The Rifleman
"Welcome to the McCain Ranch"
"odds n' ends" page 98

'The Sharpshooter' episode #1—We even have a blooper found buy Jeff Connors, son of Chuck Connors.  The picture on the right is from the beginning of the episode, when Lucas & Mark stop to checkout the land.  The picture on the right is near the end when Lucas confronts Big Jim & his gang.  Take a close look at the cowboy hats Lucas is wearing.  Good catch Jeff!

In the episode 'Conflict' episode #155 they show an alarm clock. Can you give me a little history on it and is about when this alarm clock is dated?  Alarm clocks have been around for a LONG time. There was a medieval water powered alarm clock that monks used to wake up to pray (no kidding!). It was a container of water that slowly dripped into a second, lower container. When the water level of the second container reached a certain level, a floating piece of wood tripped a release latch, which caused a tightly round spindle to unwind, striking a bell repeatedly as it did so. Rube Goldberg would have been very proud of this device, but it actually worked! Inventors had been working on mechanical alarm clocks from the 1500's onward. By the late 1700's, they had clocks that worked pretty well, but were very bulky. In 1876, Seth Thomas patented the first small bedside alarm clock - and by the time that the Rifleman is set (early 1880s) these would have been very common. Thanks Renewed Fan!

'Eight Hours to Die' episode #6—Did anyone seem to notice how many times the gag (neckerchief) changed position and design? I love being able to go back and look again.  Thanks Donna!

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posted  5/2/08