![]() In fact, the depiction of a widowed father grappling with the challenges of raising a son alone in THE RIFLEMAN may have been a television first in its departure from the traditional depiction of a family as mother, father and child. Levy, presciently anticipated that the show's strength lay in the father-son relationship, and its best asset was the genuine filial affection between actors Chuck Connors as Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as Mark McCain. The themes were timeless and universal, featuring sympathetic characters grappling with familiar human dilemmas and classic good-versus-evil conflicts.Īrnold Laven and series co-producers, Arthur Gardner and Jules V. Armstrong, who played the sheriff in the pilot was killed off. It was often elicited in episodes featuring Marshal Micah Torrance, played by Paul Fix, a sometime derelict, recovered alcholic, who was a regular character introduced in the fourth episode, "The Marshal," after R.G. The inspiration for many episodes was drawn from Biblical parables, sometimes recapitulated explicity, such as the story of Job, which was related by Lucas to son Mark in the second episode, "Home Ranch." Second chances – compassion and redemption – was a prominent, recurring theme. Through the McCains' adventures with the townfolk of North Fork and the weekly influx of visitors, THE RIFLEMAN was a series of morality plays examining human nature's rich and varied complexity – with all its foibles and follies, sorrow and humor, venality and virtue. He admonished his young son in one episode, "A man doesn't run from a fight, Mark, but that doesn't mean you go looking to run to one."įamily values and moral principles informed many storylines in THE RIFLEMAN series. So, when McCain picked up his rifle, he wielded it not only with confidence and competence, but also with rational deliberation and fair-minded determination. Uppermost in his mind was being a good role model for his son and a solid citizen in his community. Connors in the title role, with rifle at the ready, portrayed the iconic western hero – a crackerjack marksman and cowboy-turned-single-father and homesteader facing life's challenges with a stoical, reasoned view about social justice and personal responsibility. The rifle complemented Lucas McCain's persona as a self-possessed, rugged individualist who had high ethical standards and a cool head. Heart-warming human relationships, specifically the kinship between father and son, provided balance, and sometimes a paradoxical juxtaposition, to the violent backdrop of life on the frontier. The opening credits showcasing the skill of Chuck Connors as Lucas McCain firing his rapid-action Winchester rifle set the tone for the western action adventure, to be sure, but the show aspired to be more than a vehicle for gratuitous gun-slinging. The show's creator, Arnold Laven, developed customized Winchester rifle, not a six gun, the main protagonist's signature firearm. 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. Westerns were a popular genre when THE RIFLEMAN premiered in 1958.
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