This Classic Chuck Connors Series On Prime Video Is A Must-Watch For Western Fans

Westerns are having another moment in the sun lately, and you can see evidence of it all over the various streaming services people use the most. Titles like "Gunsmoke" are cracking the Nielsen Top 10 rankings decades after they went off the air, and viewers are more tapped into the genre than they've been in years. But, there's an underrated Western series that people might have missed in their quest to find the next "Bonanza" or "Yellowstone" out there. If you love cowboy tales, you need to check out "The Rifleman" starring Chuck Connors over on Prime Video, as it's an essential show for the genre on TV, and it doesn't get as much love as its slightly more popular contemporaries.

Chuck Connors is the name at the top of the marquee for "The Rifleman," and he played Lucas McCain for five seasons on ABC starting in 1958. His character was a Union American Civil War veteran, and during the Battle of Five Forks, he became something of a legend for his prowess with a Winchester Model 1892 rifle. (A running theme of "The Rifleman" stems from his choice to use such a signature weapon, and the fact that the firearm in question wouldn't be released until 1892 despite the show taking place in the 1880s.) Along with his son Mark (Johnny Crawford), McCain becomes the obvious person to deal with any real problems near North Fork, New Mexico.

"The Rifleman" was produced by a trio of TV mainstays during the show's run: Jules V. Levy, Arthur Gardner, and Arnold Laven. The trio worked on Chuck Connors' beloved western series, but they also brought another hit to the genre with "The Big Valley," which ran from 1965-1969. Laven, in particular, has his fingerprints on a bunch of TV history with directing credits on "CHiPs," "The A-Team," "Mannix," and more in the ensuing decades. So, it's safe to say that "The Rifleman" comes from some memorable stock on the small screen.

Back in the late '50s, there were Westerns as far as the eye could see, and "The Rifleman" needed to find a way to stand out in a crowded TV landscape. Luckily for the production, Chuck Connors' signature weapon would do a ton of heavy lifting for them. A Winchester Model 1892 rifle is striking enough on its own, but once you modify it to have a loop handle where the hero can cock it with one hand and a twirling visual flourish? Now, you're cooking with gas. All that fancy shooting made it really easy to sell Lucas McCain as a superhero of sorts, with him being able to deal with multiple attackers and rivals as just one man with a rifle.

Another big strength of "The Rifleman" is the show's focus on the eternal promise of second chances, with the main character being an example of this ethos as a former soldier who's just looking to make a living as a rancher after serving in the Union army. Marshal Micah Torrance (a delightful Paul Fix) has a past with alcoholism that makes him an imperfect authority figure, but he's never completely eclipsed, despite most of the town's problems getting solved by McCain at the end of the day. There's just a lot of forgiveness and understanding going on in "The Rifleman," and that plays even more strikingly in the modern day, where a lot of protagonists are straight arrows or even flawed anti-heroes.

McCain's relationship with his son Mark is also something that a lot of viewers were soothed by during "The Rifleman's" initial run on TV. Chuck Connor's character was a single parent in a time when that was still very fresh territory for broadcast television, and he imparted lessons to Mark in a frank manner that treated the young man with respect. A few years after the show's debut, viewers would see this ripple out to other programs, like "The Andy Griffith Show's" approach to their sheriff's relationship with his own son.

TV Westerns are having a major comeback after a few decades where it was harder to find traditional approaches to the genre on the small screen. Even more viewers are discovering these shows on streaming, especially the lower-cost options like Roku, Tubi, and Pluto TV. There's something about the Western genre that's catching older viewers and newcomers alike, and "The Rifleman" is a fun addition to the canon that more people should check out if they like "Gunsmoke," "Bonanza," or "Wanted Dead or Alive." Chuck Connors had a lot of charisma in the role of Lucas McCain, and might lay claim to one of the most instantly recognizable weapons in the history of the medium with that Winchester rifle.

Cowboys were back then what superheroes are now to our current pop culture landscape, but maybe things are shifting back as the United States begins searching for whatever's next for the country's popular cinema. If the future looks more like "The Rifleman" than modern portrayals like "Yellowstone," maybe things could be okay. At any rate, it's just nice that fans can explore the hits of yesteryear more easily than ever in places like Prime Video, and they won't get lost in the tides of time. Let's hope this moment in the sun won't set on the genre like it did about 20 years ago.