Seems like the regulars had a contract where they didn’t have to do much. Most of the story time focused on guest cast, with Dillon, Ms. Kitty, the Doc and Festus in one scene per episode, at most. Any truth?
At least with James Arness this is (from my own memory) very true. He would do “bookend” appearances and let Ken Curtis (I honestly hated Festus) carry a few episodes, or Buck Taylor (Newly). He’d ride out of town for whatever reason during the teaser, the plot would unfold, he’d return in the tag and there’d be a “humorous” bit where he’d be told, “Oh, MattttYEW, nothin’ much happened,” wink-wink at the audience, etc…
My own opinion would simply be that Arness was well into his fifties by then and simply wanted a week’s vacation from the grind from time to time. If memory serves, he always limped from a WWII wound – perhaps he was feeling his years and accumulated aches and pains.
Sir Rhosis
Yeah, for a while it seemed like “The Festus Show”, but at the end, it seemed like the whole cast got the same deal. Looked like they were on-set one shooting day per episode (usually in the same scene).