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John Lyman Meston (July 30, 1914March 24, 1979) was an American scriptwriter best known for co-creating with producer Norman Macdonnell the long-running Western series Gunsmoke. He developed storylines and wrote radio scripts and teleplays for 379 episodes for the series, which was first broadcast on CBS Radio in 1952, and then adapted to the "small screen", as well, airing on television from 1955 to 1975.Barabas, SuzAnne and Barabas, Gabor (1990). Gunsmoke: A Complete History and Analysis of the Legendary Broadcast Series. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, 1990, pp. 34-35. "John Meston, 64, Script Writer Who Created 'Gunsmoke' for TV", obituary, The New York Times, March 28, 1979, digitized copy of obituary. Retrieved November 6, 2018. In addition to his work on Gunsmoke, Meston also served as a writer and editorial supervisor for other radio programs such as Escape, Suspense, Lux Radio Theater, and Fort Laramie; and in the 1970s, he wrote several episodes for two other television series, Little House on the Prairie and Hec Ramsey.Barabas, pp. 29-35, 361. "John Meston" writing credits, CBS Interactive, Inc. Retrieved March 28, 2019.McLeod. Elizabeth (2016). "Macdonnell and Meston Redux, Radio Classics, January 22, 2016. Sirius XM Radio, Inc. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
After graduation from high school, Meston received an extensive higher education at Dartmouth, Harvard, and in France at the Sorbonne."John Meston, Creator of Radio and TV Series 'Gunsmoke' Dies", Los Angeles Times, March 27, 1979, p. D11. ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Retrieved November 8, 2018. In the May 1958 issue of the entertainment magazine TV Radio Mirror, reporter Gordon Budge touches on Meston's substantial academic background and on some of his other experiences prior to joining CBS Radio after World War II:
Station KNX by the 1940s already served as the center of West Coast operations for the entire CBS Radio network, so Meston's next career move was a transitional one to CBS, where in 1947, he began working once again as a censor, more specifically in the network's program practices department. In that position, Meston monitored shows for any on-air comments by radio hosts or guest performers that the listening public, station owners, or program sponsors might deem profane, too sexually suggestive, Defamation, or overtly meanspirited. "Godfrey Gets Spanked by CBS Censor in H'wood for Loose Lip", Variety (New York, N.Y.), September 3, 1947, p. 1, col. 1. Internet Archive. November 16, 2018. Meston in early September 1947 made front-page news in the entertainment trade paper Variety when he confronted and reprimanded national celebrity Arthur Godfrey for his "breach of good taste" on his popular weekday program. Reacting to complaints by station owners about Godfrey's unscripted comments or "ad libitum" and the radio host's derisive use of the "Bronx cheer", Meston warned the radio host. "Censor John Meston", reported Variety, "served notice on CBS in New York that Godfrey's transcribed repeats on his daytime show would be monitored and the needle raised whenever there was a question of propriety in his off-the-cuff remarks." Godfrey was infuriated by his reprimand; but the "CBS homeoffice" supported Meston, and the radio celebrity was forced, at least for a while, to behave more carefully in his broadcasts.
Beyond the challenges he faced as a network censor and in carrying out his related duties in "'continuity acceptance'", Meston in his position enjoyed immediate and full access to scripts for every program being aired or in development at CBS. That access and Meston's experience as a writer and editor provided him opportunities to review in detail and later to start composing episodes for several highly rated radio programs. One of those CBS productions was the anthology series Escape, which had premiered in July 1947.Barabas, pp. 24-26. While working on that program, he met producer-and-director Norman Macdonnell with whom he would collaborate on future projects, including the radio and television versions of Gunsmoke and the 1956 radio series Fort Laramie. Among the popular "radio plays" written by Meston for Escape is "Crossing Paris", an episode he adapted from a 1950 short story about Nazi-occupied Paris by French novelist Marcel Ayme. The installment, originally broadcast on CBS on August 5, 1950, features Jay Novello; William Conrad, who later starred as Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke; and Howard McNear, who was cast as "Doc" in that radio drama. "Escape—'Crossing Paris'", Vintage Radio Broadcasts of Dangerous Adventure, Urban Legends, and Tales of Fear and Trembling, profiles of episodes of Escape and Suspense, posted August 5, 2007. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
At this time, at the turn of the 1950s, Meston also began adapting stories, writing original scripts, and serving as an editorial supervisor for episodes of Romance, another popular CBS radio drama that had been on the air since 1943.Goldin, J. David (2018). "Romance" , examples of the CBS Radio drama broadcast 1943-1956, including content descriptions and credits; "RadioGOLDINdex", database of "old time" radio programs, updated August 7, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2018. He contributed scripts as well to installments of Suspense and Lux Radio Theater, yet two more of CBS Radio's lineup of notable programs during the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s.
Once given the go-ahead to continue preproduction and begin casting, Meston added details to several projected storylines and refined the main characters who would populate Macdonnell and his radio portrayal of Dodge. Jeff Spain soon became United States Marshal Matt Dillon, and veteran voice actor William Conrad was chosen by Meston, Macdonnell, and two other network audition judges to be the lawman and the series' central figure.Barabas, pp. 22-23. Other seasoned actors filled the needed regular supporting roles, including Parley Baer as Marshal Dillon's trusty assistant Chester Proudfoot, Howard McNear as Dr. Charles "Doc" Adams, and Georgia Ellis, whose role in the series' early episodes quickly evolved into the "hostess" Kitty Russell. Gunsmoke was broadcast for the first time from radio station KNX in Hollywood on Saturday, April 26, 1952.Barabas, p. 23. The premiere episode, "Billy the Kid", was not written by Meston; it was written by Walter Brown Newman, another experienced author of radio plays for CBS.Barabas, "Billy the Kid", p. 359. Nevertheless, Meston's extensive personal research into the "Old West", his intimate knowledge of the fictional characters in Dodge, and his past exploits on horseback with "real" Colorado cowboys effectively cast him in the position of editorial supervisor of that first show.
The initial broadcast was well received by both critics and the general public, and in the weeks that followed, the ratings for Gunsmoke steadily grew. The critic for Variety praised the first episode's story, acting, and Macdonnell's direction, describing the new series as "a blazing Horse opera...with top and scripting values that pull it way ahead of the pack of AM Westerns.""Gros." (1952). "Gunsmoke", review of first radio episode, Variety, April 30, 1952, p. 28, col. 3. Internet Archive, San Francisco, California. Retrieved November 9, 2018. The growing number of fan letters received by CBS appeared to confirm Variety's assessment and to reflect the type of audience that Meston and Macdonnell intended to attract, for much of the complimentary mail arriving at the network "came from a highly educated section of the population".
Following the successful beginning of Gunsmoke, Meston's scripts dominated the radio series' presentations for years and were frequently complimented in reviews for their high quality in both content and style. Meston as lead writer composed 143 of the 158 episodes broadcast during Gunsmoke's second, third, and fourth seasons between 1953 and 1956.Barabas, pp. 374-403. One example of many positive reviews from that period is again given by Variety. Commenting on the episode "Hack Prine", which aired on July 5, 1954, the influential trade paper noted, "John Meston, while maintaining terseness in his script, endowed it with flashes of humor that gave it the character of maturity." "Gunsmoke", review, Variety, July 7, 1954, p. 26, col. 1. Internet Archive. Retrieved November 13, 2018.Barabas, "Hack Prine", p. 382. The radio version of the series continued production until June 1961, and it remained popular even after the 1955 debut of the television version of Gunsmoke with James Arness, Dennis Weaver, Milburn Stone, and Amanda Blake in their respective roles as Marshal Dillon, Chester (his surname changed from Proudfoot to Goode), Doc, and Kitty. By 1958, the two formats of the series were together drawing a weekly audience of 55 million listeners and viewers. That total is especially impressive when considering that federal census officials in 1958 estimated the entire population of the United States that year, including all armed forces overseas, to be just over 173 million people. "Population", Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1958, United States Census Bureau, Department of Commerce (Washington, D.C.), published June 1958, p. 5. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
As producer and director for Gunsmoke, Norman Macdonnell's contributions to the now-classic Western were numerous and profound, but Meston's "enormous" talents as head writer set exceptionally high standards for the series' story content throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s.Barabas, p. 34. His engaging plots and realistic dialogue continued to distinguish Gunsmoke from the array of other Westerns being broadcast on both radio and television. Macdonnell in interviews about his own career often expressed his admiration for the scripts that emerged from "Meston's 'grubby little typewriter'", as well as his ongoing frustrations about the "lack of recognition" given to his colleague by professional organizations.Humphrey, Hal (1963). “Where There's 'Gunsmoke' There's Heat but No Firings", archives of Los Angeles Times, June 9, 1963, p. C26. ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Retrieved November 21, 2018. In a WAMU Radio interview about Gunsmoke in 1976—the year after the weekly series finally ended—Macdonnell voiced his dismay: Meston wrote scripts for Gunsmoke for 13 years, although the bulk of his stories were for episodes originally broadcast on radio and television during the 1950s. The final radio episode, "Letter of the Law", was written too by Meston but aired as a rerun on June 18, 1961.Barabas, p. 442. His final original story for the television series, "He Who Steals", aired on May 29, 1965.Barabas, p. 585. Overall, Meston is credited with writing a combined total of 379 episodes during the nine-year run of the radio version of Gunsmoke and the 20-year run of its television adaptation. According to the comprehensive 1990 reference Gunsmoke: A Complete History and Analysis of the Legendary Broadcast Series by SuzAnne and Gabor Barabas, Meston wrote 183 (44%) of the radio version's entire catalog of 413 episodes and 196 (31%) of the television show’s 635 installments. That prodigious output of scripts continued to influence later writers for Gunsmoke, with various episodes during the series' final decade on television being inspired by or partially based on earlier radio scripts and teleplays by Meston.
In March 1979, Meston died at age 64 from a cerebral hemorrhage in Tarzana, California. He was survived by his wife Mary Ann and his daughter, Feather, from his marriage to Rosemary Carver. Thirteen years after his passing, the production subsidiary of CBS developed the Television film movie . That film, which was originally broadcast on January 10, 1992, is dedicated to Meston and stars James Arness, who reprised his role as Matt Dillon, although portrayed as a cattleman after his retirement as marshal of Dodge City. "Gunsmoke: To the Last Man (1992)", credits and notes, Turner Classic Movies (TCM), Time Warner, Inc. Retrieved November 6, 2018. "The Gunsmoke Movies", Gunsmoke To the Last Man (1992), Gunsmoke.net. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
In an interview following John's death, Mary Ann Meston described her husband as essentially a walking dichotomy, a complex person who defined himself and was motivated by simplicity:
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