Did Gunsmoke have more half-hour episodes than these famous sitcoms?

Roughly a third of Gunsmoke’s total run, the early 30-minute episodes still outnumber many successful half-hour comedies!

Image: The Everett Collection

If nothing else, the classic Western series Gunsmoke is impressive. It’s also exciting, dramatic, funny and endlessly entertaining, but the fact that it aired 635 episodes over two decades while maintaining most of the core cast is nothing short of amazing.

It went through a few different stages but kept the essential sensibilities of the show. It started as a half-hour Western in the mid-1950s, not uncommon for the time. It ran six seasons and over 200 episodes before switching to the hour-long format it would keep through the end.

Any sitcom, which (usually) only have 30-minute episodes, making it anywhere near just the first third of Gunsmoke’s run would be a huge success. 

We’ve matched up just the half-hour Gunsmoke episodes against the entire length of famous TV comedies. Can you guess who had more stories that fit into a 30-minute slot?

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  1. Who had more half-hour episodes - Gunsmoke or The Andy Griffith Show?
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  2. Who had more half-hour episodes - Gunsmoke or The Brady Bunch?
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  3. Who had more half-hour episodes - Gunsmoke or Happy Days?
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  4. Who had more half-hour episodes - Gunsmoke or M*A*S*H?
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  5. Who had more half-hour episodes - Gunsmoke or The Dick Van Dyke Show?
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  6. Who had more half-hour episodes - Gunsmoke or My Three Sons?
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  7. Who had more half-hour episodes - Gunsmoke or Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.?
    Image: The Everett Collection
  8. Who had more half-hour episodes - Gunsmoke or Green Acres?
    Image: The Everett Collection
  9. Who had more half-hour episodes - Gunsmoke or The Beverly Hillbillies?
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  10. Who had more half-hour episodes - Gunsmoke or Full House?
  11. Who had more half-hour episodes - Gunsmoke or Hogan's Heroes?
    Image: The Everett Collection
  12. Who had more half-hour episodes - Gunsmoke or Leave it to Beaver?
    Image: The Everett Collection

Did Gunsmoke have more half-hour episodes than these famous sitcoms?

Your Result...

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75 Comments

graceful1970 21 months ago
You got 12 out of 12
Surprised by your score? We hope in a good way! If not, that's okay. Try another quiz!
RichLorn 24 months ago
8/12 with an explanation.
When Gunsmoke went to 60 minutes, I usually feel asleep on the couch in the second half, so for me all 635 episodes were 30 minutes. So I'm claiming 12/12.
katlovemetv RichLorn 23 months ago
Love it..you deserve the 12/12!
Tresix 24 months ago
11/12. As per usual, wiped out on the last one. Who knew Beav outlasted Marshal Dillon in 30-min. eps?
cperrynaples 24 months ago
12/12! Easy because Gunsmoke ran in the '50's and so did more episodes per year! Therefore, a show had to run more than 6 years to catch Gunsmoke! Full House ran 8 years but had shorter seasons! The only one I had to think about was 12 since LITB ran in the same era and also had 6 seasons!
Jeffrey 24 months ago
''You got 5 out of 12'' ----Surprised by your score? We hope in a good way! If not, that's ok. Try another quiz!
Moverfan 24 months ago
Got 6 out of 12. Not bad, I guess, considering I never watched Gunsmoke (it started six or seven years before I was born and went off the air when I was 13). To be honest, I didn't watch most of the shows in this quiz.
justjeff 24 months ago
12/12... I guess that I'd guessed right for all of them... I guess...
Runeshaper justjeff 24 months ago
Spot on, dude!
Rick 24 months ago
11/12. Missed the very last one. Curse you, Beav!
justjeff Rick 24 months ago
Aww, gee, Wally!
Shatner1 24 months ago
10/12! Gunsmoke had about 6 seasons of 1/2 hour. I thought Green Acres and especially Hogans Heroes topped that. Wrong!
cperrynaples Shatner1 24 months ago
Well, as I explain above, Gunsmoke started in the '50's when a series did more episodes! Those shows ran in the '60's when the cost of color forced a cutback!
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