Name: The Rifleman
Genre: Western, Family, Action, Adventure
Rating: 5.4
Cast: Chuck Connors, Johnny Crawford, Paul Fix, Joe Higgins, Bill Quinn

Chuck Connors

Johnny Crawford

Paul Fix

Joe Higgins

Bill Quinn

John Milford

Harlan Warde

Chris Alcaide

John Anderson

Peter Whitney

Sam Peckinpah

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.

The Rifleman

"The Rifleman" circa 1958

Lucas McCain and his son Mark arrive in North Fork, New Mexico. Looking to start a new life, they come across a ranch to their liking, which is for sale. Lucas enters a Turkey Shoot in hopes of winning the down payment for the ranch. Jim Lewis, the man who runs North Fork, has bet on Vernon, a young gun he brought in, to win. When talk of Lucas' reputation back in the Nations circulates around town, Mr. Lewis gets nervous and he makes trouble for Lucas by threatening Mark's life.

The Sharpshooter

Two hired hands of a wealthy cattleman, who has been using the ranch for grazing his cattle, demand that Lucas move out. When Lucas refuses, he is beaten and dragged and then the ranch house is burned down. They left Lucas and Mark with the burning house and rode off with Lucas' rifle. Leaving Mark to tend to the animals, Lucas tracks them down and confronts their boss, Mr. Jackford.

Home Ranch

Lucas is forced to give refuge to Will Fulton, a young bank robber, who was injured while saving Mark's life. While staying at the McCain ranch Will gets a taste of a life better than the one he's been leading. He's met a girl and grows tired of a life on the run. Will this young man have a change of heart before his brother returns for him and the stolen money?

End of a Young Gun

Micah Torrance, a once famous lawman, is introduced as a drunken derelict, who stumbles into North Fork. Micah, nursing an arm crippled in a gunfight, is hired by Lucas to help out at the ranch. Three outlaws ride into town looking for revenge against Micah. When they kill the sheriff, it's up to Lucas and Micah to protect North Fork. Micah becomes North Fork's full-time Marshal.

The Marshal

Mark's uncle, Johnny Gibb, a big time rodeo rider, comes to visit. While Mark idolizes his uncle, Lucas discovers that Johnny is on the run from the law for an Express Office Robbery. Stacy has a bronco named Lucifer, that nobody's been able to ride for 15 seconds. Alvah, wanting to humble the almighty Mr. Stacy, asks Johnny if he'd ride Lucifer, so that he and the townsfolk could bet that Johnny would ride Lucifer for 30 seconds. Johnny agrees and then makes a deal with Stacy to throw the ride for $500.00. After spending time with Mark, Johnny decides to give the ride his best and then turn himself in to Marshal Torrance.

The Brother-in-Law

Judge Burton seeks ""Justice"" against the Hangman, who hanged his son; the Judge, who sentenced his son; and Lucas, the man who caught his son. When Judge Burton discovers that Lucas has a son, he decides that the best way to serve justice is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a son for a son. Judge Burton tied Lucas to a wagon and went to hang Mark, feeling that Lucas should feel the same agony that he had felt waiting for is son to be hanged.

Eight Hours to Die

When an Italian Count arrives in North Fork, his strange attire attracts the attention of Groder, a town bully. Groder trying to have fun with this stranger, destroys some of the Counts currency, mocks him, and tries to humiliate him. Eventually the Count challenges Groder to a duel and asks Lucas to be his Second. They meet at dawn and the Count, the offended party, brings his single shot dueling pistols, something Groder is unaccustomed to. Lucas as second must see that all rules of the duel are adhered to.

Duel of Honor

Floyd Doniger comes to North Fork, looking to start a new life. He's got a steady job as the guard at the new bank and he's entertaining ideas of settling down on a spread of his own. Also arriving in North Fork are three men who followed the bank's new safe, figuring any town needing a safe like that must have money to put into it. At the grand opening celebration of the bank, the three men discover the new bank guard is their old pal, Floyd. The three men try to convince Floyd to join them in robbing the bank, after all with a man working inside it should be easy.

The Safe Guard

Rebecca Snipe is returning to North Fork after a long visit away. Before her stage left, she over hears a man saying he's going to North Fork to kill a big man with a big mouth. Upon Rebecca's arrival in North Fork, Mark is smitten with her and gets it in his head to play matchmaker between her and his pa. Thinking Lucas has intentions on their sister, the Snipe brothers come looking for Lucas to see if he measures up to their standard of being good enough for her.

The Sister

Tiffauges, a wealthy and sadistic Frenchman, who is used to getting whatever he wants, decides he wishes to purchase the McCain Ranch. Tiffauges' lead man, Xavier, proclaims Lucas to be muy macho, and does not believe Lucas will give in so easily. Xavier and the other men are tiring of being subjected to Tiffauges' whippings and cruel treatment. Lucas plays on the men's longing for freedom to keep his ranch.

New Orleans Menace

Dan Willard is filling in as temporary marshal while Micah is away. Some Texas cowhands are in North Fork looking for some fun and relaxation, but Dan keeps coming down hard on them. Dan's father tells Lucas that he feels Dan is trying to prove himself as a man to compensate from being dropped from West Point Academy because of his poor eyesight. The Texas cowhands have had enough of being pushed around when Marshal Dan posts an ordinance that all visitors must check their guns at the Marshal's office. Now, they're out to cause some real trouble for Dan.

The Apprentice Sheriff

Lucas accuses the young foreman of a neighboring ranch of rustling one of his calves.

Young Englishman

Lucas and Mark return from a cattle sale when their stagecoach is robbed by three outlaws led by sharpshooter Johnny Cotton (Vic Morrow). Lucas sends Mark on in the stagecoach while he goes after the outlaws on foot without his rifle.

The Angry Gun

Rumson, without even saying to whom he had sold his property, left the bill of sale with the bank and moved away from North Fork. Curge, who's highest offer was upped by $1,000.00 is upset because Rumson sold out to a ""peppergut"". The Argentez family who bought the place are from Argentina. Lucas arranges for Mark to hang out with Manolo, who teaches Mark to use the Bolas. Manolo is angered at anyone who shows interest in his sister, he believes she is only for a ""Caballero"". Her latest suitor, Ned Dunnell, has been found murdered and the townsfolk are quick to believe it was Manolo.

The Gaucho

Ward Haskins guns down Joe Flecker, who has evidence that could be used to blackmail him. Haskins thinks the information was given to Lucas, since he brought Flecker to the doctor before he died. Stirred up by Haskins behavior, Lucas goes through Flecker's things, finding a wanted poster for Haskins in the sole of Flecker's boot.  He also finds Doc Burrage drinking. Doc is discouraged because three children have died of an anthrax epidemic that he has the new serum for, but nobody is willing to allow him to administer it in time. Haskins rides out to the ranch and is bitten by Flecker's horse, which is now believed to have anthrax. Mark overhears about how anthrax always causes death and is worried because he had bitten by Flecker's horse, also.

The Pet

Frank Blandon, a man with only one good arm, wanders on to the ranch. Lucas gave Blandon a job to ""hire him and Mark a clear conscience"". General Sheridan and his patrol wandered by and Lucas offered to let them stay the night at the ranch. Blandon pulled a gun on General Sheridan, as it turned out Blandon was a confederate soldier, who once had General Sheridan in his gun sight during the war. Blandon hung fire, but Sheridan did not hesitate and blew out Blandon's shoulder. General Sheridan shamed Blandon out of exacting his revenge, then lifted Blandon's spirit by praising Johnny Rebs' fighting spirit. Sheridan ordered that Blandon be taken to a hospital to have his shoulder properly mended, carrying out his Commander in Chief's last order to ""Bind up the Nation's wounds.""

The Sheridan Story

Wes Carney and his wife Clair want to settle down and they figure North Fork might do fine. Wes is a well known gunfighter, who has promised Clair that he would hang up his guns for good. The Carney's want to live a simple, honest life and the Feed and Grain Store, which is up for sale, seems like it might work for them. Carney's reputation and the news that he's settling down brings troublemakers to North Fork. Lucas is the only man willing to stand as deputy with Micah. After Lucas tells the Carney's a story, Clair releases Wes of his promise and the three men take on the troublemakers. After the showdown, Clair announces that Wes will be taking the Sheriff's position he was offered in another town, if it's still available.

The Retired Gun

Abel Goss, the photographer who took Lucas' wedding photograph, is in North Fork doing a portrait of Mark standing in the street. When Goss sees Col. Whiteside and his sidekick Jamison, he recognizes them as the butchers who tortured him and others while he was captive in their prisoners of war camp. When Lucas stops him from killing them, Goss swears to kill those men. Whiteside planned to call Goss out, but he had Jamison shooting from the upstairs hotel window, as his insurance. When the shots are fired, Whiteside is dead, shot in the back, and his gun hadn't been fired. Goss is arrested and at the trial Lucas and Mark have different testimonies. Mark reenacts the scene in the street, and Lucas backs Mark's theory , using the photographic negative Goss had shot of Mark.

The Photographer

Aaron Pelser's wagon train came across a pair of young boys on a buck board heading west and invited them to join the train. When he found out that one of the boys was actually a girl and the two claimed to be headed to Yuma to get married, Pelser and his crowd force them to be married in North Fork. The wagon train folks want to throw a shivaree, which may have been innocent enough except for two reasons. The first reason being that the couple does not count it as their wedding because they want to be wed by the groom's father in Yuma. The second reason is that Chet Packard keeps pushing things too far, beyond the spirit of a friendly shivaree.

Shivaree

McCain befriends Donnel O'Mahoney, a tough kid from Brooklyn, and arranges with two men for the young man to continue his travels on their wagon, but then one of them is murdered and the other accuses the boy of having done it.

The Deadeye Kid

U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart arrives in North Fork in search of renegade Indians suspected of the brutal killing of a Texas Ranger and his family, but the townspeople are suspicious of him when they discover that he too is an Indian.

The Indian

Reformed card sharp Julia Massini now runs a respectable boarding house in North Fork, but Sid Fallon is threatening to reveal her sordid past unless she lets him turn the establishment into a saloon and gambling hall.

The Boarding House

Lucas puts his life in jeopardy when he agrees to testify in a murder case where the first witness was killed before he could testify, and the killer is still at large.

The Second Witness

Outlaw Sam Morley falls in love with a young woman who has a serious illness, and asks Lucas to turn him in for the reward and then use the money to pay for her medical care.

The Trade

Lucas welcomes his old friend Tom Birch, who once saved his life, unaware that the man is now a bank robber who is on the run with his gang.

One Went to Denver

Dan Nowry, released from Yuma prison, arrives in North Fork intent on getting even with Marshal Torrance,who helped send him to jail.

The Deadly Wait

Young Mark McCain is eager to help lawman Jay Jefferson, who has arrived in North Fork intent on killing an outlaw for the reward, whether he is the right man or not.

The Wrong Man

When escaped convicts hold up the general store in North Fork and take Marshal Torrance hostage, Lucas comes to the rescue.

The Challenge

Young Mark manages to capture a hawk, but then falls into danger from a rattlesnake.  When a stranger comes to his rescue, the grateful Mark invites the man home, unaware that he is on the run from the law.

The Hawk

When a rambunctious teenager wrecks a schoolroom, Lucas McCain, as a member of the North Fork school board, asks the boy's reluctant uncle to pay for the damages.

Three-Legged Terror

The McCains try to be tolerant of their embittered neighbor Abel MacDonald, who tels Lucas to keep off his land and won't allow his son to become friends with Mark, but they decide he's gone too far when he won't allow his injured boy to get medical treatment.

The Angry Man

An unfounded rumor causes North Fork's outspoken feminist schoolteacher to be attacked by a mob of angry townspeople.

The Woman

When his employer begins to suspect him of embezzlement, bookkeeper Asa Manning decides to hire a professional gunman to take care of the problem.

The Money Gun

Although a drought has forced local cowhands to seek work on a railroad construction project, railraod executives are afraid that their workers will desert them if they believe an old man's claim to have found a way to make rain.

A Matter of Faith

Lucas McCain gives blood to save a dying man and is surprised by Marshal Torrance's odd behavior toward the man. Then three men arrive from a nearby town and demand custody of the stranger.

Blood Brothers

Mark's finding of the body of a murder victim starts Lucas, his friend Artemus, and Marshal Torrance on a search for the killer.

Stranger at Night

When renegade Apaches wound Lucas and kidnap Mark, Marshal Torrance joins with U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart to form a rescue posse.

The Raid

Lucas is the town's representative to the railroad commission until an infamous train robber dies and leaves his ill-gotten wealth to Lucas. Lucas must clear his name and stop the reckless ambition of his replacement.

Outlaw's Inheritance

When a rancher dies after the bank forecloses the mortgage on his property, his son blames the banker for his father's death.

Boomerang

When a wealthy rancher is killed, Mark suggests that they seek the aid of a mind reader to identify the murderer.

The Mind Reader

A group of outlaws devise a plan to get rid of Lucas so that they can take over the town of North Fork.

The Patsy

After Lucas kills a mountain man in a barrom brawl, his father arrives in North Fork determined to take revenge on Lucas and Marshal Torrance, once he breaks his other two boys out of jail.

Bloodlines

Newly arrived gunslinger Al Walker throws a mammoth party at the saloon, keeping acting Marshal Ben Waller busy until Lucas is forced to intervene.

The Blowout

Newspaperman Byron Claremont specializes in profiles of famous gunmen. One of his stories was responsible for an old-time marshal's death; and his next subject is Lucas.

Obituary

Gavin and Ezra Martin think that Lucas killed their son Clemmie while taking part in a train robbery, and Lucas refuses to tell them what really happened.

Tension

After the daughter of Lucas's friend the hotel clerk arrives in North Fork, two strangers threaten her life.

Eddie's Daughter

Town character Brett Conway blackmails Lucas with the knowledge that a young couple Lucas rescued are suffering from yellow fever.

Panic

When their wagon breaks down, Mark and an injured Lucas are stranded in the desert.

Ordeal

Mark is kidnapped as he and his father try to protect Banker Hamilton's gold.

The Spiked Rifle

Lucas makes a life-or-death decision when Micah is held hostage and the kidnappers demand the release of a notorious outlaw.

Letter of the Law

Lucas tries to do a good deed for the old town drunk but it backfires when the drunk's son believes he inherited Lucas' ranch.

The Legacy

A dance hall singer asks Lucas to care for her daughter in an effort to hide the baby from her self-righteous, bigoted father.

The Baby Sitter

Lucas becomes involved in a battle between an aspiring writer and a cocky, bragging trail boss.

The Coward

Mark runs away from home after his father questions his story about overhearing a plot to rob the bank.

Surveyors

A famous buffalo hunter tries to goad Lucas into a shooting match.

Day of the Hunter

When a stranger arrives to marry the town spinster, two brothers who want her land try to discourage him with threats and a beating.

Mail Order Groom

Mark finds himself in grave danger when two unscrupulous detectives searching for a man's long-lost son claim that it is Mark.

A Case of Identity

Lucas is drawn to a young widow passing through town on her way to claim an inheritance, but others who covet it are trying to kill her.

The Visitors

After a young stablehand kills a notorious gunslinger, he is baffled by the hostility of the townspeople about giving him the reward.

The Hero

When a horse dealer transporting a prize stallion stops in North Fork, two saddle tramps try to use trickery to obtain it.

The Horse Traders

An elderly couple moves to North Fork under an assumed name to hide the fact that they are the parents of a vicious killer. The plan backfires when the son shows up at their home.

The Spoiler

After foiling a girl's attempt to rob the general store, Lucas finds that she and her brother are plotting the murder of their abusive stepfather.

Heller

A condemned killer being transported by train murders a marshal and takes Mark hostage.

The Grasshopper

Mark discovers that the new preacher and his wife are impostors planning a robbery.

A Time for Singing

Lucas and Marshal Torrance get into trouble with the Army when they try to help a wounded young soldier who deserted.

The Deserter

After Mark contracts typhoid fever and has a vision of his dead mother, he no longer seems interested in getting well.

The Vision

An old friend of Lucas's returns to town in the company of a shady gambler and is accused of cheating at cards.

The Lariat

Several men are vying for a rancher's daughter's affections.  When she is found dead, one of them becomes the prime suspect in her murder.

Smoke Screen

Shotgun man John Beaumont, who Lucas sent to prison, returns with vengeance on his mind.

Shotgun Man

After shooting a man in self-defense, Andy Moon turns to Lucas for protection from his vengeful brothers.

Sins of the Father

To keep his invalid mother happy, an outlaw forces Lucas and Mark to go along with a masquerade that he is the owner of Lucas's ranch.

The Prodigal

A sharecropper enters his colt in a horse race, hoping to win enough money to buy his farm from the owner, who has bet on Mark McCain's entry.

The Fourflusher

When Lucas hires an ex-con as a ranch hand, the man is the first one under suspicion when a robbery and murder occur in the area.

The Jailbird

Lucas helps his former Army captain, now an undercover federal agent, infiltrate a gang of bank robbers.

Meeting at Midnight

Lucas finds himself involved in murder when he gallantly steps to the aid of a beautiful woman.

Nora

An ex-convict is blamed for a brutal crime despite his claims of rehabilitation.

The Hangman

Lucas is out for vengeance when Mark is used as a pawn in a bank robbery scheme.

Trail of Hate

Lucas shoots a horse thief who turns out to be a member of the Boyle clan, and now Ma Boyle is after him.

Woman From Hog Ridge

Seven condemned murderers escape and take over the town of North Fork.

Seven

When Mark finds gold on their property, a fast-talking salesman who tried to sell Lucas a new lightning rod offers instead to buy the ranch's mineral rights.

The Pitchman

Lucas tracks an escaped prisoner to a town that turns out to be run by the gunman's brother, notorious for shooting people in the back.

Strange Town

When an outlaw leader lures Marshal Torrance out of town, Lucas is the only one who can stop him from lynching a local man who killed one of the members of his gang.

Baranca

A former army captain comes to North Fork to kill the man who shot down his son in a gunfight - Lucas McCain.

The Martinet

A new store owner upsets the town by demanding that all credit accounts be paid off.

Miss Milly

The widow of a bandit killed by Lucas plots a grotesque revenge.

Dead Cold Cash

Mark and his friend become trapped in an old mine.

The Schoolmaster

A con man and his fast-gun friend come to North Fork. Lucas enters a target shooting contest.

The Promoter

Lucas encourages a drunken artist charged with murder to use his talents to identify the true killer.

The Illustrator

Lucas and Mark try to persuade a persecuted young mute to return stolen money.

The Silent Knife

A lively old lady arrives in town hot on the trail of a notorious banditâ€”and the reward money for capturing him.

Miss Bertie

A doctor seeks revenge on the man he blames for ruining his practice.

Six Years and a Day

Lucas unmasks a killer posing as a door-to-door seed salesman.

Flowers by the Door

Lucas and Marshal Torrance run in trouble transporting a captured killer back to face trial.

Long Trek

A deathbed request from an old friend sends Lucas to a neighboring town in search of the man's long-lost sweetheart.

The Rifleman

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