For longevity alone, it is hard to match Gunsmoke. It remains the longest-running drama series, with an astounding 635 episodes, in a 20-year television span preceded by a nine-year stint on radio. When CBS considered canceling the series after the twelfth season, it was met with immediate outrage from the folks who had grown accustomed to tuning in to watch Marshal Dillon each week, as he maintained law and order in the town of Dodge City. CBS wisely reconsidered and Gunsmoke remained popular for another eight years.

The series followed the weekly adventures of Marshal Matt Dillon, played by James Arness (replacing William Conrad who had lent his baritone voice to the radio series.) – a no-nonsense lawman in the American West who doesn’t allow guns into Dodge City. Alongside him were his trusty assistant Chester Goode, the kind-hearted Doc Adams, and the lovely Miss Kitty Russell, owner of the local Long Branch Saloon. Later in the series, the incorrigible and illiterate lady’s man, Festus Haggin, was introduced and he would eventually become Dillon’s deputy.

In 1974, Miss Kitty (played by Amanda Blake) made a memorable exit from the show (after 19 years of attendance) and the following year, Gunsmoke would finally come to an end. To ease the pain of his loyal followers, Marshal Dillon would remerge from time to time in a number of TV movies broadcast in the 80s and 90s - reminding all that he still had things under control. And in recent years, the first two seasons of Gunsmoke were released on DVD, giving die-hard fans a chance to ride through the streets of Dodge City yet again.