71 Years Later, Matt Dillon’s Opening Line In Gunsmoke Hits Even Harder

While the opening lines of Gunsmoke’s pilot episode are a historic part of TV’s evolution, the specific quote that introduces James Arness’s US Marshal Matt Dillon is uniquely haunting 71 years later. The audacious experimentation of shows like ABC’s police procedural NYPD Blue can sometimes lead viewers to assume, entirely erroneously, that all classic TV shows were both family-friendly and morally black and white.