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Series · 1958 – 1963 · Action & Adventure

The Rifleman

★7.1 1958 – 1963 5 Seasons Sam Peckinpah TV-MA

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.

Seasons & episodes

5 seasons · 168 episodes

The Sharpshooter

Episode 01

The Sharpshooter

Sep 30, 1958 · 30 min

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.

Home Ranch

Episode 02

Home Ranch

Oct 7, 1958 · 30 min

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.

End of a Young Gun

Episode 03

End of a Young Gun

Oct 14, 1958 · 30 min

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.

The Marshal

Episode 04

The Marshal

Oct 21, 1958 · 30 min

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 Brother-in-Law

Episode 05

The Brother-in-Law

Oct 28, 1958 · 30 min

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.

Eight Hours to Die

Episode 06

Eight Hours to Die

Nov 4, 1958 · 30 min

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.

Duel of Honor

Episode 07

Duel of Honor

Nov 11, 1958 · 30 min

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.

The Safe Guard

Episode 08

The Safe Guard

Oct 18, 1958 · 30 min

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.

The Sister

Episode 09

The Sister

Nov 25, 1958 · 30 min

Rebecca Snipe is returning to North Fork after a long visit away. Before her stage leaves, she overhears 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 becomes smitten with her and gets it in his head to play matchmaker between her and his pa.

New Orleans Menace

Episode 10

New Orleans Menace

Dec 26, 1958 · 30 min

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.

The Apprentice Sheriff

Episode 11

The Apprentice Sheriff

Dec 9, 1958 · 30 min

Dan Willard is filling in as temporary marshal while Micah is away. Meanwhile, some Texas cowhands are in North Fork looking for fun and relaxation, but Dan keeps coming down hard on them, which leads to blowback.

Young Englishman

Episode 12

Young Englishman

Dec 16, 1958 · 30 min

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

The Angry Gun

Episode 13

The Angry Gun

Dec 23, 1958 · 30 min

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 Gaucho

Episode 14

The Gaucho

Dec 30, 1958 · 30 min

There’s prejudice all around, when Rumson moves away from North Fork, having sold his property to the Argentez family, who are originally from Argentina. Curge, who was outbid for the property, is upset because Rumson sold out to a "peppergut". Meanwhile, Manolo, the son of the Argentinian, has a problem with his sister being with a “gringo”.

The Pet

Episode 15

The Pet

Jan 6, 1959 · 30 min

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. Later, Haskins rides out to the ranch and is bitten by Flecker's horse, which is now believed to have anthrax.

The Sheridan Story

Episode 16

The Sheridan Story

Jan 13, 1959 · 30 min

When Frank Blandon, a man with only one good arm, wanders onto the ranch, Lucas gives him a job. This leads to major complications later.

The Retired Gun

Episode 17

The Retired Gun

Jan 20, 1959 · 30 min

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.

The Photographer

Episode 18

The Photographer

Jan 27, 1959 · 30 min

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 Colonel Whiteside and his sidekick, Jamison, he recognizes them as the butchers who tortured him, and others, while he was captive in their POW camp.

Shivaree

Episode 19

Shivaree

Feb 3, 1959 · 30 min

Aaron Pelser's wagon train comes across a pair of young boys on a buck board heading west and he invites them to join the train. When he finds 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 Deadeye Kid

Episode 20

The Deadeye Kid

Feb 10, 1959 · 30 min

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 Indian

Episode 21

The Indian

Feb 17, 1959 · 30 min

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 Boarding House

Episode 22

The Boarding House

Feb 24, 1959 · 30 min

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 Second Witness

Episode 23

The Second Witness

Mar 30, 1959 · 30 min

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 Trade

Episode 24

The Trade

Mar 10, 1959 · 30 min

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.

One Went to Denver

Episode 25

One Went to Denver

Mar 17, 1959 · 30 min

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.

The Deadly Wait

Episode 26

The Deadly Wait

Mar 24, 1959 · 30 min

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

The Wrong Man

Episode 27

The Wrong Man

Mar 31, 1959 · 30 min

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 Challenge

Episode 28

The Challenge

Apr 7, 1959 · 30 min

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

The Hawk

Episode 29

The Hawk

Apr 14, 1959 · 30 min

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.

Three-Legged Terror

Episode 30

Three-Legged Terror

Apr 21, 1959 · 30 min

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.

The Angry Man

Episode 31

The Angry Man

Apr 28, 1959 · 30 min

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 Woman

Episode 32

The Woman

May 5, 1959 · 30 min

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

The Money Gun

Episode 33

The Money Gun

May 12, 1959 · 30 min

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

A Matter of Faith

Episode 34

A Matter of Faith

May 19, 1959 · 30 min

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.

Blood Brothers

Episode 35

Blood Brothers

May 26, 1959 · 30 min

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.

Stranger at Night

Episode 36

Stranger at Night

Jun 20, 1959 · 30 min

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

The Raid

Episode 37

The Raid

Jun 9, 1959 · 30 min

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

Outlaw's Inheritance

Episode 38

Outlaw's Inheritance

Jun 16, 1959 · 30 min

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.

Boomerang

Episode 39

Boomerang

Jun 23, 1959 · 30 min

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

The Mind Reader

Episode 40

The Mind Reader

Jun 30, 1959 · 30 min

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

About the series

The Rifleman poster
Audience score
★ 7.1 /10

based on 54 votes

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.

Action & AdventureWesternFamily

Cast

3 principal cast

Chuck Connors

Chuck Connors

Lucas McCain

Johnny Crawford

Johnny Crawford

Mark McCain

Paul Fix

Paul Fix

Micah Torrance

Where to watch The Rifleman

The Rifleman is available to stream on Flicksy via 6 verified sources, aggregated from publicly available embed providers. The action & adventure from Sam Peckinpah has 5 seasons and 168 total episodes, rated 7.1/10 by 54 viewers.

Frequently asked

How many seasons does The Rifleman have?

The Rifleman has 5 seasons with 168 episodes in total.

Is The Rifleman still on the air?

The Rifleman has ended and is no longer in production.

What network airs The Rifleman?

The Rifleman airs on ABC.

When did The Rifleman first air?

The Rifleman first aired on September 30, 1958.

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