Norman Macdonnell an anthology series they had done. Their boss at CBS, Harry Ackerman, and other network executives dismissed that title, preferring "Gunsmoke", a program heading that Ackerman himself was credited with conceiving. Once given permission to proceed with "Gunsmoke", Macdonnell began developing a detailed production schedule for the new series' 30-minute episodes and arranging auditions to cast its recurring characters. His and Meston’s "Jeff Spain" soon became United States Marshal Matt Dillon, and veteran voice actor William Conrad was chosen by Macdonnell, Meston, and two other CBS screeners to portray that lead character. Other seasoned actors soon filled the needed regular
Matt Dillon are stored at UCLA, where a legal dispute makes it unavailable to the public. One of his next roles was in "Liar's Moon", where he played Jack Duncan, a poor Texas boy madly in love with a rich banker's daughter. In the early 1980s, Dillon also had prominent roles in three adaptations of S. E. Hinton novels: "Tex" (1982), "The Outsiders" (1983) and "Rumble Fish" (1983). All three films were shot in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Hinton's hometown. "The Outsiders" and "Rumble Fish" had Dillon working with Francis Ford Coppola and Diane Lane. He followed those up with "The Flamingo Kid" in