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. Lonesome Dove

   1989 · Drama, Adventure, Western · ended

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

   Retired Texas Rangers Gus McRae and Woodrow Call are content to live out their remaining years in the tiny Texas town of Lonesome Dove. Then their old friend Jake comes to town, and tells them about the incredible opportunities for cattle ranching in Montana. Encouraged by this, Call convinces Gus and many other townspeople to go on a perilous cattle drive to Montana. Gus has another agenda though: his former sweetheart now lives in Nebraska, and he hopes for a second chance with her. As the drive goes on it takes on an epic scale, ultimately becoming what could well be called the central event in the lives of all involved.

2. Have Gun, Will Travel

   1957 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended

   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.

3. Rawhide

   1959 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended

   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.

4. The Wild Wild West

   1965 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended

   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.

5. Cheyenne

   1955 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended

   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.

6. The Fugitive

   1963 · Drama, Action, Adventure · ended

   Recommended for similar Action / Adventure profile.

   Dr. Richard Kimble, wrongly accused of murdering his wife, escapes custody while on the road to prison and must elude the police to continue his quest to find the real killer.

7. Maverick

   1957 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended

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

   In this light-hearted Western, brothers Bart and Bret Maverick are descended from a long line of poker players and conmen. Together or separately, they travel the Old West looking to make money without totally compromising their... rather loose scruples. Later, their English cousin Beau arrives in England. The series mostly alternates between the adventures of Bart and Brett, with Beau taking Bret's place when series star James Garner left over a contract dispute. A third brother, Brent, was briefly seen in the fourth season. Sometimes Bart and Bret will join forces to con a particularly difficult mark, or find themselves at odds over an attractive woman.

8. Billy the Kid

   2022 · Adventure, Crime, Western · ended

   Recommended for similar Adventure / Western profile.

   Billy the Kid is based on the life of famous American outlaw Billy the Kid, also known as William H. Bonney -- from his humble Irish roots, to his early days as a cowboy and gunslinger in the American frontier, to his pivotal role in the Lincoln County War and beyond.

9. How the West Was Won

   1977 · Drama, Western · ended

   Recommended for similar Western profile, highly rated (8), hidden gem.

   Family Macahan's is the story of the white man's conquest of the American West, which we follow through family Macahan valiant struggle for survival. It is the story of mountain men who went west to explore the world beyond the next river bend, the fur trappers who nearly extinct buffalo herds, the gold graves searching for El Dorado, about peasants who became wealthy landowners and the simple people who were on the run. There is also a story about the American Indians. Brave and fearless, but hopelessly outnumbered, these primitive people were the ultimate losers in the battle for land in the west.

10. The Virginian

    1962 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended

    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.