This Chuck Connors western show is the perfect replacement for The Rifleman

The rifleman May be Chuck Connors’ claim to fame and his greatest contribution to the genre, but it’s not the only Western show he made that’s worth watching. In addition to his highly successful, five-season stint as Lucas McCain on the hit ABC series, Connors starred in a different western show titled Branded. Of course, it never achieved the reputation of The rifleman.

Although Chuck Connors appeared in some memorable western movies like The great countryHe was never recognized as an A-list actor or a headline attraction in feature films. Rather, Connors was best known for his television work, particularly his role in The rifleman. The rifleman Status as one of the most popular western shows of the late 1950s and early 1960s helped make Connors a household name at the time. Unfortunately, it did not have the long run achieved by other classic western television shows, such as Gunsmoke Or Bonanza. This was partly compounded by Connors’ involvement with another western series.

What Chuck Connors’ branded show was about

Chuck Connors played an ex-soldier “branded” as a traitor

Two years later The rifleman Completed in 1963, Connors landed the lead role of Jason McCord, a black-and-white Western show from NBC. Connor’s character is introduced as a disgraced officer in the United States Army. Falsely accused of desertion, McCord was court-martialed and suffered, all because he decided to take the case for his commanding officer’s mistakes. This event served as the basis of the show, as it resulted in McCord sharing a number of adventures in places where he is known as a traitor and a coward.

As Branded compares to the Rifleman

Branded offers a different kind of Chuck Connors western show

conceptually, Branded is quite different from The riflemanBut shares enough in common with it to make it a compelling replacement for the series. His biggest and admittedly most obvious connection is Chuck Connors; Branded And The rifleman are the only two western shows that shine the spotlight on the actor, Allowing him to bring his natural, gritty persona to the small screen, with Westerns being the perfect fit for his specific style and image.

Branded Stands apart from The rifleman In that it makes McCord a drifter. Whereas The rifleman has a set of characters and relationships that McCain develops while on his ranch with his son, Branded Sees Connor’s character meeting new faces from episode to episode, sending him to new places on a regular basis. This paves the way for Branded to offer different adventures and challenges for his hero, but still with Connors playing the hero and interacting with prominent western guest stars.