Gunsmoke or Bonanza...discuss

[JackFavell]

I never liked Bonanza because I don't like Lorne Greene. His voice and the way he says his lines makes me laugh. The reruns seemed to be on for ages and ages when I was a kid, I couldn't get away from them. Gunsmoke has my respect, but sometimes I get a little drifty watching it... kinda slow moving, but that's OK if I am in the mood for it. It must have been on before something (Ed SUllivan was it - someone said in that previous post?), because I have very slight memories of my dad watching Gunsmoke once in a while before the other show.

However, I did see a really great episode of Bonanza with Ben Johnson recently (I hear you all groaning, "not again with the Ben Johnson stuff!"). It was excellent, well written, acted and directed from about 1969-70 called Top Hand. Of course, Lorne Greene and the sons were only in it for about a minute total, which explains why I thought it was good. It's available to watch on youtube and I can heartily recommend it- Ben even has some great stunts at the end and you can see it was really him.

[ChiO]

I never liked Bonanza because I don't like Lorne Greene. His voice and the way he says his lines makes me laugh.

My Lorne Greene story: For my last vacation as a single male, a friend and I went to the newly opened PGA National in West Palm Beach. As Fate would have it, the club was sponsoring a Celebrity Tennis Tournament at the time. And Top Drawer celebrities they were: Lorne Greene and Lyle Waggoner! We didn't see much of Lyle, but every time we went to the bar (and, trust me, that was several times), Lorne was there in his tennis whites surrounded by young drop-dead gorgeous women...and I don't think they were his daughters, granddaughters or nieces. But they, too, laughed at all his lines.

[JackFavell]

I would have been out prowling to find Lyle....

[rudyfan]

Neither, I was strictly a Friday Night Wild Wild West girl. I had a big girl crush on, wait for it..........Ross Martin and was charmed by Michael Dunn as Migelito Loveless. Robert Conrad was the Jame T. Kirk of the west and one waited to see how long he'd have a rip in his clothing, never those pants, though.

[moira finnie]

Neither, I was strictly a Friday Night Wild Wild West girl. I had a big girl crush on, wait for it..........Ross Martin and was charmed by Michael Dunn as Migelito Loveless. Robert Conrad was the Jame T. Kirk of the west and one waited to see how long he'd have a rip in his clothing, never those pants, though.

I thought that Victor Buono was an amusing villain on that show too. Michael Dunn was a wonderful actor.

[JackFavell]

Yes! Ross Martin - the smart girl's sex symbol! And Michael Dunn AND Victor Buono rocked!

You know, for as long as it's been since I've seen any of those shows, I can still remember certain episodes or parts of episodes really well... like the crying house one....or disguises Artie had.

[mrsl]

.I haven't gone back and read this whole three pages so I might be repeating myself or someone else but here goes anyway. I really don't see any reason for comparing Gunsmoke and Bonanza at all. Bonanza and The Big Valley is comparable as Pa vs. Mother, and Gunsmoke is comparable to something like Wyatt Earp as a sheriff/marshall who stays in one town, being a full citizen, yet keeping order.

I see one similarity in family. One is a blood related family, but the other is made up of 4 or 5 people who live and work closely together, watching each others back, both with a strong male influence at the head. That's about all I can see though.

[MikeBSG]

Edgar Buchanan and Michael Constantine were the guest stars on "Gunsmoke" this morning. Very enjoyable. I like seeing Edgar Buchanan as a crusty old reprobate.

[jdb1]

You know, Edgar Buchanan is in Too Many Husbands, which TCM showed recently. He plays an urban cop. I was struck by how tall he was; not very tall, but taller than a lot of the other actors around him (not taller than Fred MacMurray of course). I never thought of crusty old reprobates as being tall (he was urban tough, but not crusty or particularly reprobate in TMH).

[mongoII]

It's "Gunsmoke" for me. I believe I could have watched all 20 seasons of the show if I recollect.
There they were each week, Matt, Miss Kitty, Chester, Doc, Sam, Festus, etc.
Good stuff.

[MikeBSG]

Very interesting "gunsmoke" episode this morning in that Ken Curtis played the villain. (Burt Reynolds was Matt Dillon's sidekick Quint Asper this time.)

Curtis played a slick ladies man. He looked like Charlie McCory from "The Searchers" but he didn't use Charlie's voice, which is the voice he used for Festus.

Rather surreal.

[jdb1]

When we can't see Gunsmoke or Bonanza . . . . .

The Western Channel has been running Have Gun Will Travel again, at the odd timeslot of 9:38 PM Eastern. I am really enjoying these episodes, which I was too young to fully appreciate during the show's first run. For instance, I didn't really catch on the first time that the show is more of a detective series than a pure western, and Paladin is the cool PI, only in the Old West.

If you haven't yet seen it, you should take a look. Despite the obviously low budget, the scripts are literate, the performances are for the most part excellent, and Richard Boone is smokin' hot cool.

[mrsl]

.
Have Gun, Will Travel is also on early in the morning every morning. If you have recorders, set them up. I agree with jdB1, that it is worth watching, especially if you like a combination of detective and old west.
.

[stuart.uk]

Gunsmoke became more of a family affair in the 90s movie movies with the introduction of an adult daughter and eventual son in law for Matt

[MikeBSG]

This morning's episode of "Gunsmoke" featured Kent Smith (of all people) as a marshall who was getting too old.

I was stunned to see the guy from "Cat People" in a Western. Yet he was perfect for the part.