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Gunsmoke Season 3 Vol. 2 Music Changes?

post #1 of 16
5/28/09 at 9:46pm
Thread Starter 
Has anyone reviewed this set yet? Someone on Amazon made a comment that there was a disclaimer on the back saying some of the music has been changed. Is this true? If it is, I may be finished collecting this series which will make me a VERY unhappy camper.
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post #2 of 16
5/29/09 at 12:30am

Re: Gunsmoke Season 3 Vol. 2 Music Changes?

Virtually all CBS/Paramount sets have this disclaimer. I doubt there are any music changes in Gunsmoke. They just include it to cover themselves.
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post #3 of 16
5/30/09 at 12:57am

Re: Gunsmoke Season 3 Vol. 2 Music Changes?

I have it and checked. Definitely no music changes. This release is a bit short of commercials in the extras Sponsor Spot. Just one commercial each for L & M and Remington Shavers, plus the brought to you by's have been shortened.
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post #4 of 16
5/30/09 at 1:23pm

Re: Gunsmoke Season 3 Vol. 2 Music Changes?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob_S.
Has anyone reviewed this set yet? Someone on Amazon made a comment that there was a disclaimer on the back saying some of the music has been changed. Is this true? If it is, I may be finished collecting this series which will make me a VERY unhappy camper.


Every CBS set has that disclaimer changed music or not, Having watched S3 I would say the music is intact. S3 is fantastic, some great episodes Loved Claustrophobia, The Cabin, Dirt Joke's on us. some good Dramatic episodes this season I can see why it won best dramatic series this year. And I have such an Appreciation for the Great John Dehner, now here was an Actor that originally I only remembered him from the Doris Day Show. then I started watching Western where Dehner Shined as a Guest Star. Two Great Episodes this season "Crack Up" and "Bottleman" playing two distinct memorable characters. What a great Character actor.
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post #5 of 16
5/30/09 at 6:19pm

Re: Gunsmoke Season 3 Vol. 2 Music Changes?

The first two years of Gunsmoke, the show was struggling a bit to find its voice. It really hit its stride in seasons 3-6. It wasn't number one in the ratings during those four years for nothing.

I really hope Gunsmoke has been selling well and we'll get to see Season 4.
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post #6 of 16
5/30/09 at 6:38pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Gunsmoke Season 3 Vol. 2 Music Changes?

Well, that's good to know. Looking forward to watching this real soon.
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post #7 of 16
5/30/09 at 6:41pm

Re: Gunsmoke Season 3 Vol. 2 Music Changes?

My Expectation is that if they continue to Release them I'm most likely stopping when the series hits the color Episodes. I really like the Half Hour Format, I've seen a Few of the Hour long B&W shows and they are pretty good, the show definately changed tone during those episodes. I'm most likely collecting until Chester Leaves, I Don't hate Festus, as many do, but it's a pale comparision to Chester, and the Doc/Chester Pairing is much more friendly, you always get the sense Doc likes Chester.. not so Much with Festus. Plus as the series went on the three main Characters actually felt like Cameos in their own series. Still there are some good episodes there and great guest stars, we'll see. That's assuming CBS even continues.
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post #8 of 16
5/30/09 at 6:50pm

Re: Gunsmoke Season 3 Vol. 2 Music Changes?

I'd be happy if they just get to Season 6. The color episodes have been on TV Land forever, even running unedited during TV Land's first year. The BW hour episodes have run unedited, even remastered, on the Encore Western Channel. No one has yet run all the 30 minute BW episodes unedited. Seasons 4-6 can actually be considered the show's rarest, most hard to find years, in terms of finding episodes that are complete.
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post #9 of 16
5/30/09 at 6:59pm

Re: Gunsmoke Season 3 Vol. 2 Music Changes?

The problem with Gunsmoke's first two years was that the two men who's baby the show was, John Meston and Norman MacDonnell, were not running the show directly; they had to deal with an intermediary, Charles Marquis Warren. When Warren left, the two of them were able to fully realize their vision of the show, what they considered to be their show, as they had developed it on radio.

It is ironic that their best work, seasons 3-6, is the hardest to find and see of all the 20 seasons of Gunsmoke, but at least season 3 is out now, and you get a taste of it.

Warren left in the middle of season 2, so the latter half of that season actually is a precursor of what would fully blossom in the next 4 seasons. Meston/MacDonnell wanted to do more intimate, idiosyncratic character studies exploring moral issues, while Warren wanted to do more action/adventure, historical stuff. Warren was able to do the stuff he wanted in a more satisfyingly way on Rawhide, which he created and produced for its first 3 years.

When Gunsmoke switched to an hour in season 7, Meston and MacDonnell continued to tell the same type of stories. However, the hour format forced them to expand and elaborate these stories, oftentimes more than the stories themselves required. As a result, a lot of the intimate, straightforward storytelling of the 30 minute shows was lost, not to the show's benefit.
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post #10 of 16
6/3/09 at 2:10pm

Re: Gunsmoke Season 3 Vol. 2 Music Changes?

Quote:
Originally Posted by jdee28
When Gunsmoke switched to an hour in season 7...the hour format forced them to expand and elaborate these stories, oftentimes more than the stories themselves required. As a result, a lot of the intimate, straightforward storytelling of the 30 minute shows was lost, not to the show's benefit.
The Sales Department loved the extra avails in 60 minutes, but, as you said, at the expense of scene padding (seemingly endless riding scenes), dialog padding, and longer scene transitions. Also, the gunfights were scrubbed or sanitized or played down following several assassinations in the US.
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post #11 of 16
7/1/09 at 11:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Scarpa View Post

Every CBS set has that disclaimer changed music or not, Having watched S3 I would say the music is intact. S3 is fantastic, some great episodes Loved Claustrophobia, The Cabin, Dirt Joke's on us. some good Dramatic episodes this season I can see why it won best dramatic series this year. And I have such an Appreciation for the Great John Dehner, now here was an Actor that originally I only remembered him from the Doris Day Show. then I started watching Western where Dehner Shined as a Guest Star. Two Great Episodes this season "Crack Up" and "Bottleman" playing two distinct memorable characters. What a great Character actor.

I just found this wonderful forum and have been looking for a Thread to Have Gun Will Travel, but have run across so many interesting posts that I really didn't know where to begin until here.

I just picked up S3, V2 of Gunsmoke and there are some great episodes. I think my favorite so far is The Cabin. I don't think I've ever seen a more convincing and scary Claude Akins episode ever. His sidekick (sorry, I'll remember his name when I finish) in this episode does a great job as well.

I sure hope that shows like Gunsmoke, Rawhide, Have Gun Will Travel and others eventually find their way for future release...


Edited by Kronosis - 7/3/2009 at 07:04 am GMT
Edited by Kronosis - 7/3/2009 at 07:04 am GMT
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post #12 of 16
7/2/09 at 4:36am
Thread Starter 
Hi David! Great to hear from you! Funny thing, right after I bought this (but before I watched any episodes) I was thinking about my favorite Gunsmoke radio shows and one of them was The Cabin. So I wondered if they ever made that episode for television. Low and behold, I open the dvd case and in the list of episodes is The Cabin. It's a great episode but for some reason I like the radio show a little bit better. John Dehner played the bad guy (forget his name) and boy was he creepy! I also liked the female actor better in the radio show as well. If you have the radio shows, you might want to check it out.

Another radio episode I like but can't recall the name is when Dillion and Chester get captured by some bad guys and Dillion gets kicked in the gut and roughed up a bit ( first time I remember Dillion being vulnerable. I think they also rely on a female to help them out or maybe indians come and set them free, can't remember.
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post #13 of 16
7/2/09 at 11:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob_S. View Post

Hi David! Great to hear from you! Funny thing, right after I bought this (but before I watched any episodes) I was thinking about my favorite Gunsmoke radio shows and one of them was The Cabin. So I wondered if they ever made that episode for television. Low and behold, I open the dvd case and in the list of episodes is The Cabin. It's a great episode but for some reason I like the radio show a little bit better. John Dehner played the bad guy (forget his name) and boy was he creepy! I also liked the female actor better in the radio show as well. If you have the radio shows, you might want to check it out.

Another radio episode I like but can't recall the name is when Dillion and Chester get captured by some bad guys and Dillion gets kicked in the gut and roughed up a bit ( first time I remember Dillion being vulnerable. I think they also rely on a female to help them out or maybe indians come and set them free, can't remember.
Hi Bob! Thanks for the welcome...

When I was in the Army, I was stationed in Germany from '73 to '75. I lived off base and didn't have a tv set, but I had a radio. AFRN (Armed Forces Radio Network) ran old radio shows each evening. Each night was set aside for a particular series, and Gunsmoke came on Friday nights. I listened to quite a few of those. It took some "adapting" at first for me to get used to hearing William Conrad's voice as Marshal Dillon, but I listened every Friday and grew to like the show very much. I don't recall if I they ever played "The Cabin" tho...

One last thing about The Cabin: It was Harry Dean Stanton that played Alvy, Hack's (Akins) sidekick. It was both chilling and comical how he wanted to knock Dillon in the head because he was tired and wanted to go to bed. I've been collecting these as they've become available on DVD and so far, "The Cabin" is my favorite episode...

At this time, I don't own any of the Gunsmoke radio shows. I have some SKY KING and SGT Preston radio shows. I'll keep an eye out for them!


Edited by Kronosis - 7/2/2009 at 07:01 pm GMT
Edited by Kronosis - 7/3/2009 at 07:05 am GMT
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post #14 of 16
7/2/09 at 4:00pm

Check out this link for the Gunsmoke radio shows:

http://www.archive.org/details/OTRR_Certified_Gunsmoke

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post #15 of 16
7/2/09 at 4:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jdee28 View Post

Check out this link for the Gunsmoke radio shows:

http://www.archive.org/details/OTRR_Certified_Gunsmoke

Thanks, jdee!
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post #16 of 16
7/3/09 at 12:13am
By the way, Claude Akins grew up not too far from where I did: his family moved to Bedford Indiana when he was a youngster. He did go to Indiana University in Bloomington Indiana for a short time but transferred to Northwestern, majoring in theater. His first big movie was From Here To Eternity (1953). But, because of his looks and his size, he was never to break free of the "character actor." He appeared in more than 85 movies and almost 100 tv shows.

I had the opportunity to meet him, of all places, on an airplane, back many many years ago...funny now that I think about it: I also met Christopher Walken on an airplane!
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