DAILY DIRT: ‘Gunsmoke’ was on TV for 20 years and Marshal Dillon kissed ONE woman, and it wasn’t Miss Kitty

Well, that’s still one more woman than Chester or Festus kissed … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 842 of The Daily Dirt.

1. The popularity of “Gunsmoke” is often given credit for being the western that triggered the avalanche of that particular genre of programming on network TV in the late 1950s.

TV westerns became the most popular kind of TV show throughout much of the 1960s and into the early and mid-1970s. At one point, there were more than 30 weekly westerns on NBC, ABC and CBS. And remember, back then we only had three choices of channels.

“Gunsmoke” lasted for 20 years on CBS. Marshal Dillon, Miss Kitty, Chester, Festus and Doc Adams were as familiar to us as our next-door neighbors. For those who draw fond memories from the likes of James Arness, Amanda Blake, Dennis Weaver, Ken Curtis and Milburn Stone, here are a few items you may not have realized about the show that was an integral part of our viewing lives from the mid-1950s through 1975:

• Not many realize Arness regularly dealt with some extreme pain during the series, due to being wounded during World War II as a member of the U.S. Army. Arness lost part of one of his feet during the invasion of Anzio.
• Arness was the only member of the cast to appear in all 635 episodes. Stone appeared in all but six, which he missed following a heart attack.
• Arness was chosen to be Dillon from a cast of 26 actors who auditioned for the role, including William Conrad, who played Marshal Dillon on the radio version of “Gunsmoke” for nine years (before it moved to TV). Among the other actors turned down were Raymond Burr and Denver Pyle.
• Initially, producers tried to convince John Wayne to be Matt Dillon, but the legendary actor did not want to commit to a weekly TV series. Bad choice, Hondo.
• Arness only kissed one woman in the 20-year history of the series, and it was not Miss Kitty. It was Michael Learned, the actress who later gained fame for her role on “The Waltons”. The kiss came in the episode entitled “Matt’s Love Story” in 1973.
• Blake was always stunning as Miss Kitty, but what many fans didn’t realize was that she was really suffering with her health while filming the series. Throughout much of her life, Blake was an extremely heavy smoker and she was later diagnosed with oral cancer. However, her death in 1989 came from another horrific disease. She was one of the first Hollywood actresses to die of complications from AIDS. She hid the disease from fans, but many of those closest to her knew of her struggles, according to writer Lauren Christina.
• “Doc Adams” did not have a first name for the first 16 seasons of the show. Writers then decided to let Milburn choose his character’s first name, and he decided to go for the name Galen — based on the Greek medical researcher. So, his name then became Doctor Galen Adams.
• The “Chester” character changed last names when “Gunsmoke” moved from radio to TV. On radio, the character’s last name was Proudfoot. On TV it became Goode. No explanation was ever given.
• Dozens of actors/actresses who would go on to greater fame had roles on “Gunsmoke,” either in cameos or for a minimal number of appearances. The list includes the likes of Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Harrison Ford and Jodie Foster.

2. Surprisingly, a reported 70 percent of the world’s countries do not use toilet paper.

Among the countries that do not are Japan, France, South Korea, Portugal, Italy, Argentina, Venezuela and Spain. And yet another reason to never leave the good ole U.S.A.

3. The latest and the greatest of “Found on Facebook”:

• “Struggling to get your wife’s attention? Just sit down and look comfortable.”
• “An invisible man and invisible woman married. I’m not sure what they saw in each other. Their kids were nothing to look at either.”
• “Hey, remember when it was 60 degrees in December and everyone thought we were skipping winter? Yeah, good times.”
• “I’ll be glad when it’s warm enough to pee outside again.”
• “A wok is something you throw at a wabbit when you don’t have a wifle.”

Steve Thought O’ The Day

About that toilet paper thing, some of the countries where there is no toilet paper (or very little) there is something called a bidet. You can read up on that yourself. 

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Now that he has learned what a bidet is, he is having one installed in his man cave next week.