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This Gunsmoke producer said that the cast's loyalty to one another was what made the show so successful
The secret to success? Friendship.
What makes a television series successful is an elusive recipe that every popular creator will spend their career chasing after. The truth of the matter is that there is no one thing that will guarantee success; sometimes, the stars simply align, and it all works out for the best.
John Mantley, a Gunsmoke producer, took to The San Francisco Examiner to draw back the curtain on the wildly popular series. If there was ever a show that understood what success felt like, it was Gunsmoke.
"There seems to be a growing interest on the part of the press and the public as to how it is possible for a series that was a blockbusting success in its first year on television, not only to have survived for 18 years but to be as healthy as it ever was," wrote Mantley.
Mantley believed that Gunsmoke's success was due to a combination of on- and off-screen talent.
"I believe the four original characters, Matt, Doc, Kitty, and Chester, were magnificently conceived and executed," wrote the producer. "Consider, if you will, that they are really a cross-section of America."
Likewise, Mantley argued that the actors playing those characters had incredible chemistry between them.
"I think it is fair to say that no more perfect a quartet was ever designed in a dramatic format than James Arness, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Dennis Weaver, and later Ken Curtis," wrote Mantley. "The conception was brilliantly articulated."
Ultimately, Mantley felt that what truly made Gunsmoke special was the actors' loyalty to one another, through thick and thin.
"The regulars on this show have always had enormous respect and admiration for each other," wrote the producer. "They are close personal friends. They are indeed a family. They are the first to admit that during the 18 years they have worked together, there have been some hurt feelings and some abrasions. But let anyone from outside attack any member of the group, and they have always presented a fiercely united front. They admire each other professionally and personally, and I cannot believe that the serious could have survived without this kind of communion."
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