Arthur Browne Jr.(1923-2006)

When asked about the final episode of The Rifleman, Browne said they came up with the plot of the snake in the bedroll because there was no money in the budget. The show was being canceled and they had one more show to do, so he wrote a plot in which Luke (Chuck Connors) and his son were out on the trail. They didn't have to hire any big name stars to appear in the episode and the scenery was cheap to put together.