When you watch an old TV series like “Gunsmoke,” guest stars will make you look twice. Especially if they’re from “The Brady Bunch.”
It did happen. Christopher Knight, who played Peter Brady; Eve Plumb. who played Jan Brady; and Susan Olsen, who played Cindy Brady, all appeared in different episodes on “Gunsmoke,” according to IMDB.
When did they show up, you ask? Well, Knight was in “The Miracle Man” from the 14th season’s 10th episode.
Plumb appeared in “Gold Town,” which was the 14th season’s 18th episode.
Olsen made two guest appearances on “Gunsmoke,” one in “Abelia” from the 14th season’s eighth episode and another in “A Man Called Smith” from the 15th season’s sixth episode.
Now all three young actors went on from their “Gunsmoke” guest shots to truly find television fame on ABC’s classic family-friendly situation comedy.
You never know who will show up from old TV shows in their own series maybe one or two years later.
Only 1 Show Surpassed ‘Gunsmoke’ In Seasons, Episodes
“Gunsmoke” had a really healthy 20-season run on CBS. Twenty years and 635 episodes, to be exact. What a ride. But like the old saying goes, all things must pass.
In this case, just one television show has been able to one-up Marshal Matt Dillon and the Dodge City crew. Want to take a guess? Here’s a hint: The show is set in Springfield. Need another hint? The father works at a nuclear plant for a stingy boss.
OK, that’s two hints. Give up? Well, the answer is “The Simpsons.” Yes, Matt Groening’s cartoon family of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie has donked “Gunsmoke.”
The FOX smash hit, which premiered in 1989, passed “Gunsmoke” in seasons in 2009 and in number of episodes in 2018.
Who could have imagined a short comic that first appeared on FOX’s “The Tracey Ullman Show” back in the 1980s would gain a worldwide audience. But people keep tuning in week after week to see “The Simpsons” and their antics.
Who Was the First Actor Cast For ‘Gunsmoke’ On CBS?
When “Gunsmoke” was going to make its transition from radio to TV, obviously a new cast was being considered.
Who would play Matt Dillon? What about other characters for the TV version and who would play them?
If you think that James Arness was the first actor selected for “Gunsmoke,” then you would be wrong.
That honor goes to actor Dennis Weaver, who played Chester Goode, Dillon’s sidekick, on the show. Weaver would stay from the CBS show’s debut in 1955 through 1963.
