The Rifleman

The Rifleman

1958
The Rifleman
The Rifleman

The Rifleman

8.3 | TV-PG | en | Western

The Rifleman is an American Western television program starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show was filmed in black-and-white, half-hour episodes. "The Rifleman" aired on ABC from September 30, 1958 to April 8, 1963 as a production of Four Star Television. It was one of the first prime time series to have a widowed parent raise a child.

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Seasons & Episodes

5
4
3
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1
EP26  Old Tony
Apr. 08,1963
Old Tony

Mark and his girlfriend Laurie discover that an old hermit is very lonely.

EP25  Which Way'd They Go?
Apr. 01,1963
Which Way'd They Go?

The notoriously lazy Jackman brothers discover their mortgage has been foreclosed.

EP24  Old Man Running (aka The Wanted Man)
Mar. 18,1963
Old Man Running (aka The Wanted Man)

Lucas, who blames his wife's death on his father-in-law, refuses to help the old man elude gunmen.

EP23  The Guest
Mar. 11,1963
The Guest

New arrival Mario Arsatti becomes very friendly with Lucas, but this turns out to be merely pleasure before business: he's been hired to kill Lucas.

EP22  Requiem at Mission Springs
Mar. 04,1963
Requiem at Mission Springs

Lucas begins a trek to find a cure for Mark, who is paralyzed after a bad fall.

EP21  The Bullet
Feb. 25,1963
The Bullet

Lucas is baffled when the marshal of a neighboring town refuses to hold a gambler who just attempted murder.

EP20  End of the Hunt
Feb. 18,1963
End of the Hunt

Lucas is thrown into jail to stop him from murdering an old enemy.

EP19  And the Devil Makes Five
Feb. 11,1963
And the Devil Makes Five

A snake crawls into Lucas's bed, and Mark must lure it away before it strikes.

EP18  Hostages to Fortune
Feb. 04,1963
Hostages to Fortune

At Halloween, rustlers take advantage of the seasonal disguises to raid a cattle ranch.

EP17  The Sixteenth Cousin
Jan. 28,1962
The Sixteenth Cousin

A Japanese nobleman seeks revenge when his servant is insulted.

EP16  The Sidewinder
Jan. 21,1963
The Sidewinder

Gridley Mau is gunning for Lucas, who killed his father during an attempted robbery.

EP15  Suspicion
Jan. 14,1963
Suspicion

A peddler is implicated in a series of murders.

EP14  Incident at Line Shack Six
Jan. 07,1963
Incident at Line Shack Six

A railroad gang boss frames an Apache.

EP13  Conflict
Dec. 24,1962
Conflict

Lucas's self-confidence begins to slip away when he misses an easy shot.

EP12  The Anvil Chorus
Dec. 17,1962
The Anvil Chorus

A blacksmith-turned-deputy sets the stage for trouble when he demands that all townspeople turn in their weapons.

EP11  Gun Shy
Dec. 10,1962
Gun Shy

Mark blames himself for a friend's accidental death.

EP10  Squeeze Play
Dec. 03,1962
Squeeze Play

A speculator will stop at nothing to grab Lucas's land.

EP9  The Most Amazing Man
Nov. 26,1962
The Most Amazing Man

Fast-draw artist Wade Randall is less than anxious to display his prowess.

EP8  Mark's Rifle
Nov. 19,1962
Mark's Rifle

Sharpshooter Marty Blair tries to persuade Lucas to buy Mark a rifle.

EP7  The Assailants
Nov. 12,1962
The Assailants

An assassination plot unfolds as four gunmen disguised as cavalrymen enter North Fork. Their target: Sen. Jim Borden. Their weapon: a Gatling gun.

EP6  I Take This Woman
Nov. 05,1962
I Take This Woman

Lou looks for a way out when the man her dying father promised her to arrives.

EP5  Death Never Rides Alone
Oct. 29,1962
Death Never Rides Alone

A gunslinger rides into North Fork for a meeting with Lucas.

EP4  Quiet Night, Deadly Night
Oct. 22,1962
Quiet Night, Deadly Night

Townspeople brace for the worst when a new girl arrives—with symptoms of smallpox.

EP3  Lou Mallory
Oct. 15,1962
Lou Mallory

Red-headed Lou Mallory arrives in North Fork and soon arouses the townpeople's suspicions.

EP2  Waste (2)
Oct. 08,1962
Waste (2)

Conclusion. After Alphonso's wife gives birth, the bandits holding Marshal Torrance relax their guard, enabling Lucas and Mark to rescue the old man.

EP1  Waste (1)
Oct. 01,1962
Waste (1)

Marshal Torrance is heading home from a cattle sale with Lucas and Mark when the old lawman mysteriously disappears. They trace him to a nearby Mexican ghost town. (Part 1 of 2)

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8.3 | TV-PG | en | Western , Family , Action & Adventure | More Info
Released: 1958-09-30 | Released Producted By: Four Stars Productions , Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:
Synopsis

The Rifleman is an American Western television program starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show was filmed in black-and-white, half-hour episodes. "The Rifleman" aired on ABC from September 30, 1958 to April 8, 1963 as a production of Four Star Television. It was one of the first prime time series to have a widowed parent raise a child.

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The tv show is currently not available onine

Cast

Chuck Connors , Johnny Crawford , Paul Fix

Director

Arthur H. Nadel

Producted By

Four Stars Productions ,

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Reviews

largo2032 Watching reruns on MeTv now, this show aired 20 years before I was born, yet now it is one of my favorite shows! The plot is this, a widowed rancher Lucas McCain and his son Mark run the Northfork Ranch, as Lucas tries to raise and teach Mark the best he can. Of course each week there is a bad guy or anti-hero the McCains deal with, but there is a lesson to be learned each episode of the series.Chuck Connors & Johnny Crawford are wonderful as father and son. You'd think that they actually were! (In Fact, Chuck treated Johnny like he did his own sons in real life!) Even in the opening of the show, when Chuck looks toward the audience, his eyes never leave the screen. To me, its a comforting look, saying 'As long as I'm here, you have nothing to fear.' It's a shame that a lot of TV shows since don't have that kind of impact on the viewers.
Peter S Even during the Golden Era of television the 1950s-1970s,when there were so many great shows made,The Rifleman ranks among the best shows ever made.Chuck Connors was outstanding,and the supporting cast were very good.But it was Connors as Lucas McCain that made this show great.His character had "real" emotions.Unlike the stereotype good guy in Westerns ,sometimes Lucas was the one to get angry first.He had a relaxed intensity about him,played to perfection.One of the wonderful things about this show is the great character actors that guest starred every week.The show stands out from other westerns for many reasons.One of them being a lot of the story lines involved Chuck Connors as Lucas McCain and his son played by Johnny Crawford.The father son relationship made this more than a western but also a family show.If I had to write everything that was great about this show it would fill a book.Even if one does not like westerns,The Rifleman is outstanding.They don't even come close to making great television shows like this anymore.
ellis1947 Two things in this episode are worth mentioning. First, as Mark is sent away from the ranch by Lucas, due to the possibility of his catching Yellow Fever, Mark says something to the effect of: "See you tomorrow night, dad!" This is the only time in the entire run of the show that he ever addresses his father as "Dad". Usually he calls him Pa ("Paw").The other thing in this episode is a distant shot of what appears to be an automobile driving across a field far behind the outdoor location of the McCain Ranch. As Luoas says goodbye to Mark as he prepares to go into town with the doctor, behind them far in the hills you can see what appears to be a vehicle driving along. It happens quickly, but is very noticeable.As usual, a great episode, but a remarkable one due to these two things.
Jynne As a kid growing up in the 70s, "The Rifleman" was one the only other western besides "Wild, Wild, West" that I really liked--I envied Mark McCain and the great father he had on the show (played by Connors). Yes, each show was a morality play but so were many other shows of the 50s & 60s (including "Star Trek"). They made their point at a time when there was still some innocence in America, and even taught tolerance for people from other countries/cultures (for example, in the episode of "Rifleman" where a Japanese man gets insulted & pushed into a fight with one of the locals & uses Judo to defend himself). Lucas McCain taught his son by example NEVER to use a gun or fight unless it was self-defense. It sounds silly now, but when I was a kid I wished my dad had explained things to me the same way Chuck Connors did to his son in the show--ah well, thank goodness for TV writers! :)