Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western

Western (genre)

The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

 drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell

Norman MacDonnell

Norman MacDonnell was an American radio and television producer best known for co-creating and producing the Western radio and television series, Gunsmoke. He was also a long-time executive producer for the television series The Virginian....

 and writer John Meston

John Meston

John Meston was an American radio and television writer best known for creating, along with Norman MacDonnell, the long-running radio and TV series, Gunsmoke. He was born in Pueblo, Colorado....

. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas

Dodge City, Kansas

Dodge City is a city in, and the county seat of, Ford County, Kansas, United States. Named after nearby Fort Dodge, the city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town of the Old West. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,340.-History:The first settlement of...

, during the settlement of the American West

Western United States

.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...

.

The radio version ran from 1952 to 1961, and John Dunning

John Dunning (writer)

John Dunning is an American writer of non-fiction and detective fiction. He is known for his reference books on old-time radio and his series of mysteries featuring Denver bookseller and ex-policeman Cliff Janeway.- Life :...

 writes that among radio drama enthusiasts "Gunsmoke is routinely placed among the best shows of any kind and any time." The television version ran for 20 seasons from 1955 to 1975, and was the United States' longest-running prime time, live-action drama with 635 episodes.