The Sci Fi Elements of Gunsmoke

Matt Dillon: man or mutant?

By Ray X


"What's wrong with these kids nowadays?  All they want to watch on TV are crazy superheroes and monsters.  When I was growing up we had good quality TV shows, westerns, that were based on reality."

Indeed, disgruntled baby boomer.  TV westerns were realistic.

Take the most popular western series, Gunsmoke.  Unrealistic?  Never.

On second thought...

Gunsmoke followed the adventures of our hero US Marshall Matt Dillon and his friends in Dodge City, Kansas.  Ever hear the phrase ""Get out of Dodge?"  Look no further than this show.

Standard scene: a bad guy has the drop on a good guy, his finger firmly placed on the trigger.  But a quick move by the good guy, striking the bad guy's wrist, and the gun flew away, no shot fired.

One would expect striking a gun holder's hand would result in a pulled trigger.  Ergo good guy drilled.  But in Gunsmoke World a shootist just automatically releases his gun, tossing it aside.   Maybe good guys have some sort of power like the Force, knowing where to hit that special nerve.

Speaking of guns they possess a special feature in Gunsmoke World.  Shoot someone, just one bullet, and he falls asleep, instant dirt nap zap.  No crying out in pain, no writhing in agony.  Compare that to the unrealistic Star Trek phaser set to stun.

Occasionally someone lives long enough to utter some last words before he's embraced by eternal oblivion.  But usually the bad guys just flop down, not even a groan.  And let's not forget getting stabbed, a knife in the back. Yup, a sharp blade provides swift lifelessness.

Matt Dillon was the exception to the instant death by bullet rule.  He was always getting winged in the arm or worse took one to the belly.  But no matter how bad the wound he survived the day.  Over the run of the series Matt endured multiple gunshots.  Swiss cheese Dillon would fully recover without previous wounds slowing him down.  Was he really a mutant with regenerative self-healing power like the Marvel superhero Wolverine?

A bad guy would hit Matt in the head, knocking him unconscious, and our hero would never suffer permanent damage.  Matt would shrug it off like a mild cold.  No subdural hematoma for him.

In one episode a head blow really rung his bell.  The ringing lasted for most of the episode, Matt seeing double vision, barely able to walk around without help.  At the episode's conclusion a bad guy shoved him to the ground, inducing another bean banger.  But this second blow restored Matt's vision back to normal so he could take out the bad guys.  Another mutant power?

Yes, TV westerns like Gunsmoke taught valuable lessons to young viewers like shooting someone results in a painless permanent sleep.  So keep the kids away from those crazy superhero and monster shows.  A twisted sense of reality will warp their young impressible minds.