How long did Gunsmoke run?

The short answer 20 seasons and 635 episodes on CBS, from September 10, 1955 to March 31, 1975. For decades it held the record as the longest-running live-action scripted primetime series in American TV history. The eras of Gunsmoke The show reinvented itself several times across those two decades:1955–1961 — Half-hour episodes in black and white, with James Arness as Marshal Matt Dillon keeping order in Dodge City, Kansas. 1961–1966 — Expanded to a full hour, still in black and white. 1966–1975 — The color era, which carried the show all the way to the end. And that's not even counting the radio version, which ran from 1952 to 1961 with William Conrad voicing Dillon — meaning the franchise ran in some form for 23 straight years. The time it almost died — ten years early CBS actually canceled Gunsmoke in 1967 when ratings sagged. Network boss William Paley reversed the decision and moved the show from Saturdays to Monday nights — a slot CBS cleared by canceling Gilligan's Island. The gamble worked: Gunsmoke shot back into the top 10 and ran for eight more years. How it ended Abruptly. When CBS finally pulled the plug in 1975, there was no farewell episode — the cast reportedly found out from the trade papers rather than the network. James Arness later got his closure through five reunion TV movies, starting with Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge in 1987 and ending with One Man's Justice in 1994. Arness played Matt Dillon across all 20 seasons and all five movies. One role, one actor, nearly 40 years. Nobody in TV Westerns comes close.

How long did Gunsmoke run?

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