Gunsmoke

Series Similar to Gunsmoke

If you enjoyed Gunsmoke, these series share similar themes, tone, and quality. Each recommendation is scored on genre overlap, tonal match, and critical acclaim.

1. Alias Smith and Jones

   1971 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended94% match

   Recommended for similar Action / Adventure profile, hidden gem.

   Wild West outlaws Hannibal Hayes and Kid Curry decide to retire before their luck runs out, and because they've grown tired of robbing banks. The governor offers them a pardon: IF they can prove they can stay on the straight and narrow for an undetermined period of time. Taking the names Smith and Jones, Hannibal and Kid try to stay honest so that they can get their pardon. But a lot of people know them from the bad ole days, and trouble seems to find them no matter where they go.

2. Rawhide

   1959 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended93% match

   Recommended for similar Action / Adventure profile, highly rated (8), also on CBS.

   Gil Favor is trail boss of a continuous cattle drive; he is assisted by Rowdy Yates. The crew runs into characters and adventures along the way.

3. The Wild Wild West

   1965 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended93% match

   Recommended for similar Action / Adventure profile, highly rated (8), also on CBS.

   James West and Artemus Gordon are two Secret Service agents of President Grant who take their splendidly appointed private train through the west to fight evil. Half science fiction and half western, Artemus designs a series of interesting gadgets for James and is a master of disguise.

4. Cheyenne

   1955 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended92% match

   Recommended for similar Action / Adventure profile, highly rated (8).

   Cheyenne Bodie was a big man, a former army scout who went west after the American Civil War and drifted from job to job, here a cowboy, there a lawman, and always a larger-than-life hero.

5. Have Gun, Will Travel

   1957 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended91% match

   Recommended for similar Action / Adventure profile, also on CBS.

   The man known only as "Paladin" lives in San Francisco at the Carlton Hotel, accustomed to the fanciest food and furnishings. He afford it all by riding out as a gunslinger and charging top dollar for his services. His calling card? "Have Gun Will Travel." Paladin will take on any case if a client meets his fee, but whether he helps them or not depends on whether he thinks that they deserve it. A West Point graduate with an unknown past, Paladin is as likely to help a client with his lightning wits and sense of strategy, as he is to use his gun and his hold-out derringer.

6. Tales of the Gold Monkey

   1982 · Action, Adventure · ended87% match

   Recommended for similar Action / Adventure profile, highly rated (8), hidden gem.

   Set in 1938 in the South Pacific, the series is about an ex-Flying Tigers fighter pilot named Jake Cutter. Now the operator of an air cargo delivery service based on the fictional South Seas island Bora Gora, he flies a red and white Grumman Goose called Cutter's Goose. Jake's best friend is his mechanic Corky, a good hearted alcoholic with a hazy memory from heavy drinking. However, a one eyed Jack Russell terrier named Jack, which barks once for "no" and twice for "yes" (or the opposite if it suits him) would dispute just who Jake's best friend really is. Jack wears an eye patch, but used to have a false eye made of opal with a star sapphire center that Jake lost in a poker game—and refuses to let Jake forget it.Jake's love interest and U.S. government spy contact is Sarah Stickney White. She sings in the Monkey Bar as a cover for her espionage activities. The Reverend Willie Tenboom, a phony man of the cloth who likes to "bless" the female natives in private "prayer", is in reality a Nazi spy named Willy, with interests in both sides."Bon Chance" Louie is the owner of the Monkey Bar and the French magistrate for Bora Gora. Jake's nemesis is the Japanese princess Koji, a Dragon Lady type of character who has eyes for Jake. Koji's devoted bodyguard is Todo, a fierce practitioner of Bushido and loyal to the princess.The title is derived from a gigantic mythical golden statue that is the focal point of the pilot episode, seen only by the viewer at the end of the show. The characters end their search for the statue after finding a substitute brass monkey that is kept at the Monkey Bar for the rest of the series.

7. The Rifleman

   1958 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended86% match

   Recommended for similar Action / Adventure profile.

   Lucas McCain is an ex-soldier who loses his wife after the birth of one son, Mark. Lucas and Mark move to North Fork and attempt to make a living as farmers. However, outlaws and criminals ride into North Fork regularly, and Lucas' past comes back to haunt him from time to time. Inevitably, Lucas has to pick up his rifle and uses his marksmanship skills to deal with trouble.

8. The Virginian

   1962 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended86% match

   Recommended for similar Action / Adventure profile.

   The Virginian was the very first 90 minute western on prime-time television, and is about a man, only known as "The Virginian" who served as foreman on the Shiloh Ranch (owned in sequence by Judge Garth, the Grainger brothers, and Col. MacKenzie) in 19th century Medicine Bow, Wyoming. James Drury starred as the title character with the likes of Doug McClure, Lee J. Cobb, John McIntire, and Clu Gulager co-starring. It is in these settings that a variety of stories, much more based on character and relationships than the usual westerns, take place.

9. The Lone Ranger

   1949 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended86% match

   Recommended for similar Action / Adventure profile.

   Who was that masked man? The Lone Ranger, of course - sole survivor of a group of ambushed Texas Rangers, who was nursed back to health by Tonto, his trusty American Indian companion. The pair roam the Old West, defending the helpless against the forces of evil.Begain airing in 1949

10. Bonanza

    1959 · Drama, Action, Western · ended86% match

    Recommended for similar Action / Western profile.

    Bonanza chronicles the weekly adventures of the Cartwright family, headed by the thrice-widowed patriarch Ben Cartwright. He had three sons, each by a different wife: the eldest was the urbane architect Adam Cartwright who built the ranch house; the second was the warm and lovable giant Eric "Hoss" Cartwright; and the youngest was the hotheaded and impetuous Joseph or "Little Joe". The family's cook was the Chinese immigrant Hop Sing.