I haven't seen any reruns only the one's I watched as a kid. And I'm trying to remember different episodes and all I can come up with are the rattle snake one's 2 actually the one where the rattles snake is in his sleeping bags(blanket) when he wakes up in the morning and an Indian I thinks smoke the snake out and somebody shoots it and the other when on a train with a bad guy who gets bit by a rattler and holds some people on the trian hostage while needing medical help witch Lucas uses as a bargaining chip in the relase of the hostages. I seem to recall He was good with a whip too(?).
Who else liked "The Rifleman"?
by Tired of the Hypocrisy 41 Replies latest jw friends
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Tired of the Hypocrisy
I always enjoyed Gunsmoke too. How about you? Festus was so funny.
Ya, Hot Mama, Festus always cracked me up too. Riding that mule and limping around and fighting with Doc. He always looked like a shrimpy dude, but I think he was about six feet tall. Matt was about six foot seven so festus looked short!
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abbagail
Saw them all -- on old B&W TV -- liked them all! They were "family" oriented, cozy, homey, even if there was some shoot-em-up-cowboy "violence"... which seemed "natural" considering the era and location (ie, "Wild Wild West").
[...]
The McCain Family Photo Album
Chuck Connors said, "The Western is an escape from reality and you have to accept certain things in them. A Western may excite or bore you, but it's always relaxing. There's a value in that." This page contains some rare photos of one of the greatest western television heroes of a long, lost era.
http://members.tripod.com/~northfork/photos.html
[...]
Connors went on to become "BRANDED" as "Jason McCord" after his Rifleman stint...
[...]
...what do you do when you're BRANDED...
http://members.tripod.com/~northfork/branded.html
[...]
[...]
BRANDED
1/14/1965 - 8/4/1966
NBC 30 minutes
Black and White - 48 episodes
(Jan. 1965 - Sept. 1966 Sunday 8:30-9:00)
[...]
Chuck Connors died in 1992 of lung cancer...
[...]
http://www.fiftiesweb.com/tv/branded.htm
Somebody asked about horses, and Branded's (Jason McCord/Connors)' horse was DOMINO. ;-)
Here's a review of Rifleman vs. Branded... seems The Rifleman wins:
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Nowhere near as good as "The Rifleman",
posted 21 September 2002
Author: frankfob from California
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058792/
This follow-up to Chuck Connors' fondly remembered series "The Rifleman" isn't even in the same league as that show, though it had far more production values, bigger casts, and did a lot of location work, as opposed to "The Rifleman," which was shot almost entirely in a studio. The stories in "The Rifleman" were what really made the show, and the relationship between Lucas McCain and his son. In "Branded," Connors' character, Jason McCord, doesn't have any kind of relationship with anybody; he drifts from town to town and from situation to situation, and the viewer really has no clear idea as to what exactly he's doing or where he's going. "The Rifleman" had a core story: an ex-gunfighter trying to make a life for himself and his son on a small ranch, and running into people and situations which, in one way or another, tried to prevent him from doing that. In "Branded," Jason McCord is cashiered from the army for cowardice--which, we're told, was untrue--and pretty much drifts around the west. He doesn't try to gather facts to prove his innocence, or find people who can testify for him, or anything that you'd think a person falsely accused of cowardice would try to do. He just wanders around, making you wonder exactly what the point of this show is. Apparently the producers didn't quite know, either; in one multi-part episode, they had McCord working as a secret agent for President U.S. Grant and trying to break up an organized crime ring!
Connors did his best, but the trite story lines and the general aimlessness of the show finally did it in. It only lasted two seasons. That was enough.
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For hardcore Rifleman fans, here's a "McCAIN's RANCH" Message Board:
http://www.riflemanconnors.com/riflemanconnors_index_page.htm
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Seems Connors had another series, "ARREST & TRIAL." I don't remember that one.
He also had a part in "BIG COUNTRY"... I barely remember that series.
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Funny -- this from Connors' obit at the NY Times:
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Nixon invited several celebrities to meet Leonid Brezhnev in 1973, Mr. Connors presented the visiting Soviet leader with United States armaments — two Colt .45 six-shooters and a cowboy hat. Brezhnev, a western fan was delighted. He and the actor locked in such an enthusiastic bear hug that Mr. Connors briefly lifted him off his feet.
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http://www.riflemanconnors.com/rifleman-branded/Chuck_Connors_Obituary.htm
So old time American westerns cross all national barriers...hehe.
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The friendly sheriff on The Rifleman:
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The only TV series in which he [Paul Fix] has a permanent role was as the mild-mannered Sheriff Micah Torrance in The Rifleman series with Chuck Connors, which ran from 1958 to 1963. He said in 1981 that he was still getting fan mail from all over the world for his part in this series. He died October 14, 1983 of kidney failure...
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http://www.riflemanconnors.com/rifleman-branded/Paul_Fix.htm
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Ha, this website is called Brian's DRIVE-IN THEATER and he has a bunch of photos of Connors in all his roles:
http://briansdriveintheater.com/chuckconnors.html
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And this little quip is funny, speaking of the Soviets further above...
[...]
Soviet-era cowboy films have inspired politicians, writers and cosmonauts alike
Stalin obsessed over John Wayne, while Brezhnev had a crush on Chuck Connors. The Soviets had this thing about cowboy movies...
When I first moved to Moscow in the early 1990s, my friend Dasha gave me a gift-wrapped video. "Watch this," she said. "It was made years ago but it will help you understand our country." I assumed it was a melancholy epic by Andrei Tarkovsky, with lingering shots through rain-splattered windows, or perhaps a revolutionary classic such as Battleship Potemkin.
When I unwrapped the paper and looked at the cover, I found a man in a grubby white uniform surrounded by sand dunes. "White Sun of the Desert," said Dasha. "It's a Soviet-style cowboy film. The best one ever made."
http://www.monochrom.at/english/2007/12/soviet-era-cowboy-films-have-inspired.htm
[...]
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I went on the above search because I was looking for what I "thought" was the opening logo for the BRANDED TV series... Wasn't it a long chunk of wood with a cattle iron burning/sizzling the word B-R-A-N-D-E-D into the piece of wood? or is my memory totally off on that?
On page 3 of google search results, I finally find a youtube video of the weekly INTRO to the Branded TV series: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKmJPnAGUJk -- but it doesn't show the "burning sizzling BRANDED" logo as I thought I remembered from when I was 12-13 years old... sheesh, I SHOULD be able to remember correctly at that age...
Another youtube of same INTRO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLAoi6L5lKk&feature=related
Oh well...
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Before leaving the BRANDED subject, watching those INTRO's at youtube -- they were so SERIOUS as I remember as a kid, it really struck me as something terrible and horrible for him to endure -- but now it reminds me of being "stripped of your status" when you get booted out of the JWs, lol.
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RIFLEMAN Theme Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkM0NT4YMlo&feature=related
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What about BAT MASTERSON? (GENE BARRY) Anybody remember that one? I liked his hat, though I never really got into the plots (over my head at the time, I guess) but my Mom liked him... she thought he was handsome or cool or something... Here's the theme at youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRNImRxRNjc&feature=related
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And HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL... w/Richard Boone -- he wasn't too handsome, kinda gross... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZzY6KZuLUo&feature=related
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And STEVE McQUEEN was in an old black-and-white western series I think. Ha I found it:
WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPMUn1PDdNM&feature=related
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WILD WILD WEST was the other one I was thinking of... my brother loved that one and those two guys, much more than I did:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-ZFaoVbvsU&feature=related
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RAW HIDE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2_NMcKOBY8&feature=related -- Loved that theme song!
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HIGH CHAPARRAL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu4g-N8bQKE&feature=related
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CHEYENNE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wK8cuJXKJs&feature=related
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THE VIRGINIAN! Oh I liked this one w/JAMES DRURY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw4Ri1WlKNM&feature=related
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MAVERICK w/JAMES GARDNER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYrsDT02OcE&feature=related
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RIN TIN TIN! Loved that one: "PRINCE, this case is closed..." (or whatever he said at the end of each show...) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YplxUzGYgM&feature=related
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ROY ROGERS SHOW Intro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-r6A7TzvUI&feature=related
ROY ROGERS SHOW Ending, Happy Trails to You: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVq9-GtlvLU&feature=related
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DEATH VALLEY DAYS - BORAX! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GJ3f8SmFLI&feature=related
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SKY KING! Not a Western but I loved it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO5SUJWxaaM&feature=related
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WYATT EARP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suhECAZMcKI&feature=related
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LAREDO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Go3R0vfSRk&feature=related
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CIMARRON STRIP w/STUART WHITMAN... Wow, so many, yet I remember them all now that I see their titles again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8VpOQfI20E&feature=related
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BIG VALLEY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UsDR43jxqI&feature=related
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I did love WAGON TRAIN, GUNSMOKE, BONANZA -- I still love BONANZA on repeats -- all the usuals... I want to go live on the PONDEROSA and ride horses all over the place: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjdRgBAY278&feature=related
On the Christian channel there is a country-singer, Carrol Roberson, and his shows are always outside in beautiful places, and he was recently singing there on the Ponderosa, lol.
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WAGON TRAIN THEME: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiPDQCeuhzE&feature=related
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(I'm thinking I must have mixed up the BRANDED burning sizzling Intro with the BONANZA map burning up!)
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Wow, just hang out at youtube for awhile in the oldie Westerns area and have a travel down memory lane... That was fun!
/ag -
Jim_TX
Yup. Watched it as a kid - on B&W TV. Small 13" screen (or was it 19"?). Watched all of the westerns of that era. Kinda funny too... as kids - or should I say - as 'jw kids', we weren't allowed to play 'war' or play with guns - but were allowed to watch this stuff on TV.
Of course... we also watched Popeye & Bugs Bunny - and other cartoons of the era... and they were violent as heck - often 'killing' each other... but we didn't even think of repeating those antics.
Regards,
Jim TX
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hillbilly
might want to read up on your gun facts hoss.... thats a '92 Winchester, not a '94.
What even more fascinating is that, with one in the chamber, the gun only holds 6 rounds.
He must have ahell of a speed loader.
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BurnTheShips
They need to bring Westerns back to TV.
BTS
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hillbilly
my Uncle played baseball with Conners...Chuck played pro baseball and basketball in the 40's...before he broke into acting.
Unc did not think much of the guy... said he had a hot temper and was pretty full of himself. And Uncle Ed never said an unkind word about much of anything.
I liked "The Rifleman"... a good morality play from any angle...kids should see stuff like that today. Keep in mind actors are ACTORS and few are what they protray, good or bad.
Jeff
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SixofNine
The Rifleman is responsible for more gunshot wounds to the armpit area of the youth of my generation than any other...uh.. you know... person or thing...uhm... responsible for...uh... armpit wounds in the youth of my my my my generation.
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minimus
Do you realize that starting from 12 this morning, for 24 straight hours, The Rifleman is on Encore Westerns? I LOVE that show!!!!!
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Aculama
Loved it.... and I never thought about a remake. That's a great idea. T.S. would make a pretty good Lucas. Robert Duvaul(?spelling?) would make a good sherif. What do you think?