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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 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.

Genres:Action & AdventureWesternFamily
Network:ABC

Lowest Rated Episodes Summary

The worst episode of "The Rifleman" is "Which Way'd They Go?", rated 6.2/10 from 150 user votes. It was directed by Arthur H. Nadel and written by N/A. "Which Way'd They Go?" aired on 4/1/1963 and is rated 1.1 point(s) lower than the second lowest rated, "The Baby Sitter".

  • Which Way'd They Go?
    6.2/10 150 votes

    #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
    7.3/10 154 votes

    #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

  • Conflict
    7.3/10 107 votes

    #3 - 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

  • Day of the Hunter
    7.4/10 153 votes

    #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 Illustrator
    7.5/10 109 votes

    #5 - 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
    7.5/10 116 votes

    #6 - 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
    7.5/10 105 votes

    #7 - 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

  • The Sixteenth Cousin
    7.5/10 134 votes

    #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
    7.6/10 132 votes

    #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
    7.6/10 119 votes

    #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 Martinet
    7.6/10 120 votes

    #11 - 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

  • Assault
    7.6/10 114 votes

    #12 - 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

  • Shivaree
    7.7/10 168 votes

    #13 - 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
    7.7/10 148 votes

    #14 - 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
    7.7/10 133 votes

    #15 - 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
    7.7/10 162 votes

    #16 - 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

  • The Horse Traders
    7.7/10 113 votes

    #17 - The Horse Traders

    Season 2 Episode 20 - Aired 2/9/1960

    When a horse dealer transporting a prize stallion stops in North Fork, two saddle tramps try to use trickery to obtain it.

    Director: William Claxton

    Writer: N/A

  • Smoke Screen
    7.7/10 120 votes

    #18 - 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

  • The Pitchman
    7.7/10 120 votes

    #19 - 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 Schoolmaster
    7.7/10 124 votes

    #20 - The Schoolmaster

    Season 3 Episode 10 - Aired 11/29/1960

    Mark and his friend become trapped in an old mine.

    Director: Arthur Hiller

    Writer: N/A

  • Six Years and a Day
    7.7/10 127 votes

    #21 - 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
    7.7/10 121 votes

    #22 - 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
    7.7/10 134 votes

    #23 - 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
    7.7/10 121 votes

    #24 - 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

  • Deadly Image
    7.7/10 120 votes

    #25 - Deadly Image

    Season 4 Episode 22 - Aired 2/26/1962

    Lucas has double trouble: his lookalike is tearing up the town.

    Director: Richard Donner

    Writer: N/A