TVSquad

Movies are great, and Encore Western has feasted on showing lots of theatrical features and shorts. However, the premium channel has wisely veered from its bread and butter, by mixing in TV shows. The channel will soon be adding to the TV fare when Gunsmoke, Rawhide, and Have Gun Will Travel join Encore Westerns.

These are three classic TV westerns that had significant long runs and big name stars. They'll be a nice addition to shows like Cheyenne and Maverick currently on the net, as well as the Roy Rogers and Gene Autry programmers that run through the day.

First there was the news that The Big Valley is going big screen. Now it's Gunsmoke getting the silver screen adaptation. Are westerns coming back and nobody told me?

Gunsmoke, the long running CBS western, the series that made a star of James Arness and was a fixture on the Tiffany network from 1955-1975, will be turned into a motion picture.

CBS Films has turned to the writer of National Treasure: Book of Secrets to craft a new incarnation of the exploits of Marshal Matt Dillon in the western town of Dodge City. The Marshal, as fans of the show or those who've seen the drama on TVLand, was ably assisted by Miss Kitty -- owner of the Long Branch Saloon -- and Doc Adams, the Dodge City doctor.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

I'm not usually a big fan of these DVD box sets that take one genre and give you a variety of various series episodes (such as the sets that have a bunch of TV westerns in them). But the Saturday Morning Cartoon sets look like fun. The 1960s set includes The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Top Cat, Secret Squirrel, Atom Ant, and Quick Draw McGraw, while the 1970s set includes Josie & The Pussycats, Speed Buggy, the Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour, and Hong Kong Phooey. OK, the 60s set is much better than the 70s set. And the 70s set for some reason also includes The Jetsons, which is odd (it ran in 1962). Still, both sets look good.

• The Closer - Season 4
• Designing Women - Season 1
• Gangland - Season 3
• Gunsmoke - Season 3, Vol. 2
• Jeeves & Wooster - Complete Series

I figured they would do this, for nostalgia's sake if nothing else. It seems pretty likely that Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is going to outlast the parent that spawned it (because let's face it, sex sells!). Still, it was nice of NBC to renew Law & Order for a 20th season, allowing Dick Wolf to match Gunsmoke at twenty seasons.

Of course, now he's going to be angling to surpass the series next year. Even more ambitious would be a push to outdo Gunsmoke in episodes. With word coming down that L&O got a 16 episode commitment, it's just falling further and further behind.

Question: Is The Sopranos the best drama in the history of television, or is it one of the best dramas in the history of television that often gets the top spot because it's fairly recent?

That's one of the questions to ponder as you read AOL's Top 50 Dramas Of All-Time list. The Sopranos comes in at number one.

It's not a bad list, actually. When you narrow down a TV show to a specific genre and go all the way up to 50, most of the shows we would all pick will show up on the list: The X-Files, Deadwood, The Rockford Files, Mad Men, St. Elsewhere, Columbo, The Wire. Those are all classic dramas (and good ones) that you would expect to see.

One thing I didn't expect to see? Friday Night Lights in the number 10 spot, ahead of all the shows I just mentioned above.

First Patrick McGoohan and now Ricardo Montalban.

Montalban died earlier today in Los Angeles. He was 88. He was best known for playing Mr. Roarke on the odd ABC show Fantasy Island. Actually, he was probably equally known for his role in Star Trek. He played Khan in a classic episode of the original series in the 60s, and later reprised the role in the big screen flick Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, arguably the best of the Trek movies. Though I also liked the one with the whales.

Montalban had a long career, appearing in such shows as The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Wild, Wild West, I Spy, Gunsmoke, Hawaii Five-0, Here's Lucy, Dynasty, Murder, She Wrote (which seems to show up in every obit I write here), B.L. Stryker, Chicago Hope, and many more. He was in my favorite version of Wonder Woman. His last role was on an episode of Family Guy earlier this year. He also did a ton of movies, the first one being Five Were Chosen in 1942.

Coincidentally, like McGoohan, Montalban also played a killer on Columbo. He killed a guy with a bull.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

Hmmm...I thought A Colbert Christmas was released last week?

We also have Swingtown - Season 1, which can probably also be titled Swingtown - The Complete Series, much to the dismay of devoted fans. This is a good week for fans of Deadwood and The Wire, as they both get complete series releases that would make fantastic Christmas gifts for the fan in your family

• A Colbert Christmas
• The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
• Deadwood - The Complete Series
• Gunsmoke - Season 3, Vol. 1
• Happy Days - Season 4 and Seasons 1-4
  
• Lost - Season 4
  
• Rawhide - Season 3, Vol. 2
• Shelly Duvall's Bedtime Stories - Complete Series
• Swingtown - Season 1
• The Wire - Complete Series

Animation domination will continue with The Simpsons anchoring the Fox toon programming for at least three more years. Al Jean, Simpsons' exective producer, confirmed that since the actors are signed up till 2011, he's pretty much banking on the fact that the award-winning comedy series will stay on the air.

Considering the fact that The Simpsons continues to be so successful -- last year's movie, for instance, grossed a staggering $526 million worldwide -- and remains hilarious and relevant, Fox would be nuts to let the show go. And one of the best things about this family sitcom is that the characters never age. Bart and Lisa only age in the episodes that fantasize about the future.

The Simpsons, paired with the Seth MacFarlane shows -- Family Guy and American Dad -- plus King of the Hill, gives Fox the most competitive and alternative programming for Sunday nights.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

• Absolutely Fabulous - Absolutely Everything
• Cory in the House - New and Improved
• Degrassi: The Next Generation - Season 6
• Gunsmoke - Season 2, Vol. 2
• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - Vol. 2
• Holocaust - Anniversary Edition
• The Invaders - Season 1
• The Jackie Gleason Show - The Honeymooners: Collection 3 (color)
• Lipstick Jungle - Season 1
• MonsterQuest - Season 1
• One Piece - Season 1, First Voyage (Uncut)
• Rawhide - Season 3, Vol. 1
• The Three Stooges Collection - Vol. 2: 1937-39
• Wing Chun - Complete Series

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow:

• The All-New Super Friends Hour - Season 1, Vol. 1
• Between the Lions - Season 1
• Clifford The Big Red Dog - Playtime with Clifford
• Family Feud - All Star Family Feud with Richard Dawson
• Gunsmoke - Season 2, Vol. 1
• Lovejoy - Season 2
• MI-5 - Vol. 5
• The Naked Brothers Band - Season 1
• The Riches - Season 1
• Two and a Half Men - Season 2
• The Waltons - Season 6
• What's New Scooby-Doo? - Season 3

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

• The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog - Vol. 1
• America's Funniest Home Videos - Guide To Parenting
• Birdman and the Galaxy Trio - The Complete Series
• Bozo's Big Top - The World's Most Famous Clown
• Foyle's War - Set 4
• Gunsmoke - Season 1
• The Incredible Hulk - Season 2
• Masters of Horror - The Black Cat
• Most Haunted - Season 1 and 2 Collection, London Haunts, Castels of Britain
• Overhaulin' - Season 3, Vol. 1
• The Rookies - Season 1
• Space Ghost and Dino Boy - The Complete Series
• Taxicab Confessions - New York
• Voyagers - The Complete Series
• Wanted: Dead or Alive - Season 2

A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.

• Donna King Conkling: She was one of the original members of the King Sisters singing group and one of the stars of the ABC show The King Family in the 60s. She also appeared in several movies, including Meet The People, Cuban Pete, and Sing Your Worries Away. She died in Texas at age 88.

You don't know the name, but you know his work. He was the voice Ernie the Elf in the Keebler commercials and guest starred on...well, just about every single TV show produced since the early 1950s, it seems.

A partial list: The Waltons, Quincy, M.E., Stingray, Flamingo Road, Little House on the Prairie, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Riptide, Falcon Crest, Knot's Landing, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Dallas, Barnaby Jones, Gunsmoke, Columbo, Bonanza, Mannix, Mission: Impossible, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, The Name of the Game, The Wild, Wild West, H.R. Pufnstuf, The Big Valley, Star Trek, Batman, Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, Maverick, The Bob Newhart Show, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

He was known for his voice work, and you could hear him in such shows as The Flintstones, Jem, The Smurfs, Spider-Man, and The Transformers. He also kept me up nights as a kid when he did the voice of that damn devil doll in the Trilogy of Terror movie in the 70s.

Edmiston died on February 15 in L.A. of cancer.

Wow, it's been a bad week for TV veterans.  First Curt Gowdy passed away, then Don Knotts and Darren McGavin. Now comes word that Dennis Weaver, who acted in various roles on television for over fifty years, passed away Friday at the age of 81, apparently due to complications from cancer.

Weaver's best known roles were as Chester Goode on the long-running Western Gunsmoke and as a New Mexican cowboy lawman transplanted to New York City in the Seventies mystery series McCloud.

Every Tuesday morning here on TV Squad , we will highlight the week's TV-on-DVD releases. Some noteworthy releases today, January 3, 2006:

• 1st & Ten - Season 1; Season 2
• Alien Nation - The Complete Series
• All in the Family - The Complete 5th Season
• Gunsmoke - 50th Anniversary Edition - Volume 1; 50th Anniversary Edition - Volume 2; 50th Anniversary Edition Giftset
• Have Gun Will Travel - Season 3
• Hunter - Season 3
• Silk Stalkings - Season 4