View Full Version : CBS To Reboot Western ‘The Rifleman’


Brian Damage
11-08-2011, 10:13 PM
CBS has closed deals for The Rifleman, a drama project based on the 1958 Western series about a 1880s widower with a rapid-fire Winchester rifle living on a ranch with his son. Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island) and Patrick Lussier will write and Chris Columbus is set to direct the reboot, which, like the original, centers on Civil war hero, Lucas McCain, an unparalleled sharpshooter with a haunted past, who moves to the uncharted New Mexico territory to raise his son Mark. There, he joins forces with the Sheriff to protect his new town and become its unofficial guardian. CBS TV Studios and Carol Mendelsohn Prods. are producing. The original series, whose pilot aired on CBS as part of Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theater before the series had a five-season run on ABC, was created by Sam Peckinpah and starred Chuck Connors as McCain. It was produced by Jules V. Levy, Arthur Gardner and Arnold Laven’s Levy-Gardner-Laven Prods. The only surviving member of the trio, who met while serving together in Air Force’s First Motion Picture Unit during World War II, 101-year-old Arthur Gardner, is executive producing The Rifleman reboot with his son, Steven Gardner, and Jules Levy’s son Robert. Also executive producing are Kalogridis, Lussier, Columbus, Carol Mendelsohn and her Julie Weitz. Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone director Columbus has a 3-for-1 deal with CBS, under which one of 3 projects he develops though CBS TV Studios and his 1492 Pictures is assured to go to pilot, which he will direct and executive produce. This marks the seventh sale for Carol Mendelsohn Prods. in the first full development cycle since Mendelsohn brought in Weitz as president of her CBS TV Studios-based production company.

http://www.deadline.com/2011/11/cbs-to-reboot-western-the-rifleman-with-laeta-kalogridis-chris-columbus-and-carol-mendelsohn/

born2late
11-08-2011, 11:31 PM
I enjoy westerns, and really miss seeing them in prime time. I don't like remakes, but I will give it a chance. I had no idea Arthur Gardner was still alive. Good for him for still being able to produce a show at 101 years old. :)

Mr. Television
11-09-2011, 12:03 AM
I've been watching reruns of the Rifleman lately. It's a great show. I hate remakes. I doubt it will ever be as good as the original. I am glad to see Westerns making a comeback though.

tiredmike59
11-09-2011, 01:00 AM
Some interesting trivia on his rifle;

http://tvacres.com/weapons_rifleman.htm

McGillicuddy
01-12-2012, 06:57 PM
Just a year ago, November 2010, CBS announced it was rebooting Wild, Wild West. Then there was never another word about that.:confused:

tiredmike59
03-28-2013, 10:38 PM
" You hurt my pa "

Famous line you hear a lot in The Rifleman series.
Or maybe it was Lassie, I can't remember.

MickeyMac
03-29-2013, 04:59 PM
The Networks never learn.

Regulus
03-29-2013, 10:15 PM
I was a doubting Thomas when the reboot of Hawaii Five-O came out, but it has been renewed for a third season. I have Season One on DVD and will get Season Two (And eventually Three) when their sets make it to a Bargain Bin. We'll see what this one does. I hope they make it as wholesome as the original, we need more shows the entire family can watch, and less sleazy violent shows.

MacLeaper
04-01-2013, 11:35 AM
Interesting. I've seen some episodes of "The Rifleman"- it still airs on one of the cable channels (can't remember which; I don't watch it regularly). It's definitely a classic Western show with good moral values- it'd be great to see a remake that reflected this. If it's not going to be in keeping with the show's original tones though- I don't see the need to do it. However, some remakes can be quite good, as was mentioned regarding "Hawaii Five-O".

treky
04-30-2015, 11:35 PM
CBS has closed deals for The Rifleman, a drama project based on the 1958 Western series about a 1880s widower with a rapid-fire Winchester rifle living on a ranch with his son. Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island) and Patrick Lussier will write and Chris Columbus is set to direct the reboot, which, like the original, centers on Civil war hero, Lucas McCain, an unparalleled sharpshooter with a haunted past, who moves to the uncharted New Mexico territory to raise his son Mark. There, he joins forces with the Sheriff to protect his new town and become its unofficial guardian. CBS TV Studios and Carol Mendelsohn Prods. are producing. The original series, whose pilot aired on CBS as part of Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theater before the series had a five-season run on ABC, was created by Sam Peckinpah and starred Chuck Connors as McCain. It was produced by Jules V. Levy, Arthur Gardner and Arnold Laven’s Levy-Gardner-Laven Prods. The only surviving member of the trio, who met while serving together in Air Force’s First Motion Picture Unit during World War II, 101-year-old Arthur Gardner, is executive producing The Rifleman reboot with his son, Steven Gardner, and Jules Levy’s son Robert. Also executive producing are Kalogridis, Lussier, Columbus, Carol Mendelsohn and her Julie Weitz. Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone director Columbus has a 3-for-1 deal with CBS, under which one of 3 projects he develops though CBS TV Studios and his 1492 Pictures is assured to go to pilot, which he will direct and executive produce. This marks the seventh sale for Carol Mendelsohn Prods. in the first full development cycle since Mendelsohn brought in Weitz as president of her CBS TV Studios-based production company.

http://www.deadline.com/2011/11/cbs-to-reboot-western-the-rifleman-with-laeta-kalogridis-chris-columbus-and-carol-mendelsohn/
anyone know if they're still planning on doing this?

HarryWild
02-08-2016, 03:35 AM
anyone know if they're still planning on doing this?

It 2016, and nothing so I think it fell through! 5 years have past! Usually, it takes 12-18 months to air!

treky
02-08-2016, 04:09 AM
It 2016, and nothing so I think it fell through! 5 years have past! Usually, it takes 12-18 months to air!
dude, why do you end all your sentences with an exclamation mark??

HarryWild
03-07-2016, 03:32 AM
dude, why do you end all your sentences with an exclamation mark??
https://www.englishclub.com/writing/punctuation-exclamation-mark.htm

Just the way I am!

RetrovisionPrince
05-01-2016, 02:20 AM
They always say reboot then most of the times they don't reboot

GentlemanJim
01-28-2020, 01:52 PM
I suspect the tone of "vigilante justice" is just a little too anarchistic for today's "law and order" subservience peddlers.

Can you imagine what the authorities would do to a man like McCain these days? It'd be "Waco" all over again.