Six classic episodes in this special value collection are inspired by biblical parables that teach important lessons about faith, personal conduct, human frailty, and grace. The timeless themes in these episodes have made The Rifleman one of the best-loved western series of all time. Digitally re-mastered.
Includes six episodes and their moral lesson themes:
- “Home Ranch” (episode 2) – based on the trials of Job
- “The Sheridan Story” (episode 16) – forgiveness and compassion
- “A Matter of Faith” (episode 34) – crisis of faith
- “The Martinet” (episode 83) – humility
- “Closer Than a Brother” (episode 98) – self-respect
- “The Queue” (episode 110) – prejudice and tolerance
Broadcast from 1958-1963, The Rifleman was a TV Western starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. From TheRifleman.net:
Family values and moral principles informed many storylines in THE RIFLEMAN series. Through the McCains’ adventures with the townfolk of North Fork and the weekly influx of visitors, THE RIFLEMAN was a series of morality plays examining human nature’s rich and varied complexity – with all its foibles and follies, sorrow and humor, venality and virtue. The inspiration for many episodes was drawn from Biblical parables, sometimes recapitulated explicity, such as the story of Job, which was related by Lucas to son Mark in the second episode, “Home Ranch.” Second chances – compassion and redemption – was a prominent, recurring theme. It was often elicited in episodes featuring Marshal Micah Torrance, played by Paul Fix, a sometime derelict, recovered alcholic, who was a regular character introduced in the fourth episode, “The Marshal,” after R.G. Armstrong, who played the sheriff in the pilot was killed off. The themes were timeless and universal, featuring sympathetic characters grappling with familiar human dilemmas and classic good-versus-evil conflicts.