History Series / TheRifleman

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: [[Creator/MarkTwain Samuel Clemens]] turns up in town in one episode. Mark can't stop {{squee}}ing.

''The Rifleman'' is available completely and legally on {{Creator/Hulu}}. Oh, and if the "widower and son take over the running of a frontier settlement" premise sounds familiar but you could have sworn it took place in the Alpha Quadrant, it may be because ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' was intentionally pitched as "''The Rifleman'' [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]]!"

''The Rifleman'' is available completely and legally on {{Creator/Hulu}}. Oh, and if the "widower and son take over the running of a frontier settlement" premise sounds familiar but you could have sworn it was [[RecycledInSpace in space]], it may be because ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' was intentionally pitched as "''The Rifleman'' [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]]!"

''The Rifleman'' is available completely and legally on {{Creator/Hulu}}.

The story is about Lucas [=McCain=] and his son, Mark [=McCain=]. Mark's mother and Lucas' wife died of an illness when the medicine failed to reach her in time. Lucas enters a turkey shooting contest to buy a plot in Norfork, but throws the contest to a younger (Dennis Hopper) gunman when the man who runs the town threatens Mark's life. Lucas confronts the man who runs\ownes most of the town, who killed the younger gunman's relative\guardian. In the saloon Lucas, with a bit of help from Hopper, kills the man and his henchmen. The judge in the town invites Lucas to stay, which he does and buys the ranch.

* AlliterativeName: Mark McCain and Lucas' late wife Margaret.

* RecycledInSpace: Brandon Tartikoff originally pitched ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' as "''The Rifleman'' in space".

''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' is the [[SpaceWestern sci-fi analog]]. ''The Rifleman'' is also available completely and legally on {{Creator/Hulu}}.

* BlastingItOutofTheirHands: Lucas McCain frequently performs this trick when he doesn't want to kill the person or even persons he is facing off against. Typically it is a fast hip shot blasting a pistol out of a persons hand leaving them clutching a seemingly unwounded hand in pain.

* ImprobableAimingSkills: Lucas McCain frequently displays uncanny shooting ability with his rifle. He almost never misses and is as fast or faster then gunfighters with a pistol. He does most of his shooting from the hip with pin point accuracy. Other feats include shooting weapons out of opponents hands, not missing despite being blinded, and landing a shot with a improvised rifle made out of a bit of junk lumber for a stock and pistol.

* ImprobablyAimingSkills: Lucas McCain frequently displays uncanny shooting ability with his rifle. He almost never misses and is as fast or faster then gunfighters with a pistol. He does most of his shooting from the hip with pin point accuracy. Other feats include shooting weapons out of opponents hands, not missing despite being blinded, and landing a shot with a improvised rifle made out of a bit of junk lumber for a stock and pistol.

* HilariousInHindsight: One episode had a brief conversation where Mark mentioned his genius idea for eliminating dishes . . . [[http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2013/01/chain-reaction-bread-bowl-pasta-from-dominos.html bread bowls]].

* MissingMom: Mark's mother and Lucas' wife.

* AnachronismStew: The rifle itself; The show takes place roughly from the late 1870's to about the 1880's. However the rifle is a modified 1893 Winchester. Maybe justified since Lucas made the rifle and it was perhaps an earlier Winchester; such as an 1873 one.

* TheAlcoholic: Micah Torrance, who gets a second chance from Lucas.

''The Rifleman'' is an American live-action western from the late 1950s and early 1960s.

The story is about Lucas [=McCain=] and his son, Mark [=McCain=]. Mark's mother and Lucas' wife was killed by bandits, breaking Lucas' heart forever and making him swear to always take care of Mark and those who can't defend themselves. Lucas wins enough money in a turkey shooting contest to buy a plot in New Mexico, but soon discovers that the town nearby is on the brink of falling apart due to crime. Lucas dedicates his time to protecting the town and looking to kill the fastest man in the West.

* RecycledInSpace: Brandon Tartikoff originally pitched ''[[StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' as "''The Rifleman'' in space".

''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' is the [[SpaceWestern sci-fi analog]]. ''The Rifleman'' is also available completely and legally on {{Hulu}}.

* RecycledInSpace: Brandon Tartikoff originally pitched ''Deep Space Nine'' as "''The Rifleman'' in space".

* ActorAllusion: Duke Snider, Chuck Connors' former Dodgers teammate, once played an outlaw in one of the episodes.

''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' is the sci-fi analog. ''The Rifleman'' is also available completely and legally on {{Hulu}}.

* GunTwirling: Of the "twirl a lever-action gun to cock it" variety.
* InstrumentalThemeTune: Tune is preceded in opening credits by a rapid firing of 12 shots and the announcer calling out, "The Rifleman!".

* TheLoad: Mark [=McCain=]. Somewhat justified since he's just a kid, but _still_. A good 80% of the conflicts are directly caused or made worse by him. And he's useless.