Was the Rifleman one of your favorite shows?

[OldmanFCSA]

I watched it before and I watch it now as I get a chance to catch the show on TV.
And I watch all the old Westerns.

MUCH BETTER THAN ANY CURRENT shoot-em-up show.

 

[Justin]

This was all FICTION. The old West was nothing like what was portrayed on TV and the movies in the 1950's and 60's. That was MAKE BELIVE aimed primarily at gullable children.

This is why I only watch documentaries about the Old West, like HBO's Deadwood.

 

[MattTheHat]

All TV shows are total garbage. I only watch the test pattern.

-Matt

 

[natman]

I watched Rifleman regularly, as well as Branded.

I also liked Have Gun, Will Travel; Wanted, Dead or Alive (despite Steve McQueen's silly cut down 92) and Johnny Ringo (because the hero's Le Mat was so cool).

 

[RioShooter]

Have Gun Will Travel Theme

Since no one linked to it, here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgvxu8QY01s

BTW, I thought his name was Wire Paladin. I was only 7 or 8. All lot went over my head back them.

I also thought Maverick lived on the street Jackson Queens. That was where he makes his living.

Some of you will understand.

 

[LongTimeGone]

robert garner said,

sponsored by 20 mule team borax,even the commercials were tuff.

Wasn't Ronald Reagan the spokesman for those spots?

 

[highlander 5]

Anyone remember the Range Rider,Yancy Derringer,Jim Bowie or how about Tombstone Territory or at least I think that was the show's name.

 

[exavid]

Nah, Mat Dillon in Gunsmoke was the best.

 

[J-Bar]

I watched the Rifleman, as well as all the other TV westerns.

Geez, how much of my life was wasted. Not like today, where I spend time on a computer...

I liked Chuck Connors better as a villain in "The Big Country". He was delightfully nasty in that one.

And yes I remember "Whirlybirds".

And can someone tell me why "Captain Midnight" was called "Jet Jackson" in some parts of the country??

 

[makarovnik]

Never really cared for it. I'm more of a Gunsmoke, Have gun will travel, Bonanza kind of guy.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Re: Gunsmoke

Its old, half-hour, B&W version (with Dennis Weaver as Chester) is also on MeTV, at ~2:00 AM. It is called Marshal Dillon, probably due to some copyright or royalty issue.

 

[2005 Vette]

Great nostalgia on some old shows. I loved all of those westerns mentioned. I watch them now as an adult in my 50's on some retro cable channels and they are really cheesy. But it's a different time but they were good in their day.

 

[NM Mountainman]

I liked the Rifleman because of the characters (the boy actor who played his son was great), the relationship between the boy and his father, and the better than average story lines. Even as a youngster, I thought the special rifle and the rapid firing at the hip were pretty bogus. I knew how to shoot a lever action rifle quickly and accurately, and I knew better than to flip the rifle in one hand while holding the lever.

I also liked Have Gun, Cheyenne, Bonanza, and Maverick. I often watched the other Western shows too. It was hard to avoid watching Westerns because they represented a very large percentage of the shows on TV.

But TV was new, wonderful, and magic in those days; so many people (especially kids) enjoyed watching nearly anything on TV.

There is also an unconfirmed rumor that before my family owned a TV, I received a complete Hopalong Cassidy outfit (hat, black shirt and pants) along with a gun and holster set for my 7th birthday. Say who?

As to those who are concerned with the misspelling of the word "cavalry", those of us who were in the cavalry find it annoying also Blame it on over reliance on spell checkers, because a spell checker will not flag either spelling.

 

[19&41]

The Gipper did host later Death Valley Days episodes.

 

[Kruzr]

If Connors was the one working the lever action in the opening credits, why didn't they show his face while doing it?

I can assure you he could handle that rifle and spin it like it was nothing. The rifle looked small when he handled it. They also had a painted rubber rifle.

(August 1960, I'm the kid)

 

[trex1310]

Have Gun Will Travel
The Rifleman
Bat Masterson
Sky King
Lone Ranger
Zorro

Lash LaRue
Johnny Yuma
Cheyenne
Wanted Dead Or Alive
Rawhide
Gunsmoke
Wagon Train

I read somewhere Ol' Chuck was in porno movies before the Rifleman.

 

[Four Knives]

The Big Valley, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Rifleman, Kung-Fu in that order.

TBV edging Gunsmoke solely due to Audraaaaaahh

 

[GCBurner]

Anyone remember Chuck Connors, later in his career, playing the bad guy in a short-lived horror series, where he played a one-eyed werewolf?

 

[19&41]

Before this thread gits croaked, here is an overview of Connors' bio. a more detailed filmography of his 62 films is linked at the left of the page.

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/37993|31922/Chuck-Connors/filmography.html

 

[Tommygunn]

Anyone remember Chuck Connors, later in his career, playing the bad guy in a short-lived horror series, where he played a one-eyed werewolf?

Yes, back maybe 1988-90ish. Forget the title of the series. Connors played a character named Janos Skorzeny who turned the central character into a werewolf.
They were, in turn, being hunted by a werewolf hunter played by a character actor named Lance LeGault, who was good at presenting "tough guy" image and one tv producer back then said had a voice "two octaves lower than God." BTW the "Janos Skorzeny" name came from the name of the vampire in the pilot movie to the "Night Stalker" series with Darren McGavin, as an homage.

EDIT: Found the series!:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werewolf_(TV_series)

 

[CraigC]

The Rifleman was a little before my time but I know that had I been born 20yrs earlier, I would've watched it. I did grow up watching Bonanza and Daniel Boone. Not to mention all the Clint Eastwood and John Wayne westerns I could get.

 

[Slamfire]

The whole show was a build up to the shoot out.

Totally unrealistic portraits of people and their emotions and how they should react to violence.

I remember one show, the “good guys” had just gunned down three “bad guys” and within 5 seconds the camera view changed, no dead guys visible, the “good” characters were all laughing and chuckling about some banal subject, (like lunch or the weather) the killing and stress totally forgotten.

Only psychopaths could react to killing that way.

I don’t want psychopaths as the role models for America, but apparently, they are.

 

[FROGO207]

Well my favs were Have Gun Will Travel and The Wild Wild West. They were more realistic than a lot of the other fare at the same time frame.

 

[buddyemily]

Yes!!!! There are daily reruns on World Harvest Television (WHT). Purely a classic.

 

[CraigC]

The whole show was a build up to the shoot out.

Totally unrealistic portraits of people and their emotions and how they should react to violence.

I remember one show, the “good guys” had just gunned down three “bad guys” and within 5 seconds the camera view changed, no dead guys visible, the “good” characters were all laughing and chuckling about some banal subject, (like lunch or the weather) the killing and stress totally forgotten.

Only psychopaths could react to killing that way.

I don’t want psychopaths as the role models for America, but apparently, they are.

You guys really crack me up and sadden me all at the same time with your assessment of old TV western shows. Good Lord!