06-06-2022, 03:33 AM
The rate of "dud" episodes is a lot higher on my other favorite shows than it is on Gunsmoke.
The Twilight Zone for example had quite a few dud episodes if you ask me... they were great by the standards of any show made in recent times. But they were duds when you compare them to the "seriously amazing" Twilizn episodes.
Then there was that unfortunate time period in which they used the "soap opera cameras" with the fucked up frame rates (I don't know the technical terms), and they used those on a few episodes/stories that would have been perfect were it not for the absolutely compromised atmosphere those cameras caused. The Twilight Zone was not perfect. Totally epic and better than basically all other shows, yeah.
But when you compare it to Gunsmoke? Even though they're totally different and there's no ACTUAL comparison there...
Gunsmoke was the better show just for the sustained excellence of quality and storylines throughout at least what I've seen so far. Little less than halfway through the series now. That still leaves a lot of room for duds to become more frequent, for lame and unfit guest stars to come on, for weird camera or other equipment fails to happen. But 8 seasons and still going this strong? Still just getting better after having started FROM greatness? That's absolutely remarkable.
Anything compared to Gunsmoke is imperfect at best. This show is so excellent that it makes the imperfections of even the other greatest shows of all time so much more easy to notice.
Due to its western niche, it's unlikely very many people will hold this same opinion. As a more general rule, Twilight Zone is still #1. But for anyone who isn't adverse to the western niche (like I was for a long time), you gotta admit that Gunsmoke basically stands above and beyond all the other behemoths of TV history's greatest.
The Twilight Zone for example had quite a few dud episodes if you ask me... they were great by the standards of any show made in recent times. But they were duds when you compare them to the "seriously amazing" Twilizn episodes.
Then there was that unfortunate time period in which they used the "soap opera cameras" with the fucked up frame rates (I don't know the technical terms), and they used those on a few episodes/stories that would have been perfect were it not for the absolutely compromised atmosphere those cameras caused. The Twilight Zone was not perfect. Totally epic and better than basically all other shows, yeah.
But when you compare it to Gunsmoke? Even though they're totally different and there's no ACTUAL comparison there...
Gunsmoke was the better show just for the sustained excellence of quality and storylines throughout at least what I've seen so far. Little less than halfway through the series now. That still leaves a lot of room for duds to become more frequent, for lame and unfit guest stars to come on, for weird camera or other equipment fails to happen. But 8 seasons and still going this strong? Still just getting better after having started FROM greatness? That's absolutely remarkable.
Anything compared to Gunsmoke is imperfect at best. This show is so excellent that it makes the imperfections of even the other greatest shows of all time so much more easy to notice.
Due to its western niche, it's unlikely very many people will hold this same opinion. As a more general rule, Twilight Zone is still #1. But for anyone who isn't adverse to the western niche (like I was for a long time), you gotta admit that Gunsmoke basically stands above and beyond all the other behemoths of TV history's greatest.
