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The Story of Gunsmoke: A Documentary of One of Radio's Greatest Achievements

Heard
1976
Episodes
10

The Story of Gunsmoke is essential listening for classic radio enthusiasts just starting to listen to the series and for veteran hobbyists. It was produced by John Hickman, who hosted The Big Broadcast on American University's station WAMU and also taught broadcasting at the institution. This five hour documentary was produced by Hickman and Gunsmoke radio series producer Norman Macdonnell. At the time of the broadcast, many of the actors and writers were still available (and actively working on television, film, and stage) to participate and discuss their roles in bringing the series to the air. The Gunsmoke cast had a tremendous respect for each other's talent, and a deep affection for each other. Those relationships lasted well beyond the show's years on the air.

More about it

It was fortunate that this documentary was produced when it was. Macdonnell and lead writer John Meston would pass away just three years later, Macdonnell at age 63 and Meston at 64. Among the actors participating in the documentary were William Conrad (Matt Dillon), Parley Baer (Chester), Georgia Ellis (Kitty), Rex Koury (composer and orchestra leader), and George Walsh (announcer). There are many clips and episode segments that underscore how special this series was from other programs on the air. The 1950s saw a decline in radio listenership and a shift to television viewing. But in the 1950s, radio drama production techniques and technologies were at a high peak. The direction and acting skills of the cast…

Episodes, in broadcast order

  1. WAMU in 10 parts; part 10

    · 44 min

  2. WAMU in 10 parts; part 2

    · 36 min

  3. WAMU in 10 parts; part 3

    · 32 min

  4. WAMU in 10 parts; part 4

    · 17 min

  5. WAMU in 10 parts; part 5

    · 23 min

  6. WAMU in 10 parts; part 6

    · 29 min

  7. WAMU in 10 parts; part 7

    · 29 min

  8. WAMU in 10 parts; part 8

    · 35 min

  9. WAMU in 10 parts; part 9

    · 37 min

  10. WAMU in 10 parts; part 01

    · 26 min

Where it comes from 1

The archive items its episodes are played from, best first, with each one’s rights as its archive states them. An episode two sets both hold is played from the first.

  1. The Story of Gunsmoke: A Documentary of One of Radio's Greatest Achievements (April 25, 1976)

    Old Time Radio Researchers · Old Time Radio Researchers · 10 episodes here · archive.org

    the Internet Archive states no licence or rights for it.

A set by the Old Time Radio Researchers Group (otrr.org), at the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio collection.

More News & history

Radio drama, old-time radio and historic broadcasts from the Internet Archive (its Old Time Radio collection with the Old Time Radio Researchers' sets, WWII Era Audio Recordings, the Pacifica Radio Archives, the Radio Haiti Archive, German radio plays and listeners' uploads), Wikimedia Commons (with the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision's broadcasts) and the Library of Congress. Every episode plays from its archive, which this site does not copy; rights are as each archive states them. Nothing here is called public domain on this site's say-so. In the United States, sound recordings first fixed before 15 February 1972 have federal protection under the Music Modernization Act of 2018, for most until 2067 at the latest, so most American radio of the 1930s to the 1950s is not in the public domain there. Each set shows the licence, mark or statement its archive gives, and says whose it is. Horror, crime, war and westerns are for teenage and adult profiles, racist caricature for adults only, and children’s profiles hear what was made for children. More about these archives.