The Rifleman

Series Similar to The Rifleman

If you enjoyed The Rifleman, these series share similar themes, tone, and quality. Each recommendation is scored on genre overlap, tonal match, and critical acclaim.

1. Have Gun, Will Travel

   1957 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended

   Recommended for similar Action / Adventure profile.

   The man known only as "Paladin" lives in San Francisco at the Carlton Hotel, accustomed to the fanciest food and furnishings. He afford it all by riding out as a gunslinger and charging top dollar for his services. His calling card? "Have Gun Will Travel." Paladin will take on any case if a client meets his fee, but whether he helps them or not depends on whether he thinks that they deserve it. A West Point graduate with an unknown past, Paladin is as likely to help a client with his lightning wits and sense of strategy, as he is to use his gun and his hold-out derringer.

2. Cheyenne

   1955 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended

   Recommended for similar Action / Adventure profile, highly rated (8), also on ABC.

   Cheyenne Bodie was a big man, a former army scout who went west after the American Civil War and drifted from job to job, here a cowboy, there a lawman, and always a larger-than-life hero.

3. Rawhide

   1959 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended

   Recommended for similar Action / Adventure profile, highly rated (8).

   Gil Favor is trail boss of a continuous cattle drive; he is assisted by Rowdy Yates. The crew runs into characters and adventures along the way.

4. The Lone Ranger

   1949 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended

   Recommended for similar Action / Adventure profile, also on ABC.

   Who was that masked man? The Lone Ranger, of course - sole survivor of a group of ambushed Texas Rangers, who was nursed back to health by Tonto, his trusty American Indian companion. The pair roam the Old West, defending the helpless against the forces of evil.Begain airing in 1949

5. Bonanza

   1959 · Drama, Action, Western · ended

   Recommended for similar Action / Western profile.

   Bonanza chronicles the weekly adventures of the Cartwright family, headed by the thrice-widowed patriarch Ben Cartwright. He had three sons, each by a different wife: the eldest was the urbane architect Adam Cartwright who built the ranch house; the second was the warm and lovable giant Eric "Hoss" Cartwright; and the youngest was the hotheaded and impetuous Joseph or "Little Joe". The family's cook was the Chinese immigrant Hop Sing.

6. Sky King

   1952 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended

   Recommended for similar Action / Adventure profile.

   Sky King was a WWII naval aviator-turned rancher, who flies his twin-engine Cessna high above the Arizona plains. Accompanying Sky on his adventures are his nephew, Clipper and his teen niece, Penny. Starring Kirby Grant and Gloria Winters.

7. The Virginian

   1962 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended

   Recommended for similar Action / Adventure profile.

   The Virginian was the very first 90 minute western on prime-time television, and is about a man, only known as "The Virginian" who served as foreman on the Shiloh Ranch (owned in sequence by Judge Garth, the Grainger brothers, and Col. MacKenzie) in 19th century Medicine Bow, Wyoming. James Drury starred as the title character with the likes of Doug McClure, Lee J. Cobb, John McIntire, and Clu Gulager co-starring. It is in these settings that a variety of stories, much more based on character and relationships than the usual westerns, take place.

8. Gunsmoke

   1955 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended

   Recommended for similar Action / Adventure profile.

   Marshall Matt Dillon is responsible for keeping the law and respectability in Dodge City in this western action-drama. Gunsmoke captured the courage, character and spirit of the Western Frontier.

9. Maverick

   1957 · Action, Adventure, Western · ended

   Recommended for similar Action / Adventure profile, highly rated (8), also on ABC.

   In this light-hearted Western, brothers Bart and Bret Maverick are descended from a long line of poker players and conmen. Together or separately, they travel the Old West looking to make money without totally compromising their... rather loose scruples. Later, their English cousin Beau arrives in England. The series mostly alternates between the adventures of Bart and Brett, with Beau taking Bret's place when series star James Garner left over a contract dispute. A third brother, Brent, was briefly seen in the fourth season. Sometimes Bart and Bret will join forces to con a particularly difficult mark, or find themselves at odds over an attractive woman.

10. The Roy Rogers Show

    1951 · Adventure, Western · ended

    Recommended for similar Adventure / Western profile.

    After dozens of cowboy films stretching back to the 1930s, Roy Rogers finally came to the small screen for this long-running hit TV series. He of course was joined by his longtime love and costar, the sparklingly beautiful Dale Evans.