Gunsmoke's Kitty & Matt, should they have been married?

[fuzzybuddy]

Yeah, Kitty's place, the Long Branch Saloon, was a bar with a second floor, where feathered women were seen strolling down the staircase. It was up to the viewer to guess what was up. And the relationship between Kitty & Matt was the same. It was up to the viewer to guess what was up. Do you think Matt & Kitty should have married, or at least lived together? Maybe stayed the same?

 

[treeguy64]

Their relationship was great, the way it was. It helped make the show work.

 

[jujube]

Well, he wouldn't have been the only Old West hero with a wife who was, as they used to say, no better than she should be. The Earp boys and Doc Holiday, to name three, were common-law married to prostitutes.

 

[rgp]

I stopped in Dodge once, several years back. So, what the heck I want to see the cheesy gunfighter reenactments etc, that was posted/advertised all over town. A local points me on the right direction.......Only to find out that the reenactments are not being staged that day......

 

[Butterfly]

No. If they had been married it would have wrecked the storyline and it would have become stodgy.

 

[Aunt Bea]

"Miss Kitty, have you ever thought of runnin' away..."

 

[HazyDavey]

Well.. If Matt married Kitty she'd put him to work pouring drinks in the Long Branch. I've never seen a western show where the hero gunfighter is a bartender, so I don't know about that. Plus she'd make Matt start buying his own drinks. Matt should keep his day job.. :encouragement:

 

[Tommy]

I liked the show just as it was. Based on its success, the viewing public must have agreed. Sooo much better than the degenerate drek that passes for network television these days.

 

[Pappy]

 

[MarkinPhx]

Kitty was awesome. Smart, intelligent, sexy and independent. Her character would have been swallowed if she had married Matt. They respected each other and I guess even loved each other and they probably did have their fun now and then but I'm glad they didn't get married.

 

[Ruth n Jersey]

I think it was great just the way it was. I sure do miss those 50's and 60's westerns. I watch the reruns now and then.

 

[RadishRose]

I never ran with that crowd....

 

[fmdog44]

From the March issue Of Wild West Magazine The falsehood of the Long Branch was women seldom hung around in saloons. Women were generally not permitted in saloons. If a man wanted a woman's company dancehalls were generally close by. If he wanted to drink with a woman wine rooms were generally connected to the saloons. Dodge City was among the early towns to incorporate this idea. The so-called "wine" was often adulterated with caramel, glucose or even coal tar. But back to the OP, no Kitty could not marry Matt because was my girl but no one knew that until now.

 

[mark55]

if you go by the code of the west, mat cannot marry kitty, man thing ( do or die , capture the criminal, stay gone forever) . Hollywood code would probably be different.