The Gunsmoke Chronicles: A New History of Television's Greatest Western

Superb book about television's greatest program.

I bought this for my dad who has everything. He is not much of a reader. But, he is a lover of GunSmoke and he was excited to see there were pictures.

Excellent book

It is great, has info on every episode and more.

I purchased "The Gunsmoke Chronicles" to answer a question about the series that had taken up residence in my mind.While watching the hour-long black-and-white episodes on MeTV, I wondered why, during seasons eight and nine, Dennis Weaver (Chester Goode) seemed to be in and out-but mostly out-of the series, leaving Matt Dillon (James Arness) without a deputy.David Greenland's book answered my question. I learned that during this time, Weaver had signed to do a limited number of episodes each season while looking for other television work because he felt that he'd "exhausted the potential of Chester."The backbone of "The Gunsmoke Chronicles" is a detailed guide to all 635 television episodes and all five made-for-television movies, which includes writer, director and guest actor credits, as well as behind-the-scenes trivia. It's far superior to the cursory, bare-bones episode guide in Greenland's "Bonanza: A Viewer's Guide to the TV Legend." If nothing else, it makes clear which of the two long-running Westerns the author prefers.Before that, Greenland introduces readers to the "Gunsmoke families," both real and fictional. He opens with brief but informative professional biographies of all the regular and supporting actors to grace the series-from regulars Arness, Weaver, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake and Ken Curtis to Dodge City short-timer Roger Ewing (Thaddeus Greenwood) and even Glenn Strange (Long Branch bartender Sam Noonan). He then lists all of the 55 semi-regular characters who appeared throughout the show's 20 seasons, giving viewers the feeling that Dodge City was a living, breathing municipality with longtime residents rather than just a backdrop for Matt Dillon's adventures.Greenland then provides overviews of the production of each season and each made-for-TV movie. (Along the way, he reveals the real reason Blake got out of Dodge after 19 years-she clashed with producer John Mantley and quit before he could fire her.) He closes with transcripts of interviews conducted with semi-regular Peggy Rea (Mrs. Roniger, farmer's wife-and mother of 13 children) and frequent guest actors Jeremy Slate and Morgan Woodward."The Gunsmoke Chronicles" is a detailed reference work deserving of space alongside DVD collections, novels and other memorabilia on any "Gunsmoke" fan's shelf.

This book is similar to the book written by Ben Costello titled "Gunsmoke: An American Institution". The strong point of Costello's book is providing a summary of each episode while Greenland provides new information about the series in several interviews with guest stars (like Morgan Woodward and Jeremy Slate). Greenland states at the beginning of his book that he did not provide great detail about individual episodes to allow readers to enjoy watching them. He missed the point that anyone who buys either book has already seen most if not all of the TV episodes plus the movies made in the latter 1980s and early 1990.My reasons for purchasing both books was to learn the details about individual episodes, reasons that cast members left the show, and why decisions were made by producers about the direction of the show.Whether it is by design or lack of sources (most of the main casts are deceased)both books seem to tread lightly on some of the negative decisions or actions that impacted the show. The major item left untouched is why Arness never used his star power to intercede when Mantley fired a long-time cast member. Two obvious examples are James Nusser (Louie) and Amanda Blake.Some of the best information about the series is provided by interviews Greenland conducted with guest stars which highly enriched the book.Greenland's book is worth purchasing because it does provide an overview of the series and a vast amount of photos though most are stills used to advertise the show. There are very few photos of crew members or location pictures. He also explains the reasons exterior locations were chosen.

Bought this a gift for my dad. He loves it

Great photos, detailed descriptions of episodes, little known facts.

Excellent book by David Greenland on Gunsmoke. I give this 5 stars. All facts & figures, plus useful index. Similar to his book on Rawhide. Unlike his dissapointing book on Bonanza.

An ebook purchase about an actor I truly admired for the characters he portrayed but too many pages are devoted to a synopsis of each of the 635 episodes of Gunsmoke which are all available on imdB. A little more in-depth look at Matt, Kitty, Doc, Chester, Festus, Newly and others would have made this a better read. Still, for a true Gunsmoke & Arness fan, it's a good book!

Needs a expanded detailed synopsis for every episode.

Not yet played, but will be an ideal present for Christmas.No more to write about it at the moment