Actor Dennis Weaver (who played TV Chester) decided to exit the series after nine seasons to pursue other opportunities. His last episode, titled "Bently," saw Chester leave Dodge City, Kan. to find a murderer following a suspicious deathbed confession. 

"I’d done the show for nine years, and I just felt that if I didn’t get away from the guy… I pretty much exhausted all creative possibilities with the character and I just wanted to do something else," Dennis explained in a 2002 interview. 

"I felt it was time to move on and I know it was very risky doing that because a lot of actors did the same thing and really disappeared," he noted. Thankfully, the Missouri native wasn’t one of them. 

The then 39-year-old followed up his big break with a starring role on the short-lived NBC dramedy Kentucky Jones. "I got into the business of playing a leading man and had more say-so about whether the show’s a success or not," he shared.

The series might not have lasted long, but Dennis found his footing again with the police drama McCloud, in which he played the title role of Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud. The New Mexico-set thriller aired from 1970 to 1977.