Branded

This follow-up to Chuck Connors' fondly remembered series "The Rifleman" isn't even in the same league as that show, though it had far more production values, bigger casts, and did a lot of location work, as opposed to "The Rifleman," which was shot almost entirely in a studio. The stories in "The Rifleman" were what really made the show, and the relationship between Lucas McCain and his son. In "Branded," Connors' character, Jason McCord, doesn't have any kind of relationship with anybody; he drifts from town to town and from situation to situation, and the viewer really has no clear idea as to what exactly he's doing or where he's going. "The Rifleman" had a core story: an ex-gunfighter trying to make a life for himself and his son on a small ranch, and running into people and situations which, in one way or another, tried to prevent him from doing that. In "Branded," Jason McCord is cashiered from the army for cowardice--which, we're told, was untrue--and pretty much drifts around the west. He doesn't try to gather facts to prove his innocence, or find people who can testify for him, or anything that you'd think a person falsely accused of cowardice would try to do. He just wanders around, making you wonder exactly what the point of this show is. Apparently the producers didn't quite know, either; in one multi-part episode, they had McCord working as a secret agent for President U.S. Grant and trying to break up an organized crime ring!

Connors did his best, but the trite story lines and the general aimlessness of the show finally did it in. It only lasted two seasons. That was enough.

I always watched The Rifleman because I was as old as Johnny Crawford was and I put myself in his shoes. MY dad was always trying to point out that somewhere in each show there was a "point" to be made. That point being made to impress me and help me go thru life without screwing up, which I have so far and I'm now 70! Lucas and Mark made a great team of what you would expect a western series to make during the time of transition to color. I was sorry to see The Rifleman end, but equally excited to see what Branded was all about. Chuck now playing a loner/drifter with all of his hair cut to a butch certainly was different. I often wondered why the sword "broke" when it should have "bent". I often wondered why he just didn't settle down in some quiet, out-of-the-way town and remain anonymous. I wondered why I never saw a lot of the second season episodes. Were they going to cancel the show that quick? I wondered a lot of other things, but there were also many other westerns to wonder about, too. Have Gun, Will Travel was one such with mysterious Paladin and the almost hidden icons and double meanings in the story line. Maverick and The Rebel, and oh so many more. Reading these comments and the description of Rifleman/Branded and reading the comments has made me want to find the Branded series on DVD so I can watch it over again. Heck, I can watch The Rifleman everyday on METV that is available thru DirecTV, but to be able to satisfy my curiosity about watching Branded over again to see what I missed has peaked my curiosity. SEE YA!

The lone survivor of the Battle Of Bitter Creek, an Apache massacre of U.S. cavalrymen, Chuck Conners is falsely court-marshaled for cowardice and desertion. Dishonorably discharged, he's forced to roam the west, taking on odd-jobs, while enduring cruel taunts and unprovoked violence, proving his manhood time and again.

Branded is pretty high-concept for a fairly low-budget thirty-minute show, with a lot of early episodes (under the supervision of series creator Larry Cohen) dealing with the nature of cowardice and what exactly makes a man a man, as well as Connors' attempts to keep the secrets of Bitter Creek, his encounters with various friends and relatives of his deceased men and the inevitable vengeance-seekers among them.

The first season is the more cerebral and ambitious of the two, with much of the action taking place primarily in town and leading to some anticlimactic conclusions to some of the episodes. The second season finds the series upgraded to color, with a bigger budget and better- staged action scenes. It's a bit of a trade-off though, with Connors' past (and the participation of Cohen) pushed to the back-burner. There's still some quality scripts, though in the spirit of a more conventional western series. It does however, provide a serviceable ending to the series.

One of the show's strengths, over only two seasons, is it's virtual army of old and new guest stars: Johnny Crawford, Burt Reynolds, Bruce Dern, Noah Beery, Beau Bridges, Lee Van Cleef, Dick Clark (!), Jay Silverheels, L.Q. Jones, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, Cesar Romero, Iron Eyes Cody, James Best, Pat O'Brien, John Carradine, John Ireland, Claude Akins, Burgess Meredith, Martin Landau, Angelo Rossito, Pat Wayne, Dick Miller, Victor French, etc.

As the show ended, the producers gathered much of the crew, Connors and Branded guest stars Michael Rennie and James MacArthur for the feature, Ride Beyond Vengeance. Fans of this should definitely check it out.

I won't say it was the cream of the crop of TV westerns, as far as production goes, but it's premise was...

I disagree most strongly with the first comment, McCord did try to clear his name many times, just not at the cost of others, and McCord, a wronged man, a pariah, would indeed, have to drift from town to town.

If he stayed too long he would likely be strung from a tree...

I too watched this on late night TV, in fact it's still on the New York City ABC affiliate, as a late night time filler.

That's an undeserved legacy.

In the current climate of turning past TV series into big-budget films, this is a no-brainer.

I'd be interested to know if the property's being sought after.

They'd be morons not to include theme song somewhere, it is really stunning.

In the moral and cultural wasteland of the 60's, this show was like pure poetry: a distillation of the best of the west. "Branded" is the story of a wandering loner/knight errant who must right wrongs everywhere he goes while on a quest after a seemingly unobtainable goal. Economical, hardboiled, the product of years of testing the action and adventure formula, "Branded" is a summing up of everything that ever worked for motion picture audiences dating back to the first silent film western. Unusually taut performances from the mature Chuck Connors in a role that was tailor made for him. Each episode introduces a new set of characters. No ensemble cast baloney and no hack writing. What I wouldn't give for a show this good today!