GUNSMOKE — Prarie Wolfer ( with Ken Curtis as Festus Haggen and Noah Beery, Jr ) - 9th Season (0S/0L)
The Festus character first appeared during the 8th Season in 1962 in an episode entitled “Us Haggens”. At that time it was a one-shot deal. He was brought back a year later in to be an eventual replacement for Dennis Weaver (who quit GUNSMOKE to make pilots for his own series a few times starting in 1961). Weaver came back on a part-time basis throughout 1962 to late 1963, and it was at the end of the year when he left the show for good when he finally got a pilot that sold “Kentucky Jones”, which lasted only 1 season.
This episode is the second appearance of Festus. The third was “Once a Haggen” - both in 1963. It’s also the only two times that Chester has to deal with Festus, in the latter show he locks Chester up to clear his name!! After that episode, Ken Curtis became a semi-regular. About a dozen episodes into the 10th season in the fall of 1964, longtime Executive Producer Norman McDonnell was fired, and the new producers made Ken a co-star.
He actually appeared on GUNSMOKE in different character roles going back to a 1958 episode, in which Curtis played a cattleman.