I have been binging on the radio version of Gun Smoke.
The depth of the characters, the stories themselves...so much more than the tv show.
In the radio version you have to imagine Matthew Dillon, not see this hulking man who would scare the Devil himself into contrition.
Kitty is a former prostitute. Yeah, that'd go over huge in 1950s America.
Doc calls people 'sonova bitch' more than any sailor I ever met. He is a mean, nasty drunk. The tv Doc is the progenitor for Bones in Star Trek literally as Dee Kelly was more a cowboy than a spaceman...by choice. He has his quirks and argues with Chester but is basically a sweet old fart.
Not the radio Doc.
The places where your mind has to fill in the voids is one aspect but the writing was something altogether different. Radio had much more grit having been around much longer and feeling like the older person who has nothing to be embarrassed or pleasant about as a choice.
It also points out how sound makes a movie or tv or a story. Without the poignant, soaring violins, we probably won't cry at just the images. Without the sounds the chainsaw or knife becomes less.
Storytelling is an art form. One worth preserving. The spoken word, aural sex so to speak.
See? NPR agrees with me.
