Never Give Up
Photo: peoples
The Rifleman was created by Arnold Laven, but it was ultimately developed by Sam Peckinpah. Peckinpah had an eye for Westerns and would eventually become a big time director in the genre. He was able to paint a vivid picture for viewers and, apparently, he used his own personal experiences growing up on a ranch as inspiration. He originally wrote the wrote The Rifleman pilot for the popular Western Gunsmoke three years earlier but it had been turned down.