gunsmoke

15 Jul

Gunsmoke: The Final Season

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Highly Recommended And so with this CBS/Paramount DVD release, Gunsmoke ends its unprecedented 20-year run, wrapping up an incredible 635 episodes. While a couple of series have since beaten Gunsmoke, namely Law & Order, The Simpsons, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, with more seasons and/or episodes, that doesn't take into account Gunsmoke's far greater per-season output in its early years, or the much longer running times of both the half-hour and later hour-long episodes. Nor does it factor in star James Arness's appearance in every episode (and later TV movies), or the long runs of so many regulars,…

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25 Mar

Gunsmoke: The Complete Nineteenth Season

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Highly Recommended (Note: Reviews of Gunsmoke: The Eighteenth Season and Gunsmoke: The Nineteenth Season are identical. In preparing them I watched at episodes and the extras from both sets.)Nearing home plate, CBS/Paramount's Eighteenth and Nineteenth of 20 season sets of Gunsmoke (1955-1975) nearly finishes off the classic series. Many wondered if the label would complete the series before the DVD format went kaput, so their determination to see it through deserves our gratitude. I've been reviewing Gunsmoke sets since the First Season was released in July 2007. The program was so prolific, upwards of 40 episodes per season in its…

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25 Mar

Gunsmoke: The Complete Eighteenth Season

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Highly Recommended (Note: Reviews of Gunsmoke: The Eighteenth Season and Gunsmoke: The Nineteenth Season are identical. In preparing them I watched at episodes and the extras from both sets.)Nearing home plate, CBS/Paramount's Eighteenth and Nineteenth of 20 season sets of Gunsmoke (1955-1975) nearly finishes off the classic series. Many wondered if the label would complete the series before the DVD format went kaput, so their determination to see it through deserves our gratitude. I've been reviewing Gunsmoke sets since the First Season was released in July 2007. The program was so prolific, upwards of 40 episodes per season in its…

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05 Feb

Gunsmoke: The Complete Seventeenth Season

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Highly Recommended (Note: Reviews of Gunsmoke: The Sixteenth Season and Gunsmoke: The Seventeenth Season are identical. In preparing them I watched at episodes and the extras from both sets. Give me a break.)Despite the steady decline of the DVD format, CBS/Paramount deserves a lot of credit for seeing the 20-season run of Gunsmoke (1955-1975) through all the way to the finish line. For the show's last five seasons, it appears that the label has decided to release full- rather than half-season sets, a wise decision, and they've even added a most welcome supplement. I've been reviewing Gunsmoke sets since the…

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05 Feb

Gunsmoke: The Complete Sixteenth Season

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Highly Recommended (Note: Reviews of Gunsmoke: The Sixteenth Season and Gunsmoke: The Seventeenth Season are identical. In preparing them I watched at episodes and the extras from both sets. Give me a break.)Despite the steady decline of the DVD format, CBS/Paramount deserves a lot of credit for seeing the 20-season run of Gunsmoke (1955-1975) through all the way to the finish line. For the show's last five seasons, it appears that the label has decided to release full- rather than half-season sets, a wise decision, and they've even added a most welcome supplement. I've been reviewing Gunsmoke sets since the…

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23 Oct

Gunsmoke: The Fifteenth Season, Volume Two

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Highly Recommended Not hot on its heels but still less than a year after the CBS/Paramount release of Gunsmoke: The Thirteenth Season comes Season Fourteen. After assuming for years that the DVD format would be dead long before the label's run made it to The Twentieth and Final Season of Gunsmoke, I'm actually starting to think they might just make it, at least they can if they manage to crank out the last the last six years over the next three or so. As headlines continue to herald the end of hard media (e.g., Samsung's announcement about stopping manufacturing of…

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23 Oct

Gunsmoke: The Fifteenth Season, Volume One

New DVD releasefifteenth, gunsmoke, season, volume

Highly Recommended Not hot on its heels but still less than a year after the CBS/Paramount release of Gunsmoke: The Thirteenth Season comes Season Fourteen. After assuming for years that the DVD format would be dead long before the label's run made it to The Twentieth and Final Season of Gunsmoke, I'm actually starting to think they might just make it, at least they can if they manage to crank out the last the last six years over the next three or so. As headlines continue to herald the end of hard media (e.g., Samsung's announcement about stopping manufacturing of…

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27 Feb

Gunsmoke: The Fourteenth Season, Volume One

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Highly Recommended Not hot on its heels but still less than a year after the CBS/Paramount release of Gunsmoke: The Thirteenth Season comes Season Fourteen. After assuming for years that the DVD format would be dead long before the label's run made it to The Twentieth and Final Season of Gunsmoke, I'm actually starting to think they might just make it, at least they can if they manage to crank out the last the last six years over the next three or so. As headlines continue to herald the end of hard media (e.g., Samsung's announcement about stopping manufacturing of…

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27 Feb

Gunsmoke: The Fourteenth Season, Volume Two

New DVD releasefourteenth, gunsmoke, season, volume

Highly Recommended Not hot on its heels but still less than a year after the CBS/Paramount release of Gunsmoke: The Thirteenth Season comes Season Fourteen. After assuming for years that the DVD format would be dead long before the label's run made it to The Twentieth and Final Season of Gunsmoke, I'm actually starting to think they might just make it, at least they can if they manage to crank out the last the last six years over the next three or so. As headlines continue to herald the end of hard media (e.g., Samsung's announcement about stopping manufacturing of…

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06 Jun

Gunsmoke: The Thirteenth Season, Volume One

Max SchindlerNew DVD releasegunsmoke, season, thirteenth, volume

Highly Recommended After another excruciatingly long delay for Gunsmoke fans, CBS/Paramount has released in two volumes the long-running Western series' thirteenth of twenty seasons to DVD. Whether they'll ever get around to releasing the final seven is anyone's guess. Despite the best efforts by the big entertainment conglomerates to kill the Golden Goose, hard media dies hard, with collectors, libraries, and a surprisingly robust market in many foreign countries keeping it going, despite the popularity of streaming media. (Here in Japan, for instance, video rental stores are still commonplace. Gasp!)That the DVD market would go into sharp decline neatly midway…

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06 Jun

Gunsmoke: The Thirteenth Season, Volume Two

Max SchindlerNew DVD releasegunsmoke, season, thirteenth, volume

Highly Recommended After another excruciatingly long delay for Gunsmoke fans, CBS/Paramount has released in two volumes the long-running Western series' thirteenth of twenty seasons to DVD. Whether they'll ever get around to releasing the final seven is anyone's guess. Despite the best efforts by the big entertainment conglomerates to kill the Golden Goose, hard media dies hard, with collectors, libraries, and a surprisingly robust market in many foreign countries keeping it going, despite the popularity of streaming media. (Here in Japan, for instance, video rental stores are still commonplace. Gasp!)That the DVD market would go into sharp decline neatly midway…

Read More