1 ‘Gunsmoke’ Episode CBS Didn’t Want You to See Because They Thought It Made Amanda Blake Look Bad

Actor Amanda Blake joined Gunsmoke on the very starting as a member of the principal forged. She wasn’t in each episode, however the presence of Miss Kitty Russell was all the time felt on the present simply as a lot as the remainder of the characters. Nevertheless, there was one episode that Gunsmoke community CBS didn’t need to air as a result of they feared that it wasn’t a very good search for Blake. However, the story nonetheless managed to make it to small screens throughout the nation.

CBS usually gave ‘Gunsmoke’ manufacturing artistic freedom

Amanda Blake as Miss Kitty Russell | CBS by way of Getty Pictures

In a 1989 interview shared by way of The Legacy of Gunsmoke, James Arness, Amanda Blake, and producer John Mantley spoke with a dwell viewers about their expertise on the present. Gunsmoke led to 1975 after a 20-season run, so that they had loads of tales to share about their time engaged on one of many greatest reveals ever to hit tv.

Some episodes adopted a extra somber tone than others, so one viewers member needed to know if CBS ever requested them to “lighten up” the content material for a happier viewing expertise. Mantley responded that they by no means really micromanaged them as many networks do with most reveals. Nevertheless, there have been two events after they did need to cease him in his tracks.

“No, I must tell you that I was the most fortunate producer ever in this town because Gunsmoke allowed me to make this show as if it were my own,” Mantley mentioned. “They never told me, except in two incidences, which I’ll tell you briefly about, they never told me what we could do or what we could not do.”

‘Gunsmoke’ Season 15 Episode 19 featured Amanda Blake promoting the Lengthy Department Saloon

Mantley continued to discuss through the 1989 interview about these two Gunsmoke episodes. The primary of which concerned Blake’s Miss Kitty. He referred to as out season 15 episode 19, which was referred to as “The Badge,” and referred to as it one in every of their “finest shows.”

Mantley emphasised how, at the moment, reveals going down in Gunsmoke‘s time period didn’t usually present feminine characters with very fascinating roles as a result of they have been “third-class citizens.” However, “The Badge” went towards the grain. Mantley defined the episode after Matt Dillon received shot and Doc Adams was engaged on him all evening:

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CBS didn’t need to carry that Gunsmoke story to the display screen as a result of they thought “it was the wrong broadcasting image” for Blake.

The second occasion concerned a storyline with Stone’s Doc. Nevertheless, Mantley famous that he didn’t have sufficient time to undergo that story.

Amanda Blake caught round for 19 seasons whole

CBS took Gunsmoke from a half-hour-long Western tv present to an hour-long journey for audiences to take pleasure in. It was an ensemble present that then included visitor actors, which Stone himself hated the concept of. However, it allowed for higher range from one episode to the following.

Blake remained part of Gunsmoke for 19 seasons, leaving just one full season with out her. She even returned to play Miss Kitty within the first of the 5 made-for-TV motion pictures. The movie was subtitled Return to Dodge.



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