(April 29, 2022)
Guess what?
It’s the 65th Anniversary (2020) Edition box set of every episode (and special commercials) of Gunsmoke, ever.
All 635 episodes on 143 DVDs.
That’s right…
I get to start from EPISODE ONE, BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So a quick product review…
First of all let me just say, this box set was made with a lot of love and care.
I don’t think it could have been designed better, they did their level best.
The packaging is very nice, it’s gotta be one of the biggest box sets ever.
I would say this box set was a quality control nightmare, and I commend every person who put these sets together one by one.
I want these DVDs to be protected and last FOREVER, so I got a 160 capacity semi-hard shell CD storage case, which worked absolutely beautifully for this purpose.
I checked every single DVD and made sure it played as I was unpackaging the boxset and putting the DVDs into their cushy new home.
Every DVD was in fine working order, there were no duplicates, there were none missing. Other than a few discs that had gotten free inside the case, there was nothing out of sorts.
There was ONE disc that had strange dirty areas on the label side, and I spotted a huge finger print on the reverse side of one other disc. Other than that, they were flawless.
Sooo many DVDs. Insane. It’s an absolutely massive show and I do legitimately wonder if there’s ever been a larger box set ever made.
The one thing I’d have to suggest is to release future box sets in one of these semi-hard shell zipper cases straight away instead of in the hard plastic cases that are customary for DVDs. It’s VERY nerve wracking to remove each of the DVDs from the original case, and I recommend grabbing the DVD on each end so that you put balanced forced on the whole thing rather than from one side only… one of those discs could very easily crack otherwise. None of mine did though, I took my time and was very careful. But I’m relieved to have the separate sleeve/holder bag so I never have to put those precious DVDs through that strain again.
What a wonderful box set, I’m not kidding, I am absolutely over the moon about this.
The box set is the ONLY way to watch the ENTIRE series, as it stands at the time of writing.
Even if it were to be available in whole on a streaming service… I am just not a fan of depending on services, and “the cloud” and all these other third parties in order to be able to watch my favorite content.
I want to OWN it.
I believe that this box set is absolutely a worthy purchase for any Gunsmoke fan.
I tried not to like the show… LOL, I tried to find fault with it, I tried not to enjoy every episode I randomly selected. I tried not to fall down the rabbit hole, but I just couldn’t avoid it. I fell in love with Gunsmoke…
And it’s fucking on.
So begins my journey through this legendary show.
This evening, I begin from episode one.
There will be no commercials. There will be no streaming. There will be no buffering. There will be no unwanted interruptions.
What lies ahead in this journey is pure pleasure, many laughs to be had, tears to be shed over poignant plotlines…
And lots of drooling to be done over the sexy cowboy men and wild western ladies that I’m about to have the honor of laying eyes on.
As I was checking each and every DVD, I noted a few things…
The thing I was most excited about was that legendary first color episode. When I got to it in season 12, I was amazed. It was far more beautiful than I expected it to be.
I noticed that the characters looked like an 1800s photograph come to life. It’s not only in color, but it’s in some of the most beautiful, warm, vivid coloring I’ve ever seen.
The red hair is luscious, the blue eyes are piercing, and the sets and scenery look like they truly are right out of the late 19th century. “Impressive” doesn’t even begin to describe the quality of this show on every level.
The sound and picture quality of the DVDs is excellent, the captions seem to be very satisfactory to my snobbish expectations from what I’ve seen so far.
If any Gunsmoke fans ever find this commentary, I want you to know I feel our kinship. You may dislike my verbiage and you may not agree with the things I say, but we’re family. Bottom line.
I’m about to watch the very first episode over a righteous dinner…
And so it begins.
