!!The radio and TV show:
* DesignatedHero: Matt, in the early seasons, was more likely to kill people with an InstantDeathBullet than arrest or at least injure them (though to his credit, he did try to make arrests, with many trying to kill him rather than submit to arrest), making him seem the "shoot first, ask questions later" kind of lawman. A widow of one of the perpetrators he gunned down [[HeWhoFightsMonsters calls him out on this]] in "Reward For Matt". He says he takes no pride in killing, but rarely shows shame.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** Matt's constant greetings of "Hello, Kitty" become this thanks to [[Franchise/HelloKitty a certain franchise that became a worldwide icon some decades after the show was aired]].
** A young Creator/KurtRussell appeared in one episode. Series star Creator/JamesArness was in ''Film/TheThingFromAnotherWorld'' and Russell would later go on to star in the remake ''Film/TheThing1982''.
** The actor Creator/MattDillon was indeed named after the Marshal from this franchise.
** One of the early radio episodes features a rancher named [[{{Series/BlueBloods}} Frank Reagan]].
* RetroactiveRecognition:
** Creator/AaronSpelling appeared in one of the early episodes as a guitar player.
** A young Creator/KurtRussell appeared in season 8.
** Creator/BurtReynolds was a long-running recurring actor on the series.
** Creator/ErinMoran played two little girls by the names of Rachel and Jenny at age 10 before gaining stardom as Richie's little sister Joanie on ''Series/HappyDays''.
* TheScrappy: Some consider Chester to be almost completely useless when trying to help Matt on the job, which was odd seeing as Chester could be rather formidable on his own, as he proved numerous times against groups of bandits.
* ValuesDissonance: "Yorky" shows a boy raised by Arapahoes being talked into integrating into a white community, or a "civilized" community, as Matt and Chester put it.

!!The comic
* CompleteMonster: [[ManipulativeBastard Jim Carr]] is an AmoralAttorney seeking to be the greatest cattle rustler in the West. To do so, he [[PlayingBothSides takes advantage of a village's tensions]] to create a range war so bad that "the range will run red." To do so, he murders some ranchers to do a FrameUp for the other side. His original plan to kill a few more ranchers to start the war is complicated by the arrival of [[TheGunslinger Gunsmoke]]. To speed things up, he kills the neutral sheriff, who happens to be his father-in-law, and tries to frame him as taking a side.
* MoralEventHorizon: Carr murders his own father-in-law so a range war he's masterminding gets bloody quicker.

!!The Video Game
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The NES version has a different soundtrack, but the first stage theme, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCOCa9LeE3s Town of Hicksville]], is amongst one of the most favored NES tunes that existed and considered as the game's signature theme.
* ThatOneLevel: The Comanche village in both the arcade and the NES versions, for being the longest level in the game bar none.
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