Monday, September 15, 2008

The Rifleman 1958-1963 Action TV Series

The Rifleman TV Series

The Rifleman was a Primetime Emmy nominated Western television program ran from September 1958 to April 1963 on ABC under the production of Four Star Television. The black-and-white program starred former athlete Chuck Connors as Lucas McCain, a widower, Union veteran of the Civil War (lieutenant in the 19th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment), and a homesteader. McCain and his son Mark (singer Johnny Crawford) lived on a ranch outside the fictitious town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory.

The series was set in the 1880s. There are also numerous episodes where the date is given in the 1880s. A wooden plaque next to the home stated that it was rebuilt by Lucas McCain and his son Mark in August, 1881. Lucas McCain can fire a round with his specially modified Winchester in three-tenths of a second. That and his resolve enable him to help the sheriff maintain order while raising his son Mark on a ranch near North Fork, New Mexico. It was not like many of the westerns that came out on TV during this time. It stars a man who is tough and carries a modified rifle, and it shows that although he is tough, he is also a good man raising a son alone. Most of the action takes place in North Fork. One of the few quirks in the show was the ineffective town marshall. Lucas McCain got him out of trouble more than once during this series' 5 year run.

The Rifleman Casts:
Chuck Connors as Lucas McCain
Johnny Crawford as Mark McCain
Paul Fix as Marshall Micah Torrance
Bill Quinn as Sweeney the Bartender
Patricia Blair as Lou Mallory
Joe Higgins as Nils Swenson
Harlan Warde as John Hamilton
Joan Taylor as Milly Scott
Hope Summers as Hattie Denton
John Harmon as Eddie Halstead


The Rifleman Episode Lists:

SEASON 1:
Season 1, Episode 1: The Sharpshooter
Original Air Date: 30 September 1958
Writer: Sam Peckinpah ~ Director: Arnold Laven
Lucas and Mark decide to enter a local turkey shoot to raise money to buy a ranch.


Season 1, Episode 2: Home Ranch
Original Air Date: 7 October 1958
Writer: Sam Peckinpah ~ Director: Arnold Laven
Cattle baron Oat Jackford orders his two cowboys to run Lucas McCain and his son off their ranch.

Season 1, Episode 3: End of a Young Gun
Original Air Date: 14 October 1958
Writer: Frank D. Gilroy ~ Director: Jerry Hopper
When Mark gets caught on a mountain ledge, a young outlaw risks his life to rescue him and breaks his leg doing so.

Season 1, Episode 4: The Marshal
Original Air Date: 21 October 1958
Writer & Director: Sam Peckinpah
The notorious Shelton's ride into the town of North Fork to take revenge on an elderly Marshal who is now crippled and working for Lucas McCain.

Season 1, Episode 5: The Brother-in-Law
Original Air Date: 28 October 1958
Writers: David Victor & Herbert Little ~ Director: Arnold Laven
Johnny Gibbs, Lucas McCain’s brother-in-law, visits the McCain ranch. Gibbs, a rodeo rider wanted by the law, begins stirring up trouble.

Season 1, Episode 6: Eight Hours to Die
Original Air Date: 4 November 1958
Writer: Palmer Thompson ~ Director: Arnold Laven
A bitter judge kidnaps Mark and plans to kill him to avenge his own sons hanging.

Season 1, Episode 7: Duel of Honor
Original Air Date: 11 November 1958
Writer: Ken Kolb ~ Director: Joseph Lewis
A stagecoach breaks down and an Italian nobleman. Count Di Montova is stranded overnight in North Fork.

Season 1, Episode 8: The Safe Guard
Original Air Date: 18 November 1958
Writer: David Swift ~ Director: Joseph Lewis
A gunman is hired as a guard at the first bank opened in North Fork; meanwhile, outlaws are planning to rob it.

Season 1, Episode 9: The Sister
Original Air Date: 25 November 1958
Writer & Director: Montgomery Pittman
Mark plays Cupid when a pretty young stranger arrives in North Fork.

Season 1, Episode 10: New Orleans Menace
Original Air Date: 2 December 1958
Writer: Cyril Hume ~ Director: Arnold Laven
A gambling czar, fleeing from New Orleans, stops at the McCain ranch with his following of bodyguards, henchmen and gamblers.

Season 1, Episode 11: The Apprentice Sheriff
Original Air Date: 9 December 1958
Writer: Barney Slater ~ Director: Arthur Hiller
The son of a local store keeper gets more than he bargained for when he is temporarily appointed sheriff.

Season 1, Episode 12: Young Englishman
Original Air Date: 16 December 1958
Writer: Arthur Weiss ~ Director: Arnold Laven
Lucas McCain accuses the young foreman of a neighboring ranch of rustling one of his calves.

Season 1, Episode 13: The Angry Gun
Original Air Date: 23 December 1958
Writer: Samuel A. Peeples ~ Director: David Swift
Lucas and Mark are riding the stage, returning from a cattle sale when the stage is robbed by three outlaws.

Season 1, Episode 14: The Gaucho
Original Air Date: 30 December 1958
Writer: Bruce Geller ~ Director: Jerry Hopper
The people of North Fork are prejudiced against an Argentine family that settles near the McCain Ranch

Season 1, Episode 15: The Pet
Original Air Date: 6 January 1959
Writer: Ken Kolb ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis
Lucas and Mark are exposed to a deadly disease when they adopt a stray horse.

Season 1, Episode 16: The Sheridan Story
Original Air Date: 13 January 1959
Writer: Cyril Hume ~ Director: Arnold Laven
Lucas McCain hires embittered Confederate veteran Frank Blandon to work on his ranch, who then begins causing trouble.

Season 1, Episode 17: The Retired Gun
Original Air Date: 20 January 1959
Writer: Barney Slater ~ Director: Arnold Laven
A famous gunman promises his new bride that he will retire, but five outlaws try to make him break his promise.

Season 1, Episode 18: The Photographer
Original Air Date: 27 January 1959
Writer: Ken Kolb ~ Director: Arnold Laven
A traveling photographer is accused of murder until Lucas devises a plan to unmask the real killer.

Season 1, Episode 19: Shivaree
Original Air Date: 3 February 1959
Writers: David Victor & Herbert Little ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis
A drunken crowd gets out of hand during a wedding ceremony for two young runaways.

Season 1, Episode 20: The Deadeye Kid
Original Air Date: 10 February 1959
Writer: Palmer Thompson ~ Director: Jerry Hopper
Mark helps a boy from Brooklyn hide from the law when the boy is accused of murder.

Season 1, Episode 21: The Indian
Original Air Date: 17 February 1959
Writer: Cyril Hume ~ Director: Arnold Laven
U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart arrives in North Fork to look for Indians who are suspected in the brutal murder of a Ranger and his family.

Season 1, Episode 22: The Boarding House
Original Air Date: 24 February 1959
Writer & Director: Sam Peckinpah
Julia Massini, a reformed gambler, runs a respectable boarding house in North Fork, but a gambler gets in trouble trying to turn it into a gambling house.

Season 1, Episode 23: The Second Witness
Original Air Date: 3 March 1959
Writers: Judy & George W. George ~ Director: Lewis Allen
Investigation reveals that Lucas McCain has information that can aid the prosecution in a murder case.

Season 1, Episode 24: The Trade
Original Air Date: 10 March 1959
Writer: David Lang ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis
After falling in love with a sick young women, Sam Morley, a man wanted by the law, ask his friend Lucas McCain to turn him in and give the reward money to Beth to pay for the medical help which she needs.


Season 1, Episode 25: One Went to Denver
Original Air Date: 17 March 1959
Writer: Pat Fielder ~ Director: Lewis Allen
Bank robber Tom Birch and his gang arrive in North Fork; Tom then goes and visits his friend Lucas.

Season 1, Episode 26: The Deadly Wait
Original Air Date: 24 March 1959
Writer: Arthur Browne Jr. ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis
Dan Maury, released from Yuma prison, arrives in North Fork with the intent on getting even with Marshal Torrance, who helped send him to jail.

Season 1, Episode 27: The Wrong Man
Original Air Date: 31 March 1959
Writer: N.B. Stone Jr. ~ Director: Arnold Laven
A crooked marshal from another territory intentionally kills an innocent man so that he can collect the bounty money and blackmails the real outlaw.

Season 1, Episode 28: The Challenge
Original Air Date: 7 April 1959
Writers: David Victor & Herbert Little ~ Director: Lewis Allen
An escaped killer is anxious to prove that he has not lost his prowess with a gun.

Season 1, Episode 29: The Hawk
Original Air Date: 14 April 1959
Writer: Arthur Browne Jr. ~ Director: Lamont Johnson
Mark McCain succeeds in capturing a hawk, but when his life is endangered by a rattlesnake, a stranger observes his plight and saves the boy.

Season 1, Episode 30: Three Legged Terror
Original Air Date: 21 April 1959
Writer: Palmer Thompson ~ Director: William Conrad
Teenager Johnny Clover wrecks a classroom in the North Fork school, and Lucas, who is on the school board, ask Johnny’s uncle to pay for the damage.

Season 1, Episode 31: The Angry Man
Original Air Date: 28 April 1959
Writer Arthur Browne Jr. ~ Director: Jerry Hopper
A neighboring rancher refuses medical assistance when his son is seriously hurt in an accident.

Season 1, Episode 32: The Woman
Original Air Date: 5 May 1959
Writer: Pat Fielder ~ Director: Arnold Laven
North Forks schoolteacher is pressured to leave town because she advocates women’s right to vote.

Season 1, Episode 33: The Money Gun
Original Air Date: 12 May 1959
Writers: Bruce Geller & Sam Peckinpah ~ Director: Sam Peckinpah
Bookkeeper Asa Manning hires a professional gunman to provoke his client, a bully rancher who suspects him of embezzlement, into a gunfight.

Season 1, Episode 34: A Matter of Faith
Original Air Date: 19 May 1959
Writer: Harry Kronman ~ Director: Don Taylor
Although a drought has forced local cowhands to seek work on a railroad construction project, railroad 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.

Season 1, Episode 35: Blood Brother
Original Air Date: 26 May 1959
Writers: Pat Fielder & Chuck Connors ~ Director: Arnold Laven
The Marshal faces an unexplained struggle when Lucas brings a dying man to North Fork.

Season 1, Episode 36: Stranger at Night
Original Air Date: 2 June 1959
Writer: David Lang ~ Director: Lewis Allen
Mark stumbles across a dead man and the only clue to his identity is a belt with the initials RM.

Season 1, Episode 37: The Raid
Original Air Date: 9 June 1959
Writer: Harry Julian Fink ~ Director: Paul Landres
A renegade band of Indians captures Mark and disappears into the hills of New Mexico.

Season 1, Episode 38: Outlaw's Inheritance
Original Air Date: 16 June 1959
Writers: Judy & George W. George ~ Director: Don Taylor
The towns' people question the reputation of Lucas when he is named in a will of a notorious outlaw.

Season 1, Episode 39: Boomerang
Original Air Date: 23 June 1959
Writer: Arthur Browne Jr. ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis
Lucas takes in an orphan boy and teaches him how to use a gun, not knowing that the boy plans on killing the banker he believes is responsible for his father's death.

Season 1, Episode 40: The Mind Reader
Original Air Date: 30 June 1959
Writer: Robert C. Dennis ~ Director: Don Medford
A young boy accused of a murder he didn’t commit, is finally cleared by the accidental discovery of a “mind reader.”

SEASON 2

Season 2, Episode 1: The Patsy
Original Air Date: 29 September 1959
Writer: Harry Kronman ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis
A group of outlaws devise a plan to get rid of Lucas so they can take over the town of North Fork.

Season 2, Episode 2: Bloodlines
Original Air Date: 6 October 1959
Writer: Arthur Browne Jr. ~ Director: Arthur Hiller
A father seeks to break his two sons out of jail, and seek revenge for the third.

Season 2, Episode 3: The Blowout
Original Air Date: 13 October 1959
Writer: Arthur Browne Jr. ~ Director: James Neilson
An ailing gunfighter goes down in a fire of glory in North Fork.


Season 2, Episode 4: Obituary
Original Air Date: 20 October 1959
Writers: Teddi Sherman & Ward Wood ~ Director: Don Medford
Lucas becomes the target of a gunslinger because of a newspaper article about his prowess with a gun.


Season 2, Episode 5: Tension
Original Air Date: 27 October 1959
Writer: David Lang ~ Director: Ted Post
Lucas tries to protect a widow from learning about her husband's criminal past.


Season 2, Episode 6: Eddie's Daughter
Original Air Date: 3 November 1959
Writer: William F. Leicester ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis
When two outlaws threaten Lil Halstead’s life, Lucas decides to figure out the reasons behind the threats.


Season 2, Episode 7: Panic
Original Air Date: 10 November 1959
Writer: Albert Aley ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis
Brett Conway, a town character, learns that a sick couple in North Fork area is suffering from yellow fever. Knowing that Lucas found the couple, Conway threatens to inform the townspeople unless Lucas pays him off.


Season 2, Episode 8: Ordeal
Original Air Date: 17 November 1959
Writer: Palmer Thompson ~ Director: Paul Landres
Lucas and his Mark are crossing a dessert when their wagon breaks down.


Season 2, Episode 9: The Spiked Rifle
Original Air Date: 24 November 1959
Writer: Palmer Thompson ~ Director: John English
Mark is kidnapped as he and his father try to protect banker Hamilton’s gold.


Season 2, Episode 10: Letter of the Law
Original Air Date: 1 December 1959
Writers: Judy & George W. George ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis
Lucas makes a life-to-death decision when Micah is held hostage and the kidnappers demand the release of a notorious outlaw.

Season 2, Episode 11: The Legacy
Original Air Date: 8 December 1959
Writer: Edmund Morris ~ Director: Bernard L. Kowalski
Lucas tries to do a good deed for the town but it backfires when the drunk’s son believes he inherited the McCain ranch.


Season 2, Episode 12: The Baby Sitter
Original Air Date: 15 December 1959
Writers: Sam Peckinpah & Jack Curtis ~ Director: Sam Peckinpah
A dance hall singer ask Lucas to care for her daughter in an effort to hide a baby from her bigoted father.

Season 2, Episode 13: The Coward
Original Air Date: 22 December 1959
Writers: Philip Saltzman & Clair Huffaker ~ Director: James Neilson
Lucas becomes involved in a battle between an aspiring writer and a cocky, bragging trail boss.


Season 2, Episode 14: Surveyors
Original Air Date: 29 December 1959
Writers: Dale & Katherine Albert Eunson ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis
Mark runs away from home after his father questions his story about over hearing a plot to rob the bank.


Season 2, Episode 15: Day of the Hunter
Original Air Date: 5 January 1960
Writer: John Dunkel ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis
When Lucas refuses a shooting competition with a wandering buffalo hunter; he becomes the new target for the hunter.


Season 2, Episode 16: Mail Order Groom
Original Air Date: 12 January 1960
Writer: Gene Olson ~ Director: Arthur Hiller
Shortly after his arrival to marry Isabelle, John Jupiter is taunted and beaten.


Season 2, Episode 17: A Case of Identity
Original Air Date: 19 January 1960
Writers: Philip Saltzman & Luci Ward ~ Director: John Peyser
Mark finds himself in grave danger when unscrupulous detectives search for a man’s long lost son.


Season 2, Episode 18: The Visitors
Original Air Date: 26 January 1960
Writers: William F. Leicester, Chuck Connors & Wally Bennett ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis
Lucas is drawn to a young widow passing thru town on her way to claim her inheritance.

Season 2, Episode 19: Hero
Original Air Date: 2 February 1960
Writer: Albert Aley ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis
A young stable hand becomes upset when the town people won’t give him the reward money he deserves for killing a notorious gunman.

Season 2, Episode 20: The Horse Traders
Original Air Date: 9 February 1960
Writer: Jack Curtis ~ Director: William F. Claxton
Lucas and Mark try to help out a friend whose been cheated in a horse trading deal.


Season 2, Episode 21: The Spoiler
Original Air Date: 16 February 1960
Writer: Harry Kronman ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis
An elderly couple moves to North Fork under an assumed name to hide the fact that they are the parents of a vicious killer.


Season 2, Episode 22: Heller
Original Air Date: 23 February 1960
Writer: Christopher Knopf ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis
A brother and a sister plot the murder of an abusive father.


Season 2, Episode 23: The Grasshopper
Original Air Date: 1 March 1960
Writer: Pat Fielder ~ Director: Lewis Allen
Lucas and Mark are held at gunpoint on a train, but when a plague of grasshoppers forces the train to stop, the outlaw escapes and Lucas goes after him.


Season 2, Episode 24: A Time for Singing
Original Air Date: 8 March 1960
Writer: Harry Kronman ~ Director: John Rich
The town is excited with the arrival of a new preacher, but Mark uncovers that the preacher is a fake and intends to rob the bank.


Season 2, Episode 25: The Deserter
Original Air Date: 15 March 1960
Writer: Albert Aley ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis
Lucas must save the life of a boy who has deserted the army and is scheduled for execution.


Season 2, Episode 26: The Vision
Original Air Date: 22 March 1960
Writer: Cyril Hume ~ Director: Don Medford
Young Mark contracts typhoid and Lucas is concerned because he doesn’t seem to care about getting better.


Season 2, Episode 27: The Lariat
Original Air Date: 29 March 1960
Writer: Pat Fielder ~ Director: Don Medford
Lucas’s friend comes to town to open a casino, but when a few cheaters get caught, Lucas must save Lariat from certain death.


Season 2, Episode 28: Smoke Screen
Original Air Date: 5 April 1960
Writer: Palmer Thompson ~ Director: Murray Golden
Lucas solves the murder of a young girl by using a half smoked cigar at the scene.


Season 2, Episode 29: Shotgun Man
Original Air Date: 12 April 1960
Writer: Jack Curtis - Paul Mazursky - Director: Joseph H. Lewis
Lucas receives threats from an ex-con with a grudge and engages in a gunfight.


Season 2, Episode 30: Sins of the Father
Original Air Date: 19 April 1960
Writers: Philip Saltzman & Lewis Meltzer ~ Director: Ted Post
A man and his son take refuge at the McCain ranch, but the father holds a secret as to why they are really on the run.


Season 2, Episode 31: The Prodigal
Original Air Date: 26 April 1960
Writer: Robert Sherman ~ Director: Donald McDougall
Lucas and Mark are held prisoner in their own home when a bank robbing gun man decides to hide out at their ranch.


Season 2, Episode 32: The Fourflusher
Original Air Date: 3 May 1960
Writer: Thomas Thompson ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis
Lucas and Mark help a neighbor win a horse race, protecting all that the neighbor owns from being gambled away.


Season 2, Episode 33: The Jailbird
Original Air Date: 10 May 1960
Writer: Frederic Conrad ~ Director: Don Taylor
After hiring an ex-con to work on the ranch, Lucas becomes suspicious when there is a killing in the area.


Season 2, Episode 34: Meeting at Midnight
Original Air Date: 17 May 1960
Writers: Pat Fielder & Arthur Browne Jr. ~ Director: Don Medford
Lucas helps an undercover federal agent infiltrate a gang of robbers.


Season 2, Episode 35: Nora
Original Air Date: 24 May 1960
Writers: David Victor & Herbert Little ~ Director: Ted Post
Lucas finds himself involved in a murder when he gallantly steps to the aid of a beautiful woman.


Season 2, Episode 36: The Hangman
Original Air Date: 31 May 1960
Writers: Teddi Sherman & Ward Wood ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis
An ex-convict is blamed for a brutal crime despite his claims of rehabilitation.