Started "The Rifleman"

 I want to preface this by saying I got the idea to watch The Rifleman from a YouTube comment. What sort of comment, you might be asking. It was under one of those 1966 Batman clips where the old people congregate and slobber over the female cast, I don't blame them, and talk about the weird sexual undertones between Dick and Bruce. I'm not complaining, I can enjoy some Greco-Roman style male bonding.

Now back to the relevant topic- some commenter said that they grew up watching 60s television and B&R's relationship reminded them of "Luke" and "Mike" from The Rifleman. Now I've never heard of The Rifleman, so I go to google it and see that it's a western series. Cool, but who is Mike? (No seriously who is Mike). 

Anyways none of this is important. I was intrigued and found that it's free on YouTube (yay!) and I start watching. My immediate reaction is positive. I like Lucas and Mark as characters, and Chuck Conners is damn handsome and 6'5, and also in Old Yeller. No seriously, when I think of the 60s I think of a face like his (and Adam West who also appeared in an episode I'm pretty sure). After I finished three episodes I went to the web for more information and reviews which were mostly positive. I find a blog titled theuglybugball.wordpress.com who started posting about The Rifleman in 2011. My reaction was just like theirs. I love Lucas' protective nature over Mark in an era where fathers were expected to be stern and deadpan especially with their sons. Lucas was also a single father & widower in an era of nuclear family dreams, which is pretty revolutionary for 50s and 60s TV. Lucas really does care about his son, this much became obvious to me, and Mark still manages to get into trouble.. I'm only into season one but he's been kidnapped like four times already. Geez, somebody get this kid a psychiatrist. Television's most abducted child. Back to the real stuff, Johnny Crawford is a great actor for a young boy. His relationship with Lucas/Chuck felt authentic too. The episodes typically end with a lesson learned and Lucas "subduing" the criminals with his gun skills. 

I'm going to be frank when I say that I'm not so much interested in the guns as I am the characters. That's just how I am, I suppose. I've now been inspired to watch some iterations of Les Mis and Laramie (another western). 

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