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The Worst Episodes of The Rifleman

Every episode of The Rifleman ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of The Rifleman!

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...
Genres:Action & AdventureWesternFamily
Network:ABC

Worst Episodes Summary

"Which Way'd They Go?" is the worst rated episode of "The Rifleman". It scored 6.3/10 based on 157 votes. Directed by Arthur H. Nadel and written by N/A, it aired on 4/1/1963. This episode scored 1.0 points lower than the second lowest rated, "The Baby Sitter".

  • Which Way'd They Go?
    6.3/10157 votes
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    #1 - Which Way'd They Go?

    Season 5 Episode 25 - Aired 4/1/1963

    The notoriously lazy Jackman brothers discover their mortgage has been foreclosed.

    Director: Arthur H. Nadel

    Writer: N/A

  • The Baby Sitter
    7.3/10160 votes
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    #2 - The Baby Sitter

    Season 2 Episode 12 - Aired 12/15/1959

    A dance hall singer asks Lucas to care for her daughter in an effort to hide the baby from her self-righteous, bigoted father.

    Director: Sam Peckinpah

    Writer: Sam Peckinpah

  • Assault
    7.3/10118 votes
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    #3 - Assault

    Season 3 Episode 26 - Aired 3/21/1961

    A salesman can't talk his way out of an assault charge.

    Director: Ida Lupino

    Writer: N/A

  • Day of the Hunter
    7.4/10157 votes
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    #4 - Day of the Hunter

    Season 2 Episode 15 - Aired 1/5/1960

    A famous buffalo hunter tries to goad Lucas into a shooting match.

    Director: Joseph H. Lewis

    Writer: N/A

  • The Executioner
    7.4/10116 votes
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    #5 - The Executioner

    Season 4 Episode 32 - Aired 5/7/1962

    No description available

    Director: Lawrence Dobkin

    Writer: N/A

  • Conflict
    7.4/10112 votes
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    #6 - Conflict

    Season 5 Episode 13 - Aired 12/24/1962

    Lucas's self-confidence begins to slip away when he misses an easy shot.

    Director: Arthur H. Nadel

    Writer: Ed Adamson

  • I Take This Woman
    7.5/10120 votes
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    #7 - I Take This Woman

    Season 5 Episode 6 - Aired 11/5/1962

    Lou looks for a way out when the man her dying father promised her to arrives.

    Director: Joseph H. Lewis

    Writer: N/A

  • The Sixteenth Cousin
    7.5/10138 votes
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    #8 - The Sixteenth Cousin

    Season 5 Episode 17 - Aired 1/28/1962

    A Japanese nobleman seeks revenge when his servant is insulted.

    Director: Arthur H. Nadel

    Writer: N/A

  • Eddie's Daughter
    7.6/10136 votes
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    #9 - Eddie's Daughter

    Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 11/3/1959

    After the daughter of Lucas's friend the hotel clerk arrives in North Fork, two strangers threaten her life.

    Director: Joseph H. Lewis

    Writer: N/A

  • A Time for Singing
    7.6/10125 votes
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    #10 - A Time for Singing

    Season 2 Episode 24 - Aired 3/8/1960

    Mark discovers that the new preacher and his wife are impostors planning a robbery.

    Director: John Rich

    Writer: N/A

  • The Pitchman
    7.6/10125 votes
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    #11 - The Pitchman

    Season 3 Episode 4 - Aired 9/18/1960

    When Mark finds gold on their property, a fast-talking salesman who tried to sell Lucas a new lightning rod offers instead to buy the ranch's mineral rights.

    Director: John Rich

    Writer: N/A

  • The Martinet
    7.6/10124 votes
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    #12 - The Martinet

    Season 3 Episode 7 - Aired 11/8/1960

    A former army captain comes to North Fork to kill the man who shot down his son in a gunfight - Lucas McCain.

    Director: Joseph H. Lewis

    Writer: N/A

  • The Illustrator
    7.6/10114 votes
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    #13 - The Illustrator

    Season 3 Episode 12 - Aired 12/13/1960

    Lucas encourages a drunken artist charged with murder to use his talents to identify the true killer.

    Director: Don Medford

    Writer: N/A

  • The Lost Treasure of Canyon Town
    7.6/10122 votes
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    #14 - The Lost Treasure of Canyon Town

    Season 3 Episode 23 - Aired 2/28/1961

    In a ghost town, Lucas, Mark and Micah tangle with the Newman family and learn the secret of the town's 20-year-old mystery of a lost gold mine.

    Director: Don Taylor

    Writer: N/A

  • Sporting Chance
    7.6/10108 votes
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    #15 - Sporting Chance

    Season 4 Episode 18 - Aired 1/29/1962

    An Englishman arrives with a custom-made rifle—and a plan to kill Lucas.

    Director: Gene Nelson

    Writer: N/A

  • Hostages to Fortune
    7.6/10112 votes
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    #16 - Hostages to Fortune

    Season 5 Episode 18 - Aired 2/4/1963

    At Halloween, rustlers take advantage of the seasonal disguises to raid a cattle ranch.

    Director: Arthur H. Nadel

    Writer: N/A

  • Shivaree
    7.7/10173 votes
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    #17 - Shivaree

    Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 2/3/1959

    Aaron Pelser's wagon train came across a pair of young boys on a buck board heading west and invited them to join the train. When he found 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 wagon train folks want to throw a shivaree, which may have been innocent enough except for two reasons. The first reason being that the couple does not count it as their wedding because they want to be wed by the groom's father in Yuma. The second reason is that Chet Packard keeps pushing things too far, beyond the spirit of a friendly shivaree.

    Director: Joseph H. Lewis

    Writer: N/A

  • Outlaw's Inheritance
    7.7/10152 votes
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    #18 - Outlaw's Inheritance

    Season 1 Episode 38 - Aired 6/16/1959

    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.

    Director: Don Taylor

    Writer: George W. George

  • The Legacy
    7.7/10136 votes
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    #19 - The Legacy

    Season 2 Episode 11 - Aired 12/8/1959

    Lucas tries to do a good deed for the old town drunk but it backfires when the drunk's son believes he inherited Lucas' ranch.

    Director: Bernard L. Kowalski

    Writer: N/A

  • Mail Order Groom
    7.7/10171 votes
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    #20 - Mail Order Groom

    Season 2 Episode 16 - Aired 1/12/1960

    When a stranger arrives to marry the town spinster, two brothers who want her land try to discourage him with threats and a beating.

    Director: Arthur Hiller

    Writer: N/A

  • Smoke Screen
    7.7/10123 votes
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    #21 - Smoke Screen

    Season 2 Episode 28 - Aired 4/5/1960

    Several men are vying for a rancher's daughter's affections. When she is found dead, one of them becomes the prime suspect in her murder.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Six Years and a Day
    7.7/10129 votes
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    #22 - Six Years and a Day

    Season 3 Episode 15 - Aired 1/30/1961

    A doctor seeks revenge on the man he blames for ruining his practice.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Knight Errant
    7.7/10124 votes
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    #23 - Knight Errant

    Season 4 Episode 7 - Aired 11/13/1961

    Lucas tries to dissuade a latter-day knight from rushing into battle.

    Director: Gene Nelson

    Writer: Ed Adamson

  • The Shattered Idol
    7.7/10140 votes
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    #24 - The Shattered Idol

    Season 4 Episode 10 - Aired 12/4/1961

    Mark Twain visits Southfork, and quickly alienates the townspeople.

    Director: Joseph H. Lewis

    Writer: N/A

  • The Princess
    7.7/10127 votes
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    #25 - The Princess

    Season 4 Episode 15 - Aired 1/8/1962

    The Queen-to-be of France hides out in Northfork.

    Director: Robert Butler

    Writer: N/A