Why Gunsmoke's Matt and Miss Kitty Never Married, According to James Arnes

It's interesting that “Gunsmoke” isn't talked about more in today's pop discourse, given how enduring and ubiquitous it once was. Perhaps “Gunsmoke” is considered something of a relic because Westerns, how famous they aredo not dominate the modern landscape. If “Gunsmoke” were a sci-fi or superhero show, many pundits would point to it as a precedent for anything currently popular. The lasting West, however, still kind of is. Its characters and settings, so deeply rooted in the era for two whole decades of airtime, can serve as a pervasive template for almost everything that followed. “Gunsmoke” is one of the grandparents of the television medium. It was on radio from 1951 to 1961 and on television from 1955 to 1975. when it was somewhat abruptly cancelled.

For those unfamiliar, Gunsmoke is set in Dodge City, Kansas in the years following the American Civil War. The main character is US Marshal Matt Dillon, a clean, square, morally determined character played by James Arnes. Matt's semi-comedic deputies 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 (Milburn Stone) and friendly bar owner Kitty Russell (Amanda Blake). The show was mainly about keeping the peace and enforcing the law.

The relationship between Matt and Miss Kitty was always a matter of some speculation. Many viewers were convinced that they shared a romantic relationship and that they should get married. However, others believed that their relationship was nothing more than an intense friendship with the occasional flirtation mixed in. However, after 20 seasons together, the couple never tied the knot. Ever since, Gunsmoke fans have wondered why Matt and Kitty didn't have at least one wild fling.

Arnes was interviewed in 2006 by SCV (conveniently transcribed on Arness's official website), and he had his own theory. In short, Arnes felt it would have changed the very premise of “Gunsmoke” if Matt and Kitty got married.

Arnes, as one might imagine, had unique insight into U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon. The actor believed that his character was too professional and too dedicated to his work to get married. Matt was a law enforcement officer first, then everything else. Arnes couldn't imagine that a steely, old-world loner like Matt would be a husband. When asked why Matt and Kitty never got married, Arnes answered clearly:

“The short answer is, I think it would have just changed the whole premise of the show. The idea was that Matt had this job that he had to do, which was probably a dangerous job, and you would have had a different show if he would have been married and had children, I think over the years everyone would have realized that they had a close relationship whether you were a married man or with children.”

Matt Dillon, Arnes recognized, served as a very particular masculine archetype, a type of “brave frontiersman” whose life had essentially no place for anything other than law or structure. See also: Captain Kirk from “Star Trek” or James Bond. These characters never “sat down” because they were too intensely focused on their work. If a character like Matt Dillon got married, it would have revealed his softness of heart and reorientation of priorities. And while the tenderness of heart and reorientation of priorities would have made for interesting character development, Arnes wasn't what he wanted to see in “Gunsmoke.” He felt it would have been too much of a change.

Also, it was easy for Matt to avoid marriage because his relationship with Miss Kitty rarely went beyond the “moon-eyed” phase. Also, if nothing happened after 20 years, I think Miss Kitty would have moved on to someone more decisive.