "Is it time for Marshal Dillion yet?"

Papaw told me "Gunsmoke" was the only program my great-grandfather would watch on television, coming down to my Papaw's house each Saturday night in time to root on Marshal Matt Dillon.

My dad loves it, too. We'll often compare favorite episodes we've seen lately when we talk on the telephone.

I also like to listen to the radio show when I can't sleep. It stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, Parley Baer as Chester, Howard McNear as Doc Adams and Georgia Ellis as Kitty Russell. The show, which ran for nearly a decade, pioneered the use of sound effects and is darker and edgier than the television version. Listen to episodes here.

My friend Dean Harned surprised me on my birthday one year by purchasing me an autographed photo of James "Marshal Dillon" Arness. I felt like I'd won the lottery.

My heroes have always been cowboys, and still are, it seems...

Tall in the saddle

For 20 years --- 20 years! --- he rode tall in the saddle.

He roamed the streets of Dodge City, first on Saturday nights, then later early on Monday nights, in the time slot vacated by "Gilligan's Island."

And now Marshal Matt Dillon and "Gunsmoke" are back on DVD.

I love old westerns. I love the purity of them, the feel of them, the simple, uncomplicated morality of them.

I like "Gunsmoke" because it's far and away the best acted, best written show of its kind ever presented on American television.

The program began in 1952 as a radio series on CBS. Gritty, realistic, "Gunsmoke" was an immediate hit and ran for nine years.

In 1955, CBS brought a slightly more tame version of the show to television. Depending on whom you believe, the part of Matt Dillon was initially offered to John Wayne, who didn't want to commit to the rigors of a weekly TV series. (The radio version's Dillon, actor William Conrad, was thought too portly to play the Marshal on television).

Wayne recommended his pal James Arness for the part. It was perfect. The program went on to have the longest run of any dramatic series with continuing characters in the history of television.

I watched some of the first season episodes late last night in the new Season 1 set from CBS/Paramount. The episodes are remastered, sharper than ever, and lean and mean in the program's early 30 minute format.

If you like this kind of thing, you'll be pleased to discover that "Gunsmoke" has aged well, if you overlook the primitive set design of the early shows. (Tombstones blow in the wind as Dillon walks up to Boot Hill to contemplate the meaning of justice.)

Maybe westerns were simply the reality TV-esque fad of their day. At one point, there were 30 of 'em on the major networks at the same time.

Today there are none, zero, zilch. It's too bad. Watching the tall, tough hero face down the bad guys in the middle of the street is something that never goes out of style.

The only thing I still can't figure out is why, oh, why, Dillon never settled down with Miss Kitty...