Secrets Of TV’s The Rifleman: More Than Just Guns And Good Times

Johnny Crawford: I Had Lost Some Appeal

Crawford added, “It just lost its inspiration or something, and perhaps I had lost some appeal to others. But at the same time, that was when I was doing quite well with my recordings, so I don’t know. There had been talk of going on for one more season and trying it in color for an hour, and maybe they thought that would boost the ratings, making it more on the order of Bonanza. It might have, but by then Chuck [Connors] had gotten itchy to do something else and he was offered his series called Arrest and Trial, which offered him a completely different type of character and time period, and he took that.”