Cartoon What Ifs: Hanna-Barbera's "Gunsmoke" (Animated Series, 1974)

Gunsmoke is an American television western that starred James Arness and produced by and aired on CBS from 1955 to 1975.

In 1974, Hanna-Barbera and CBS enter negotations to make a pilot for an animated spinoff of CBS' western Gunsmoke, in order to cash-in on the success of NBC/Fred Calvert/Universal's Emergency +4.

This animated spin-off of Gunsmoke was aired Saturday mornings at 9:00AM on CBS, in between Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and Partridge Family 2200 A.D. to start September 7, 1974 and lasted only 16 episodes, pulling it from the Saturday morning lineup in 1975. Four of the actors reprise his roles from the live-action series to do voice work for the cartoon, Milburn Stone, Ken Curtis, Buck Taylor and James Arness. Hoyt Curtin however wrote the score for the Saturday morning animated series.

Completely ITTL, IOTL Jeannie aired Saturday mornings in between Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and Partridge Family 2200 A.D. and the animated version of Gunsmoke didn't happen.
 
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Gunsmoke is an American television western that starred James Arness and produced by and aired on CBS from 1955 to 1975.

In 1974, Hanna-Barbera and CBS enter negotations to make a pilot for an animated spinoff of CBS' western Gunsmoke, in order to cash-in on the success of NBC/Fred Calvert/Universal's Emergency +4.

This animated spin-off of Gunsmoke was aired Saturday mornings at 9:00AM on CBS, in between Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and Partridge Family 2200 A.D. to start September 7, 1974 and lasted only 16 episodes, pulling it from the Saturday morning lineup in 1975. Four of the actors reprise his roles from the live-action series to do voice work for the cartoon, Milburn Stone, Ken Curtis, Buck Taylor and James Arness. Hoyt Curtin however wrote the score for the Saturday morning animated series.

Completely ITTL, IOTL Jeannie aired Saturday mornings in between Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and Partridge Family 2200 A.D. and the animated version of Gunsmoke didn't happen.

In the OTL, this was considered?
By the 1970's westerns were not very popular so I doubt that a animated Gunsmoke going to do well.
And since this is a show for kids, is any one even be allowed to carry a gun?

You might have been able to do a Gunsmoke animated show in the late 50's or early 60's.
TV western were popular and the anti violence movement had not gotten off the ground like it was in the 1970's.

I had forgotten about the Emergency + 4 show.
I use to watch that. (I also enjoyed the Original Emergency.)
 
It would be really cool if it started to fail and it went the dark shadows route introducing the fantastic and becoming a hit. Maybe vampires but maybe something along the lines of the Secret Empire under the Earth or Cowboys Vs Aliens.
 
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