The Rifleman – western TV show. http://inklingsandyarns.com/2012/05/happy-birthday-chris-2/ CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO GO TO The Rifleman – western TV show VIDEOS.
This wonderful western television series originally ran from 1958 (The hay day of westerns series beginnings on TV) through 1963. The stars are Chuck Connors and Johnny Crawford along with Paul Fix. With many wonderful guest stars along the way. There are 168 episodes of this action packed western TV show. Lucas McCain is known as The Rifleman because he does not carry a six shooter but a specially designed loop lever Winchester Model 92 rifle. This series was created by Sam Peckinpah.
Westerns were a popular genre when THE RIFLEMAN premiered in 1958. First telecast on Dick Powell’s “Zane Grey Theatre” (CBS) on March 7, 1958, the pilot premiered on ABC in the regular television season on September 30 that same year. The show’s creator, Arnold Laven, developed THE RIFLEMAN’s core themes, which distinguished it from a crowded field of formulaic adventure programs. Set in New Mexico in the 1880s, originally, the main character was John—not Lucas—McCain, and he had no son. Also, the original premise had McCain packing a pistol, not a rifle. It was Laven who had the idea of making McCain a widower with a young son and making a customized Winchester rifle, not a six gun, the main protagonist’s signature firearm.
The narratives that elicited THE RIFLEMAN’s central themes were compelling because of the characters’ capacity to animate the viewers’ imagination and ability to kindle an emotional connnection to them. THE RIFLEMAN producers, writers and directors attracted the most gifted actors working in Hollywood to enliven the stories with a colorful and varied cast of characters. More than 500 guest stars in over 970 credited roles appeared during THE RIFLEMAN’s five-season run, with many veteran character actors cast in recurring roles. Bill Quinn, who began his career in the silent film era, played Sweeney the Bartender at the North Fork Saloon, appearing in 40 episodes, while John Harmon portrayed the quiet hotel clerk in 15 episodes. Harlan Warde, representing the stolid integrity of a civic-minded businessman, portrayed president of the North Fork Bank in 18 episodes. Hope Summers played Hattie Denton, the owner of North Fork’s General Store. She appeared in 16 episodes, imparting a warm, maternal counterbalance to an otherwise rough and tumble atmosphere. Joan Taylor would replace Hope Summers as owner of the General Store, portraying “Miss Milly,” a character introduced in episode 84. She would provide a romantic interest for Lucas in 18 episodes; however, in the fifth and final season of the show, actress Patricia Blair, potraying “Lou Mallory,” would become the new romantic interest, taking ownership of the General Store from Miss Milly, who returned to her family the east. Blair appeared in 17 episodes. Other recurring characters, some portrayed by different actors, would turn up North Fork, including Toomey the Blacksmith, played by Robert Foulk, who made five appearances, the reassuring stalwart Doc Burrage, who was played by six different actors, including Edgar Buchanan and Rhys Williams, and the character Nels Swenson (also Swensen and Svenson), alternately North Fork’s farrier or the blacksmith, who was played by several actors, including Richard Alexander, John Dierkes, Joe Higgins and Karl Swenson.
MUCH OF THE INFORMATION ON THIS SHOW HAS BEEN ACQUIRED FROM http://www.therifleman.net
Episode Guide for The Rifleman – western TV show.
Season 1
1 1-01 30/Sep/58 The Sharpshooter
2 1-02 07/Oct/58 Home Ranch
3 1-03 14/Oct/58 End of a Young Gun
4 1-04 21/Oct/58 The Marshal
5 1-05 28/Oct/58 The Brother-in-Law
6 1-06 04/Nov/58 Eight Hours to Die
7 1-07 11/Nov/58 Duel of Honor
8 1-08 18/Oct/58 The Safe Guard
9 1-09 25/Nov/58 The Sister
10 1-10 26/Dec/58 New Orleans Menace
11 1-11 09/Dec/58 The Apprentice Sheriff
12 1-12 16/Dec/58 Young Englishman
13 1-13 23/Dec/58 The Angry Gun
14 1-14 30/Dec/58 The Gaucho
15 1-15 06/Jan/59 The Pet
16 1-16 13/Jan/59 The Sheridan Story
17 1-17 20/Jan/59 The Retired Gun
18 1-18 27/Jan/59 The Photographer
19 1-19 03/Feb/59 Shivaree
20 1-20 10/Feb/59 The Deadeye Kid
21 1-21 17/Feb/59 The Indian
22 1-22 24/Feb/59 The Boarding House
23 1-23 30/Mar/59 The Second Witness
24 1-24 10/Mar/59 The Trade
25 1-25 17/Mar/59 One Went to Denver
26 1-26 24/Mar/59 The Deadly Wait
27 1-27 31/Mar/59 The Wrong Man
28 1-28 07/Apr/59 The Challenge
29 1-29 14/Apr/59 The Hawk
30 1-30 21/Apr/59 The Three-Legged Terror
31 1-31 28/Apr/59 The Angry Man
32 1-32 05/May/59 The Woman
33 1-33 12/May/59 The Money Gun
34 1-34 19/May/59 A Matter of Faith
35 1-35 26/May/59 Blood Brothers
36 1-36 20/Jun/59 Stranger at Night
37 1-37 09/Jun/59 The Raid
38 1-38 16/Jun/59 Outlaw’s Inheritance
39 1-39 23/Jun/59 Boomerang
40 1-40 30/Jun/59 The Mind Reader
Season 2
41 2-01 29/Sep/59 The Patsy
42 2-02 06/Oct/59 Bloodlines
43 2-03 13/Oct/59 The Blowout
44 2-04 20/Oct/59 Obituary
45 2-05 27/Oct/59 Tension
46 2-06 03/Nov/59 Eddie’s Daughter
47 2-07 10/Nov/59 Panic
48 2-08 17/Nov/59 Ordeal
49 2-09 24/Nov/59 The Spiked Rifle
50 2-10 01/Dec/59 Letter of the Law
51 2-11 08/Dec/59 The Legacy
52 2-12 15/Dec/59 The Baby Sitter
53 2-13 22/Dec/59 The Coward
54 2-14 29/Dec/59 Surveyors
55 2-15 05/Jan/60 Day of the Hunter
56 2-16 12/Jan/60 Mail Order Groom
57 2-17 19/Jan/60 A Case of Identity
58 2-18 26/Jan/60 The Visitors
59 2-19 02/Feb/60 The Hero
60 2-20 09/Feb/60 The Horse Traders
61 2-21 16/Feb/60 The Spoiler
62 2-22 23/Feb/60 Heller
63 2-23 01/Mar/60 The Grasshopper
64 2-24 08/Mar/60 A Time for Singing
65 2-25 15/Mar/60 The Deserter
66 2-26 22/Mar/60 The Vision
67 2-27 29/Mar/60 The Lariat
68 2-28 05/Apr/60 Smoke Screen
69 2-29 12/Apr/60 Shotgun Man
70 2-30 19/Apr/60 Sins of the Father
71 2-31 26/Apr/60 The Prodigal
72 2-32 03/May/60 The Fourflusher
73 2-33 10/May/60 The Jailbird
74 2-34 17/May/60 Meeting at Midnight
75 2-35 24/May/60 Nora
76 2-36 31/May/60 The Hangman
Season 3
77 3-01 27/Sep/60 Trail of Hate
78 3-02 04/Oct/60 Woman From Hog Ridge
79 3-03 11/Oct/60 Seven
80 3-04 18/Sep/60 The Pitchman
81 3-05 25/Oct/60 Strange Town
82 3-06 01/Nov/60 Baranca
83 3-07 08/Nov/60 The Martinet
84 3-08 15/Nov/60 Miss Milly
85 3-09 22/Nov/60 Dead Cold Cash
86 3-10 29/Nov/60 The Schoolmaster
87 3-11 06/Dec/60 The Promoter
88 3-12 13/Dec/60 The Illustrator
89 3-13 20/Dec/60 The Silent Knife
90 3-14 27/Dec/60 Miss Bertie
91 3-15 30/Jan/61 Six Years and a Day
92 3-16 10/Jan/61 Flowers by the Door
93 3-17 17/Jan/61 Long Trek
94 3-18 24/Jan/61 The Actress
95 3-19 31/Jan/61 Face of Yesterday
96 3-20 07/Feb/61 The Wyoming Story (1)
97 3-21 14/Feb/61 The Wyoming Story (2)
98 3-22 21/Feb/61 Closer than a Brother
99 3-23 28/Feb/61 The Lost Treasure of Canyon Town
100 3-24 07/Mar/61 Dark Day at North Fork
101 3-25 14/Mar/61 The Prisoner
102 3-26 21/Mar/61 Assault
103 3-27 28/Mar/61 Short Rope for a Tall Man
104 3-28 04/Apr/61 The Clarence Bibs Story
105 3-29 11/Apr/61 The Score is Even
106 3-30 18/Apr/61 The Mescalaro Curse
107 3-31 25/Apr/61 Stopover
108 3-32 02/May/61 The Lonesome Bride
109 3-33 09/May/61 Death Trap
110 3-34 16/May/61 The Queue
Season 4
111 4-01 02/Oct/61 The Vaqueros
112 4-02 09/Oct/61 First Wages
113 4-03 16/Sep/61 Sheer Terror
114 4-04 23/Oct/61 The Stand-In
115 4-05 30/Oct/61 The Journey Back
116 4-06 06/Nov/61 The Decision
117 4-07 13/Nov/61 Knight Errant
118 4-08 20/Nov/61 Honest Abe
119 4-09 27/Nov/61 The Long Goodbye
120 4-10 04/Dec/61 The Shattered Idol
121 4-11 11/Dec/61 Long Gun From Tucson
122 4-12 18/Dec/61 The High Country
123 4-13 25/Dec/61 A Friend in Need
124 4-14 01/Jan/62 Skull
125 4-15 08/Jan/62 The Princess
126 4-16 15/Jan/62 Gunfire
127 4-17 22/Jan/62 The Quiet Fear
128 4-18 29/Jan/62 Sporting Chance
129 4-19 05/Feb/62 A Young Man’s Fancy
130 4-20 12/Feb/62 The Man from Salinas
131 4-21 19/Feb/62 Two Ounces of Tin
132 4-22 26/Feb/62 Deadly Image
133 4-23 05/Mar/62 The Debt
134 4-24 12/Mar/62 The Tinhorn
135 4-25 19/Mar/62 None So Blind
136 4-26 26/Mar/62 Jealous Man
137 4-27 02/Apr/62 Guilty Conscience
138 4-28 09/Apr/62 Day of Reckoning
139 4-29 16/Apr/62 The Day the Town Slept
140 4-30 23/Apr/62 Milly’s Brother
141 4-31 30/Apr/62 Outlaw’s Shoes
142 4-32 07/May/62 The Executioner
Season 5
143 5-01 01/Oct/62 Waste (1)
144 5-02 08/Oct/62 Waste (2)
145 5-03 15/Oct/62 Lou Mallory
146 5-04 22/Oct/62 Quiet Night, Deadly Night
147 5-05 29/Oct/62 Death Never Rides Alone
148 5-06 05/Nov/62 I Take This Woman
149 5-07 12/Nov/62 The Assailants
150 5-08 19/Nov/62 Mark’s Rifle
151 5-09 26/Nov/62 The Most Amazing Man
152 5-10 03/Dec/62 Squeeze Play
153 5-11 10/Dec/62 Gun Shy
154 5-12 17/Dec/62 The Anvil Chorus
155 5-13 24/Dec/62 Conflict
156 5-14 07/Jan/63 Incident at Line Shack Six
157 5-15 14/Jan/63 Suspicion
158 5-16 21/Jan/63 The Sidewinder
159 5-17 28/Jan/62 The Sixteenth Cousin
160 5-18 04/Feb/63 Hostages to Fortune
161 5-19 11/Feb/63 And the Devil Makes Five
162 5-20 18/Feb/63 End of the Hunt
163 5-21 25/Feb/63 The Bullet
164 5-22 04/Mar/63 Requiem at Mission Springs
165 5-23 11/Mar/63 The Guest
166 5-24 18/Mar/63 Old Man Running (aka The Wanted Man)
167 5-25 01/Apr/63 Which Way’d They Go?
168 5-26 08/Apr/63 Old Tony
Cast
Chuck Connors … Lucas McCain
Johnny Crawford … Mark McCain
Paul Fix … Marshal Micah Torrance
Peter Whitney … John Jupiter
John Anderson … Jess Profit
Alice Backes … Isabel Dent (as Alice Backus)
Sandy Kenyon … Jim Profit
Montie Montana … Stage Driver (as Monty Montana)
WONDERFUL RIFLEMAN GUEST STARS – MANY OF THESE WERE VILLAIN OF THE WEEK!
John Abbott
Julie Adams
Stanley Adams
Claude Akins
Chris Alcaide
Norman Alden
Virginia Aldridge
Richard Alexander
Mel Allen
Henry Allin
Jean Allison
John Alvin
Henry Amargo
Ed Ames
Amanda Ames (Wallace Earl Sparks Laven)
Robert Anacher
Luana Anders
Richard Anderson
John Anderson
James Anderson
Keith Andes
Morris Ankrum
Michael Ansara
R. G. Armstrong
Herb Armstrong
Charles Arnt
Larry Asmus
Phyllis Avery
Alice Backes
Parley Baer
Raymond Bailey
Roy Barcroft
Katherine Bard
Baynes Barron
Patricia Barry
Fern Barry
James Barton
Joe Bassett
Arthur Batanides
Alan Baxter
Hal Baylor
Stephen Bekassy
William “Billy” Benedict
Joe E. Benson
James Best
Lyle Bettger
Helen Beverly
Robert Bice
Edward Binns
William Bishop
Whit Bissell
Sidney Blackmer
Patricia Blair
Dan Blocker
Lane Bradford
Jim Breneman
George Brenlin
Patricia Breslin
Diana Brewster
Charles Briggs
Lillian Bronson
Thomas Brown
Joe Brown
Argentina Brunetti
William Bryant
Edgar Buchanan
Robert Burton
Archie Butler
King Calder
Philip Carey
Olive Carey
Harry Carey, Jr.
Benny Carle
Thomas Carney
John Carpenter
Carleton Carpenter
Paul Carr
John Carradine
Jimmy Carter
Conlan Carter
Mel Carter
Lynn Cartier
Penelope Sue Carver
Allen Case
Malcolm Cassell
Bill Catching
Bill Cerone
Robert Chadwick
Larry Chance
James Chandler
John Davis Chandler
Lon Chaney, Jr.
Lonny Chapman
Lewis Charles
Kim Charney
Alden “Stephen” Chase
Virginia Christine
Pat Close
James Coburn
Pamela Cole
Johnny Collier
Russell Collins
Al Collins
Booth Colman
Mike Connors
Steve Connors
Jeff Connors
Kevin Connors
Charles Conrad
Steve Conte
Roberto Contreras
Tommy Cook
Charles Cooper
Ben Cooper
Clancy Cooper
Ellen Corby
Robert Cornthwaite
Jerome Courtland
Kay Cousins
John Craig
Carolyn Craig
Robert Crawford
Dennis Cross
Robert Culp
Jeff Daley
Maurice Dallimore
Abby Dalton
Linda Dangcil
Royal Dano
Cesare Danova
Christopher Dark
Steven Darrell
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Maureen Dawson
Hal K. Dawson
Ted de Corsia
Richard Deacon
Edgar Dearing
Gloria DeHaven
John Dehner
Frank DeKova
Galvan DeLeon
Lincoln Demyan
George DeNormand
Richard Devon
John Dierkes
Robert Dix
Lawrence Dobkin
Molly Dodd
James Drury
Don Drysdale
Don Dubbins
John Durren
Chana Eden
Barbara Eiler
Jack Elam
Robert Ellenstein
Ross Elliott
Dick Elliott
Donald Elson
Beverly Ann Englander
Leif Erickson
Bill Erwin
Richard Evans
Hampton Fancher
Annie Farge
Lee Farr
Fats
William Fawcett
Frank Ferguson
Jimmy Fields
Harry Finley
Mickey Finn
James Flavin
Fritz Ford
Michael “Mike” Forest
Robert Foulk
Michael Fox
James Franciscus
Dean Fredericks
Charles Fredricks
Bert Freed
Lance Fuller
Gary Gadson
Jim Galante
Steven Gardner
Richard Garland
Kathy Garver
Kelton Garwood
James Gavin
Lenny Geer
Betty Lou Gerson
John Gilbert
Sid Gillman
Tom Gilson
Johnny Ginger
Regina Gleason
John Goddard
Mark Goddard
Pat Goldin
Thomas Gomez
Elyse Gordon
Leo Gordon
Don Grady
Fred Graham
Michael Greene
Dabbs Greer
Jack Grinnage
Raymond Guth
Buddy Hackett
Kevin Hagen
Ron Hagerthy
Frank Hagney
Tony Haig
Claude Hall
Bob Hall
Eileen Harley (Wallace Earl Sparks Laven)
John Harmon
Michael Harris
Robert H. Harris
Charles Harrison
Joe Haworth
Ron Hayes
Jim Hayward
Bruce Hayward
Pat Henry
Pepe Hern
Harry Hickox
Joe Higgins
Michael Hinn
Earl Hodgins
Pat Hogan
Jack Hogan
Cheryl Holdridge
Rex Holman
Skip Homeier
Dick Kay Hong
Dennis Hopper
Robert F. Hoy
Rodolfo Hoyos, Jr.
John Hoyt
Clegg Hoyt
William “Billy” Hughes
Whitey Hughes
Arthur Hunnicutt
Jim Hurst
Josphine Hutchinson
Brian G. Hutton
Rex Ingram
Sherry Jackson
Enid Janes/Jaynes
Paul Jasmin
Dal Jenkins
Harvey Johnson
Chubby Johnson
Jason Johnson
Isaac Stanford Jolley
Gordon Jones
L. Q. Jones
Warner Jones
Bill Joyce
Katy Jurado
Beatrice Kay
Richard Keene
Mike Kellin
Ray Kellogg
Bill Kendis
Douglas Kennedy
Don Kennedy
Sandy Kenyon
Richard Kiel
Kip King
Lee Kinsolving
James Kirkwood (Sr.)
Robert Knapp
Martin Kosleck
Berry Kroeger
Jack Kruschen
Kay E. Kuter
Charles La Franchise
Jack Lambert
Martin Landau
Michael Landon
John Larch
Harry Lauter
Marc Lawrence
Linda Lawson
Jennifer Lea
Norman Leavitt
Howard Ledig
Carol Leigh
David Leland
Bethel Leslie
Jack Lester
George Lindsey
Morris Lippert
Eddie Little Sky
Perry Lopez
James Luisi
Karl Lukas
Dayton Lummis
Ken Lynch
Charles Macauley
George Macready
Henry Madden
Arthur Malet
Peggy Maley
John Mamo (Fujioka)
Mickey Manners
Paul Mantee
Steve Marlo
Andy Marten
Eugene Martin (Mazzola)
George Matthews
John Maxwell
Charles Maxwell
Asa Maynor
Paul Mazursky
Lin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy
Sean McClory
Renny McEvoy
Dallas “Dal” McKennon
Patrick McVey
Don Megowan
William “Bill” Meigs
Joe Mell
Troy Melton
John Milford
Diana Millay
Denny Miller
Mort Mills
Irving Mitchell
Gerald Mohr
Montie Montana
Alberto Monte
Alex Montoya
Ralph Moody
Joanna Moore
Agnes Moorehead
Gloria Moreland
Rex Morgan
Michael Morgan
Ben Morris
Vic Morrow
Jeff Morrow
Arnold Moss
Kathleen Mulqueen
Ian Murray
George N. Neise
Jay Nelson
Ed Nelson
Tommy Nolan
Valora Noland
Henry Norell
Hal Jon Norman
Warren Oates
Jerry Oddo
Bud Osborne
Cliff Osmond
Robert Osterloh
Ted Otis
Ollie O’Toole
James Parnell
Milton Parsons
Reg Parton
Michael Pate
Lee Patrick
Hank Patterson
Steve Pendleton
Ron Penfound
Gigi Perreau
Vic Perrin
Larry Perron
Joseph V. Perry
Michael Petit
Marilee Phelps
William Phipps
John “Jack” Pickard
Noam Pitlik
Edward Platt
Preston Price
Denver Pyle
Eddie Quillan
Bill Quinn
Stuart Randall
Sue Randall
John Rayborn
Rhodes Reason
Dick Rich
Darryl Richard
Paul Richards
Grant Richards
Danny Richards, Jr.
Steve Ritch
Bartlett Robinson
Ziva Rodann
David M. Rodman
Teddy Rooney
Fay Roope
Tony Rosa
Henry Rowland
Steve Rowland
Herman Rudin
Herbert Rudley
Bing Russell
Richard Rust
Glenn Ryle
Walter Sande
Hugh Sanders
William Schallert
Stefan Schnabel
Sydna Scott
Vito Scotti
Alexander Scourby
Jack Searl
Charles Seel
Sarah Selby
Marion (Marian) Seldes
Joan Shawlee
Dan Sheridan
Fred Sherman
Mickey Simpson
Pam Smith
Duke Snider
Tom Snyder
Vladimir Sokoloff
Paul Sorenson
Olan Soule
Arthur Space
Douglas Spencer
Ted Stanhope
Harry Dean Stanton
Michael Stefani
K. T. Stevens
Rusty Stevens
Bert Stevens
Jan Stine
Hank Stohl
Harold J. Stone
Leonard Stone
Glenn Strange
Frank Sully
Hope Summers
Bob Sweeney
Karl Swenson
Sarah Taft
Akim Tamiroff
Charles Tannen
Kent Taylor
Joan Taylor
Ray Teal
Pick Temple
Dee J. Thompson
Larry Thor
Kelly Thordsen
Russell Thorson
Mary Jo Tierney
Les Tremayne
Karen Sue Trent
Gene Tyburn
David Tyrell
Natividad Vacio
Lee Van Cleef
Arlyne Varden
Robert Vaughn
June Vincent
Murvyn Vye
Max Wagner
Gary Walberg
Gregory Walcott
George Wallace
Harlan Warde
Midge Ware
Steve Warren
Charles Watts
Robert Webber
Jack Wells
Adam West
James Westerfield
Brad Weston
Paul Wexler
Daniel White
Christine White
Peter Whitney
Grace Lee Whitney
Richard Whorf
Frank Wilcox
Robert J. Wilke
Guy Wilkerson
George Willeford
Adam Williams
Robert B. Williams
Rhys Williams
Dick Wilson
Jeane Wood
William Woodson
Stephen Wootton
Dale Wright
Than Wyenn
X Brands
Jeff York
Victor Sen Young
Bill Zuckert