It's curious that "Gunsmoke" isn't talked about more in modern pop discourse, given how persistent and ubiquitous it once was. Maybe Gunsmoke is seen as something of a relic because Westerns, as far as there are knowndo not dominate today's landscape. If Gunsmoke were a sci-fi or superhero show, many pundits might point to it as a precedent for anything currently popular. The long-running western, however, still kind of is. Its characters and settings—so deeply rooted in desire over two full decades of broadcasting—could serve as a widespread template for almost everything that followed. Gunsmoke is one of the granddaddies of the television medium. It was broadcast on radio from 1951 to 1961 and on TV from 1955 to 1975. when something was abruptly cancelled.

For those unfamiliar, Gunsmoke takes place in Dodge City, Kansas in the years following the American Civil War. The main character is US Marshal Matt Dillon, a clean, square, morally resolute hero played by James Arnes. Matt's semi-comic stand-ins, Chester and Festus, were played by Dennis Weaver and Ken Curtis (who joined the series in 1964). Matt's closest friends were the town doctor, Doc Adams (Milbourne Stone) and the friendly bar owner, Miss Kitty Russell (Amanda Blake). The show was mostly about keeping the peace and enforcing the law.

The relationship between Matt and Miss Kitty has always been the subject of some speculation. Many viewers were sure that they shared romantic respect and were due to get married. Others, however, felt that their relationship was nothing more than an intense friendship with the occasional flirtation mixed in. However, after 20 seasons together on the air, the couple never got hitched. Ever since, Gunsmoke fans have wondered why Matt and Kitty didn't get at least one wild fling.

Arnes was interviewed in 2006 for SCV (transcribed by hand on Arnes official website) and he had his own theory. In short, Arnes felt it would change the very premise of "Gunsmoke" to have Matt and Kitty get married.

Arnes, as one might imagine, had unique insight into US Marshal Matt Dillon. The actor felt that his character was too professional and too dedicated to his work to get married. Matt was legal first and everything else second. Arnes couldn't imagine a steely, old-world loner like Matt also being a husband. When asked directly why Matt and Kitty never married, Arnes answered plainly:

“The short answer there is that I think it would just change the whole premise of the show. The idea was that Matt had this job to do, which was a potentially dangerous job, and you would have had a different show. If he was married and had kids, I think over the years, everyone realized that Matt and Kitty really cared about each other and all that being a married man or with kids."

Matt Dillon, Arnes admits, served as a very particular male archetype, a "brave frontiersman" type who basically had no room in his life for anything but law or structure. See also: Captain Kirk from Star Trek or James Bond. These characters never "calmed down" because they were too intensely focused on their work. To marry a character like Matt Dillon would reveal a softness in his heart and a refocusing of his priorities. And while the softness of heart and refocusing of priorities would have made for interesting character development, it wasn't what Arnes wanted to see on "Gunsmoke." He felt it would be too much of a change.

It was also easy for Matt to avoid marriage because his relationship with Miss Kitty rarely left the "moon gazing" stage. Besides, if nothing had happened after 20 years, I guess Miss Kitty would have moved on to someone more determined.