SeeQuant
Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction
Cody
One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
Jerrie
It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...
A_Different_Drummer
This odd combination of a western and Father Knows Best should not have worked but it did. Choosing an ex baseball player to lead a new series should not have worked but it did. Child stars were pretty boring in the 50s so Crawford should not have stood out as much as he did. But he was fantastic.In fact all the westerns from that period were wonderful. Hard work for a critic because the genre was new so they were making up the rules as they went along.In this show somehow a rifle was faster than a gun? (Made more sense in WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE, there the rifle could pivot).Funny thing, on reruns Connor comes across as overly moralistic and prissy but that played well back then.The two best episodes are the appearance of Sammy Davis as a fast gun (the stunts are real) and Connor playing a double role as an evil version of himself. That one was ahead of its time
Shilohbloo
I absolutely LOVE this show, the characters, and the actors who portray them. The relationship between father and son can't be beat!!! (and let's not forget that incredible rifle!! ;) A truly blessed sight to behold - especially considering the heartbreaking state of things these days - is the absolutely shameless way they pray, read the Bible, and love learning to live the way our Lord would have them live. Truly beautiful. My most favorite episode is "The Wyoming Story - Part 2", at the end, when Mark not only speedily jumps into his pa's arms, but tearfully, fervently kisses him for pure joy of having him back home for good. Serious, heartwarming sweetness, that. Lumpy throat, teary eyes, every time I see it!!
zooN2
I grew up with "The Rifleman" and rediscovered it on "retro TV" just recently. It's odd, sometimes in your later years you rediscover things from your childhood and wonder "what was I thinking?" Not the case here, the show is even better than I remember; just great acting by Chuck Connors, Paul Fix, Johnny Crawford (Emmy nominated best supporting actor), and the impressive array of guest stars. I can just imagine 'liberal' moms of today shunning the show as "too violent" and the "wrong message". But in fact, practically every show had a lesson in 'right and wrong', and a warmth you could feel in the interaction between the main characters. I'm sure back when, every boy in America wished he were Mark McCain. As I see the episodes now, I realize you really have to pay attention. You expect a handful of "but Pa!(s)" and the 'bad guys' getting it in the end, but the plots twist and turn and can get quite involved considering the era of the show's heyday. The show's simple premise was capable of telling interesting and occasionally historic stories with some eclectic characters. This unheralded gem is pure Americana, and it sad that this type of family entertainment has evaporated only to be replaced with "poison" (as Madona calls it) on America's living room screens. So much for progress.
clck2001
I always liked this show. I was born a long time after this show went off, but I grew up watching shows like this, Gunsmoke, The Fugitive, The Andy Griffith Show, Dragnet, etc., because we had Cable. Sure, the show became sort of predictable after a while, but even if you know what is going to happen, and you are like me, you are always on the edge of your seat, even if you have seen the episode a thousand times before. But I did not like the episodes that were either silly or had something pointless happen in them, such as Knight Errant. I also wish it would have not been called off the air, because it would eventually have turned to color, and I would have LOVED to see this show in "vivid Technicolor". I do like the idea though, of Lucas getting in trouble and/or trapped, and either Micah, Mark, Milly, Hattie, (and, of course, the Rifle) getting captured, and Lucas somehow getting free, and getting them back. I have to admit it was sort of weird to watch Connors in Big Country, as a badguy, and then to turn around and watch The Rifleman. This same reason makes it also weird, but a whole lot more so, to watch the episode "Deadly Image".
