Potential replacement

Pretty wild story! I don’t think there are many actors that could’ve ever replaced James as Marshal Dillon and as much as I liked Thad he just didn’t have it in my opinion.

Clayton Thaddeus "Thad" Greenwood, played by Roger Ewing, was written out of the western television series Gunsmoke in 1967 because the contract dispute between star James Arness and CBS had been resolved: Ewing's character was created by CBS as a potential replacement for Arness if the dispute continued. Ewing had been a fan of Gunsmoke in high school, where he appeared in a parody of the show.

Pretty wild story! I don’t think there are many actors that could’ve ever replaced James as Marshal Dillon and as much as I liked Thad he just didn’t have it in my opinion.

Clayton Thaddeus "Thad" Greenwood, played by Roger Ewing, was written out of the western television series Gunsmoke in 1967 because the contract dispute between star James Arness and CBS had been resolved: Ewing's character was created by CBS as a potential replacement for Arness if the dispute continued. Ewing had been a fan of Gunsmoke in high school, where he appeared in a parody of the show.