A "prestige program," in broadcasting circles, is a show that abounds in a specific type of intelligence: it is intelligently conceived, intelligently produced and aimed at an audience with a reasonably high intelligence. It is seldom sponsored, for any intelligent sponsor knows that reasonably intelligent audiences are hardly worth spending money on. Such a program is Gunsmoke (CBS Radio, Sat. 9:30 p.m., E.S.T.).
Producer-Director Norman Macdonnell, 36, describes Gunsmoke as "an adult western." Each week U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon (a combination Wild Bill Hickok, Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp, played by Bill Conrad)...
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