Sidekicks Megapoll: Round Four: Festus vs Wormtongue

[Zeener Diode]

Festus



According to a 1971 interview with El Paso Herald-Post, actor Ken Curtis would take a pair of dull scissors with him on the road to trim his beard when he couldn't stand wearing it anymore. He said: "I think the reason I got the part of Festus in the first place is because I have the mangiest beard West of the Mississippi."

Wormtongue



Gríma, son of Gálmód, was at first a faithful servant, but he eventually fell in league with Saruman, and from then on worked to weaken Théoden and his kingdom through lies and persuasion, in his position as chief advisor to the King.

[What Exit?]

No surprise, I'm voting Wormtongue.

[JackieLikesVariety]

the photo makes Festus look smaller, but he's 6 feet! apparently James Arness is 6'7''

this matchup is a but I'm assuming Wormtongue will win so I went with Festus.

[NAF1138]

I don't know who Festus is and the OP didn't help!

[JackieLikesVariety]

Originally Posted by NAF1138

I don't know who Festus is and the OP didn't help!

@NAF1138 you kidding? he's the deputy to Matt Dillon in Gunsmoke.

[What Exit?]

Originally Posted by JackieLikesVariety

@NAF1138 you kidding? he's the deputy to Matt Dillon in Gunsmoke.

Look, I got over a decade on NAF1138 and I didn't know who Festus was either. Unlike a Barney Fife or Tonto, Festus hardly made himself known to the general public that didn't watch the show or to later generations.

[Rock]

I feel so old.

Festus was still appearing in first-run episodes of Gunsmoke when I was a freshman in college.

[What Exit?]

Originally Posted by Rock

I feel so old.

Festus was still appearing in first-run episodes of Gunsmoke when I was a freshman in college.

If in your 50s, good chance you barely know Gunsmoke, it wasn't a syndication darling like Bewitched, Andy Griffith's Show, Star Trek, Mission Impossible, Addams Family, Wild Wild West, Jeanie, or even Bonanza or the Long Ranger.

Even the Big Valley was shown a lot more than Gunsmoke.

If under 50, forget about, no cultural awareness of Gunsmoke is likely.

[Kat]

Originally Posted by What Exit?

If in your 50s, good chance you barely know Gunsmoke, it wasn't a syndication darling like Bewitched, Andy Griffith's Show, Star Trek, Mission Impossible, Addams Family, Wild Wild West, Jeanie, or even Bonanza or the Long Ranger.

It was in our area. I think Gunsmoke might even have been run more often than MI and WWW.

[Rock]

Now I feel even older.

I'm a lot closer to 70 than 60.

[Rock]

Originally Posted by Kat

It was in our area. I think Gunsmoke might even have been run more often than MI and WWW.

My area too (Indiana and Wisconsin). I definitely remember seeing Gunsmoke in reruns.

[TroutMan]

Originally Posted by What Exit?

If in your 50s, good chance you barely know Gunsmoke, it wasn't a syndication darling like Bewitched, Andy Griffith's Show, Star Trek, Mission Impossible, Addams Family, Wild Wild West, Jeanie, or even Bonanza or the Long Ranger.

50s here. I know there was once a show called Gunsmoke. I could not have named a single character. I could have guessed it was a Western based on the name, but I have no knowledge of what it was about beyond that.

[silenus]

I can name every major character, tell you a bunch of the plots, etc. Hell, I saw it first-run! Not all seasons, but most of the ones with Festus. I don't remember Chester at all.

[Rock]

Even though Dennis Weaver played Chester for 9 years (290 episodes) I don't remember seeing him in first-run shows, only reruns. I was seven when he left the show.

[Zeener Diode]

Originally Posted by NAF1138

I don't know who Festus is and the OP didn't help!

You missed earlier rounds, where I posted brief synopsis of each participant.

And there's no shame in voting while not knowing a character. (I learned about Enkidu by this megapoll.)

[NAF1138]

Originally Posted by Zeener Diode

You missed earlier rounds, where I posted brief synopsis of each participant.

And there's no shame in voting while not knowing a character. (I learned about Enkidu by this megapoll.)

I have no one to blame but myself.

[Pogo]

Originally Posted by Rock

I feel so old.

Festus was still appearing in first-run episodes of Gunsmoke when I was a freshman in college.

First run episodes!?! That merely means you could've been a freshman any time from the beginning of the Republic to March 2020 when the Pandemic ended it.

In reality, it had a radio run from 1952 to 1961. In 1955, it was adapted for TV with episodes that were only 30 minutes long, so it was on radio and TV with different episodes. After 1961 when the radio series ended, the TV episodes were lengthened to 60 minutes long.

The TV show went for 1955 to 1975 with 635 episodes aired on TV! 480 episodes on Radio!

Chester was played by Dennis Weaver in 290 TV episodes
Festus was played by Ken Curtis appearing in ~279 TV episodes.