Don't Forget The Rifleman Saddles Back up 4/25 (1 Viewer)

[Dave Scarpa]

I've been waiting for the next set for awhile and MPI Will release the next batch n a couple of Weeks, Gotta Get my Lucas Mccain Fix, then In a Month the Big Valley ! Saddle Up!

 

[Roger_S]

I have had this on pre-order since the first of the month. It's one of my favorite westerns. What I want to know is...will we ever see official releases of more half-hour westerns, especially of Lawman and The Deputy?

 

[David Rain]

At this point why aren't they just doing season box sets ?

 

[Duane Alford]

My thoughts exactly. I have no interest in box sets of random episodes. Most people (me included) are only interested in season sets. Just look at Image with the original Twilight Zone sets. Five sets of random episodes didn't draw any interest, but when released in season sets they had lots of people buying.

 

[michael_ks]

With nearly half of the series released, MPI is in the unenviable position of having to release the remaining 88 episodes in the random order they started with. The first two box sets especially contain episodes scattered from all five seasons. Thereafter, MPI tried to maintain some degree of consistency and with the release of the first 80 episodes, the complement is weighted decidely towards S1-2.

With the "The Twilight Zone", a show having a much larger fan base, a studio can afford to misread consumer preferences and re-sell the product again--with "The Rifleman" it's probably somewhat chancy. I'd sell my sets and purchase season sets, especially since there's the hope that we'd see better menus, extras and so on, but I'm not sure there are enough fans who'd do likewise.

 

[Gary OS]

And don't forget that a 6th Boxed Set is already scheduled for a July release!

Gary "this has turned into a great year for vintage westerns on dvd" O.

 

[Roger_S]

I received my copy of Collection 5 today. I haven't watched any of it yet but I did notice my copy came without the usual booklet (if 4 pages can be considered a booklet) listing the episode synopsis. I wonder if they've decided not to offer one for this volume or if it's just a case of it being accidentally left out?

Added Note: After I wrote the above, I e-mailed MPI and they quickly responded. There is no booklet for this release so nothing was missing.

 

[michael_ks]

I find it odd that MPI would no longer include the booklet with the show synopses. One thing I wish they would have done all along is indicate where the individual segments fall in the overall episode sequence. In case anyone's interested, here they are. Notice in Set 5 that discs 3-4 jump from season 2 all the way to season 5--so Mark ages about three years in nothing flat. Box 6 will be decidely more consistent, excepting the last two episodes.


RIFLEMAN BOX 5 (4/25/06)

24. 1-24 The Trade
39. 1-39 Boomerang
29. 1-29 The Hawk
60. 2-20 The Horsetraders
73. 2-33 Jailbird
63. 2-23 Grasshopper
72. 2-32 Fourflusher
65. 2-25 The Deserter
68. 2-28 Smoke Screen
69. 2-29 Shotgun Man
166. 5-24 Old Man Running
168. 5-26 Old Tony
146. 5-4 Quiet Night, Deadly Night
157. 5-15 Suspicion
167. 5-25 Which Way’d They Go
153. 5-11 Gun Shy
148. 5-6 I Take This Woman
156. 5-14 Incident at Line Shack 6
145. 5-3 Lou Mallory
150. 5-8 Mark’s Rifle


RIFLEMAN BOX 6 (7/25/06)

66. 2-26 The Vision
78. 3-2 Woman from Hog Ridge
70. 2-30 Sins of the Father
88. 3-12 The Illustrator
82. 3-6 Baranca
94. 3-18 The Actress
64. 2-24 A Time for Singing
79. 3-3 Seven
93. 3-17 The Long Trek
92. 3-16 Flowers by the Door
95. 3-19 Face of Yesterday
83. 3-8 Miss Millie
80. 3-4 The Pitchman
87. 3-11 The Promoter
89. 3-13 Silent Knife
91. 3-15 Six Years and a Day
81. 3-5 Strange Town
23. 1-23 The Second Witness
161. 5-19 And Devil Makes Five
154. 5-12 Anvil Chorus

 

[Dave Scarpa]

I believe Old Tony is the final episode of the series as well.. These box sets are fairly expensive it's inexcusable that they've dumped the booklets. Especially since they are using DVD-5's for the releasesm they very well could be releasing these on DVD 9's and offering more shows. But this is a niche product so I guess we are lucky to be getting anything.

 

[michael_ks]

The nice thing is that with Box Set 6, we will finally have seasons 1 and 2 complete. In fact the first 97 episodes of the series will then be represented.

What remains to be released with sets 7-8:

S3 - the last 13 episodes (season total is 34)
S4 - 25 episodes (of 32 total--no releases since box 1)
S5 - 11 episodes (of 26 total)

Every set released scatters episodes over 3 to 4 seasons. The most consistent set is Set 3--all 20 episodes are from season 2.

Yes, I wish "The Rifleman" had been accorded the same treatment as "Have Gun Will Travel", but just have to consider myself fortunate.

By the way, there is a terrific book about "The Rifleman" recently published (not a fan book, per se, but a critical analysis of the show's social commentary written by a University professor). Available on Amazon.

 

[Doug^Ch]

I'm considering buying The Rifleman box sets during DDD 20% off sale. They seem to be pretty expensive sets for what you are getting. Is it worth the money? Is the packaging consistant from set to set? I've never seen the show, but I generally love most Westerns.

 

[Gary OS]

If you are ever going to invest in the series, this is the time to do it. I've never seen these sets go for a cheaper price than what you will get using the DDD 20% Off Sale. I have the first 4 sets and will now pick up set 5 with the sale.

MPI puts these out, and they basically never go on any big sale as far as I can tell. So this is the best time to buy, IMHO.

Gary "and the quality is excellent, even if the episodes aren't in order - a great series to own" O.

 

[Doug^Ch]

Thanks for the information Gary. I guess I will take the plunge and buy the entire series. Doug

 

[michael_ks]

I just now ordered box set #5 from DDD using the 20 percent off discount (hard thing for this fan of "Rifleman" to do, waiting nearly 2 months for that sale!). Considering that you're getting half the number of episodes as an entire season of "Have Gun Will Travel" (20 vs. 39) for about the same price, yes, "Rifleman" is no bargain--that would mean season sets for around $65-70 with no extras!

The packaging from box set 3 on has been consistent and is of a less clumsy, more compact variety. Box sets 1 and 2 were released a few years ago with a fairly long hiatus between 2 and 3. MPI seems to be on a role now and I suspect that after set 6 is released in July, we could see sets 7 and 8 perhaps by early 2007. These would constitute the final releases if they choose to include 28 episodes instead of the usual 20 in the last set. (It's even likely 7 and 8 will contain 24 apiece).