John Meston and refined the main characters who would populate his and Macdonnell's 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. 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 would quickly evolve into the saloon "hostess" Kitty Russell. "Gunsmoke" was broadcast for the
Matt Dillon (Gunsmoke) room to restore "Gunsmoke", which had just been canceled, to the schedule at the insistence of William S. Paley's wife. In an early episode of "Have Gun Will Travel", Paladin is vying for a job against another bounty hunter, who claims to have been Matt Dillon's deputy when Dillon was the marshal in Austin, Texas. Paladin calls the man a fraud, saying Dillon never served in Austin. In Maverick a character called Matt Pickle was Marshall of towns that the Maverick brothers would invariably run through. One 2nd season episode was a full parody of a gunsmoke episode. Later episodes