"THE RIFLEMAN" - "MEETING AT MIDNIGHT"

'THE RIFLEMAN'"Meeting At Midnight"
Lucas helps an old friend, now an undercover federal agents keep his secret plan to find stolen money supposedly hidden.
From "The Rifleman Episode Guide List"

'The Rifleman' had one spin-off ('Law Of The Plainsman' starring Michael Ansara) but this could have been another. As government agent Tom Benton, Claude Akins could have beaten 'The Wild, Wild West' to broadcast by about five years. (Although it probably would not be as outrageous in tone.)

The series could have traveled all over the West - and go to the Nation's Capital as well. And it would have been a nice showcase for noted guest stars as each week's bad guys.

As a government agent working undercover, Tom Benton could theoretically have shown up in other TV Westerns as other characters played by Claude Akins. They could even be "bad" guys (acting bad to establish "street cred") - so long as they don't kill anybody or get killed themselves.

I wouldn't want these alt-named Tom Benton characters to be killed off because I do have a Claude Akins character from 1906 on the Toobworld timeline who could be a likely candidate to be Tom Benton in disguise.

And that revelation will be coming up later in today's "As Seen On TV" showcase......

BCnU!